2021 Year in Review

JANUARY

The year started with muted celebrations across the globe. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we didn’t see the massive gatherings we are used to seeing on January 1.

Vaccines were still in the early stages of distribution. But they offered hope for many, and it seemed as though things might soon be getting back to normal.There was nothing normal, however, about the events that took place in Washington, DC, less than a week later. In a stunning insurrection, supporters of President Donald Trump breached the US Capitol while Congress was meeting to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. The Capitol was put on lockdown, and it took several hours for it to be secured. Five people died as a result of the chaos that day.

Congress returned that evening to certify Biden’s victory, but the country was shaken. A week later, Trump was impeached by the House and charged with “incitement of insurrection.” That made him the first president in US history to be impeached twice.

Trump, who likened the impeachment push to a “witch hunt,” skipped Biden’s inauguration on January 20. It was the first time in 150 years that an outgoing US president had skipped his successor’s inauguration.

January 1: Confetti falls on a mostly empty Times Square in New York. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, there weren’t many mass celebrations. Many cities canceled their fireworks shows. Corey Sipkin/AFP

January 3: Nurses Naomi Balzan and Nanette Azzopardi administer painkillers and sedatives to Rebecca Zammit Lupi, a 15-year-old cancer patient, as her mother, Marisa Ford, is by her side at the Mater Dei Hospital in Msida, Malta. This photo was taken by Rebecca’s father, Reuters photographer Darrin Zammit Lupi. It was the last photo he took of her while she was still alive. She died about an hour later. Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters

January 4: Motorists wait in lines for Covid-19 tests outside of Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium. Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP

January 4: Agnes Keleti, a former gymnast who won five Olympic gold medals, reacts as fireworks go off on her birthday cake in Budapest, Hungary. She turned 100 a few days later. Laszlo Balogh/AP

January 4: US Senate candidates Jon Ossoff, left, and the Rev. Raphael Warnock bump elbows during a rally in Atlanta. The two candidates went on to win their runoff elections in Georgia, giving the Democratic Party control of Congress and the White House for the first time in a decade. Jim Watson/AFP

January 6: Supporters of US President Donald Trump participate in a rally near the White House in Washington, DC. Later that day, Congress was meeting to certify the Electoral College’s votes for president and vice president. Multiple Senate Republicans were planning to raise objections to the count as Trump continued to push false conspiracy theories that the election was rigged against him. At the rally, Trump encouraged his supporters to march on the US Capitol to challenge the final certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory. “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he said during his speech. John Minchillo/AP

January 6: Trump supporters gather outside the US Capitol. Tayfun Coskun

January 6: Trump supporters try to breach the Capitol while Congress was meeting to certify the electoral votes. Many got in, and the Capitol was put on lockdown. The certification vote was paused. Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg

January 6: Police clash with pro-Trump rioters who had entered the Capitol. This was the first time the Capitol had been breached since the British attacked and burned the building in August 1814, during the War of 1812. It took several hours for the Capitol to be secured. Vice President Mike Pence was moved to a safe location, as was congressional leadership. Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu Agency

January 6: US Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman confronts protesters as they storm the building. Five people died as a result of the riot, including a woman who was fatally shot by police and three people who died of apparent medical emergencies. Among those who died was Officer Brian Sicknick, who suffered strokes and died of natural causes a day after responding to the insurrection. Ashley Gilbertson/VII/Redux

January 6: Congressional staffers put up a barricade inside the Capitol after the building was breached. Amanda Voisard/The Washington Post

January 6: Police draw their guns as rioters try to break into the House chamber. “I kept my lens focused on that door and waited for the breach,” said Associated Press photographer J. Scott Applewhite, the only journalist in the House chamber at the time. “When the mob began to break the glass in the door, I could barely see the face of one of the rioters. The cops and a new congressman with a law enforcement background tried to de-escalate the situation. Their guns were drawn and pointed at the hole in the glass. The growl of the mob could be heard on the other side.” J. Scott Applewhite/AP

January 6: US Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado, comforts US Rep. Susan Wild, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, while taking cover in the House chamber. Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

January 6: A Trump supporter carries a Confederate battle flag in the Capitol Rotunda after rioters breached the building. During the Civil War, the closest any insurgent carrying a Confederate flag ever came to the Capitol was about 6 miles, during the Battle of Fort Stevens in 1864. Saul Loeb/AFP

January 6: A man hangs from a balcony in the Senate chamber. Rioters also invaded the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It took several hours for the Capitol to be secured. Lawmakers returned that night and resumed the vote count.

