The year of 2017 was undoubtedly an important year regarding news. Everyday news channels were flooded with stories from every corner of the world as history was being created.  Let’s have a look back on the year in regards to important stories from each month.

January:

The month of January marked the beginning of the Trump presidency. President Trump was sworn in on January 20 after a historically problematic election. The inauguration of the new president invoked many emotions across the United States and the rest of the world, good and bad, and sparked debate on every platform. The Trump presidency has continued to be the source of many other top stories this year, making it the most important news story of January by far.

February:

One of the biggest American sporting events takes place every February, and this event is fondly known as the Super Bowl. This year the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl in a historical game. After the first half that left the team trailing by 25 points behind the Falcons, the team’s quarterback, Tom Brady, led the team to a final score of 34-28 in overtime. After the win, the Patriots became the fourth NFL team to have at least 5 Lombardi Trophies, joining the Cowboys, 49ers, and Steelers who have five, five, and six, respectively.

March:

Two months after the beginning of his presidency, Donald Trump made serious claims on social media. In the beginning of March, Trump took to the social media platform Twitter to make claims that former president Barack Obama tapped the wires of Trump Tower during the 2016 election. Later that day, President Trump also compared President Obama to Nixon in the Watergate scandal. Obama’s spokesperson quickly denied the allegations and the serious claims were brought into question. As the claims were questioned and critiqued throughout the month, Sean Spicer stated that President Trump used the term “wire tapping” to represent general surveillance of Trump Tower and himself rather than actual tapped wires. Spicer also later hinted that Obama tapped the wires of Trump’s residence using a British agency rather than American to avoid leaving “fingerprints,” slightly contradicting his prior statement. The claims continued to be investigated and led to questions about the President.

http://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-his-phones_/666612399

April:

In the month of April, a video from a United Airlines plane flooded the news. On April 9th, United Airlines flight 3411 was overbooked and passengers were offered travel vouchers in exchange for departure from the plane so that four flight attendants could travel to the destination. None of the passengers made the exchange, so management chose 4 passengers for involuntarily removal from the flight. The first three chosen complied to the demand, but the fourth, David Dao, did not. After his refusal, Dao was forcibly removed from the plane by security. He screamed as he was dragged from his seat, and after hitting his head on an armrest, Dao was dragged off of the plane while unconscious. The event was captured on video by passengers on the plane and soon was seen by the internet. The incident shocked the world and raised many questions about the practices of airlines and led to some protest against the airline company.

May:

After a two-year-long debate following a massacre of 9 black parishioners, a monument of the Confederacy’s president was removed in New Orleans in May. This was the first monument removed in a list of four to be removed in New Orleans. This decision was met with many mixed opinions and emotions in New Orleans and other parts of the country. It sparked debate about how history should be preserved and recognized.

June:

Every June since 1909, Congress has held a Congressional Baseball Game for Charity. This year, while 20-25 Republican Congressmen were gathered in Alexandria, Virginia to practice, James Hodgkinson opened fire on the congressmen. Three Capitol Police officers fled onto the field to protect the Congressmen and two Alexandria policemen arrived at the scene to respond to reported shots fired. Hodgkinson was engaged in a gunfight for 10 minutes before being shot. Four others were injured during the shooting, including Steve Scalise, a Congressman, Crystal Griner, a Capitol Police officer, Zack Barth, a congressional aide, and Matt Mika, a lobbyist.

July:

In July, President Trump suffered a major political setback. After seven years of  Republican efforts to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, the plan was temporarily derailed during the Senate’s vote on repeal. Republican Senator John McCain cast the decisive vote that resulted in failure to repeal with a 49-to-51 vote. McCain stated that his vote was cast against the repeal plan because it did not meet the Republicans’ promise to meaningfully reform after repeal.

August:

On August 21st, the first total solar eclipse since 1979 captured the attention of the entire United States. Many people travelled to the areas in the path of totality which stretched from Salem, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. In these areas, the moon completely covered the sun for two minutes and forty seconds. Even outside of the path of totality, the eclipse could still be partially seen. Millions of faces wearing eclipse glasses turned to the sky to see this historical moment.

September:

September of 2017 was the most active month on record for hurricane activity in the Atlantic. The month experienced two category 5 hurricanes, Irma and Maria, and one category 4 hurricane, Jose. Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico with catastrophic damage and fatalities. The storm completely knocked out the island’s power grid and resulted in at least 499 deaths. It is considered the worst natural disaster on record in Puerto Rico.

October:

In October, Las Vegas was struck by a devastating event. On October 1, Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd of a country concert from a hotel room thirty two floors above. Paddock shot more than 1000 rounds in a span of 10 minutes, resulting in 58 deaths and 546 injuries. The shooter was later found dead due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his hotel room. This massacre is considered the deadliest mass shooting committed by an individual in the United States and added fuel to the debate over gun control.

November:

November marked the beginning of a major movement that is continuing to impact many people. Early in November, the first sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein came out. These allegations took the news by storm and influenced many other women and men to come out about other instances of sexual harassment. This movement has gained major media attention, both good and bad, and has evolved into the Me Too movement that was featured in Time magazine for Person of the Year.

December:

In December, a major political turn made the news. Roy Moore was up for a spot in the Senate in the Alabama election, and as a Republican in a state that rarely goes blue, he was fully expected to win. During the election, four women accused Moore of sexual misconduct with them while they were in their teens. Although these stories outraged people across the country and turned many people against Moore, he was still expected to win in Alabama because of his party. President Trump also endorsed Moore before the election. However, the election shocked the entire nation when it went blue, and elected Doug Jones, the democratic candidate, instead of Roy Moore.