Jessica Wade
OPINION EDITOR
The end of 2016 is near, and the Earth is still spinning. Sure, there were a few rough patches, and most people will surely give a sigh of relief as they welcome in the new year, but 2016 had its good moments with its bad. Here’s a look back at some monumental events that took place during the last year.
The result of this year’s presidential election brings hope to some and fear to many others. Whether rejoicing or preparing for the possibility of World War III, most Americans can at least agree that the election was a wild, if terrifying, ride. What began with an insult lobbed at journalist and mediator Megan Kelly, somehow ended with Donald Trump, despite all his faults—inexperience, running against much more qualified candidates and the continuous stream of offenses spewing from his own mouth— ‘The Donald’ became The President.
Although the scandal of the Democratic National Committee pitting itself against Bernie Sanders didn’t do Hilary Clinton any favors, the results were still shocking. Who could have predicted a President Trump? Definitely not the majority of the media.
While saying hello to a new U.S. president, the world also said goodbye to some incredible people, including Fidel Castro, Gene Wilder, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Harper Lee, Muhammad Ali ,Nancy Reagan, Antonin Salia and many others.
A lot of tragedy occurred in 2016. There was the Orlando nightclub shooting that killed 49 people, the relentless bombing of Aleppo, an attack on Brussels that killed 34, Hurricane Matthew devastated Haiti, the deadly plane crash in Colombia and numerous other events.
There were many reasons to mourn in 2016, but there were also reasons to cheer, and the Olympics was one.
Reportedly the most tweeted topic of 2016, some of the greatest athletes in the world traveled to Rio and proved their dedication to their sport and country. Michael Phelps left Rio as the most decorated Olympian in history, and his teammate Ryan Locthe left Rio a bad impression after falsely reporting a crime and damaging property.
Scientific breakthroughs add to the list of things to cheer about. The ALS Association found the gene likely linked to the disease,NASA’s spacecraft Juno traveled 1.7 billion miles to reach Jupiter this year, the first solar-powered plane traveled around the world, researches made strides towards a cure for HIV and giant pandas are no longer endangered.
2016 was not an easy year to get through, but bring it on, 2017.
