The World's Most Important Events

Aside from our personal apprehension, we can no longer ignore the larger picture outside our comfort zone. Various events and occurrences are occurring nowadays, and they are all of such importance that we should not ignore them. We must be aware of everything that occurs.

I've begun writing this post in order for all of us to become aware. The specific events, as well as when and where they took place, are listed below.

2022 (MMXXII)

1. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military operation in Ukraine | 24 February 2022

2021 (MMXXI)

1. Israeli–Palestinian conflict | 10 - 21 May 2021 | Israel
2. The Taliban Return to Power | May 01 - 15 August 2021 | Afghanistan
3. Joe Biden Becomes President. “America is back.”
4. COVID-19 Vaccines Arrive as the Virus Mutates. 

2020 (MMXX)

1. A pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 spreads across the globe, killing millions of people and infecting many more (including Donald Trump).  Safety measures to reduce the spread of the disease, including lockdowns, quarantines, and mask mandates, cause economic recession and some backlash. Late in the year, the arrival of vaccines offers hope.
2. In American politics, the Senate acquits President Donald Trump after he was impeached by the House.
3. Trump loses re-election to Democrat Presidential candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris, the first ever woman, Black and South Asian vice-president. The high voter turnout sets records.
4. In January, a U.S. drone strike kills Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, elevating tensions.
5. The U.S. brokers peace deals between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
6. The killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota leads to nationwide Black Lives Matter protests.
7. Australia and the western U.S. experience devastating wildfires.
8. The U.K.’s Brexit from the European Union becomes official in January.
9. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce they would “step back” from the British royal family on January 8.
10. Basketball star Kobe Bryant and his daughter die in a helicopter crash.
11. Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite becomes the first foreign-language film to win the Academy Award for best motion picture.
12. Movie producer Harvey Weinstein is found guilty of sex crimes.
13. In August, a fire in a waterfront warehouse in Beirut, Lebanon ignites a cache of ammonium nitrate, causing an explosion that killed nearly 200 people and injured more than 6,000.
14. Liberal Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies, giving Donald Trump the opportunity to replace her with conservative Amy Coney Barrett.
15. Computer hackers target American public figures in a bitcoin scam in July.
16. U.S. government computers are subject to a massive cyberattack, likely coming from Russia.
17. China, the United Arab Emirates and the U.S. all launch unmanned space missions to Mars.
18. U.S. and Japanese probes land on asteroids and collected dust and rocks to bring back to Earth.
19. In January, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 is shot down by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards after taking off from Tehran, killing 176 people.
20. The best-reviewed musical recordings of 2020 are: Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters; Run the Jewels – RTJ4; Taylor Swift – Folklore; Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher; Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud; and Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia. 
21. The most highly-regarded books of 2020 are: Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell; Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhar; The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett; Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson; Vesper Flights, by Helen Macdonald; and African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song, edited by Kevin Young.
22. The most critically-acclaimed films of 2020 are: Small Axe: Lovers Rock (UK, Steve McQueen); First Cow (US, Kelly Reichardt); Never Rarely Sometimes Always (US/UK. Eliza Hittman); Nomadland (US, Chloé Zhao); Collective (Romania, Alexander Nanau); and Mank (US, David Fincher).

