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2022 marks the beginning of a post-lockdown world and with it came major news highlights on the global and domestic stage that made headlines throughout the year. Some of the year’s biggest highlights include the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (and the economic repercussions thereof), Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, the Uvalde school shooting, the crypto crash, and a peep into distant regions of our universe thanks to NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
Here’s a quick rundown of the news highlights of 2022 organized by month.
January
The Covid-19 omicron variant spreads
The Omicron variant was first identified in Botswana and South Africa back in November 2021 and began spreading to other areas of the world throughout late 2021 to early 2022. It was identified in the EU by January 2022 however many countries opted to lift lockdown policies as Omicron appeared to be a mild variant of the Covid-19 virus.
Apple becomes the first U.S. company to reach $3 trillion in market value
Apple briefly achieves a $3 trillion market cap on January 3, 2022, becoming the first-ever U.S. company to do so. Part of this growth was attributed to investors turning to Apple as a “safe” stock. Needham analyst Laura Martin (via CNBC) explained the phenomenon as follows: “There’s a flight to quality with companies that you know will weather the storm, not go bankrupt, not have financial distress,”
February
The beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching an invasion that forces thousands of Ukrainians to seek refuge in bordering European countries. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, claimed that there are anywhere between 10,000 to 13,000 Ukrainian troops dead due to the war.
March
Federal Reserve starts raising interest rates to slow inflation
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System voted to raise interest rates paid on reserve balances by 0.4 percent in a bid to slow inflation. It was the first interest rate hike since December 2018 and would later be followed by more increases throughout 2022. By June 2022, the FED will have made what the World Economic Forum dubbed its “most aggressive interest rate hike since 1994”.
Will Smith slaps Chris Rock
Will Smith slaps Christ Rock at the Oscars after Rock cracks a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s appearance.
April
Netflix loses subscribers for the first time in a decade
Streaming continued to take a bigger share of the market over cable, but Netflix was not the top winner. Once synonymous with video-on-demand, the streaming service suffered a customer loss for the first time in ten years. The loss came together with news of plans to introduce ads to Netflix shows.
Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter for $44 billion
Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced an offer for Elon Musk to become a board member of Twitter earlier in April 2022. Musk declined and later made an offer to purchase all of Twitter for $44 billion which is then accepted by the board of directors.
On May 2022, Musk’s legal counsel wrote to Twitter threatening to terminate the purchase deal. Twitter files a lawsuit against Musk who backs down and to follow through on his agreed initial purchase and its purchase price. More in Elon Musk’s Controversial Twitter Takeover: A Timeline in Tweets.
May
A shooting in Buffalo, New York, kills 10 people
A 19-year-old White male shooter is sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole for 10 counts of first-degree murder, 3 counts of attempted murder, and weapons possession related to a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York.
22 dead in a school shooting at Uvalde, Texas
An 18-year-old Hispanic male shooter shot his grandmother in the head before departing for Robb Elementary School where he fatally shoots 21 people and leaves 18 injured, including his grandmother. The shooter was killed by officers in classroom 111 during the rescue operation.
June
Crypto crashes as the bull run comes to a grinding halt
Bitcoin crashed by 41%, taking down several cryptocurrencies with it.
Supreme Court abandons Roe v. Wade ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling, putting an end to the federal constitutional right to abortion and leaving abortion legality to state laws.
July
Boris Johnson resigns from office
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned after over 50 members of parliament resigned after a series of sexual misconduct-related scandals among the Tories that were then followed by Johnson’s appointment of Chris Pincher, a politician accused of sexually assaulting two men.
Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe is assassinated
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot by former Japanese Navy member Tetsuya Yamagami while delivering a speech at Yamato Saidaiji train station. Abe is the longest-serving PM in Japanese history. More in Remembering Shinzo Abe’s Legacy: Free and Open Indo-Pacific, Womenomics, and Right-Wing Nationalism.
James Webb Space Telescope photos are released to the public
NASA releases photos taken by the James Webb Telescope to the public. The telescope sent back images of a galaxy cluster, an exoplanet with water and its own atmosphere, the Southern Ring Nebula, Stephan’s Quintet, and the Carina Nebula. More in Cool Details From the New NASA Webb Telescope Photos That Will Leave You Speechless.
August
FBI agents discover top secret documents at former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home
FBI agents raided the Mar-a-Lago home of former U.S. President Donald Trump, discovering more than 100 classified documents. This was after Trump voluntarily surrendered 15 boxes of documents to the National Archives back in January.
