2016: Unwavering, unprecedented, unexpected and unforgiving.

No one was expecting the avalanche of mixed emotions, historic tide changes and tragedy brought on by the events of 2016. From changes in legislation to mournful celebrity deaths, here are some of the year’s most gripping stories. 

Winter

The year began with a rocky start. Headlined by the death of an icon, January set the tone for the rest of 2016.

Jan. 2: Car fleet manager Ammon Bundy led a group of about 20 armed individuals to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. The group occupied the headquarters of the refuge for 41 days. 

Jan. 10: David Robert Jones, English singer-songwriter and actor, known professionally as David Bowie, died at age 69.

Jan. 25: Dakota Access announced it received permit approval by the North Dakota Public Service Commission, bringing a four-state crude oil pipeline a step closer to construction. 

Feb. 1: The World Health Organization declared the Zika virus an international public health emergency.

Feb. 2: The FBI joined in the investigation of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

Feb. 16: Apple refused to assist the FBI in hacking the iPhone of San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook. Apple released a public statement that stated why it was not going to comply with the government’s demands. 

Feb. 20: Uber driver Jason Brian Dalton, 45, went on a shooting rampage at three different sites in Kalamazoo, Michigan, killing six people. Dalton picked up and dropped off passengers as he conducted the rampage. 

Spring

Change and tragedy blossomed in the spring time. The season saw the retirement of two sports legends and a terrorist attack that shook the planet. 

March 6: Nancy Reagan, actress and wife of former President Ronald Reagan, passes away at age 94.

March 7: After a victory at Super Bowl 50, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning announced his retirement from the National Football League after 18 seasons.

March 20: President Barack Obama landed in Cuba, becoming the first president to visit the country in 88 years.

March 22: Suicide bombers attacked an airport and subway station in Brussels, killing 34 and wounding scores of others. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks. 

April 13: Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant played his final game as an NBA player, scoring 60 points in the victory against the Utah Jazz.

April 20: Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced that African-American abolitionist Harriet Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill.

April 21: Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music producer Prince passes away at age 57.

May 10: The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists leaked a database of hundred of thousands documents on offshore companies and other financial data of the world’s rich and powerful. The database was dubbed “The Panama Papers.”

May 11: Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors was awarded the NBA MVP Trophy.

May 26: Obama became the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima, where he met with survivors.

May 28: The Cincinnati Zoo shot beloved 400-pound Western Iowland gorilla Harambe dead after a child slipped into the animal’s enclosure.  

Summer

Several polarizing events occurred under the golden sun of summer.  

June 4: Former boxer and social activist Muhammad Ali, “The Greatest of All Time,” died at age 74. 

June 7: Hillary Clinton became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and made U.S. history later in the month by becoming the first female presidential candidate to be nominated to a major party.

June 12: Omar Saddiqui Mateen, 29, opened fire inside Pulse, a gay nightclub, in Orlando, Florida. At least 49 people were killed and more than 50 were injured. Police shot and killed Mateen during an operation to free hostages officials said he was holding at the club. 

June 12, 19: The Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup, and the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA championship, respectively.

June 24: Britain sent shockwaves around the world with Brexit, when the people of Britain voted to leave the European Union.

June 24: President Obama announced the designation of the first national monument to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.

June 30: The U.S. Military announced it would accept transgender individuals into its ranks.

July 6: Pokémon Go was released and took the world by an augmented reality storm.

July 6: A Barcelona, Spain, court sentenced soccer star Lionel Messi to 21 months in prison for tax fraud. 

July 6: Philando Castile, of Minnesota, was fatally shot by Jeronimo Yanez, a St. Anthony, Minnesota, police officer, after being pulled over in Falcon Heights, a suburb of St. Paul.  

July 7-8: Five police officers were killed, and seven other officers and two civilians were wounded when a sniper fired ambush-style during a peaceful protest in downtown Dallas.

July 21: Donald Trump formally accepted the GOP nomination and continued to campaign toward his eventual victory in the 2016 presidential election.

