2016 was a year filled with so many exciting and interesting things happening all around us! It’s hard to believe we didn’t explode from all the excitement.
First off, Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar for his incredible performance in the movie called “The Revenant.” However, the Oscars faced criticism because they mainly awarded white actors and actresses.
Speaking of entertainment, J.K. Rowling released a new book called “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” adding excitement to the Harry Potter series. Meanwhile, the TV show “Stranger Things” on Netflix became a worldwide sensation, keeping everyone hooked and entertained.
But 2016 had some sad moments too. Not only did we lose legendary pop icon David Bowie, but a child accidentally fell into the enclosure of a gorilla named Harambe, and the zoo made a pretty harsh decision on how to deal with it.
Oh, and in the world of politics, something unexpected happened. Donald Trump, a businessman and television personality, was elected as the President of the United States. It was a surprising outcome that led to various opinions and discussions among people.
Continue reading to explore the key events, impactful news stories, notable music releases, and inspirational quotes that shaped the year 2016.
Events
Take a front-row seat to the incredible events that unfolded in 2016 and witness the power of human achievement.
Jan 6
A state of emergency was declared in California after a gas leak.
Governor Jerry Brown declared the state of emergency after a methane gas leak broke out – just outside Los Angeles.
Jan 15
A Chinese Long March rocket launched the Belarussian government’s Belintersat-1 satellite into orbit.
The Belintersat satellite was created on behalf of the Belarussian government by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and Thales Alenia Space. Its function is as a geostationary telecommunications satellite providing broadband internet, satellite TV, and radio communications.
Jan 23
A category five blizzard occurred in the Mid-Atlantic and North East US, which covered the area in 3 feet of snow.
The historic event killed 55 people and caused around $850 million economic damage, according to Planalytics.
Feb 7
North Korea launched the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 reconnaissance satellite atop an Unha rocket.
The international community largely condemned the launch, as the Unha rocket is the satellite-launch version of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Claims were made that the satellite launch was an excuse to test said missile, which North Korea denied. The satellite passes over North Korea four times a day. While the hermit nation claims it is fully operational, international experts have not found any evidence to support this claim.
Feb 11
Researchers announced that gravitational waves had been discovered.
The discovery was made by researchers involved with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). The collision of two black holes detected on September 14, 2015, led to this discovery.
Feb 24
8th Century Muslim graves were discovered in Nimes, France.
In the burial site, three skeletons were found facing in the direction of Mecca.
Mar 1
At 340 days, Astronaut Scott Kelly completed the longest single mission aboard the International Space Station.
Mar 19
Zack Snyder’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” premiered at Mexico City’s Auditorio Nacional.
Mar 21
Aaron Carpenter swam with dolphins for the first time.
He tweeted saying, “I just rode a dolphin!!!!”
Mar 23
Researchers in England declared that the skull in William Shakespeare’s grave was probably stolen and replaced with someone else’s by grave robbers.
Apr 3
11.5 million private documents were leaked and became known as The Panama Papers.
The papers detailed transactions and money laundering activities of many of the world’s rich and powerful. They show them committing crimes such as tax evasion, fraud, and circumventing international sanctions.
Apr 12
Project Starshot was announced by Yuri Milner, Stephen Hawking, and Mark Zuckerberg.
The Starshot is a $100 million project to send a probe on a 20-year journey to Alpha Centauri.
Apr 24
Andrew Lawrence became the fastest runner to complete a marathon dressed as a fruit.
During the London Marathon, the 30-year-old dad wore a bright yellow banana skin outfit and finished the race in two hours, 47 minutes, and 41 seconds.
May 23
Blizzard released its first shooter game, Overwatch, for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
This team-based multiplayer first-person shooter was a huge sidestep from any games previously released by Blizzard, such as Diablo, Warcraft, or Starcraft. Overwatch reused many elements from a Blizzard game dubbed “Titan”, which was canceled in 2014.
May 27
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary published that a hot dog is classified as a sandwich on their website.
May 28
Harambe the Gorilla was shot to death inside his enclosure in the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.
Harambe was relaxing inside the Gorilla World habitat when a three-year-old boy managed to climb into the enclosure and fell into the moat. Although it appeared that Harambe was protecting the boy and saving it from drowning, zoo officials decided to shoot Harambe as they feared he might accidentally kill the child.
Jun 7
The preview of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was shown at the Palace Theater in London.
Jun 23
Britain voted to leave the European Union.
The UK is the only country to formally leave the EU.
Jul 13
British prime minister, Theresa May of the Conservative Party, was elected by the Party’s MPs.
Jul 22
Funai Electric announced that the world’s last VCR would be manufactured this month.
Funai began to manufacture video-cassette recorders in 1983 and was selling 15 million units a year at one point. But with technology evolving so often since then, the equipment needed to build VCRs has become too difficult to find.
Aug 10
Australian swimmer Kyle Chalmers won the 100-meter freestyle gold medal in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
He completed the distance in 47.58 seconds which became a junior world record.
Aug 20
A suicide bomber killed 57 people while injuring 66 in Gaziantep, Turkey.
The terrorist had targeted a Kurdish wedding that took place on this day.
Aug 24
The Central Italy earthquake occurred.
The 6.2 magnitude earthquake killed 299 people, injured 388, and left 4,500 homeless.
Sep 21
Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan gave $3 billion to fight and end all diseases.
Donations would be made over a decade to further medical research to try and end all diseases by the end of the century.
Sep 25
Selena Gomez achieved a world record for being the first person to reach 100 million followers on Instagram.
Oct 2
Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, France.
Five men were masked and made off with $10 million worth of jewelry.
Oct 12
The cosmetics company CoverGirl featured their first-ever boy on the cover.
James Charles, an online influencer, was 17 at the time.
