2023 was an eventful year , that is now almost at an end. Here is a recap of all the big topics from 2023 the year.--Mackenzie Luna, 8th grade
2023 is almost at its end, with the year having events ranging from devastating, to important, and hilarious. So let’s recap on the past this year.
While there were many deaths this year, check out Aphrodite’s article about the most notable celebrity losses of 2023.
Near the very beginning of the year, on January 1st to be exact, Avengers actor Jeremy Renner, most known to fans as Hawkeye, was run over by a snowplow at his property in Reno, Nevada.
Renner and his nephew, 27, were both working on bringing a truck out from the snow, with Renner bringing down his Snow Plow vehicle instead of walking or using a typical car. Afterward, once the pair started heading back, Renner “turned the snowplow around and was, at one point, halfway out the cab door attempting to see if his nephew might be in danger between the vehicles on the icy road. He fell off, unsuccessfully tried to climb back in, and then fell under the snowplow's track,” described GMA from Renners Diane Sawyer exclusive interview.
Renner claimed to be awake all through the accident, while the plow ran over him, crushing him under the weight and against the icy road. After emergency services arrived, Renner was airlifted to the hospital, where it was declared that he was in the maximum level of trauma. 30 bones were broken, while a rib had pierced his liver.
Miraculously, Renner survived. With very many metal plates and sockets in his body, he is fully able to walk and breathe. While he is forever changed, Renner is working to regain feeling and full speech.
On February 1st, Legendary Rock artist Ozzy Osbourne declared his retirement from touring. However, Osbourne has said in later interviews that he still will perform occasionally. “I’ve gotta do more gigs if I have to get someone to wheel me out there,” Osbourne said in an interview with Kyle Gas and Jack Black. “I mean, you can’t retire from this game. It’s not a job, it’s a f–king passion. I don’t know how to do anything else. The thought of sitting in my house all day… I’m a road dog, you know? I’ve been doing it f–king 55 years. It’s the best thing to have ever happened to me,” Osbourne continued.
On February 4th, a Chinese “spy balloon” was shot down off the coast of South Carolina. The balloon was "200 feet tall with a jetliner size payload," according to Assistant Secretary of Defense, Melissa Dalton. It included “high-tech equipment that could collect communications signals and other sensitive information, and solar panels located on the metal truss suspended below the balloon,” according to CBS News. A few days following the incident, there were also a few other unidentified objects that flew into US Airspace.
However, a few weeks later, a Pentagon spokesperson clarified that after months of analysis on the wreckage of the Chinese spy balloon, the US believes it did not collect information while it transited from Alaska to South Carolina.
A day later, we had the Grammys on February 5th. Lizzo won for Record of the Year, Harry Styles for Album of the Year, Bonnie Raitt for Song of the Year, and Samara Joy for Best New Artist. Read the rest of the winners here.
On February 6th, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, killing over 50,000 people. “More than 5,700 buildings in Turkey have collapsed,” reported CNN. The earthquake struck around 4 am, while “many people were in their beds when it happened,” which made it the worst time for anyone to be aware of what was coming. After the earthquake, it was extremely hard to get rescue services out to look through the rubble due to harsh weather conditions, such as rain and snow. Two large tectonic plates – the Arabian and the Eurasian – meet underneath Turkey’s southeastern provinces, when a “strike-slip” occurred, causing the plates to slide sideways as well as back and forth.
“Why that matters is because the buildings don’t want to go back and forth. And then the secondary waves begin to go back and forth as well,” said meteorologist Chad Myers for CNN.
The 95th Academy Awards took place on March 12th, with Everything, Everywhere All at Once winning Best Picture, All Quiet on the Western Front for Best International Film, Michelle Yeoh for Best Actress, and Brendan Fraser for Best Actor.
On March 17th, Taylor Swift returned to the stage for the first show of The Eras Tour. The Eras Tour is a collection of all of her “eras” including, Lover, Fearless, Evermore, Folklore, Reputation, 1989, Speak Now, Red, and her newest album, Midnights. This 3-hour show is a sight to be seen.
On April 5th, The Super Mario Brothers movie was released. While being a hit among fans across the globe, it did receive some criticism for some of the cast, with the overall criticism saying there could have been different actors for the voices of the beloved Nintendo characters.
The most fashionable night of the year, the Met Gala took place on May 1st. Now judging all the outfits that celebrityies wear at the gala is common in the days following, but this year there were a few, interesting designs. Stars such as Lil Nas X, Doja Cat, and Jered Leto, who all happened to dress in outfits based off of...cats. The theme for this year was based around the late designer, Karl Lagerfeld, who designed for Chanel. Lagerfeld was known for his beloved cat, Choupette, a white Birman feline.