January 6: People put on emergency hoods as they take shelter in the House chamber. Lawmakers, aides and journalists were told to put on the hoods after tear gas had been deployed in the Capitol. Andrew Harnik/AP

January 6: Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi preside over the joint session of Congress that officially certified Joe Biden’s electoral win. “To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win,” Pence said. “As we reconvene in this chamber, the world will again witness the resilience and strength of our democracy, even in the wake of unprecedented violence and vandalism in this Capitol.” Erin Schaff/The New York Times

January 9: Laborers unload coal from a cargo ship in Gabtoli, Bangladesh, on the outskirts of Dhaka. Kazi Salahuddin Razu/NurPhoto

January 11: Officials in Jakarta, Indonesia, carry body bags containing the suspected remains of passengers from Sriwijaya Air Flight 182. The passenger jet crashed into the ocean minutes after takeoff on January 9. There were 62 passengers on board. Ulet Ifansasti/The New York Times

January 11: Coffins — mainly containing Covid-19 victims — pile up at the city crematorium in Meissen, Germany. Meissen is in the state of Saxony, which at the time had the highest Covid-19 infection rate in all of Germany. Maja Hitij/

January 13: Health workers wear personal protective equipment at a drive-thru testing center in Shah Alam, Malaysia. Malaysia's king had declared a nationwide state of emergency to curb the spread of Covid-19. Samsul Said/Bloomberg

January 15: Samantha Bailey takes a selfie with a staff member dressed like a raptor at the Jurassic Quest dinosaur park in Pasadena, California. Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

January 17: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny takes his seat on a Moscow-bound plane before taking off from Berlin. Navalny was detained by police moments after landing in Russia and five months after he was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok. Navalny had been placed on the country's federal wanted list in December 2020 for violating terms of probation related to a years-old fraud case. He said the case is politically motivated. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP

January 18: A couple of US Marines hold Capitol doors — still damaged from the January 6 riot — during a rehearsal for Joe Biden’s inauguration. Melina Mara/The Washington Post/Pool/AP

January 20: American flags are seen on the National Mall on the morning of Joe Biden’s inauguration. The Presidential Inaugural Committee planted more than 191,500 flags on the Mall to represent the people who couldn’t attend the inauguration. Allison Shelley/Reuters

January 20: US President Donald Trump waves as he boards Marine One for the final time. Trump, still bitter about the election, skipped Biden's inauguration and many of the time-honored traditions that come with the peaceful transfer of power. It was the first time in 150 years that the outgoing president had boycotted his successor's inauguration. Mandel Ngan/AFP

January 20: Marine One flies past the Washington Monument as Trump leaves the nation’s capital. Will Lanzoni/CNN

January 20: Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, arrive at his inauguration. Biden pledged to be a president for all Americans — even those who did not support his campaign. "Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this: bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation," he said in his inaugural address. Chang W. Lee/The New York Times/Pool/AP

January 20: Joe Biden is sworn in as president of the United States as Covid-19 patient Cornel Iordache is prepared to move to another bed in the critical care unit of the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England. Lynsey Addario

January 20: Kamala Harris greets former US President Barack Obama before she was sworn in as vice president. Harris is the country's first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president.

