2016

Events in 2016 101

• 1917 – 2016 Zsa Zsa Gabor (1917-2016) Died 18 December 2016, aged 99 Gabor was a Hungarian-American actress and socialite known for her glamorous public persona and nine marriages as much as for her film career. She appeared in films including Moulin Rouge and became a fixture of American celebrity culture for decades. She was one of three famous Gabor sisters.
• 1921 – 2016 Nancy Reagan (1921-2016) Died 6 March 2016, aged 94 Reagan served as First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989 during the presidency of her husband, Ronald Reagan. She was known for her "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign and her influence over White House staffing and scheduling. She remained a prominent figure in Republican politics after leaving the White House.
• 1921 – 2016 John Glenn (1921-2016) Died 8 December 2016, aged 95 Glenn was an American astronaut who became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962 aboard Friendship 7. He later served as a U.S. Senator from Ohio for 24 years and returned to space in 1998 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery at age 77. He was the last surviving member of NASA's original Mercury Seven astronauts.
• 1922 – 2016 Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1922-2016) Died 16 February 2016, aged 93 Boutros-Ghali was an Egyptian diplomat who served as the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1992 to 1996. His tenure included the UN's response to the Rwandan genocide and conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Somalia. He was the first UN chief from Africa and the Arab world.
• 1923 – 2016 Debbie Reynolds (1923-2016) Died 28 December 2016, aged 93 Reynolds was an American actress and singer best known for her role in Singin' in the Rain. She had a decades-long career in film, television, and Las Vegas performance. She died one day after her daughter, actress Carrie Fisher.
• 1923 – 2016 Shimon Peres (1923-2016) Died 28 September 2016, aged 93 Peres served twice as Prime Minister of Israel and later as its President, holding nearly every senior office in Israeli government over a seven-decade career. He shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the Oslo Accords. He remained an active statesman into his nineties.
• 1925 – 2016 Pierre Boulez (1925-2016) Died 5 January 2016, aged 90 Boulez was a French composer and conductor who was a leading figure in postwar avant-garde classical music. He led major orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony. His compositions and writings shaped serialist and modernist music for decades.
• 1926 – 2016 Andrzej Wajda (1926-2016) Died 9 October 2016, aged 90 Wajda was a Polish film director whose works, including Ashes and Diamonds and Man of Iron, chronicled Poland's turbulent 20th-century history. He received an honorary Academy Award in 2000 for lifetime achievement. He remained active in filmmaking until his death.
• 1926 – 2016 Dario Fo (1926-2016) Died 13 October 2016, aged 90 Fo was an Italian playwright, actor, and satirist awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1997 for work combining comedy with pointed social and political criticism. His best-known play, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, was performed worldwide. He was also a lifelong political activist.
• 1926 – 2016 Harper Lee (1926-2016) Died 19 February 2016, aged 89 Lee was an American author best known for her 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which won the Pulitzer Prize and became a staple of school curricula worldwide. A long-awaited follow-up, Go Set a Watchman, was published in 2015. She rarely gave interviews after her early fame.
• 1926 – 2016 Fidel Castro (1926-2016) Died 25 November 2016, aged 90 Castro led Cuba as Prime Minister and later President for nearly five decades after leading the 1959 revolution that overthrew Fulgencio Batista. He established a one-party communist state that survived a U.S. trade embargo and decades of Cold War hostility. He formally transferred power to his brother Raul in 2008 but remained a symbolic figure until his death.
• 1928 – 2016 Edward Albee (1928-2016) Died 16 September 2016, aged 88 Albee was an American playwright best known for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and other works exploring the darker undercurrents of American domestic life. He won three Pulitzer Prizes for Drama over his career. His plays remain widely staged and studied.
• 1928 – 2016 Gordie Howe (1928-2016) Died 10 June 2016, aged 88 Howe was a Canadian ice hockey player who spent 26 seasons in the NHL, mostly with the Detroit Red Wings, and was nicknamed "Mr. Hockey." He remains one of the sport's all-time leading scorers. He continued playing professionally into his 50s.
• 1928 – 2016 William Trevor (1928-2016) Died 20 November 2016, aged 88 Trevor was an Irish writer regarded as one of the leading short story writers in the English language. He won the Whitbread Prize three times and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize five times. His work often depicted quiet lives in provincial Ireland and England.