May was a busy month. On May 2nd, the Writers Guild of America went on strike against the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Productions) over a labor dispute. On May 6th, Charles lll was crowned King and wife Camilla Queen of the United Kingdom, months after the death of Queen Elizabeth ll. This was the first coronation in around 70 years.
On May 10th, Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour began.
On June 12th, The Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat 94-89 in Game 5, to win the series 4-1, claiming their first NBA title in franchise history.
The McDonalds Grimace shake made its move on June 12th as well, becoming a “viral success,” CNN described. Mixed reactions followed the release of the purple mixture.
On June 18th, a small submersible from OceanGate called the Titan, went underwater for a tour of the infamous RMS Titanic wreckage. However, a few hours after being launched from the main ship, the sub lost contact and was declared missing. At the time, the subversive was estimated to have “less than two days to go until they run out of oxygen,” for the 5 people who were in the sub. Those missing on the sub included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet. The Titan was not found in time, however. The submersible imploded, and a debris field was found “about 1,600 feet from the Titanic’s hull, and it was later identified as five pieces of the Titan,” explain The Cut. The Coast Guard had claimed to also have received presumed remains along with other debris.
On June 28th, Colleen Ballinger released the song “Toxic Gossip Train,” which was written as a supposed “apology” to fans about her involvement with inappropriate humor, and more inappropriate contexts. However Ballinger was blasted throughout her social media and being called out for the song, and multiple accusations. One of the main issues was “inappropriate relationships" with young fans.
On July 14th, SAG-AFTRA, (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) went on strike as well, also for better pay, and against studios using AI to replace the jobs of some of these union members.
On July 21st, Greta Gerwig's Barbie was released in theaters, holding the title of the highest-grossing film of the year, around 1.4B. July 21st was also the day Oppenheimer released into theaters. Both movies were hits among audiences, earning the name “Barbieheimer” as both were released the same day and highly popular—while starkly different in their content and themes.
On August 8th, devastation struck Hawaii, with multiple fires across Maui, specifically the town of Lahaina. It started as a small brush fire, slowly growing close to a Lahaina school. That fire was claimed to be contained. However, hours later, a flare-up raised alarms for evacuation. At 3:43, the state's National Guard was called. The flare up blocked roads, as residents attempted to get out. The fire continued to worsen, and due to Lahaina’s setup, there were not many ways to get out. People resorted to jumping into the ocean, fleeing on boats, going by foot or driving. At 11:52 pm, the National Guard was deployed onto Maui as the wildfires were declared to be burning “out of control,” by Major General Kenneth Hara.
On August 10th, the fire was mostly contained, with search and rescue starting to look for survivors. Lahaina was a stunning, historic town of Maui, housing one of the largest banyan trees in the US, and many multigenerational families. Around 2,170 acres of Lahaina were destroyed, starting from Front Street, (the main visitor part) and then moving sideways and further back. The historical sites and museums were also destroyed, along with multiple boats, 2,000 buildings, and over 100 people were declared dead. The banyan tree is still standing, but most of its vegetation is dead, and it remains unclear if the tree is going to survive in the long run. Hawaii Governor Josh Green described the fires as the “largest natural disaster in Hawaii's state history.” CNN has a rundown of all the before, during, and after events.
On August 14th, Former President Donald Trump and 18 others were indicted by an Atlanta-based grand jury on state charges from their efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 electoral defeat. Trump at the time faced 91 charges in four criminal cases, in four different jurisdictions — two federal and two state cases.
On September 27th, The Writers Guild of America (WGA) came to an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television, ending the writers strike.
On October 7th, Hamas launched a major air and ground attack on Israel from Gaza, killing thousands of people and taking hundreds of hostages, prompting Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu to declare "We are at war." BBC News has a clear story about the entire situation, the history, and the lead-up.
On November 5th, Daylight Savings Time ended, setting the clock back an hour.
On November 9th, the SAG-AFTRA strike came to an agreement with the AMPTP, ending the actors strike.
On November 22nd, a car crashed into the Rainbow Bridge, the bridge connecting across New York into Canada. If the incident was a Terrorism attack was unknown within the first few hours. Eventually, that was denied. The car was on the US border, speeding, before crashing. The fiery crash killed two inside the vehicle.
So far for December, there aren't many big events that have happened.
