2016 was a year filled with so many exciting and interesting things happening all around us! It’s hard to believe we didn’t explode from all the excitement.
First off, Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar for his incredible performance in the movie called “The Revenant.” However, the Oscars faced criticism because they mainly awarded white actors and actresses.
Speaking of entertainment, J.K. Rowling released a new book called “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” adding excitement to the Harry Potter series. Meanwhile, the TV show “Stranger Things” on Netflix became a worldwide sensation, keeping everyone hooked and entertained.
But 2016 had some sad moments too. Not only did we lose legendary pop icon David Bowie, but a child accidentally fell into the enclosure of a gorilla named Harambe, and the zoo made a pretty harsh decision on how to deal with it.
Oh, and in the world of politics, something unexpected happened. Donald Trump, a businessman and television personality, was elected as the President of the United States. It was a surprising outcome that led to various opinions and discussions among people.
Continue reading to explore the defining moments of 2016, from pivotal events and inspiring stories to unforgettable music, quotes, and more.
Historical Events
Prepare to be amazed as we unveil the most unforgettable happenings that took place during the extraordinary year of 2016.
January 2016
Jan 15
A Chinese Long March rocket launched the Belarussian government’s Belintersat-1 satellite into orbit.
The Belintersat satellite was created on behalf of the Belarussian government by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and Thales Alenia Space. Its function is as a geostationary telecommunications satellite providing broadband internet, satellite TV, and radio communications.
Jan 23
A category five blizzard occurred in the Mid-Atlantic and North East US, which covered the area in 3 feet of snow.
The historic event killed 55 people and caused around $850 million economic damage, according to Planalytics.
February 2016
Feb 7
North Korea launched the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 reconnaissance satellite atop an Unha rocket.
The international community largely condemned the launch, as the Unha rocket is the satellite-launch version of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Claims were made that the satellite launch was an excuse to test said missile, which North Korea denied. The satellite passes over North Korea four times a day. While the hermit nation claims it is fully operational, international experts have not found any evidence to support this claim.
Feb 11
Researchers announced that gravitational waves had been discovered.
The discovery was made by researchers involved with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). The collision of two black holes detected on September 14, 2015, led to this discovery.
Feb 20
A John Lennon fan bought a lock of his hair for $35,000 at an auction in Dallas, Texas, USA.
Feb 24
8th Century Muslim graves were discovered in Nimes, France.
In the burial site, three skeletons were found facing in the direction of Mecca.
March 2016
Mar 19
Zack Snyder’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” premiered at Mexico City’s Auditorio Nacional.
Mar 21
Aaron Carpenter swam with dolphins for the first time.
He tweeted saying, "I just rode a dolphin!!!!"
Mar 23
Researchers in England declared that the skull in William Shakespeare’s grave was probably stolen and replaced with someone else’s by grave robbers.
Apr 3
11.5 million private documents were leaked and became known as The Panama Papers.
The papers detailed transactions and money laundering activities of many of the world's rich and powerful. They show them committing crimes such as tax evasion, fraud, and circumventing international sanctions.
Apr 12
Project Starshot was announced by Yuri Milner, Stephen Hawking, and Mark Zuckerberg.
The Starshot is a $100 million project to send a probe on a 20-year journey to Alpha Centauri.
Apr 24
Andrew Lawrence became the fastest runner to complete a marathon dressed as a fruit.
During the London Marathon, the 30-year-old dad wore a bright yellow banana skin outfit and finished the race in two hours, 47 minutes, and 41 seconds.
May 2016
May 23
Blizzard released its first shooter game, Overwatch, for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
This team-based multiplayer first-person shooter was a huge sidestep from any games previously released by Blizzard, such as Diablo, Warcraft, or Starcraft. Overwatch reused many elements from a Blizzard game dubbed "Titan", which was canceled in 2014.
May 27
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary published that a hot dog is classified as a sandwich on their website.
May 28
Harambe the Gorilla was shot to death inside his enclosure in the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.
Harambe was relaxing inside the Gorilla World habitat when a three-year-old boy managed to climb into the enclosure and fell into the moat. Although it appeared that Harambe was protecting the boy and saving it from drowning, zoo officials decided to shoot Harambe as they feared he might accidentally kill the child.
June 2016
Jun 8
Cristiano Ronaldo topped Forbes’ Highest-Paid Athletes List, becoming the first soccer player to do so.
Jun 23
Britain voted to leave the European Union.
The UK is the only country to formally leave the EU.
Jun 24
British Prime Minister David Cameron resigned after failing to prevent Brexit.
David Cameron was instrumental in bringing about the Brexit referendum. He intended to have the Brexit vote fail to silence the Eurosceptics in the Tory party. As a staunch Remain voter, Cameron resigned as he felt the country needed new leadership to handle Brexit.
July 2016
Jul 22
Funai Electric announced that the world’s last VCR would be manufactured this month.
Funai began to manufacture video-cassette recorders in 1983 and was selling 15 million units a year at one point. But with technology evolving so often since then, the equipment needed to build VCRs has become too difficult to find.
August 2016
Aug 10
Australian swimmer Kyle Chalmers won the 100-meter freestyle gold medal in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
He completed the distance in 47.58 seconds which became a junior world record.
Aug 20
A suicide bomber killed 57 people while injuring 66 in Gaziantep, Turkey.
The terrorist had targeted a Kurdish wedding that took place on this day.
Aug 24
The Central Italy earthquake occurred.
The 6.2 magnitude earthquake killed 299 people, injured 388, and left 4,500 homeless.
September 2016
Sep 8
Space probe Osiris-Rex by NASA was launched to collect rock samples from the Bennu asteroid.
Sep 21
Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan gave $3 billion to fight and end all diseases.
Donations would be made over a decade to further medical research to try and end all diseases by the end of the century.
Sep 25
Selena Gomez achieved a world record for being the first person to reach 100 million followers on Instagram.
October 2016
Oct 12
The cosmetics company CoverGirl featured their first-ever boy on the cover.
James Charles, an online influencer, was 17 at the time.
Oct 16
The 85-year-old athlete Ed Whitlock broke a world record after completing a sub-4-hour marathon.
Whitlock passed the finish line in 3 hours and 56 minutes.
November 2016
Nov 8
Donald Trump won an election to become the 45th president of the United States of America.
Republican, Trump received 304 electoral votes against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton who received 227 votes.
Nov 12
Jackie Chan was awarded an honorary Oscar at the 8th Annual Governors Awards for starring in over 200 movies.
Nov 14
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Kaikōura, New Zealand.
There were two fatalities, with 57 injured. The earthquake was the second largest on record in New Zealand.
December 2016
Dec 14
Amazon announced its first drone delivery.
Amazon revealed that they had their first order delivery by drone to a house in Cambridge, an order consisting of an Amazon Fire TV and a bag of popcorn. The delivery took just 13 minutes.
Dec 16
The US State Department increased the reward for information on the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to $25 million.
Dec 19
The US Electoral College voted 304 to 227 to nominate Donald Trump for President over the objections of seven faithless electors.
Famous Deaths
Remembering the incredible individuals we lost in 2016.
1994 — 2016
Christina Grimmie
1946 — 2016
Alan Rickman
English Actor Alan Rickman was born on February 21, 1946. He died on January 14, 2016, at age 69 in England, UK.
1947 — 2016
David Bowie
English Singer David Bowie was born on January 8, 1947. He died on January 10, 2016, at age 69 in New York City, USA.
1963 — 2016
George Michael
British Singer George Michael was born on June 25, 1963. He died on December 25, 2016, at age 53 in England, UK.
Quotes
Here are some of the most memorable quotes that came out of 2016.
Oct 16
“My 10th grade teacher told me “RuPaul, don’t take life too seriously.” It was the greatest lesson I ever learned in school.”
RuPaul
(American Drag Queen)
2016 in Music
2016 was a musical treasure trove filled with unforgettable hits that had us singing at the top of our lungs!
From the infectious energy of “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” by Justin Timberlake to the hauntingly beautiful “Hello” by Adele, these songs touched our hearts and had us humming along wherever we went.
Make sure you’re familiar with these music highlights from 2016.
Album of the Year
Taylor Swift’s infectious pop album “1989” rocked the music world in 2016, earning her the Grammy for Album of the Year and solidifying her status as a pop sensation.
Song of the Year
Ed Sheeran’s romantic melody “Thinking Out Loud” won the hearts of many and earned him the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2016.
Best New Artist
Meghan Trainor’s infectious pop sound and empowering lyrics won her the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2016, solidifying her as a pop sensation.
Eurovision Song Contest Winner
The 2016 Eurovision Song Contest, the 61st edition, dazzled viewers in Stockholm, Sweden, with its stunning performances.
Jamala, a talented singer from Ukraine, won the hearts of the audience with her emotionally charged song “1944,” delivering a powerful message and securing Ukraine’s second victory in Eurovision.
2016 In Numbers
Time for some number fun! 2016, when written in Roman numerals, is MMXVI, and when written in binary, it’s 11111100000.
Leap Year
The year 2016 was a leap year, introducing an extra day into our calendar on February 29th. This adjustment helps account for the slight discrepancy between our man-made timekeeping system and the Earth’s orbital period.
Harshad Number
2016 is a Harshad number, which is a number that can be evenly divided by the sum of its digits. It’s like a special math rule for some numbers.
To explain in more detail, we add up the digits (2 + 0 + 1 + 6), which equals 9. And now we see if 2016 can be divided evenly by 9, which it can! 2016 ÷ 9 = 224. So this makes 2016 a Harshad number.
Abundant Number
Also, 2016 is known as an abundant number. An abundant number is a number where, if you add up all the smaller numbers that can divide evenly into it, the total sum is greater than the number itself.
So, when you add up all the smaller numbers that can divide evenly into 2016 (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 24, 28, 32, 36, 42, 48, 56, 63, 72, 84, 96, 112, 126, 144, 168, 224, 252, 288, 336, 504, 672, 1008), they add up to 4536, which is greater than 2016.
Chinese Zodiac 2016
According to the Chinese zodiac calendar, 2016 was the Year of the Fire Monkey. The Year of the Monkey occurs every twelve years, while the Year of the Fire Monkey pops up every 60 years.
Because the Chinese calendar works from the lunar cycle, in 2016 Chinese New Year actually began on February 8th.
The Monkey represents individuals who are clever, playful, and highly sociable. They possess a quick wit and enjoy entertaining others, making them natural performers and excellent problem solvers.
Among the distinguished individuals born in the Years of the Monkey, we find Selena Gomez and Cole Sprouse, both celebrated for their unique talents!
2004 Trivia
Did you know that in 2016, Deadpool became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time?
Featuring the titular lovable loud-mouthed maniac Deadpool, it was also the highest-grossing X-Men film.
By the end of its showing in theaters, Deadpool raked in a staggering $745 million.