• 1928 – 2016 Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) Died 2 July 2016, aged 87 Wiesel was a Romanian-born American writer and Holocaust survivor whose memoir Night became one of the most widely read accounts of the Holocaust. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for his work as a human rights advocate. He testified before Congress and world leaders on genocide and human rights throughout his life.
• 1929 – 2016 Arnold Palmer (1929-2016) Died 25 September 2016, aged 87 Palmer was an American professional golfer who won seven major championships and helped popularize the sport during the television era. His charisma earned him a fan following known as "Arnie's Army." He was a founding member of the Golf Channel and a successful businessman.
• 1932 – 2016 Umberto Eco Italian novelist and philosopher Eco wrote The Name of the Rose, combining mystery, semiotics, and historical fiction.
• 1934 – 2016 Kenny Baker (1934-2016) Died 13 August 2016, aged 81 Baker was an English actor best known for physically portraying the droid R2-D2 in the original Star Wars film trilogy. He also performed in numerous other film and television roles despite his small stature, which he used in his craft. He reprised the role in several Star Wars sequels and prequels.
• 1934 – 2016 Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) Died 7 November 2016, aged 82 Cohen was a Canadian singer-songwriter and poet known for songs including "Hallelujah" and "Suzanne." His work blended poetry, spirituality, and melancholy across a five-decade recording career. He released his final album, You Want It Darker, weeks before his death.
• 1934 – 2016 Garry Marshall (1934-2016) Died 19 July 2016, aged 81 Marshall was an American director and producer behind films including Pretty Woman and television series such as Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley. His five-decade career spanned both comedy writing and directing. He continued directing films into his final years.
• 1936 – 2016 Antonin Scalia (1936-2016) Died 13 February 2016, aged 79 Scalia served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1986 until his death, becoming the leading voice of originalist legal interpretation on the bench. His sudden death created a vacancy that became a major political flashpoint in the 2016 election. He was known for his sharp, often combative written opinions.
• 1937 – 2016 Merle Haggard (1937-2016) Died 6 April 2016, aged 79 Haggard was an American country music singer and songwriter known for hits including "Okie from Muskogee" and "Mama Tried." He was a leading figure of the Bakersfield sound and a Country Music Hall of Fame inductee. He died on his 79th birthday.
• 1938 – 2016 Janet Reno (1938-2016) Died 7 November 2016, aged 78 Reno served as U.S. Attorney General from 1993 to 2001, the first woman to hold the position and the longest-serving Attorney General in the 20th century. Her tenure included the Waco siege and the Elian Gonzalez custody case. She later lived with Parkinson's disease.
• 1938 – 2016 The 27 Club Artists who died at 27 Musicians and artists who died at the age of 27 — Robert Johnson, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse and others. A coincidence that became a legend.
• 1942 – 2016 Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) Died 3 June 2016, aged 74 Ali was a heavyweight boxing champion widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. Beyond the ring, he was known for his conversion to Islam, his refusal to be drafted for the Vietnam War, and his outspoken civil rights activism. He lived with Parkinson's disease for over three decades before his death.
• 1944 – 2016 Gene Wilder dies Willy Wonka and Young Frankenstein star, age 83 Gene Wilder, best known for his roles in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Young Frankenstein, died on August 29, 2016, aged 83, from complications of Alzheimer's disease.
• 1946 – 2016 Alan Rickman (1946-2016) Died 14 January 2016, aged 69 Rickman was an English actor known for roles including Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films and Hans Gruber in Die Hard. He built a distinguished career on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company before his film breakthrough. He died of pancreatic cancer.
• 1947 – 2016 David Bowie The Starman Iconic musician and cultural chameleon.
• 1947 – 2016 Johan Cruyff Total Football Architect Revolutionized the sport as the star of the Dutch "Total Football" era and a 3-time Ballon d'Or winner.
• 1950 – 2016 George Michael dies Wham! and Faith singer, age 53 George Michael died on December 25, 2016, aged 53, from heart failure at his home in Goring-on-Thames. He sold over 100 million records worldwide as a solo artist and with Wham!.
• 1952 – 2016 Pat Summitt (1952-2016) Died 28 June 2016, aged 64 Summitt was the head coach of the University of Tennessee women's basketball team for 38 seasons, winning eight national championships. She retired in 2012 after being diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. She remains one of the most successful coaches in college basketball history.