July 22: Wikileaks released nearly 20,000 emails from Democratic National Committee staffers. The leaked emails appeared to show the committee favoring presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders during the U.S. presidential primary season. 

July 27: Attorneys for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed a complaint against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over its process for granting permits to Dakota Access for the pipeline. Lawyers for the tribe also pressed charges against Dakota Access. Demonstrations and protests began soon after the lawsuit was filed.

Aug. 5 through Aug. 21: The 2016 Olympics in Rio took place. Simone Biles led the women’s gymnastics team as it defended its title as the best in the world. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian. Ryan Lochte caused a scandal for his behavior outside of the pool.

Aug. 20: Frank Ocean released his long-awaited second album “Blonde,” accompanied by a magazine titled Boys Don’t Cry and visual album “Endless,” all of which were met with critical acclaim.

Aug. 31: NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick caught the media’s attention for kneeling in protest of the oppression of people of color during the national anthem in late August, sparking controversy throughout the sports world and beyond, and creating a platform for peaceful protest.

Fall

The spicy scents and color-coated leaves of fall were overshadowed by a wave of uncertainty and celebration brought on by the season’s headlines. 

Sept. 3: Standing Rock protesters clashed with security officials hired by Dakota Access. Security used pepper spray and pit bulls against the crowd composed of men, women and children, bringing national attention to the protest. 

Sept. 20: Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in Washington, facing bipartisan outrage over accusations of employee misconduct.  

Sept. 25: Iconic golfer and trend-setting sweet tea and lemonade mixer Arnold Palmer dies at 87.

Sept. 28: Hurricane Matthew, the first category 5 Atlantic hurricane since 2007’s Hurricane Felix, formed near the Windward Islands. Matthew tore its path of destruction from the Caribbean to the Southeast United States and took 43 lives in the United States and about 1,000 lives in Haiti.

Sept. 30: After 12 years in space in pursuit of a comet, the Rosetta probe finally makes contact with the comet’s icy surface.

Oct. 13: Musician Bob Dylan wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

Oct. 13: The U.S. military fires cruise missiles at three radar stages in Yemen, making the United States a stakeholder in Yemen’s conflict. 

Oct. 28: Eleven days before the presidential election, James Comey told Congress the FBI is looking into new emails possibly related to the Clinton investigation. Nine days later, the emails were not considered to alter the investigation’s earlier conclusions.

Nov. 2: The Chicago Cubs bagged a World Series victory over the Cleveland Indians, their first championship win in 108 years. 

Nov. 4: Mexican druglord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán escaped Mexican prison for the third time.  

Nov. 8: Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States, obtaining 307 electoral votes.

Nov. 25: Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro dies.

Nov. 28: A plane crashed near Medellin, Colombia, killing more than 70 people, including members of the Brazilian soccer team.

December

The month included the deaths of many famous people, including astronaut John Glenn, actor Alan Thicke and singer-songwriter George Michael. One of the most shocking deaths was actress Carrie Fisher, who is known for playing Princess Leia in Star Wars. She suffered a medical emergency while flying home to Los Angeles. The next day, actress Debbie Reynolds, who was Fisher’s mother, died of a stroke. Reynolds was heard saying, “I want to be with Carrie.”

Dec. 2: A warehouse fire killed 36 people in Oakland, California. It was the deadliest fire in Oakland history.

Dec. 3:  About 2,000 U.S. veterans arrived at the Standing Rock protesters’ camp in support of the protest. 

Dec. 4: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied an easement that would allow the Dakota Access pipeline to cross Lake Oahe, halting work on the pipeline.

Dec. 19: A tractor-trailer ran into a Christmas market in a major public square in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 48.

Dec. 31: During Dick Clark’s New Year’s Eve special, Mariah Carey suffered an ear-piece malfunction, which made it so she couldn’t hear and was unable to sing. She claimed that the show’s producers knew about the malfunction and sent her out anyway because he believed it would be good publicity for the show.

Sources: CNN, Chicago Tribune, ABC News, USA Today