2017 was tumultuous year for news

The tumultuous year of 2017 transformed and divided the world politically, but also brought people closer together at times to respond to crises and disasters.

January: Donald Trump, America’s 45th president, is sworn in.  An estimated 300,000-600,000 people joined to celebrate the inauguration in Washington, D.C.. The controversial election led to many protests including the largest by the women of America and the world. Over 5 million gathered in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere in the United States the day after the inauguration to peacefully protest President Trump’s election.

February: The 59th Grammy Awards brought music artists’ works into the light including Beyonce, Chance the Rapper, Rihanna, Adele and Drake. The song of the year was “Hello” by Adele. “La La Land,” a musical starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, won the 2017 Academy Award for Best Picture.

March: After a vote in 2016, the United Kingdom begins to formally separate from the European Union. “Brexit” is the shorthand term for the British exit from the EU.

April: In his first major action as commander in chief, Trump approves the U.S. military launching 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at an air base in Syria. The missile attack is in response to a chemical weapon attack on civilians by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Yet, at the end of the year, the country’s six-year civil war continues, and Assad remains in power.

May: On May 22, a terrorist attack occurred in Manchester, England, killing 22 people and injuring over 500 at singer Ariana Grande’s performance. On June 4, the One Love Manchester concert hosted by Grande and other famous performers  benefitted the many families hurt in the terrorist attack, and the Red Cross raised $10 million for victims of the horrible tragedy.

June: The United States announces its decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. Trump is widely criticized for this move. The United States joins Syria and Nicaragua as the only other countries in the world to not sign the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change signed the Paris Agreement. Since then, Syria and Nicaragua have joined, leaving the United States as the lone outlier.

July: Mosul, Iraq, is declared fully liberated from ISIS. “So now ISIS has lost its capital in Iraq and the largest population center they held anywhere in the world,” said U.S. Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend on July 11.

August: The most awaited full solar eclipse in North America dominated the month of August. On Aug. 21, the eclipse brought the divided country together, and according to the NASA, 215 million people watched the moment the moon fully covered the sun, creating a magical and breath-taking effect in the sky.

September: Hurricane Maria was the worst natural disaster in Dominica and Puerto Rico.  As a category 5 hurricane, it destroyed everything in sight. By the end of the year, less than half of Puerto Rico still remained without electricity, and the unofficial death toll of the hurricane was estimated to be at least 1,000.

October: Harvey Weinstein, a famous movie producer in Hollywood, sparked a movement when sexual abuse allegations were publicly revealed by news organizations. After famous women including America Ferrera and Jennifer Lawrence brought their stories to light, regular women shared their stories with #MeToo, igniting a huge moment in women’s history. Time magazine’s 2017 Person of the Year was “The Silence Breakers” — those women who publicly reported sexual harassment and assault.

November: Leonardo da Vinci’s 1490 painting of Christ titled  “Salvator Mundi” sold for $450 million in an auction in New York, marking a record for most expensive piece of art.

December: Following the investigation of state-sponsored doping, the controversy of Russia’s illegal performance-enhancing drug use program for its Olympic athletes led the International Olympic Committee to ban Russia’s national team from the 2018 South Korea Winter Olympics.