This year will go down in history.  We’ll remember this year for fake news stories, the election, and more.  Here are my top 10 events that changed America.

January 2016

Executive action on guns: In January, President Obama gave a speech proposing to increase gun control in the wake of the San Bernardino shootings. He proposed that background checks should be required to keep guns out of the wrong hands, increase mental health treatment, and provide funding so we can enforce these laws. This became an issue for many because gun supporters who thought their rights were being taken away.  Gun control became a critical issue in the 2016 election.

David Bowie’s death: Bowie influences all types of musical genres and broke gender roles. He constantly was recreating himself up until his death. He had liver cancer for eighteen months until he died. His death was two days after the release of his twenty-fifth studio album, Blackstar.

March 2016

Brock Turner case: Turner is a former Stanford University student. He was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman outside a fraternity house. He was sentenced to six months but only served three months for good behavior.  He was under 21 at the time.  The lenient decision impacted the judge’s career and inspired a bill in California that sex offenders should serve a mandatory prison time. This situation outraged many, including me.

April 2016

Prince’s death: As if Bowie’s death wasn’t enough, three months later another icon passed away. He also had a huge impact on the music industry and the world itself. He taught us how to express ourselves without hesitation and also took fashion to a whole new level. His death was tragic because he was getting help for drug addiction, but died from an accidental drug overdose on an opioid that he illegally obtained.

Flint water crisis: This is a water contamination problem that is ongoing in Flint, Michigan that started in about 2014. The water has high levels of led and other toxins and may lead to serious health problems, especially for children. There has been higher recognition for this year and they are still hoping for clean water.

May 2016

Harambe: Ah, yes. I had to add this because it STILL hasn’t died down. Harambe was a gorilla in the Cincinnati Zoo who was killed by a zoo worker. The zoo worker was trying to save a child that wandered into the enclosure. Now Harambe is a meme that people love.

June 2016

Orlando club shooting: This past June, there was a horrible mass shooting that occurred at a gay nightclub, Pulse, in Orlando, Florida. The shooting left 50 people dead and 53 people injured. This makes history because it was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

August 2016

Rio Olympics: The Olympics is the world’s largest sporting event and is held every 4 years by a chosen city. There was a lot of hype in the media about how terrible it was going to be because of the area it was being held. The USA did well but a lot of the medals were tarnished because of Ryan Lochte because of false claims that he was robbed at a gas station. The next Olympics will be held in Toyko.

September 2016

DAPL: DAPL is the Dakota Access Pipeline and is an underground pipeline and is being built to transfer large amounts of crude oil. There have been many protests against the pipeline being built nearby. The pipeline could lead to massive oil spills and also sparks environmental concerns. The planned path of the pipeline also crossed areas of cultural importance to the Standing Rock Indian tribe and have already destroyed some land. The path is 87% complete and people have been arguing about where the last few miles should be built.

November 2016

United States Election: This year’s election was definitely one of the craziest. Many people thought Hillary Clinton was going to win by a landslide, but Donald Trump took the surprising win. There is a continued protest about the president-elect that will most likely continue into 2017.