1. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" broke North American box office record, passing the previous $760.5m record.

2. Leo DCaprio finally won an Oscar for his role in "The Revenant."

3. The Zika virus outbreaks started in January and affected up to as many as 50 countries.

4. After an 18-year long football career in both college and pro football, Peyton Manning announced his retirement from the NFL.

5. Suicide and terror bombings occurred in Turkey, Belgium, Iraq, Pakistan, Istanbul, Kabul, United States, and Egypt.

6. Harambe, a gorilla from the Cincinnati Zoo, was executed after a boy fell into the enclosure.

7. The first real-world mobile game, Pokémon Go, was released.

8. Hillary Clinton became the first woman to receive a nomination for US President from a major US political party.

9. Michael Phelps finished his Olympic career as the world's most decorated Olympianby winning the 4x100 medley relay, which was his 23rd Gold medal.

10. Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Churh, had a history-making meeting in Cuba that would mark the first meeting together in nearly 1,000 years.

11. Two stolen paintings from Vincent Van Gogh were recovered after being missing for over 14 years with a combined value of $100 million.

12. Queen Elizabeth II turned 90 years old in April.

13. Super Bowl 50 was played in February and there was an estimated number of 111.9 million TV viewers that watched the game.

14. Verizon Wireless purchased Yahoo Inc. for $4.8 billion.

15. Golf Legend Arnold Palmer passed away in September at the age of 87.

16. Brigadier General Diana Holland was sworn in at West Point and became the first woman commandant of cadets.