While 2023 was an eventful year, it is time to see what 2024 holds. So here’s to a New Year, new you, new life, new day. See you next year.
While there were many deaths this year, check out Aphrodite’s article about the most notable celebrity losses of 2023.
Near the very beginning of the year, on January 1st to be exact, Avengers actor Jeremy Renner, most known to fans as Hawkeye, was run over by a snowplow at his property in Reno, Nevada.
Renner and his nephew, 27, were both working on bringing a truck out from the snow, with Renner bringing down his Snow Plow vehicle instead of walking or using a typical car. Afterward, once the pair started heading back, Renner “turned the snowplow around and was, at one point, halfway out the cab door attempting to see if his nephew might be in danger between the vehicles on the icy road. He fell off, unsuccessfully tried to climb back in, and then fell under the snowplow's track,” described GMA from Renners Diane Sawyer exclusive interview.
Renner claimed to be awake all through the accident, while the plow ran over him, crushing him under the weight and against the icy road. After emergency services arrived, Renner was airlifted to the hospital, where it was declared that he was in the maximum level of trauma. 30 bones were broken, while a rib had pierced his liver.
Miraculously, Renner survived. With very many metal plates and sockets in his body, he is fully able to walk and breathe. While he is forever changed, Renner is working to regain feeling and full speech.
On February 1st, Legendary Rock artist Ozzy Osbourne declared his retirement from touring. However, Osbourne has said in later interviews that he still will perform occasionally. “I’ve gotta do more gigs if I have to get someone to wheel me out there,” Osbourne said in an interview with Kyle Gas and Jack Black. “I mean, you can’t retire from this game. It’s not a job, it’s a f–king passion. I don’t know how to do anything else. The thought of sitting in my house all day… I’m a road dog, you know? I’ve been doing it f–king 55 years. It’s the best thing to have ever happened to me,” Osbourne continued.
On February 4th, a Chinese “spy balloon” was shot down off the coast of South Carolina. The balloon was "200 feet tall with a jetliner size payload," according to Assistant Secretary of Defense, Melissa Dalton. It included “high-tech equipment that could collect communications signals and other sensitive information, and solar panels located on the metal truss suspended below the balloon,” according to CBS News. A few days following the incident, there were also a few other unidentified objects that flew into US Airspace.
However, a few weeks later, a Pentagon spokesperson clarified that after months of analysis on the wreckage of the Chinese spy balloon, the US believes it did not collect information while it transited from Alaska to South Carolina.
A day later, we had the Grammys on February 5th. Lizzo won for Record of the Year, Harry Styles for Album of the Year, Bonnie Raitt for Song of the Year, and Samara Joy for Best New Artist. Read the rest of the winners here.
On February 6th, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, killing over 50,000 people. “More than 5,700 buildings in Turkey have collapsed,” reported CNN. The earthquake struck around 4 am, while “many people were in their beds when it happened,” which made it the worst time for anyone to be aware of what was coming. After the earthquake, it was extremely hard to get rescue services out to look through the rubble due to harsh weather conditions, such as rain and snow. Two large tectonic plates – the Arabian and the Eurasian – meet underneath Turkey’s southeastern provinces, when a “strike-slip” occurred, causing the plates to slide sideways as well as back and forth.
“Why that matters is because the buildings don’t want to go back and forth. And then the secondary waves begin to go back and forth as well,” said meteorologist Chad Myers for CNN.
The 95th Academy Awards took place on March 12th, with Everything, Everywhere All at Once winning Best Picture, All Quiet on the Western Front for Best International Film, Michelle Yeoh for Best Actress, and Brendan Fraser for Best Actor.
On March 17th, Taylor Swift returned to the stage for the first show of The Eras Tour. The Eras Tour is a collection of all of her “eras” including, Lover, Fearless, Evermore, Folklore, Reputation, 1989, Speak Now, Red, and her newest album, Midnights. This 3-hour show is a sight to be seen.
On April 5th, The Super Mario Brothers movie was released. While being a hit among fans across the globe, it did receive some criticism for some of the cast, with the overall criticism saying there could have been different actors for the voices of the beloved Nintendo characters.
The most fashionable night of the year, the Met Gala took place on May 1st. Now judging all the outfits that celebrityies wear at the gala is common in the days following, but this year there were a few, interesting designs. Stars such as Lil Nas X, Doja Cat, and Jered Leto, who all happened to dress in outfits based off of...cats. The theme for this year was based around the late designer, Karl Lagerfeld, who designed for Chanel. Lagerfeld was known for his beloved cat, Choupette, a white Birman feline.
