Only once before had a news story taken the No. 1 slot in Top Searches on Yahoo — namely, the death of Michael Jackson. On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11. As we noted, "The gushing crude took 86 days to cap. The live feed from the ocean floor became must-watch viewing, as massive online scrutiny monitored best (and not so best) efforts to kill the well and stop the worst spill in marine history."

1. BP oil ... more 

Only once before had a news story taken the No. 1 slot in Top Searches on Yahoo — namely, the death of Michael Jackson. On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11. As we noted, "The gushing crude took 86 days to cap. The live feed from the ocean floor became must-watch viewing, as massive online scrutiny monitored best (and not so best) efforts to kill the well and stop the worst spill in marine history."

1. BP oil spill
2. World Cup
3. Miley Cyrus
4. Kim Kardashian
5. Lady Gaga
6. iPhone
7. Megan Fox
8. Justin Bieber
9. American Idol
10. Britney Spears
A whopping 144 articles only skimmed the Search stream in 2010. Monumental natural disasters included earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and China, floods in Pakistan and Nashville; an Iceland volcano even grounded global air traffic. Yet tales of heroism amazed us, from the Deepwater Horizon crew, the Chilean miners trapped underground, and the miraculous "return" of kidnapped young girl Jaycee Dugard hiding in plain sight, grown up with her two children. (U.S. Coast Guard via Getty Images) less