• 1956 – 2016 Carrie Fisher (1956-2016) Died 27 December 2016, aged 60 Fisher was an American actress and writer best known for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars film series. She was also an acclaimed author and screenwriter, and an outspoken advocate for mental health awareness after publicly discussing her bipolar disorder. She died days after suffering a cardiac event on a flight, and her mother, Debbie Reynolds, died the following day.
• 1958 – 2016 Prince Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist American musician from Minneapolis who blended funk, rock, pop and soul, played almost every instrument on his records and fought the music industry for control of his work.
• 1968 – 2016 Crosby, Stills & Nash American folk rock trio David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash — the harmony supergroup of Laurel Canyon, sometimes with Neil Young.
• 1969 – 2016 Rob Ford (1969-2016) Died 22 March 2016, aged 46 Ford served as Mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014, drawing international attention after admitting to smoking crack cocaine while in office. Despite the scandal he retained a loyal base of supporters known as "Ford Nation." He died of a rare form of cancer shortly after leaving office as a city councillor.
• 1970 – 2016 Phife Dawg (1970-2016) Died 22 March 2016, aged 45 Born Malik Taylor, Phife Dawg was a founding member of the influential hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest. His lyrical interplay with fellow member Q-Tip helped define the group's jazz-influenced sound. He died of complications from diabetes.
• 1989 – 2016 Anton Yelchin (1989-2016) Died 19 June 2016, aged 27 Yelchin was an actor known for playing Pavel Chekov in the rebooted Star Trek film series. He also appeared in films including Star Trek Beyond, released weeks after his death. He died in a freak accident involving his own car at his home.
• 1992 – 2016 Jose Fernandez (1992-2016) Died 25 September 2016, aged 24 Fernandez was a Cuban-American Major League Baseball pitcher for the Miami Marlins, known for his dominant fastball and infectious enthusiasm for the game. He defected from Cuba as a teenager before starting his MLB career. He died in a boating accident off the coast of Miami.
• 2010 – 2016 One Direction The Modern Boy Band A global sensation formed on The X Factor; launched massive solo careers (Harry Styles).
• 2015 – 2016 The Solar Impulse Bertrand Piccard The first round-the-world flight by a solar-powered aircraft, demonstrating Swiss innovation in green tech.
• 2016 – present BLACKPINK The Global Girl Group The first K-Pop girl group to headline Coachella and achieve massive western success.
• 2016 – present Bad Bunny The King of Latin Trap The most streamed artist globally for three consecutive years (2020-2022).
• 2016 Moonlight Best Picture — 89th Academy Awards Barry Jenkins's coming-of-age drama in three chapters. Its win followed the envelope mix-up in which La La Land was announced first.
• 2016 Tesla Model 3 announced Mass-market electric car changes auto industry Tesla unveiled the Model 3 on March 31, 2016, a mass-market electric car priced at $35,000. It received 325,000 pre-orders in 24 hours, transforming expectations for electric vehicles.
• 2016 North Korea Nuclear Tests Fourth and fifth nuclear detonations escalate tensions North Korea conducted its fourth and fifth nuclear weapons tests, claiming the January test involved a hydrogen bomb. The September test was the country's most powerful to date and prompted new United Nations sanctions. The tests significantly escalated tensions on the Korean peninsula.
• 2016 David Bowie releases Blackstar Final album Released on his 69th birthday.
• 2016 David Bowie dies Ziggy Stardust, age 69 David Bowie died on January 10, 2016, just two days after releasing his final album Blackstar on his 69th birthday. One of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.
• 2016 David Bowie dies in New York Aged 69 Dies two days after Blackstar.
• 2016 Zika Virus Health Emergency Declared WHO declares global emergency over birth defects The World Health Organization declared the Zika virus outbreak, linked to a surge in birth defects across the Americas, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The mosquito-borne virus was strongly associated with microcephaly in newborns. The declaration triggered a global research and public health response.
• 2016 Gravitational waves detected Einstein's 1916 prediction confirmed Scientists at LIGO announced the first detection of gravitational waves on February 11, 2016, confirming Einstein's century-old prediction. The waves were produced by two merging black holes.
• 2016 AlphaGo defeats world Go champion AI masters the most complex board game Google DeepMind's AlphaGo defeated world Go champion Lee Sedol 4-1 in March 2016. Go has more possible positions than atoms in the universe, and the victory was considered a major milestone in artificial intelligence.
• 2016 Obama Visits Cuba First sitting US president to visit in decades Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba in nearly 90 years, meeting with Raul Castro in Havana. The visit followed the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2015. It marked a symbolic high point in the thaw between Washington and Havana.
• 2016 Brussels Bombings ISIL suicide attacks hit airport and metro Suicide bombers linked to ISIL attacked Brussels Airport and the Maalbeek metro station, killing 32 people and wounding hundreds. The attacks were carried out by the same cell responsible for the November 2015 Paris attacks. Belgium raised its terror threat to the highest level in response.
• 2016 Zootopia #1 film of 2016 — $1.02bn worldwide Disney animated film directed by Byron Howard. In a city of anthropomorphic animals, a naive rabbit joins forces with a cynical fox to solve a missing-mammals case.
• 2016 Myanmar NLD Government Takes Power Htin Kyaw sworn in as first civilian president in decades Htin Kyaw was sworn in as President of Myanmar, the country's first civilian leader in decades, with Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy taking power after its landslide election win. Suu Kyi, barred from the presidency by the constitution, took the newly created role of State Counsellor. The transition marked a major milestone in Myanmar's move away from military rule.
• 2016 Standing Rock Pipeline Protests Sioux tribe leads opposition to Dakota Access Pipeline Members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and thousands of supporters protested construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline near tribal land in North Dakota, citing threats to water supplies and sacred sites. The protests drew national attention to indigenous rights and environmental activism. The Army Corps of Engineers denied an easement for the pipeline route in December, though the decision was later reversed.
• 2016 Panama Papers Leak Massive leak exposes global offshore finance network A leak of 11.5 million documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca exposed how wealthy individuals and public officials used offshore companies to hide assets. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists coordinated the release with media partners worldwide. The disclosures prompted resignations, investigations, and new transparency laws in several countries.
• 2016 Captain America: Civil War #2 film of 2016 — $1.15bn worldwide Directed by the Russo brothers. Political interference in the Avengers causes a rift between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers.
• 2016 2016 World Snooker Championship Mark Selby Title 2 Winner: Mark Selby; Runner-up: Ding Junhui. Score: 18–14.
• 2016 Ecuador Earthquake Magnitude 7.8 quake kills hundreds on Pacific coast A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Ecuador's Pacific coast, killing over 650 people and leaving tens of thousands homeless. It was the country's deadliest earthquake in decades. The government declared a state of emergency and launched a major reconstruction effort.
• 2016 Prince dies Purple Rain icon, age 57 Prince Rogers Nelson died on April 21, 2016, aged 57, from an accidental fentanyl overdose at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota. He sold over 150 million records worldwide.
• 2016 Prince dies at Paisley Park Aged 57 Dies at his Minnesota studio complex.
• 2016 Beyonce Releases Lemonade Visual album becomes cultural landmark Beyonce released Lemonade, a visual album blending music with themes of infidelity, race, and Black womanhood. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 and was widely praised as one of the decade's most significant cultural statements. The accompanying film premiered on HBO.
• 2016 Leicester City Wins Premier League 5,000-to-1 outsiders claim historic title Leicester City won the English Premier League title, one of the greatest upsets in sports history after starting the season as 5,000-to-1 outsiders. The club had narrowly avoided relegation the previous season. The title run was credited to manager Claudio Ranieri.
• 2016 French Open 2016 Men: Novak Djokovic · Women: Garbiñe Muguruza Djokovic finally won Roland Garros, completing the career Grand Slam and becoming the first man to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously since Rod Laver in 1969.
• 2016 Gotthard Base Tunnel Opening World's Longest Tunnel Completion of the 57km railway tunnel under the Alps after 17 years of construction.
• 2016 Orlando Nightclub Shooting Gunman kills 49 at Pulse nightclub A gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 others at the Pulse nightclub, a gay bar in Orlando, Florida, before being killed by police. It was the deadliest attack on the LGBTQ community in U.S. history at the time. The attacker pledged allegiance to ISIL during the assault.
• 2016 Microsoft Acquires LinkedIn $26.2 billion deal is largest in company history Microsoft announced its acquisition of the professional networking site LinkedIn for $26.2 billion, its largest acquisition to date. The deal closed in December 2016 with LinkedIn continuing to operate as a distinct subsidiary. It was aimed at integrating professional networking data into Microsoft's productivity software.
• 2016 Brexit Referendum Leaving the EU The public vote resulting in the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.
• 2016 Brexit vote UK votes to leave European Union The United Kingdom voted 51.9% to 48.1% to leave the European Union on June 23, 2016, triggering the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron and years of political turmoil.
• 2016 Rodrigo Duterte Inaugurated Philippine president launches drug crackdown Rodrigo Duterte was inaugurated as President of the Philippines after winning the election on a platform centered on a violent crackdown on drugs and crime. His anti-drug campaign led to thousands of deaths in its early months. Duterte's presidency also brought a marked shift in Philippine foreign policy away from the United States.
• 2016 Juno Enters Jupiter Orbit NASA spacecraft begins study of gas giant NASA's Juno spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter after a nearly five-year journey, beginning a mission to study the planet's composition, gravity, and magnetic field. It was only the second spacecraft to orbit Jupiter, after Galileo. Juno's polar orbit provided the first close views of the planet's poles.
• 2016 Pokemon Go Launches Augmented-reality game becomes global phenomenon Niantic released Pokemon Go, an augmented-reality mobile game that let players catch virtual creatures in real-world locations. The app became a global cultural phenomenon, drawing tens of millions of players within its first weeks. It was credited with popularizing augmented-reality gaming.
• 2016 South Sudan Juba Clashes Fighting shatters fragile peace deal Heavy fighting broke out between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar in Juba, shattering a fragile 2015 peace agreement. Hundreds were killed over several days of violence. The clashes marked a renewed escalation of South Sudan's civil war.
• 2016 Euro 2016 Final European Champions The Portuguese national team won its first major international trophy by defeating France.
• 2016 Theresa May Becomes UK Prime Minister Second female PM takes office after Cameron resigns Theresa May became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following David Cameron's resignation after the Brexit referendum. She was the second woman to hold the office, after Margaret Thatcher. May pledged to lead the country's withdrawal from the European Union.
• 2016 Nice truck attack 86 killed on Bastille Day A terrorist drove a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France on July 14, 2016, killing 86 people and injuring 458.
• 2016 Turkish Coup Attempt Military faction fails to seize power A faction of the Turkish Armed Forces attempted to seize control of the government, deploying tanks and jets against key sites in Ankara and Istanbul. The coup collapsed within hours after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on citizens to resist and loyalist forces regained control. More than 250 people died, and a sweeping purge of the military, judiciary, and civil service followed.
• 2016 Star Trek Beyond The third Kelvin Timeline film, directed by Justin Lin, returns to the franchise's exploratory roots. Released in the franchise's 50th anniversary year. Idris Elba plays the villain Krall. Well received by critics but underperforms commercially. Budget: $185 million. Gross: $343 million. The Kelvin Timeline films stall after this entry.
• 2016 WikiLeaks Publishes DNC Emails Hacked emails roil Democratic convention WikiLeaks published thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee, revealing internal favoritism toward Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in the primary. The leak led to the resignation of DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. U.S. intelligence agencies later attributed the hack to Russian state actors.
• 2016 2016 Summer Olympics XXXI Olympiad - Rio First Games held in South America. Winner: USA.
• 2016 Central Italy Earthquake Magnitude 6.2 quake devastates Amatrice A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck central Italy, devastating the town of Amatrice and killing nearly 300 people. Rescue efforts continued for days amid the rubble of collapsed historic buildings. The region was struck by further strong aftershocks in the following months.
• 2016 Proxima b Discovered Earth-sized planet found orbiting nearest star Astronomers announced the discovery of Proxima b, an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun. The planet was detected using the radial velocity method at the European Southern Observatory. Its proximity made it an immediate target for future study of potentially habitable worlds.
• 2016 Wells Fargo Fake Accounts Scandal Bank fined over unauthorized customer accounts Wells Fargo was fined $185 million after regulators found employees had opened millions of unauthorized customer accounts to meet aggressive sales targets. The scandal led to the resignation of CEO John Stumpf and the firing of thousands of employees. It triggered a broader reckoning over sales practices in U.S. retail banking.