May was a busy month. On May 2nd, the Writers Guild of America went on strike against the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Productions) over a labor dispute. On May 6th, Charles lll was crowned King and wife Camilla Queen of the United Kingdom, months after the death of Queen Elizabeth ll. This was the first coronation in around 70 years.
On May 10th, Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour began.
On June 12th, The Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat 94-89 in Game 5, to win the series 4-1, claiming their first NBA title in franchise history.
The McDonalds Grimace shake made its move on June 12th as well, becoming a “viral success,” CNN described. Mixed reactions followed the release of the purple mixture.
On June 18th, a small submersible from OceanGate called the Titan, went underwater for a tour of the infamous RMS Titanic wreckage. However, a few hours after being launched from the main ship, the sub lost contact and was declared missing. At the time, the subversive was estimated to have “less than two days to go until they run out of oxygen,” for the 5 people who were in the sub. Those missing on the sub included OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet. The Titan was not found in time, however. The submersible imploded, and a debris field was found “about 1,600 feet from the Titanic’s hull, and it was later identified as five pieces of the Titan,” explain The Cut. The Coast Guard had claimed to also have received presumed remains along with other debris.
On June 28th, Colleen Ballinger released the song “Toxic Gossip Train,” which was written as a supposed “apology” to fans about her involvement with inappropriate humor, and more inappropriate contexts. However Ballinger was blasted throughout her social media and being called out for the song, and multiple accusations. One of the main issues was “inappropriate relationships" with young fans.
On July 14th, SAG-AFTRA, (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) went on strike as well, also for better pay, and against studios using AI to replace the jobs of some of these union members.
On July 21st, Greta Gerwig's Barbie was released in theaters, holding the title of the highest-grossing film of the year, around 1.4B. July 21st was also the day Oppenheimer released into theaters. Both movies were hits among audiences, earning the name “Barbieheimer” as both were released the same day and highly popular—while starkly different in their content and themes.
On August 8th, devastation struck Hawaii, with multiple fires across Maui, specifically the town of Lahaina. It started as a small brush fire, slowly growing close to a Lahaina school. That fire was claimed to be contained. However, hours later, a flare-up raised alarms for evacuation. At 3:43, the state's National Guard was called. The flare up blocked roads, as residents attempted to get out. The fire continued to worsen, and due to Lahaina’s setup, there were not many ways to get out. People resorted to jumping into the ocean, fleeing on boats, going by foot or driving. At 11:52 pm, the National Guard was deployed onto Maui as the wildfires were declared to be burning “out of control,” by Major General Kenneth Hara.
On August 10th, the fire was mostly contained, with search and rescue starting to look for survivors. Lahaina was a stunning, historic town of Maui, housing one of the largest banyan trees in the US, and many multigenerational families. Around 2,170 acres of Lahaina were destroyed, starting from Front Street, (the main visitor part) and then moving sideways and further back. The historical sites and museums were also destroyed, along with multiple boats, 2,000 buildings, and over 100 people were declared dead. The banyan tree is still standing, but most of its vegetation is dead, and it remains unclear if the tree is going to survive in the long run. Hawaii Governor Josh Green described the fires as the “largest natural disaster in Hawaii's state history.” CNN has a rundown of all the before, during, and after events.
On August 14th, Former President Donald Trump and 18 others were indicted by an Atlanta-based grand jury on state charges from their efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 electoral defeat. Trump at the time faced 91 charges in four criminal cases, in four different jurisdictions — two federal and two state cases.
On September 27th, The Writers Guild of America (WGA) came to an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television, ending the writers strike.
On October 7th, Hamas launched a major air and ground attack on Israel from Gaza, killing thousands of people and taking hundreds of hostages, prompting Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu to declare "We are at war." BBC News has a clear story about the entire situation, the history, and the lead-up.
On November 5th, Daylight Savings Time ended, setting the clock back an hour.
On November 9th, the SAG-AFTRA strike came to an agreement with the AMPTP, ending the actors strike.
On November 22nd, a car crashed into the Rainbow Bridge, the bridge connecting across New York into Canada. If the incident was a Terrorism attack was unknown within the first few hours. Eventually, that was denied. The car was on the US border, speeding, before crashing. The fiery crash killed two inside the vehicle.
So far for December, there aren't many big events that have happened.
While 2023 was an eventful year, it is time to see what 2024 holds. So here’s to a New Year, new you, new life, new day. See you next year.
