2026: Facts & Events That Happened in This Year

Jan 3

The US carried out a large-scale strike on Venezuela, capturing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

Jan 7

An ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renée Good, a bystander, during an operation in Minneapolis.

A U.S. Citizen and mother of three, Renée Good was in her car when nearby ICE agents approached her. According to eyewitnesses, Renée was given conflicting instructions from agents, and when she began to move her car, she was fatally shot in the head. The federal government defended the shooting, claiming the agent acted in self-defence.

Jan 15

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gifted her Nobel Peace Prize medal to Donald Trump.

Machado said the gesture was to honor Trump's role in the operation that led to President Nicolás Maduro's capture. Nobel officials note the prize itself cannot be transferred, so the handover was symbolic and does not make Trump a laureate.

Jan 21

Taylor Swift became the youngest person to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at age 36.

Jan 30

December 10, the boy band created from the Netflix docuseries “Simon Cowell: The Next Act,” released their debut single, “Run My Way.”

The song entered the UK Official Singles Chart at No. 72 that week.

Feb 9

NYC Water reported that New York City’s water use dropped during the Super Bowl’s Bad Bunny halftime show, then spiked in the 15 minutes after it ended.

The agency said the surge was equivalent to about 761,719 toilets flushing across the city. The same jump was recorded in all five boroughs.

Feb 19

A truck carrying liquefied gas lost control, struck highway guardrails, overturned, and exploded in Santiago, Chile.

In the days that followed, Chile's Ministry of Health said the death toll rose to 12, with nine people still hospitalized.

Feb 20

Norway broke the record for most gold medals at a single Winter Olympics after Johannes Dale-Skjevdal won the country’s 17th gold in the Milano-Cortina Winter Games.

Mar 4

Apple announced its most affordable laptop ever, the MacBook Neo, with a starting price of $599.

Apple said the lower-priced model made the Mac lineup more accessible to millions of people around the world, while featuring a 13-inch Liquid Retina display, the A18 Pro chip, and up to 16 hours of battery life.

Mar 18

Rhinos were reintroduced to Uganda’s Kidepo Valley National Park for the first time in more than 40 years after being wiped out there by poaching.

Mar 26

The Philippines and France signed a visiting forces agreement in Paris that enabled their militaries to conduct joint training in each other’s territory.

The deal supported Manila's push to widen its defence partnerships and improve interoperability with other militaries as it faced growing pressure from China in the South China Sea, while France framed it as part of its broader Indo-Pacific security engagement and support for freedom of navigation.

Apr 25

A gunman stormed the security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., firing at a Secret Service officer before being tackled and arrested.

May 17

The World Health Organization declared an outbreak of a rare strain of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern.

Jun 11

The war in Ukraine reached its 1,569th day, surpassing the length of World War I.

Jul 26

Iran’s Alamut Castle was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List along with six related fortresses.

Aug 12

A total solar eclipse swept across the Northern Hemisphere, marking the first time in 27 years that total darkness from an eclipse was visible from mainland Europe.

The path of totality stretched through Spain and Iceland, where viewers experienced vastly different conditions, ranging from dramatic sunset views in the south to eerie overcast skies in the north.

Sep 4

The UN voted 164-1 to back the “Equal Earth” world map over the Mercator projection.

The 450-year-old Mercator map shrinks regions near the equator, so Africa looks about the size of Greenland despite being 14 times larger. The United States cast the only vote against, calling the measure an "ideological agenda."