January 20: US Sen. Bernie Sanders sits in the Capitol bleachers while waiting for Biden to be sworn in. The photo quickly became a meme. Sanders ran for the Democratic nomination in 2016 and 2020. Brendan Smialowski/AFP

January 20: The Bidens, seen on the right, are joined by their family as they watch fireworks from the White House balcony on the night of the inauguration. Adam Schultz/The White House

January 22: Mining rigs mine the Ethereum and Zilliqa cryptocurrencies at the Evobits crypto farm in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. "We're seeing a shift in the industry where Bitcoin went from being 75% of the overall cryptocurrency market cap to about 50%," Michael Pinsker, founder and president of wealth management tech firm Docupace, said about the drop in Bitcoin's market share since 2017. "That percentage should come down even further." Ethereum is the world's second most valuable cryptocurrency. Akos Stiller/Bloomberg

January 23: Health workers wear protective gear inside a locked-down residential area as they try to contain a Covid-19 outbreak in Hong Kong. Tyrone Siu/Reuters

January 25: Haris Seferovic, a soccer player with the Portuguese club Benfica, hides his head under his jersey at the end of a league match against Nacional. The match in Lisbon ended 1-1. Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP

January 25: Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez has Joe DiMeo demonstrate the flexibility and strength in his hands, six months after DiMeo became the recipient of the world’s first successful face and hands transplant. Rodriguez, who led the surgical team in New York, was amazed to see that DiMeo has been able to master skills like zipping up his jacket and putting on his shoes. "There's always light at the end of the tunnel," DiMeo said. "You never give up." Mark Lennihan/AP

January 25: House Sergeant at Arms Tim Blodgett and House Clerk Cheryl Johnson are trailed by the House impeachment managers as they carry an article of impeachment to the US Senate. The House had voted to charge former President Donald Trump with incitement of insurrection, making him the first president in US history to be impeached twice. Trump likened the impeachment push to a "witch hunt." He said the speech he gave to his supporters on January 6, the day the US Capitol was breached, was "totally appropriate." Susan Walsh/AP

January 26: Public health workers from Oregon's Josephine County administer leftover doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to some motorists who, like them, were stranded in a snowstorm. The workers had six leftover doses and wanted to use them before they expired. Josephine County Public Health

January 30: Sandra Fogel watches a movie alone during the Gothenburg Film Festival in Gothenburg, Sweden. Most fans watched the movies online this year. Fogel applied to be one of the few allowed to see a movie in person. Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/

January 31: A man carries a young victim of a car bomb blast in Azaz, Syria. The ongoing conflict in Syria began following an uprising in March 2011 that spiraled into civil war. Since then, hundreds of thousands have been killed and millions of people have been displaced by fighting in the region. Nayef Al-Aboud/AFP/

FEBRUARY

The month of February started with a violent coup in Myanmar. Security forces, made up of police and military personnel under the command of Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, launched a countrywide crackdown that included enforced disappearances and the shooting of peaceful protesters.

The coup took place after months of increasing friction between the civilian government and the powerful military, known as the Tatmadaw. Military regimes ruled Myanmar from 1962 until 2011.

In the United States, Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial ended like his first: with an acquittal. The Senate vote was 57-43 in favor to convict, with seven Republicans joining Democrats in voting guilty. But a two-thirds majority was needed for conviction.

February 3: Newly confirmed Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is embraced by his husband, Chasten, after being sworn in by US Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House. Buttigieg is the first Senate-confirmed LGBTQ Cabinet secretary. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

February 3: US Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick lies in honor in the US Capitol Rotunda. Sicknick, 42, died in January, a day after defending the Capitol from pro-Trump rioters who breached the building. He suffered strokes and died of natural causes, according to Francisco Diaz, Washington DC's chief medical examiner. Diaz told The Washington Post that "all that transpired" on January 6 "played a role in his condition.” Kevin Dietsch/Pool/

February 7: Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes is tackled by Tampa Bay’s Jason Pierre-Paul, right, and Devin White during Super Bowl LV. Mahomes was under heavy pressure all night as Tampa Bay won 31-9. Patrick Smith/

February 7: The Weeknd marches with backup dancers during the Super Bowl LV halftime show. Ben Liebenberg/NFL/AP

February 9: Protesters use plastic sheets to protect themselves from possible water cannons in Yangon, Myanmar. A week earlier, the country's military seized power in a coup and anti-coup protesters were met with deadly force. The New York Times/Redux

February 10: Members of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's staff, who sheltered in their office during the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, watch new footage of the attack as it was presented during Donald Trump's second impeachment trial. The Senate voted 57-43 in favor to convict, but Trump was acquitted because a two-thirds majority was needed for conviction. Erin Schaff/The New York Times/Redux