2019

1. Wildfires in the Amazon rainforest reach record proportions.
2. Hurricane Dorian kills 74 (with over 250 still missing) in The Bahamas.
3. A volcano erupts on White Island in New Zealand, killing 20.
4. A proposed extradition bill sparks widespread protests and violence in Hong Kong.
5. The U.S. House of Representatives impeaches President Donald Trump for abuse of power after he withholds aid from Ukraine in an attempt to obtain negative information on his political rival.
6. The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team wins the World Cup for the fourth time.
7. A fire partially destroys Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
8. The leaders of North Korea and the U.S. meet twice, and President Donald Trump becomes the first sitting U.S. president to enter North Korea.
9. After the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, killing 157, all Boeing 737 Max aircraft are grounded.
10. China lands an unmanned space probe on the dark side of the moon.
11. Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope project announce the first ever image of a black hole, located in the center of the M87 galaxy.
12. After failing to obtain a deal on Brexit, UK Prime Minister Theresa May resigns, to be replaced by Boris Johnson.
13. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, who is currently seventh in line to the British throne.
14. Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg became the face of climate change activism: she led thousands in protest marches; spoke to the United Nations; and was designated Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.
15. Venezuela enters a presidential crisis as Juan Guaidó and the National Assembly declare incumbent President Nicolás Maduro “illegitimate”; Guiadó declared himself president of Venezuela, but Maduro refused to step down. In April, an attempted uprising against Maduro fails.
16. In April, Japanese Emperor Akihito formally stepped down after a 30-year reign, ending the Heisei era and becoming the first Japanese monarch in some 200 years to abdicate. Akihito’s son Naruhito succeeded him on the Chrysanthemum Throne, marking the start of the Reiwa imperial era.
17. ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died in a U.S. special forces operation.
18. An Ebola epidemic killed over 2,000 people in Democratic Republic of Congo.
19. The Republic of Macedonia renames itself the Republic of North Macedonia, officially ending a decades-old dispute with Greece.
20. In October, NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir exit  the International Space Station, becoming the first to complete an all-female spacewalk.
21. A series of bomb attacks occur at eight locations in Sri Lanka leaves 259 people dead.
22. Anti-Muslim terrorist attacks at two mosques in New Zealand leave 51 dead.
23. Mass shootings in El Paso, Texas (22 dead) and Dayton Ohio (10 dead) during a 24-hour period in August. El Paso shooter allegedly motivated by hatred of immigrants.
24. In India, a landslide win for Narendra Modi and his right wing BJP party; rescinding of autonomy for Kashmir and Jammu; controversial new citizenship law that prefers non-Muslim immigrants; also, Pakistan-India tensions increase.
25. The best-reviewed musical recordings of 2019 are: Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell!; Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?; FKA Twigs – MAGDALENE; and Tyler, The Creator – IGOR.
26. The most highly-regarded books of 2019 are: Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder And Memory In Northern Ireland, by Patrick Radden Keefe; Trick Mirror: Reflections On Self-Delusion, by Jia Tolentino; The Yellow House, by Sarah M. Broom; Trust Exercise, by Susan Choi; On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong; Ducks, Newburyport, by Lucy Ellmann; Normal People, by Sally Rooney; The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead; Fleishman Is In Trouble, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner.
27. The most critically-acclaimed films of 2019 are: The Irishman (US, Martin Scorsese); Parasite (South Korea, Bong Joon-ho); Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (US/UK, Quentin Tarantino); and Marriage Story (US/UK, Noah Baumbach).

2018

1. The night of January 30-31 saw a Super Blue Blood Moon for the first time since 1866 (a total lunar eclipse during the second full moon of the month while the moon was at its closest point to Earth)
2. South Korea hosts the Winter Olympics at PyeongChang in February.
3. In February, a mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida leaves 17 dead. Other deadly mass shootings in the US include another school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas (10 killed) in May; an October shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue that left 11 dead; and a shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California (23 killed) in November.
4. On March 24, hundreds of thousands of people joined the March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C. and 900 other cities around the world, protesting gun violence and mass shootings and calling for stronger gun control laws.
5. China amends its constitution in March to remove term limits, making Xi Jinping “President for Life.”
6. In March, Vladimir Putin wins election to a fourth six-year term as Russia’s president.
7. In April, Miguel Diaz-Canel becomes president of Cuba after Raúl Castro steps down.
8. In April, the Trump Administration implements a controversial family separation policy at the Mexican border, causing 2,300 children to be taken from their parents. After protests, the policy is rescinded in June.
9. On April 14, in response to a suspected sarin gas attack on rebel-held Douma by the government of Syria in the Syrian Civil War, the US, the UK and France launch air strikes against government targets.
10. On April 27, the leaders of North and South Korea meet for an historic summit in Pyongyang and agree to an official end of the Korean War.
11. Cuban Air Flight 972 crashes shortly after take-off near Havana, Cuba, in May, killing 112 people.
12. The US withdraws from the Iranian nuclear agreement in May; in June, the US withdraws from the UN Human Rights Council; and in October, the US withdraws from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in protest over allegations of Russian violations.
13. UK’s Prince Harry marries Meghan Markle, a divorced, biracial American actress, on May 19.
14. On May 20, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is reelected for a second six-year term in what many countries (including the US, the EU, and the Organization of American States) claim is a sham election.
15. On May 25, an overwhelming majority of Irish voters choose to repeal the country’s ban on abortion.
16. The US and North Korean leaders meet in their first summit in June to discuss denuclearization, but little concrete is accomplished.
17. In July, France wins the FIFA World Cup, which is held in Russia.
18. Japan and the European Union sign an Economic Partnership Agreement in July that creates an open trade zone covering 30% of global trade.
19. After nationwide protests, the government of Saudi Arabia lifts the ban on women driving on June 24. The concession did not stop the Saudis from prosecuting the protestors, however.
20. The 12 boys on a Thai soccer team and their coach are rescued in July after spending almost three weeks in a flooded cave.
21. In July, the US begins a trade war with China by imposing tariffs on Chinese goods. In December, the countries agree to a truce in the war.
22. The 20-year conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea finally ends with the signing of a peace deal in July.
23. Following a series of cybersecurity scandals, including the sale of personal data from 50 million users to Cambridge Analytica, Facebook suffers a one-day, $109 billion drop in its market value in July.  
24. The Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy collapses in August, killing 43.
25. In August, Apple, Inc. becomes the first publicly traded company to reach $1 trillion in value.
26. Arizona Senator and war hero John McCain dies on August 25.
27. In August NASA launches the $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe, which will study our Sun, its corona and solar wind at close range.
28. In September, the Indian Supreme Court strikes down a law criminalizing homosexual activity.
29. Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro wins Brazil’s presidential election in October.
30. In October, Canada legalizes the sale and recreational use of marijuana.
31. On October 2, Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi is murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, triggering a diplomatic crisis. The CIA concludes that the murder was ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
32. On October 6, despite credible allegations that he sexually assaulted women while in high school and college, Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is narrowly approved by the US Senate in a 50-48 vote.
33. The powerful Category 5 hurricane Michael hits the southeastern US in October, killing 46.
34. In October, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a special report on global warming that warns that the Earth will warm by 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2040 and that “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society” are needed to reduce the threats.
35. In November, several US government agencies issue a National Climate Assessment Report predicting severe damage to the US economy by climate change, including a huge increase in heart-related deaths.
36. In response to reports of a large caravan of migrants coming to the US-Mexico border, President Trump deploys nearly 6,000 active-duty military troops to the border in November.
37. In the November mid-term US elections, the Democrats take back control of the House of Representatives.  The election includes several historic firsts and records including: the most women ever elected to Congress, the election of the first Muslim women, the first Native American women, and the first openly bisexual senator.
38. In November, former president George H.W. Bush dies at the age of 94.
39. 2018 was the most destructive wildfire season ever in California, and culminates in November with the Camp Fire, which kills nearly 90 people in the northern California town of Paradise.
40. In December, the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize is awarded jointly to Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege, who works with victims of rape, and Yazidi assault survivor Nadia Murad “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.”
41. Yellow Vest protests over economic conditions continue in France, developing into riots during the week of December 1-8. On December 10, President Emmanuel Macron promises to raise the minimum wage.
42. On December 12, British Prime Minister Theresa May survives a no confidence vote in Parliament, despite her inability to negotiate a Brexit deal with the EU that can win approval from the House of Commons.
43. The most highly-regarded books of 2018 are: There There, by Tommy Orange; Circe, by Madeline Miller; The Largesse of the Sea Maiden: Stories, by Denis Johnson; Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, by David W. Blight; Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover; Heavy: An American Memoir, by Kiese Laymon; and American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, by Terrance Hayes.
44. The best-reviewed musical recordings of 2018 are: Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer; Mitski – Be the Cowboy; Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour; and Pusha T – DAYTONA.
45. Critically-acclaimed films of 2018 include: Roma (Mexico/US, Alfonso Cuarón); If Beale Street Could Talk (US, Barry Jenkins); Burning (South Korea, Chang-dong Lee); and The Favourite (Ireland/UK/US, Yorgos Lanthimos).