• 2016 Yahoo Discloses Massive Data Breach 500 million accounts compromised in 2014 hack Yahoo disclosed that data from more than 500 million user accounts had been stolen in a 2014 breach, one of the largest in internet history. The disclosure came amid Yahoo's pending acquisition by Verizon and led to a reduction in the sale price. A second, larger breach affecting a billion accounts was disclosed months later.
• 2016 Hurricane Matthew Category 5 storm devastates Haiti Hurricane Matthew, a powerful Category 5 storm, struck Haiti, Cuba, and the southeastern United States, killing over 500 people, mostly in Haiti. It was the strongest Atlantic hurricane in nearly a decade at its peak. The storm caused widespread flooding and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti.
• 2016 Rosetta Mission Ends ESA spacecraft lands on comet to conclude mission The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft ended its mission by deliberately descending onto the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta had orbited the comet since 2014 and deployed the Philae lander to its surface. The mission provided unprecedented data on the composition of comets.
• 2016 Bob Dylan wins Nobel Prize First musician to win Nobel for Literature Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on October 13, 2016, "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition" — the first musician to win the prize.
• 2016 AB InBev Completes SABMiller Acquisition Deal creates dominant global brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev completed its roughly $100 billion acquisition of rival brewer SABMiller, creating a company responsible for around a third of the world's beer sales. The deal was one of the largest corporate mergers in history. Regulators required the sale of several major brands to approve the deal.
• 2016 Battle of Mosul Begins Iraqi-led coalition launches offensive against ISIL Iraqi government forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and Kurdish Peshmerga, launched a major offensive to retake Mosul from the Islamic State. It was the largest military operation in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. The battle for the city would continue into 2017.
• 2016 Chicago Cubs Win World Series Team ends 108-year championship drought The Chicago Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians in a seven-game World Series, winning their first championship since 1908. Game 7 went to extra innings after a rain delay. The victory ended the longest championship drought in major North American professional sports.
• 2016 – present Web Summit Lisbon Global Tech Event One of the world’s largest technology conferences, which moved permanently to Lisbon in 2016.
• 2016 Donald Trump elected 45th US President shocks the world Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the US presidential election on November 8, 2016, in one of the most surprising election results in modern history.
• 2016 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them #4 film of 2016 — $814m worldwide Directed by David Yates. Magizoologist Newt Scamander arrives in New York with a suitcase full of magical creatures.
• 2016 Colombia-FARC Peace Agreement Signed Revised accord ends 52-year conflict The Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla group signed a revised peace accord in Bogota, ending more than five decades of armed conflict. An earlier version of the deal had been narrowly rejected in a national referendum weeks before. The Colombian Congress ratified the revised agreement in late November.
• 2016 Blue & Lonesome Twenty-third album — December 2, 2016 Blue & Lonesome was released on December 2, 2016, a pure electric blues covers album recorded in just three days. It won the Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album and reached number 1 in the UK.
• 2016 Italian Constitutional Referendum Voters reject Renzi-backed reforms Italian voters rejected a constitutional referendum backed by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi that sought to reduce the powers of the Senate. Renzi resigned the following day after staking his premiership on the result. The vote was widely read as part of a broader wave of anti-establishment sentiment in Europe.
• 2016 Park Geun-hye Impeachment Vote South Korean parliament votes to suspend president South Korea's National Assembly voted to impeach President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal involving her confidante Choi Soon-sil. The vote suspended Park's powers pending a Constitutional Court ruling. Mass protests had preceded the impeachment for weeks.
• 2016 Fall of Aleppo Syrian government retakes rebel-held east Aleppo Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air power, completed the recapture of rebel-held eastern Aleppo after a prolonged siege and bombardment. A negotiated evacuation removed remaining fighters and civilians from the city. The fall of Aleppo marked a major turning point in the Syrian civil war in favor of Bashar al-Assad.
• 2016 Berlin Christmas Market Attack Truck attack kills 12 at Breitscheidplatz A truck was deliberately driven into a Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring dozens more. The attacker, Anis Amri, was later shot dead by police in Milan. ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack.
• 2016 SpaceX lands reusable rocket Falcon 9 returns to launch pad SpaceX successfully landed the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket back at the launch site on December 21, 2015, proving the concept of reusable rockets and dramatically reducing the cost of access to space.