February 10: Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady throws the Vince Lombardi Trophy to teammates on another boat as they celebrate their Super Bowl title during a boat parade in Tampa, Florida. It was Brady’s seventh Super Bowl title, extending his own record. No other player in NFL history has even been to seven Super Bowls. Kyle Zedaker/Tampa Bay Buccaneers

February 11: Michelle Melton, 35 weeks pregnant, receives a Covid-19 vaccine at the Skippack Pharmacy in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania. Hannah Beier/Reuters

February 11: People wait after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination center set up inside Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury, England. Dan Kitwood/

February 12: A butterfly lands on tennis star Naomi Osaka during a match at the Australian Open. Osaka went on to win her second Australian Open title later that month. But at the French Open in May, she withdrew from the tournament, citing her mental health. She also sat out Wimbledon before returning to play in the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Paul Crock/AFP/

February 14: Cars catch fire after a crash on the last lap of the Daytona 500. None of the drivers was seriously hurt. James Gilbert

February 16: Camilla Swindle sits in a shopping cart as she and her boyfriend wait in a long line to enter a grocery store in Austin, Texas. Winter storms wreaked havoc in much of the country that week. In Texas, hundreds of thousands of people struggled for heat and water after the deep freeze crippled utilities. Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux

February 16: In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, watch a performance marking the birthday of Kim's father, the late Kim Jong Il. It was the first time in over a year that Ri had appeared in North Korea's state media. Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP

February 18: US Sen. Ted Cruz pulls his luggage in Cancun, Mexico, before boarding a plane back to the United States. Cruz said that flying to Cancun while a winter disaster in his home state of Texas left millions without power or water "was obviously a mistake" and that "in hindsight I wouldn't have done it." Reuters

February 18: Perseverance, NASA's most sophisticated rover to date, landed on the surface of Mars and sent back its first images of the landing site. This image, taken during the spacecraft’s descent, captures the rover in midair just before its wheels touched down. The perspective has never been seen before on previous missions. Perseverance will search for signs of ancient life on Mars. It will also study the planet’s climate and geology and collect samples that will eventually be returned to Earth by the 2030s. JPL-Caltech/NASA

February 21: The Boston Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers play a hockey game at Lake Tahoe in Nevada. The NHL played two games there that weekend.

February 23: Members of the Wenatchee High School band practice in small enclosures as they follow Covid-19 precautions in Wenatchee, Washington. Don Seabrook/Wenatchee World

February 23: Law enforcement officers investigate the scene of Tiger Woods' rollover crash in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. The golf icon sustained serious leg injuries in the accident. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Woods had apparently meant to hit the brakes but instead slammed on the gas as he approached a curve in the road. Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock

February 24: Anna, a resident of the Villa Sacra Famiglia Nursing Home, holds her daughter's hand in the Rome facility's "hug room.” The room allows residents and their families to touch one another while staying safe from Covid-19. Antonio Masiello/

February 26: In this photo, taken with a slow shutter speed, Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes competes in a ski jumping event in Oberstdorf, Germany. Matthias Hangst/

February 27: Political consultant Roger Stone, left, dances in a pro-Trump music video outside of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando. Trump commuted Stone’s prison sentence last year after Stone had been convicted of seven charges, including witness tampering and lying to Congress. Octavio Jones/Reuters

MARCH

One of the Biden administration’s earliest challenges — the migrant crisis at the US-Mexico border — intensified in March with numbers that hadn’t been seen in the last 20 years. Those in custody included thousands of unaccompanied children, alarming advocates.

A couple of mass shootings also made headlines this month. Eight people were killed after shootings at three spas in the Atlanta area on March 18. Five days later, 10 people were killed in a shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.

At the end of the month, a massive container ship blocked traffic for almost a week in Egypt’s Suez Canal, one of the busiest waterways in the world. The ship had run aground, and it took six days for it to be fully dislodged and refloated.

March 4: A flock of starlings resembles a massive bird over Lough Ennell, a lake in Northern Ireland. The photo was on the front page of The Irish Times newspaper.

March 5: The wife of Phoe Chit, a protester who died during an anti-coup demonstration in Myanmar, cries over her husband's coffin during his funeral in Yangon. Protesters were being met with deadly force in Myanmar, where the military seized power in a coup on February 1. At least 38 people were killed March 3 after security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters in towns and cities across the country. AFP/

March 5: Models present new creations from Versace during Milan Fashion Week. Versace/Handout/Reuters

March 6: A child tosses a surgical mask into a fire during a mask-burning event at the Idaho Statehouse in Boise. People gathered in at least 20 cities across the state to protest Covid-19 restrictions. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

March 7: Pope Francis, surrounded by the remains of destroyed churches, attends a prayer in Mosul, Iraq. Francis called for "harmonious coexistence" of people from different backgrounds and cultures. "Here in Mosul, the tragic consequences of war and hostility are all too evident," he said. The Pope was in Iraq for four days. It was the first-ever papal visit to Iraq, and it was Francis' first trip outside Italy since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Andrew Medichini/AP

March 7: Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, are pictured during their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey. It was their first sit-down appearance since leaving Britain last year. Meghan said life as a royal was so isolating and lonely at one point that she “didn’t want to be alive anymore,” and she described herself as the victim of an image-obsessed Buckingham Palace. Joe Pugliese/Harpo Productions

March 8: A priest pleads with anti-government protesters in Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon, asking them to let him pass with his vehicle. The makeshift roadblock was set up by the protesters, who were frustrated about the country’s dire economic conditions. Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images

March 8: First-grader Sophia Frazier does her schoolwork behind a plastic divider at Two Rivers Elementary School in Sacramento, California. The dividers were in front of the desks that were closest to the teacher’s desk. The first-graders returned to class a week earlier. It was the first day for students in grades 3 through 5. Daniel Kim/Sacramento Bee/Zuma

March 11: Musicians Albert Skuratov and Samuel Palomino play a Mozart mini-concert for Covid-19 patients at an intensive care unit in Madrid. Bernat Armangue/AP

March 12: Noel Quintana, a 61-year-old Filipino American, poses for a portrait near his home in Brooklyn, New York. Quintana, who was on the subway when he was slashed across the face with a box cutter, is among the members of the Asian community who have faced a string of racist attacks in recent months in New York City and across the country. Anti-Asian hate crimes surged in early 2021, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University San Bernardino. Ahmed Gaber

March 13: Patsy Stevenson is detained by two police officers while attending a vigil for Sarah Everard in London. The Metropolitan Police was facing widespread criticism after officers were seen storming the stage at the vigil, pinning women down to the ground and handcuffing them before dragging them into police vans. Officers had earlier told them that they were breaching Covid-19 regulations and had to leave. Everard, 33, went missing on March 3 after leaving a friend's house in London. Her remains were found nearly two weeks later in Kent, England, and a 48-year-old police officer, Wayne Couzens, was charged with kidnapping and murdering her. He was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Everard's death reignited a national debate in Britain on women's safety and sexual assault. Hannah McKay/Reuters

March 14: Faces of Covid-19 victims are projected onto the Brooklyn Bridge during a memorial service in New York. The event included a virtual performance by the New York Philharmonic. Spencer Platt/

March 14: Actress and activist Angelina Jolie is covered in honeybees for a photo shoot ahead of World Bee Day, which is in May. The image, shot by Dan Winters for National Geographic, was an homage to photographer Richard Avedon’s famous “Beekeeper” portrait and used the same queen bee pheromone to attract the bees. Winters said Jolie “was some kind of fearless.” She posed with the bees for 18 minutes and didn’t receive a sting, he said on Instagram. Dan Winters

March 14: Taylor Swift performs a medley of "Cardigan," "August" and "Willow" for the Grammy Awards show. Swift's "Folklore" won album of the year. TAS Rights Management 2021/

