2022 was a year that was jam-packed with all sorts of “Did that really happen?” and “What did that guy say?” moments. And with the year coming to a close, what better way to prepare for 2023 than to review all of the crazy things that happened this year? So without further ado, here are 22 major happenings that occurred in 2022:
- Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine – Triggering a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and a financial crisis in Russia, Russian president Vladimir Putin challenged Ukraine’s right to independence and began a military operation that is still in effect even today. This is Europe’s largest refugee crisis since WWII.
- Mahsa Amini and Iran – After the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Iran, protests have erupted over what happened to Amini and what it means for the rights of those who live in Iran. The New York Times said this was the largest group of protests since at least 2009. The Iranian government is still fighting against the protesters who are continuing to stand up for what they believe in.
- Overturning Roe V. Wade – In June of this year, the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe V. Wade, denying abortion access to people across the country. This caused an eruption of protests against the decision. Each state now has its own specific policy regarding abortion, and it greatly varies between each state.
- Queen Elizabeth II – Queen Elizabeth ruled England from 1952 to her death in 2022. She was the longest-reigning monarch in the history of Great Britain, and the longest-known reigning female monarch in the world. She reigned through many major political changes and was a very well-loved queen.
- Monkeypox Outbreak – The outbreak of the viral disease Monkeypox started in May of this year, originating from the United Kingdom. The Director-General of the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
- Hurricane Ian – This devastating hurricane that hit in September of this year caused immense damage to Cuba and a couple of southern states in the US.
- COVID-19 – After the initial outbreak of Coronavirus a couple of years ago, the beginning of this year marked the development of treatments for the disease. Cases were still high with the introduction of new variants, but the WHO has stated that the number of deaths from coronavirus has since dropped by 90%.
- French Presidential Election – The 2022 French presidential election was held in April of this year. Emmanuel Macron was re-elected to his position as president. His opponent was Marine Le Pen, who he had already defeated in the 2017 presidential election as well.
- Prime Minister of the UK – After Liz Truss stepped down from being the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for 50 days, Rishi Sunak began his term during what the UK is calling a governmental crisis.
- Midterms – The November US midterm elections were a time of reflection and change in the country. The Democratic party retained control of the Senate, while the Republican party gained control of the House of Representatives. There were also many state-specific ballot propositions and governor elections.
- Ketanji Brown Jackson – Following the retirement of Supreme Court Judge Stephen Breyer, President Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the position, and she became the first Black woman as well as the first former federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court.
- Elon Musk buys Twitter – A $44 billion deal involved billionaire Elon Musk buying the popular social media platform, Twitter in October. This resulted in a great change to Twitter’s audience and an onslaught of Twitter employees being fired.
- Cryptocurrency – Continuing its bout of popularity, there are now 21,844 different cryptocurrencies in existence as of November. There is a growing number of crypto users, but there are about 300 million users right now despite the FTX downfall in November.
- 2022 Winter Olympics – Held in Beijing from February 4th to 20th, this was the 25th Winter Olympics. This was also Beijing’s second time hosting the Olympics. Norway set a new record for the most number of gold medals won at a single Winter Olympics.
- The Eurovision Song Contest – The 66th version of the Eurovision music competition was held in Turin, Italy this year after the band Maneskin won the previous competition with their song, “Zitti e buoni”. It was won by Ukrainian Kalush Orchestra with the song “Stefania.”
- 2022 FIFA World Cup – The international football tournament took place in Qatar this year. The World Cup championship has been held every four years since its beginning in 1930, with a few exceptions. This year’s championship is the most expensive FIFA World Cup in its entire history.
- Depp Versus Heard – In one of the most talked-about trials in years, actor Johnny Depp went to court to sue his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard for accusing him of abusing her. Depp ultimately won in the trial, but the drama became a very notable part of this year’s pop culture news.
- Will Smith at the Oscars – At the annual Academy Awards held on March 27, 2022, actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock during his presentation of an award because of a joke that Rock made directed toward actress Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith’s wife.
- Don’t Worry Darling Drama – The movie was released in September of this year, but the drama surrounding the film seemed to have gained more attention than the film itself. From the (of course, rumored) Jason Sudekis lying in front of Wilde’s car to prevent her from delivering salad dressing to Harry Styles, and Harry Styles (rumoredly) spitting on Chris Pine at the film’s premiere, it gained a lot of attention.
- Bennifer Wedding – In July, 20 years after their first marriage proposal, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck (“Bennifer”) were married in Las Vegas.
- Top Gun: Maverick – The movie becomes the highest-grossing movie released in 2022, with its total earnings being $716,657,763. It was released on May 27th and is the sequel to the beloved original film, Top Gun, which was released 36 years ago in 1986.
- Television – This was a big year for TV, with a multitude of heavily anticipated releases with shows like Bridgerton, The Handmaid’s Tale, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The House of the Dragon, Wednesday, and the penultimate season of Stranger Things.
This year was definitely one to remember, and while there were a lot of hard things to go through and terrible headlines to read, there was plenty of good, as well. Who knows what 2023 has in store for us? As long as we all try our best to be the best we can be, 2023 will be great. So with that in mind, I wish you all a very happy new year!
