the summer of

What it was like to be 15 in 2010 in Britain

To be fifteen in Britain in 2010 was to have “Love the Way You Lie” by Eminem feat. Rihanna everywhere, Toy Story 3 on every screen, and The X Factor on after school. That year, gas cost £1.19/L and the iPad was the new thing. Born in 1995? You turned 15 in 2010 — a teenager from 2008 to 2014, right in the window a soundtrack bonds to you for life.

Compiled by the Original Lore archive from period charts, box-office and price records. How we build these · sources noted throughout.

▶ Play your 2010 reel with sounda 30-second video of your year — the song, the screen, the turn.

the mixtape of 2010

Love the Way You Lie — Eminem feat. Rihanna

  1. Love the Way You Lie — Eminem feat. RihannaDark, thunderous and everywhere, Eminem and Rihanna scored the summer's most dramatic teenage arguments and tearful reconciliations.
  2. Dynamite — Taio CruzHands up like a dynamite explosion, Taio Cruz turning British pop into pure countdown-to-the-weekend adrenaline.
  3. Airplanes — B.o.B feat. Hayley WilliamsWishing on those airplanes felt like every anxious GCSE-results daydream about escaping the town you grew up in.
  4. We No Speak Americano — Yolanda Be Cool & DCUPThat daft accordion loop chased you through package-holiday poolside bars and every school talent show all summer long.
  5. California Gurls — Katy Perry feat. Snoop DoggKaty Perry's sunshine-in-a-bottle blast that made a grey British summer briefly believe it was a California beach.

▶ Play your 2010 reel

why this one mattered

That Rihanna hook and Eminem's raw, thundering verses defined the summer of 2010 — a stormy, inescapable anthem that soundtracked every school corridor, bus ride and MSN status. It ended the year as one of the UK's biggest sellers, the sound of being fifteen in a suddenly serious world.

the year-end #1 was one of the UK's best-selling singles of 2010.

the movies you are watching in 2010

  • Toy Story 3
  • Inception
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
  • The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
  • Alice in Wonderland

the tv shows you are binging in 2010

  • The X Factor
  • The Only Way Is Essex
  • Sherlock
  • Downton Abbey
  • The Inbetweeners

the games you are playing in 2010

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops
  • FIFA 11
  • Just Dance 2
  • Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
  • Halo: Reach
  • Red Dead Redemption

what things cost in 2010

What things cost in 2010
a litre of petrol£1.19
a cinema ticket£6.40
a pint of lager£2.95
a gallon of gas£1.19/L
minimum wage£5.93/hr
a first-class stamp£0.41
the average income£26,200

trending this year

The iPad
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IPad-WiFi-1stGen.jpg · Public domain
The iPad
Instagram
Photo by Dennis Cortés, released under CC0 1.0 (public domain)
Instagram
The Coalition
Photo by Financial Times (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prime_Minister,_David_Cameron_and_Deputy_Prime_Minister,_Nick_Clegg._(4751661312).jpg · CC BY 2.0
The Coalition
The Only Way Is Essex
AI-generated illustration
The Only Way Is Essex
Apple iPad
Tablet computer photo by KA KIT, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Apple iPad

the gadgets you just got

Apple iPad
Tablet computer photo by KA KIT, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Apple iPad
iPhone 4
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IPhone_4_-_front.jpg · CC0
iPhone 4
BlackBerry Curve
Photo by Derek Hatfield (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BlackBerry_Curve_20100818.jpg · CC BY 2.0
BlackBerry Curve
Kinect for Xbox 360
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:XBOX_360_Kincet.jpg · Public domain
Kinect for Xbox 360
HTC Desire
Photo by Shritwod (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Htc-desire-2.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
HTC Desire

what everyone is snacking on

Cadbury Dairy Milk
Photo by NINXIVI (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cadbury_Dairy_Milk_-Mini_Bar-_(3951105262).jpg · CC BY 2.0
Cadbury Dairy Milk
Rustlers
Photo by Sprogz (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rustlers_Burger_(10755769965).jpg · CC BY 2.0
Rustlers
Freddo
Photo by Dan arndt (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dairy_Milk_Freddo.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Freddo
McCoy's
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McCoy%27s_crisps.jpg · CC0
McCoy's
Doritos
Bananasoldier, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Doritos

what everyone is drinking

WKD
AI-generated illustration
WKD
Relentless
AI-generated illustration
Relentless
Capri-Sun
AI-generated illustration
Capri-Sun
Monster Energy
Bxxiaolin, edited by Pittigrilli, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Can_of_Monster_Energy_drink_sold_in_China_(0.33_l),_on_white_background.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Monster Energy
Oasis
AI-generated illustration
Oasis

what made the news in 2010

  • A hung parliament brings a Conservative–Lib Dem Coalition; Cameron becomes PM
  • Deepwater Horizon's oil spill and Iceland's volcanic ash cloud dominate the year
  • England are humiliated 4–1 by Germany at the World Cup in South Africa
  • Raoul Moat's manhunt grips the North East before a standoff in Rothbury
A hung parliament brings the Conservative–Lib Dem Coalition
Photo by Number 10 (UK Government) (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:David_Cameron_Downing_Street_portrait.jpg · OGL v3.0
A hung parliament brings the Conservative–Lib Dem Coalition
England humiliated 4–1 by Germany at the World Cup
Photo by Octagon (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2010_FIFA_World_Cup_Fans.jpg · CC BY 3.0
England humiliated 4–1 by Germany at the World Cup
Iceland's volcanic ash cloud grounds flights across Europe
Photo by David Karnå (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kull_eruption_ash_cloud_20100417.jpg · CC BY 3.0
Iceland's volcanic ash cloud grounds flights across Europe
The Raoul Moat manhunt grips the North East
Photo by Derek Voller (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rothbury,_Northumberland_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3076220.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0
The Raoul Moat manhunt grips the North East
Chile's trapped miners are rescued as the world watches
Photo by Hugo Infante / Government of Chile (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chile_Mine_Rescue_(5075426499).jpg · CC BY 2.0
Chile's trapped miners are rescued as the world watches

what everyone is saying

  • "We're all in this together"the Coalition's austerity slogan
  • "Shut up!"TOWIE catchphrase, drawn out and Essex
  • "Reem"Joey Essex's word for cool, coined on TOWIE
  • "I predict a riot — actually, 'well jel'"TOWIE slang for very jealous
  • "Vajazzle"the TOWIE beauty craze that entered the dictionary

the summer of 2010.

you think you've got all the time in the world.

…and then it cools. Play the reel to feel where 2010 goes.

Turn 2010 into a 30-second reel →

▶ Play your 2010 reel with sound