March 15: Matt James talks to Rachael Kirkconnell on the season finale of "The Bachelor.” James, the show's first Black lead bachelor, chose Kirkconnell as the winner. But during the "After the Final Rose" ceremony, James said that he had broken up with Kirkconnell after photos of her surfaced at an antebellum plantation-themed fraternity formal in 2018. They later got back together, but the controversy led to the franchise’s longtime host Chris Harrison stepping down after remarks he made defending Kirkconnell. Craig Sjodin/ABC

March 18: Cynthia Shi and her boyfriend, Graham Bloomsmith, embrace outside the Gold Massage Spa in Atlanta. Eight people were killed after shootings at three spas in the Atlanta area. Robert Aaron Long, 21, pleaded guilty to four of the killings and was sentenced to life in prison, but he still faces the possibility of the death penalty. Chang W. Lee/The New York Times/Redux

March 20: A remote-controlled robot takes a throat swab at a hospital in Tanta, Egypt. The robot prototype is part of a project to assist physicians in testing patients for Covid-19. Khaled Desouki/AFP/

March 23: Four students from the University of Colorado embrace one another outside the grocery store where 10 people were killed in a shooting a day earlier in Boulder, Colorado. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, the 21-year-old suspect, was charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder. Evaluators declared him incompetent to stand trial, court documents state, but prosecutors were granted a second hearing to evaluate his competency. Rachel Woolf/The Washington Post/

March 23: Damian Lillard is reflected on plexiglass as he warms up for an NBA game in Portland, Oregon. Steph Chambers

March 25: Georgia state Rep. Park Cannon is placed into the back of a patrol car after being arrested at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta. She was arrested after knocking on the office door of Gov. Brian Kemp as he was signing an elections bill that tightens voting procedures. Critics say the legislation greatly restricts voting access. Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP

March 26: Kathy Poss salvages items from the Ragan Chapel United Methodist Church in Ohatchee, Alabama. A wave of deadly tornadoes devastated parts of the South. Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters

March 28: Lava flows from a volcano on Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula. The volcano erupted on March 19, and people flocked to see it. Sophia Groves

March 28: This satellite image shows the Ever-Given container ship that had run aground in Egypt’s Suez Canal. The ship was stuck in the canal for almost a week, halting marine traffic in what is one of the busiest waterways in the world. Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies

March 29: Members of the French cycling team are seen training in the background as a woman receives a Covid-19 vaccine at the National Velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France. The velodrome had been turned into a mass vaccination center. Christophe Ena/AP

March 30: Yoshia Uomoto, 98, reacts as her son Mark Uomoto and niece Gail Yamada surprise her at her assisted-living facility in Seattle. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, it was their first in-person visit in a year. Lindsey Wasson/Reuters

March 30: Migrant children lie inside a pod at a federal holding facility in Donna, Texas. The Biden administration allowed a few members of the media to tour the temporary facility, which was well over capacity. Of the 4,100 migrants at the facility, 3,400 were unaccompanied children. Dario Lopez Mills/Pool/AP

APRIL

The murder of George Floyd last year sparked widespread protests in the United States. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed in police custody in Minneapolis, and his last moments — with police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck — were caught on video.

Chauvin was convicted in April and sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. The verdict brought tearful celebrations in the city, but another police shooting in Minnesota just days earlier — leading to the death of 20-year-old Daunte Wright — reignited conversations about policing and the use of force.

April 2: A protester takes cover behind a tree as police use a water cannon to clear a group of people in the Bois de la Cambre park in Brussels, Belgium. A day earlier, violent clashes broke out between Brussels police and people gathering to attend a fake April Fool’s Day festival that violated coronavirus restrictions. Francisco Seco/AP

April 6: Washington’s Alex Ovechkin is checked against the boards during an NHL hockey game in Uniondale, New York. Al Bello

April 6: Lightning strikes near the intersection of Chicago Avenue and 38th Street, also known as George Floyd Square, in Minneapolis. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed in police custody in May 2020. His death sparked widespread protests and rekindled the Black Lives Matter movement. It also elevated a national conversation about race, police brutality and social injustice. Joshua Lott/The Washington Post

April 7: The cast of the TV show “Friends” meets for a reunion special that premiered in May. The hit sitcom aired from 1994-2004. Terence Patrick/HBO Max