September
Queen Elizabeth dies
Queen Elizabeth II passed away in Balmoral, Scotland just hours after she was put under medical supervision. King Charles III succeeds her as king of the United Kingdom.
Protests break out in Iran following the death of a woman over a dress-code arrest
22-year-old Mahsa Amini dies under mysterious circumstances after Iranian authorities took her under custody under the pretense of wearing her hijab too loosely. Amini’s brother was told she had a heart attack and a brain seizure, but her co-detainees insisted she had been tortured. Her death sparked a series of protests. In response, the Iranian government has abolished the morality police responsible for her death but protests still march on with many women now publicly flouting hijab laws.
TIME has declared the Women of Iran as 2022’s Heroes of the Year.
October
Xi Jinping starts third term as Chinese Communist Party leader
Xi Jinping cements a third term as Party leader after removing the two-term presidency limit back in 2018.
Meta stock suffers a share drop of 24.5%
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, suffers a stock drop of 24.5%, putting its shares down by more than 61% since the start of 2022. The incident wiped $80 billion from Meta’s value overnight.
Elon Musk finally buys Twitter
Elon Musk finalizes his $44 billion purchase of Twitter which he announced with a Tweet: “the bird is freed”. His purchase was followed by a series of firings of Twitter’s top employees including CEO Parag Agrawal.
158 people dead in Seoul crowd crush
A crowd crush at Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea results in the death of 158 people and leaves 196 people injured. The area is known for its nightlife scene and Halloween parties. News reports revealed that only 137 police officers were assigned to oversee the Halloween celebrations at Itaewon despite requests by Itaewon police for backup due to the anticipated crowds.
November
FTX files for bankruptcy
Cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it became unable to pay over 100,000 creditors. The exchange had assets and liabilities both in range of $10 to $50 billion.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan is assigned to oversee the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried who was arrested in the Bahamas where FTX is headquartered. Bankman-Fried is facing two counts of wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, and one count of money-laundering charges. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years as per a statement released by the Department of Justice on December 13, 2022.
Protests against Xi Jinping’s zero Covid policy erupt in China
Xi Jinping may have secured his third term as Party president, but it seems he hasn’t secured his nation. Protests swept through major cities in China following a deadly fire in the Xinjiang region that, in their view, was made worse by restrictions. Three years of Xi Jinping’s Zero Covid policy has seen residents literally locked inside their homes to prevent the spread of Covid.
The political pressure of the protests and economic pressure imposed by a weakened Chinese economy have finally made Beijing ease its Covid policies as of December 14, 2022.
ChatGPT surpasses the 1 million user mark just a week after its release
ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that uses GPT-3.5, was launched on November 30, 2022. Its usefulness for general content creation, including doing homework, earns it unprecedented popularity. ChatGPT gains over 1 million users just a week after its release.
December
Basketball player Brittney Griner is exchanged for a Russian arms dealer
WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner finally returned home after being stopped at an airport in Moscow and charged with smuggling illegal drugs. She was sentenced to 9 years in prison but was later exchanged for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer. CNN notes that Bout allegedly brought military-grade weapons to several conflict zones since the 1990s.
Biden signs Respect for Marriage Act
President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act on December 13, 2022, codifying federal protections on same-sex marriages. The act, however, does not codify same-sex marriage itself which was established under the decision of Obergefell v. Hodges. This leaves marriage equality open to the same overturn that Roe v. Wade was subjected to.
Argentina wins the World Cup
Argentina defeats France at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with a final score of 3-3 (4-2 penalty). The 2022 victory marks the third Argentinian win following their success in the 1878 and 1986 World Cups.
The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act passes into law
President Biden signs the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act on December 23, 2022, as part of the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. The new law makes it illegal to possess, transport, and sell shark fin and shark fin products in the U.S.
Andrew Tate gets arrested in Romania as part of rape, human-trafficking investigations following Twitter spat with climate activist Greta Thunberg
Andrew Tate, a self-labeled ‘misogynist’ YouTuber, was arrested in Romania as part of an investigation into his supposed involvement in human trafficking, organized crime, and rape. Earlier this week, Tate Tweeted an image of himself with a Bugatti and tagged climate activist Greta Thunberg who in turn gave a scathing reply.
In response, Tate Tweeted a video of himself that featured a pizza box from Romanian pizza chain Jerry’s Pizza, thus confirming that he was in the country. Local authorities later raided his home and arrested both Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate.