Ask anyone, and they'll tell you how absolutely wild 2016. As a history major, I kept my eyes peeled and my ears open, and I didn't have to look that hard for historic events happening all over. From deaths, to law changes, to the election, this year is definitely one to remember. Here's a countdown of some of the wildest things that happened this year, that our grandchildren will look back and think, "wait, what?"

1. Death of David Bowie

David Bowie, one of the most iconic musicians of all time, died at the age of 69 on January 10th, almost as an omen that this year would be messed up as hell. Bowie had been suffering from cancer for a long time. The craziest part of his death, was his release of song and music video, Lazarus, which was released only a few weeks before his death. Listen to to the song, it's almost like he knew he was about to go, and wanted to give us a parting gift.

2. Zika Virus

As if the world wasn't scary enough, the Zika virus outbreak was announced this year, and has been scaring the pants off of everyone. Zika transmits through mosquitos, similar to Malaria, and those who have it only experience mild symptoms. The scary part of it is, is when women are pregnant with Zika, their children are born with a deadly birth-defect. Sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, right?

3. Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches Met

In February, Pope Francis met with the Russian Orthodox leader, Patriarch Kirill. On the surface, that seems pretty chill, right? Two religious leaders meeting up and chatting, what's the big deal? Well, religious leaders from the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches haven't met up in over 1000 years. Seriously. The last time leaders from these two groups had a meeting, it was the goddamn Middle Ages.

4. Death of Alan Rickman

The anti-hero of the Harry Potter series, Severus Snape, is dead. No, not from the Deathly Hallows, but the actor is now, as well. Rickman died in February of 2016, which really should have been our warning of how weird it was about to get. The death came as a huge shock, as both he and his family had no idea how severe his cancer was.

5. Rio Olympics

Typically, Olympics are held in major cities every four years, people win awards, and that's the end of this. Well, we just can't have a normal Olympics in 2016, now can we? American gold medalist Ryan Lochte was held up at a gas station in Rio de Janeiro by a gun. Terrifying, except it was later revealed that he lied about being robbed, and in fact had vandalized a public bathroom. Okay, Ryan. Okay.

6. Harambe

In the Cincinnati, a child fell into a gorilla encasement, where gorilla Harambe grabbed hold of the child, and was subsequently shot. This went from a wild news story, to a national outrage, to a meme. That's right,a goddamn meme. While it was at first something that caused a lot of controversy in our country, it soon became something that turned into the most ridiculous of memes. While I personally think it's in bad taste, at least it got the word out about what happened.

7. Pokémon Go

Millenials rejoiced as the game we grew up on, just got a whole lot cooler. Now, instead of exploring fictional worlds and catching Pokemon, Pokemon Go allows the player to walk around and catch Pokemon in real places. Suddenly, everyone was going outside more. People began to walk miles and miles at a time, looking for Eevees and Pikachus. People began connecting to each other more. Hell, I even made few friends, as I would look out my window and see the park across the street suddenly much more full of twenty-somethings. Pokemon Go may be one of the most positive things about 2016.

8. Death of Prince

Another death that shocked the masses, was the death of Prince. On April 21st, the world found out that another musical icon had passed. Like Bowie, he released music for decades and decades, consistently staying relevant. At this point, the world was like, "Uh, screw you 2016."

9. The Pulse Massacre

In June, which happens to be Gay Pride Month, a man walked into a gay club in Orlando, Florida, and killed 49 people, injuring dozens more. Although the shooter made claims of being tied to ISIS, no official evidence of that was ever found. This hate crime was one of the biggest mass shootings in American history.

10. The Disney Gator Attack

In July, an alligator ate a child in Disneyworld. That's right, you'd think we would learn after Harambe, but basically, 2016's relationship with animals was uh, complicated. The story was the weird part. First, the father of the toddler told people that there was one alligator that came up and snatched his kid. Then, he told people that it was two alligators, and he tried to fight them off. Things just didn't add up with this one, but hey, that's 2016 for you.

11. Death of Gene Wilder

Okay, so first we lost Bowie, then Snape, then freakin' Prince, but really 2016? You're gonna take Willy Wonka too?! That's right, in August, the beloved "Young Frankenstein," actor was taken from us. Okay 2016, that one really hurt.

12. Brexit

This one is definitely up there with weird, 2016. Brexit refers to the "Britain exit," of the EU. Every history and geography prof I've had this year has told me that they were so sure that Brexit wouldn't happen, and yet here we are. Although it hasn't officially happened yet, someday soon, Britain will essentially close it's borders to the rest of Europe.

13. Nice Attack

On Bastille Day, in Nice, France, a man in a truck injured hundreds of people, and killed eighty-six. Of the eighty-six, ten of them were children. The Islamic State claimed that the man who committed these murders was one of their associates. President Hollande declared this an official terrorist attack.

14. Stolen Van Gogh Paintings Recovered

In 2002, two Van Gogh paintings were stolen from the Van Gogh Museum. The paintings have not yet been place back in the Museum's care, due to the being used as evidence in a criminal case. The craziest part, is there is little to no damage on the paintings! Some guy stole paintings done by the greatest artist of all time, and 14 years later, they're in great condition.

15. A New Harry Potter Film

When Deathly Hallows Part 2 ended, we all thought, "that's the end, no more Harry Potter." 2016 was like, "NAH. More!" Thus, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was released. Taking place in 1920's magical New York, Fantastic Beasts told the story of Newt Scamander, the gentle wizard from Hogwarts who excels at training wild magical creatures.

16. Election of Donald Trump

And now, for the truly wildest thing that happened in 2016: A billionaire/reality TV star, was elected President of the United States. Running on a campaign of "let's build a wall, and make Mexico pay for it," this man is now waiting for January to start running one of the most powerful countries in the world. Love him or hate him (let's be real, you know my opinion), it's still wild as hell that a man with 0% political experience will now be our President.

And who knows, there's so much more time left in 2016. We have like, multiple days. Personally I'm terrified and also excited to see what 2016 is ready to puke on us next.