Oct 16
The 85-year-old athlete Ed Whitlock broke a world record after completing a sub-4-hour marathon.
Whitlock passed the finish line in 3 hours and 56 minutes.
Nov 4
The Paris Climate Change Agreement went into force.
It was an international pact to reduce greenhouse emissions and address world climate change.
Nov 8
Donald Trump won an election to become the 45th president of the United States of America.
Republican, Trump received 304 electoral votes against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton who received 227 votes.
Nov 12
Jackie Chan was awarded an honorary Oscar at the 8th Annual Governors Awards for starring in over 200 movies.
Nov 14
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Kaikōura, New Zealand.
There were two fatalities, with 57 injured. The earthquake was the second largest on record in New Zealand.
Dec 14
Amazon announced its first drone delivery.
Amazon revealed that they had their first order delivery by drone to a house in Cambridge, an order consisting of an Amazon Fire TV and a bag of popcorn. The delivery took just 13 minutes.
Dec 16
The US State Department increased the reward for information on the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to $25 million.
Dec 19
The US Electoral College voted 304 to 227 to nominate Donald Trump for President over the objections of seven faithless electors.
Famous Deaths
Here’s a glimpse at a few famous people who bid us farewell in 2016.
1946
2016
Alan Rickman
English
Actor
1946
2016
Alan Rickman
Alan Rickman was an English actor born on February 21, 1946. He died on January 14, 2016, at age 69 in London, England, UK.
Died On:
Jan 14, 2016 (Age 69)
Died In:
England, UK
1947
2016
David Bowie
English
Singer
1947
2016
David Bowie
David Bowie was an English singer born on January 8, 1947. He died on January 10, 2016, at age 69 in New York City, USA.
Died On:
Jan 10, 2016 (Age 69)
Died In:
New York City, USA
1963
2016
George Michael
British
Singer
1963
2016
George Michael
George Michael was a British singer born on June 25, 1963. He died on December 25, 2016, at age 53 in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
Died On:
Dec 25, 2016 (Age 53)
Died In:
England, UK
Quotes
Here’s a roundup of the most memorable quotes people said in 2016.
Oct 16
My 10th grade teacher told me “RuPaul, don’t take life too seriously.” It was the greatest lesson I ever learned in school.
RuPaul
American Drag Queen
2016 In Music
2016 was a year that filled our playlists with chart-topping hits that we still can’t get enough of!
From the infectious energy of “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” by Justin Timberlake to the hauntingly beautiful “Hello” by Adele, these songs touched our hearts and had us humming along wherever we went.
Check out these music highlights from 2016 that you should know.
Album of the Year
Taylor Swift’s infectious pop album “1989” rocked the music world in 2016, earning her the Grammy for Album of the Year and solidifying her status as a pop sensation.
Song of the Year
Ed Sheeran’s romantic melody “Thinking Out Loud” won the hearts of many and earned him the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2016.
Best New Artist
Meghan Trainor’s infectious pop sound and empowering lyrics won her the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2016, solidifying her as a pop sensation.
Eurovision Song Contest Winner
The 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, the 61st edition, dazzled viewers in Stockholm, Sweden, with its stunning performances.
Jamala, a talented singer from Ukraine, won the hearts of the audience with her emotionally charged song “1944,” delivering a powerful message and securing Ukraine’s second victory in Eurovision.
2016 in Numbers
Numerologists claimed that 2015 would be a year of financial gain and prosperity. It might have been true for some but not for the Chinese stock market that dramatically crashed this year.
In Roman numerals, the year 2016 is written as MMXVI. When converted to binary, 2016 is represented as 11111100000, which is a sequence of 1s and 0s that signifies its place value in the binary number system.
Leap Year
The year 2016 was a leap year, introducing an extra day into our calendar on February 29th. This adjustment helps account for the slight discrepancy between our man-made timekeeping system and the Earth’s orbital period.
Harshad Number
2016 is a Harshad number, which is a number that can be evenly divided by the sum of its digits. It’s like a special math rule for some numbers.
To explain in more detail, we add up the digits (2 + 0 + 1 + 6), which equals 9. And now we see if 2016 can be divided evenly by 9, which it can! 2016 ÷ 9 = 224. So this makes 2016 a Harshad number.
Abundant Number
Also, 2016 is known as an abundant number. An abundant number is a number where if you add up all the smaller numbers that can divide evenly into it, the total sum is greater than the number itself.
So, when you add up all the smaller numbers that can divide evenly into 2016 (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 24, 28, 32, 36, 42, 48, 56, 63, 72, 84, 96, 112, 126, 144, 168, 224, 252, 288, 336, 504, 672, 1008), they add up to 4536, which is greater than 2016.
Chinese Zodiac 2016
According to the Chinese zodiac tradition, 2016 was officially recognized as The Year of the Monkey, an occurrence that takes place once every twelve years.
But did you know that the Chinese zodiac cycle also incorporates the five elements – Wood, Fire, Earth, Gold (Metal), and Water? So this makes 2016 the Year of the Fire Monkey, a cycle which happens once every sixty years.
Because the Chinese zodiac follows a lunar calendar, the Year of the Fire Monkey commenced on February 8th, and lasted until January 27, 2017.
The Monkey represents individuals who are clever, playful, and highly sociable. They possess a quick wit and enjoy entertaining others, making them natural performers and excellent problem solvers.
Selena Gomez and Cole Sprouse, born in the Year of the Monkey, have achieved fame and success in their respective fields, making them shining examples of this zodiac sign!
2016 Trivia
Did you know that in 2016, Deadpool became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time?
Featuring the titular lovable loud-mouthed maniac Deadpool, it was also the highest-grossing X-Men film.
By the end of its showing in theaters, Deadpool raked in a staggering $745 million.