2017

1. In August and September, major hurricanes Harvey (Texas, US); Irma (Caribbean islands; Puerto Rico & Florida, US); and Maria (Puerto Rico, US) cause significant loss of life and property.
2. Wildfires in California (US) and across the globe are the second worst in recorded history.
3. North Korea increases its missile and nuclear testing in defiance of United Nations sanctions.
4. Iraq announced that it had defeated the Islamic State (ISIS) but the group still survives in Syria and commits terrorist attacks elsewhere in the world.
5. Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th US president. During his first year in office, he recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, withdraws from the Paris Climate Agreement, and bans immigration from several Muslim-majority countries.
6. The Trump Administration is under investigation for colluding with Russia to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.
7. After militants from the Rohingya population ambush armed security forces, Myanmar launches a military crackdown on the Muslim minority group; over 650,000 Rohingyas flee to neighboring Bangladesh.
8. Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe resigns after 37 years of rule.
9. The UK reaches a ‘divorce’ agreement with the European Union.
10. Spain’s Catalonia region votes for and declares independence, but Spanish authorities reject the move, suspend the region’s autonomy and exert control.
11. Awareness of women’s rights issues in the US was highlighted by the massive women’s marches following Donald Trump’s inauguration and the outing of powerful and famous men who have committed sexual assault and harassment through the #metoo movement.
12. Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman takes steps toward creating a more moderate Islamic state.
13. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen sever diplomatic ties with Qatar due to its support of terrorism.
14. Moderate, pro-Europe candidate Emmanuel Macron defeats right-wing candidate Marine LePen to become president of France.
15. Scientists’ observations of the collision and merger of two neutron stars provides evidence of gravitational waves and supports theories about the creation of heavy elements.
16. An iceberg measuring 2,200 square miles detaches from the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica.
17. Most critically-acclaimed movies: Get Out (Jordan Peele); Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig); Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino); and The Florida Project (Sean Baker).
18. Critics’ favorite recordings: Damn, by Kendrick Lamar; Ctrl, by SZA; Melodrama, by Lorde; and Masseducation, by St. Vincent. 
19. Best-reviewed books: Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders; Exit West, by Mohsin Hamid; Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann; and Hunger, by Roxane Gay. 