April 8: Lee Elder acknowledges applause as he joins Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus as honorary starters at the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. In 1975, Elder became the first Black golfer to ever play in the Masters. He died in November. Matt Slocum/AP

April 13: Two of Ebonie McMillan’s children prepare for bedtime as National Guard troops stand guard outside their apartment, which is across the street from police headquarters in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Law enforcement officers were clashing with protesters who were denouncing the police shooting of Daunte Wright. Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was killed during a routine traffic stop. Police described it as an accidental shooting, saying the officer, Kim Potter, intended to deploy a Taser but instead fired a gun. She was charged with second-degree manslaughter. Ed Ou/The New York Times/Redux

April 14: White House press secretary Jen Psaki is seen in the glasses of a stenographer during a White House briefing. Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux

April 17: The coffin of Britain’s Prince Philip is carried in the back of a modified Land Rover — one that he helped design — during his funeral procession in Windsor, England. Philip, the longtime husband of Queen Elizabeth II, died April 9 at the age of 99. Hannah McKay/PA Wire/AP

April 17: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II takes her seat at her husband’s funeral, which was held at St. George’s Chapel inside the grounds of Windsor Castle. She sat alone to adhere to Covid-19 safety restrictions. Jonathan Brady/WPA Pool/

April 20: People in Houston, George Floyd’s hometown, await the verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin was convicted on all three charges in Floyd’s murder, and he was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. Callaghan O’Hare/Reuters

April 20: A man reacts outside the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis after former police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty in the death of George Floyd. Carlos Barria/Reuters

April 21: Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is joined by his miniature horse, Whiskey, and his miniature donkey, Lulu, at his home in Los Angeles. Tracy Nguyen/The New York Times/Redux

April 22: Katie and Aubrey Wright, the parents of Daunte Wright, cry as they speak during his funeral service in Minneapolis. The 20-year-old was fatally shot by a police officer on April 11. Julio Cortez/Pool/AP

April 23: Bodies arrive at a mass cremation site in New Delhi. A second wave of Covid-19 was devastating India, killing thousands of people each day and setting world records for daily infections. Atul Loke/The New York Times/Redux

April 24: Volleyball players from the University of Kentucky celebrate after they defeated Texas to win the national title. It was Kentucky’s first championship in volleyball. Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA/Getty Images

April 25: A Covid-19 patient receives oxygen in a parked car while waiting for a hospital bed to become available in New Delhi. Atul Loke/The New York Times/Redux

April 26: A visitor peeks inside an optical illusion installation at the Illusion Museum in Erbil, Iraq. Sadin Hamed/AFP/Getty Images

April 26: Actress Olivia Colman poses for a photo while attending an Oscars screening in London. Many award nominees were in Los Angeles for the show, but some appeared remotely because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Alberto Pezzali/Pool/Getty Images

April 28: US Vice President Kamala Harris, left, greets House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with an elbow bump before President Joe Biden's address to Congress. It was the first time in history that two women were seated behind the President for a joint address. Jim Watson/Pool/Getty Images

April 28: President Joe Biden addresses a joint session of Congress. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, only a limited number of lawmakers were in the House chamber. Biden's speech focused on the administration's accomplishments thus far and unveiled key components of his next legislative push. Melina Mara/The Washington Post/Pool/Getty Images

April 29: President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden met with former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter at the Carters' home in Plains, Georgia. The photo grabbed people's attention on social media because of what appeared to be a significant size difference between the two couples. Many experts theorized that it was the result of a wide-angle lens. Adam Schultz, the chief official White House photographer, declined to explain when reached by The New York Times. Adam Schultz/The White House

April 29: A gravedigger walks among buried Covid-19 victims at the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery in Manaus, Brazil. Brazil had just passed 400,000 deaths due to Covid-19, which at the time was the second-highest death toll behind the United States. It’s now over 600,000. Michael Dantas/AFP/Getty Images

April 29: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell looks at quarterback Trevor Lawrence after Lawrence was drafted No. 1 by the Jacksonville Jaguars The draft took place in front of a live audience in Cleveland, but Lawrence watched the draft with friends and family in South Carolina. Kirby Lee/USA Today Network

MAY

Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians escalated in early May as Palestinian militants in Gaza fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, which in turn ramped up airstrikes across Gaza.

