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2016 in a Nutshell

By BIGEYE Posted on December 15, 2016

It’s been a wild and weird year!

January-Zika outbreak in the U.S.

The year started off strong with an outbreak of Zika virus, a disease related to yellow eer and spread by mosquitoes, erupting in the U.S., namely Florida. The virus was predicted to affect the Florida tourism industry, but Ricks Scott announced that the state is on track to beat numbers from last year despite the threat of the outbreak.

February-Leo finally wins an Oscar

After six Oscar nominations, Leonardo DiCaprio finally won Best Actor for the film The Revenant during the 2016 Oscars. Leo received a standing ovation from the audience as he received his long-awaited award.

March-Obama visits Cuba

President Obama visited Cuba for three days in March. He was the first president to do so since Calvin Coolidge. This trip marked advancement in tourism for both the U.S. and Cuba.

April-Panama Papers leak

On April 3rd millions of confidential documents leaked from the law firm, Mossack Fonesca. It was revealed that several of the globe’s richest were funneling assets into security shell companies set up in lightly regulated jurisdictions.

May-The death of Harambe

An inhabitant of the Cincinnati Zoo, Harambe the gorilla met his untimely demise when he was shot after a young boy fell into his enclosure. Following his death, the zoo’s social media was flooded with semi-comedic commentary about the gorilla.

June-Brexit

The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union on June 23rd. After the outcome of the vote the pound dropped to a three-year low against the euro.

July-Pokemon Go Crazy

One week after its launch, Pokemon Go became the biggest mobile game in United States history. There were 15.3 million tweets worldwide in its first week, which is 3.6 million more than for Brexit during the U.K. referendum.

August-Rio Olympics

The Americans won a total of 121 medals during the Rio Olympics; 46 gold, 37 silver and 38 bronze, the country’s biggest haul to date.

September-iPhone 7 release

The iPhone 7 sold well during the first weekend of its release, but couldn’t match the debut of the iPhone 6 in 2014.

October-The Mannequin Challenge

What kind of year would it be without a viral video craze? The first Mannequin Challenge video was posted by a group of highschoolers in Jacksonville, Florida.

November-Trump wins the presidency

Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election despite Hillary Clinton receiving more support in the popular vote.