2016

1. Earthquakes kill 350 in Ecuador and 247 in Italy.
2. Colombia reaches peace agreement with rebel FARC group after 50 years of fighting.
3. Amid scandals, Brazil removes President Dilma Rousseff from office.
4. The war in Syria continues, with Assad’s forces, with Russian support, retaking Aleppo, causing huge numbers of civilian casualties.
5. A failed military coup in Turkey is followed by a purge of suspected anti-government rebels.
6. Controversial vigilante mayor Rodrigo Duterte becomes president of the Philippines.
7. North Korea detonates first hydrogen bomb and continues to test missiles.
8. UK votes to leave European Union in Brexit referendum vote.
9. Russia interferes in U.S. presidential election in favor of Donald Trump.
10. Republican Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidency in a surprise victory over first-ever female nominee, Democrat Hilary Clinton.
11. Iran severs diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia after the Saudis execute Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
12. Terrorists attacks in Brussels, Belgium (34 killed), Nice, France (84 killed) and Orlando, Florida, US (49 killed).
13. The Zika virus becomes a major health threat in South and Central America and the southern United States.
14. Mother Teresa is canonized as a Roman Catholic saint.
15. Scientists using the orbiting Kepler telescope discover 1284 new planets, nine of which might be able to support life

2015

1. A 7.8 magnitude earthquake near Gorkha, Nepal kills over 8,000 on April 25.
2. Refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries escaping war and deprivation flood into Europe.
3. On July 14, 2015, Iran, China, France, Russia, UK, US, Germany and the EU reach agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.
4. On September 28, NASA announces the strongest evidence yet that Mars has liquid water.
5. On October 31, a bomb possibly planted by ISIS brings down a Russian passenger airliner over the Sinai, killing all 224 people on board.
6. In November, ISIS strikes again in Paris, killing 130 in multiple coordinated attacks.
7. Tensions rise between Russia and Turkey after Turkish F-16s shoot down a Russian fighter in Turkish air space on November 24.
8. In the December 12, 2015 Paris Agreement, 195 countries agree to take action to curb climate change.

2014

1. Russia invades Ukraine and annexes Crimea.

2013

1. The Chelyabinsk meteor hits Russia.
2. France and Brazil legalize same-sex marriage.

2012

1. Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani teenager who spoke out on education for girls, survives a terrorist shooting (Pakistan).
2. Denmark legalizes same-sex marriage.
3. The Higgs boson is detected in the Large  Hadron Collider at CERN (Switzerland).
4. Swiss tennis player Roger Federer wins a record-breaking 17th Grand Slam title.
5. The hydroelectric Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is fully operational (China).

2011

1. The magnitude 9.0 Tohoku earthquake and resulting tsunami cause a meltdown at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and the deaths of 16,000 people (Japan).
2. South Sudan becomes an independent nation.
3. US forces kill Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
4. End of US-Iraq War.
5. Death of Kim Jong-Il and ascension of his son Kim Jong-un as Supreme Leader of North Korea.

2010

1. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake kills 158,000-223,000 people in Haiti.
2. Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, is completed in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).

2009

1. Government forces defeat the Tamil Tigers, ending the 26-year Sri Lankan civil war.
2. Norway and Sweden legalize same-sex marriage.
3. Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt sprints 100 meters in 9.58 seconds at the Berlin World Championships, breaking his own world record (Germany).
4. Death of Michael Jackson.

2008

1. Cyclone Nargis kills 133,000 in Myanmar.
2. Kosovo declares independence.
3. Failure of US financial institutions triggers global economic crisis.
4. War in Gaza between Israel and Palestinians.
5. Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be elected US President.

2007

1. J.K. Rowling publishes Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the Harry Potter series (UK).

2006

1. Montenegro becomes an independent nation.
2. Israel invades Lebanon.
3. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf becomes the first elected female African head of state.
4. South Africa legalizes same-sex marriage.

2005

1. An earthquake in Kashmir kills 80,000 (India; Pakistan).
2. Israel withdraws from Gaza.
3. The Youtube video sharing website is launched (US).
4. Canada and Spain legalize same-sex marriage.

2004

1. A magnitude 9.2 earthquake in the Indian Ocean off Indonesia and the resulting tsunami kill 280,000 people in 14 countries.
2. NATO and the European Union expand to include much of former Soviet bloc.
3. Massachusetts becomes the first US state to legalize same-sex marriage.
4. Mark Zuckerberg and his team launch the Facebook website (US).

Please leave a comment if you know of any missing events that you believe should be included here, as should any information that was overlooked or contains a typographical error.