2011

2011 (MMXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (dominical letter B) of the Gregorian calendar, the 2011th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 11th year of the 3rd millennium, the 11th year of the 21st century, and the 2nd year of the 2010s decade.

2011 was designated as:

It was marked by a wave of revolutions in the Arab World known as the Arab Spring, including the beginnings of several unresolved protest movements and armed conflicts.

Events

January

The Graham Norton Show

The Graham Norton Show is a British comedy chat show broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom. It was shown on BBC Two from February 2007 to May 2009 and has been on BBC One since October 2009. Presented by Irish comedian Graham Norton, the show's format is very similar to his previous Channel 4 programmes, So Graham Norton and V Graham Norton, both of which were also produced by So Television.

Programming

BBC Two

The show mirrors So and V with strong adult humour along with Graham's monologue at the beginning of the show and often a musical guest to play out over the credits. Although the rude objects in "Graham's drawer" did not survive, the phone calls and hidden camera surprises have. These surprises are sometimes based around the guests, such as Sarah Beeny's dating website, a TARDIS on the South Bank when David Tennant appeared and a wine-tasting group drinking Gérard Depardieu's wine whilst he was on the show. Some of the surprises, such as the wine-tasting, have been arranged through ideas submitted by viewers, stating where they will be when the show is recorded.

Graham Norton

Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), better known by the stage name Graham Norton, is an Irish television and radio presenter, comedian, and actor based in the United Kingdom. He is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comedy chat show The Graham Norton Show. Previously shown on BBC Two, it took the prestigious Friday night slot on BBC One from Jonathan Ross in 2010. He also presents on BBC Radio 2 and is the BBC television commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest, which led Hot Press to describe him as "the 21st century's answer to Terry Wogan". Norton is known for his innuendo-laden dialogue and flamboyant presentation style. In 2012, he sold his production company, So Television, to ITV for around £17 million.

Early life and career

Norton was born in Clondalkin, a suburb of Dublin, but grew up in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland. His family are Protestant. His father's family were from County Wicklow, while his mother was from Belfast. He was educated at Bandon Grammar School, in West Cork, and then University College, Cork (U.C.C.), where he spent two years studying English and French in the 1980s but did not complete his studies. In June 2013 he received an honorary doctorate from University College Cork; he occasionally mentions this in order to win on-air arguments on his BBC Radio 2 show.

December 9

December 9 is the 343rd day of the year (344th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 22 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events