We’re only several days away from 2017 and I’m sure we can all agree that 2016 was an unbearably long, turbulent year. We’ve been through everything from people becoming dogs on Snapchat to extra days due to leap year. Also, let's not forget McDonald's graced us with a 24-hour breakfast menu. Although 2016 was the worst, we’re going to recap all the good and bad things this year has given us in case you forgot.
The beginning of this year on January 6th Star Wars: The Force Awakens shatters box office records topping Avatar within 20 days of its release. Unfortunately, within the same month, on January 8th, many people fell sick from toxic and contaminated water found in the faucets of many homes in Flint, Michigan. The Internet responded with “let's start doing water bottle flipping tricks”.
March swings around and after a Bronco’s Super Bowl win, Payton Manning retires on the 7th. Around the same time, we made history by putting Harriet Tubman on the twenty-dollar bill. This made her the first women to be on a USD note, but if you look close enough you might find evidence that Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer.
Summer is when it got really crazy when a three-year-old climbed into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati zoo and you know the rest. June 12th was a tragic day as members of ISIS attacked an Orlando nightclub. Many were wounded or killed, leaving us in tears. While on the other side of the ocean, we witness Great Britain leaving the European Union decimating their economy at the time. On July 6th Pokémon GO was released, sweeping the entire nation off their couches and wandering into the middle of the road or their neighbor’s backyards.
Down south people cheered on in Rio, Brazil for the 2016 Olympic games while the “Zika” virus and Caveman SpongeBob started making its first appearance in the states. In America, citizens are angry with the police, Target restroom policies, and missing emails. Radio stations, car stereos, and headphones were bumping to the top hip-hop tracks Panda and Broccoli because it was “lit”. All while Galaxy Note 7s all across the nation had to be recalled because they were literally too lit.
In the final stretch, the app known as Vine disappeared forever along with the Chicago Cub’s one hundred year curse, bringing them victory over the Cleveland Indians in a stunning 8-7 final score in game seven. When killer clowns started appearing on the roads and woods things got strange, but not as much as Stranger Things, the hit Netflix show that won T.V. program of the year for 2016. On November 9th the entire world stopped to watch as the United States vote to “Make America Great Again”. While Fidel Castro died of old age on November 25th everyone else was singing, “We ain’t ever getting older."
In December tribes near Standing Rock nearly froze to death standing against an oil company to protect their water. Around the same time, everyone decided it’d be cool to freeze for the mannequin challenge. We end it off with December 22nd medical researchers found a vaccine that is 70-90% effective against Ebola. As we say good-bye to 2016 and thanks for all the great memories, it begs the question, 2017 can’t be worse right?