It was one of the area’s worst rounds of violence since the 2014 Gaza War. Hundreds of people, most of them Palestinians, were killed before the two groups agreed to a ceasefire.

In Mexico City, an overpass carrying a subway train collapsed on May 3, killing 26 people. Mexico's foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, called it "the most terrible accident we've ever had in the public transport system.”

May 1: People attend the funeral of Menachem Knoblowitz, who was one of the 45 people killed in a stampede during a religious festival at Israel's Mount Meron. An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 people had crowded onto the mountain to celebrate the Lag B'Omer holiday. Yonatan Sindel/Flash90/Redux

May 1: Horses race around the first turn of Churchill Downs during the Kentucky Derby. The attendance was 51,838, and NBC commentators said it was believed to be the most attended sporting event in the United States since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

May 2: A US soldier sits aboard a Chinook helicopter over Kabul, Afghanistan. US President Joe Biden announced in April that he would be withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan before September 11. “I am now the fourth American president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan. Two Republicans. Two Democrats,” Biden said. “I will not pass this responsibility to a fifth.” Jim Huylebroek/The New York Times/Redux

May 3: An overpass carrying a subway train collapsed in Mexico City, killing 26 people and injuring dozens more. Mexico’s foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, called it “the most terrible accident we’ve ever had in the public transport system.” A preliminary investigation found that construction flaws led to the collapse. Hector Vivas/

May 4: Tim Brehmer, dressed as the title character from "The Mandalorian," celebrates Star Wars Day at the Scum and Villainy Cantina, a bar in Los Angeles. Jae C. Hong/AP

May 8: Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, second from left, appears in a “Saturday Night Live” sketch with cast members Mikey Day, Chris Redd and Melissa Villaseñor. Musk hosted the show. Rosalind O’Connor/NBC

May 10: Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City. For several weeks up until that point, Jerusalem had seen repeated confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli police across the city. One of the main sources of growing unrest was the possible eviction of several Palestinian families from their homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. On May 9, Israel’s Supreme Court postponed an appeal hearing on the decades-long legal case. Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians escalated further on May 10 as Palestinian militants in Gaza fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, which in turn ramped up airstrikes across Gaza. The militants said they fired their rockets in response to the actions of Israeli police who fired stun grenades inside the mosque. Mahmoud Illean/AP

May 11: US Rep. Liz Cheney sits in her office as she prepared to give a speech on the House floor. The next day, House Republicans voted her out as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference. Cheney was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump for his role in the Capitol insurrection in January. The Wyoming lawmaker has since continued to be outspoken about Trump's election lies, highlighting a rift in the party that led to her ouster as the GOP leadership's third-ranking member. "I am absolutely committed — as I said last night, as I said just now to my colleagues — that we must go forward based on truth,” she told reporters. “We cannot both embrace the ‘big lie’ and embrace the Constitution." See behind-the-scenes photos of Cheney that week. David Hume Kennerly/Center for Creative Photography/University of Arizona/Getty Images

May 14: The Al-Tanani family mourns family members who were killed in an airstrike in Beit Lahia, Gaza. Over 11 days, the Israel Defense Forces carried out a devastating aerial bombardment of Gaza while the Palestinian militant group Hamas fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Hundreds of people, most of them Palestinians, were killed before the two groups agreed to a ceasefire. Hosam Salem/The New York Times/Redux

May 14: Israel’s Iron Dome system intercepts rockets that were launched from Gaza toward southern Israel. Anas Baba/AFP/Getty Images

May 15: People take cover at a shelter in Ramat Gan, Israel, as a siren warns of incoming rockets from Gaza. Oded Balilty/AP

May 17: A Brood X cicada hangs on a tree next to a molting nymph in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The cicadas, who had spent the last 17 years underground, were just starting to emerge in parts of the eastern United States. Carolyn Kaster/AP

May 21: People spread out for a commencement ceremony at the University of Maryland. Julia Nikhinson/The Diamondback

May 22: Phil Mickelson hits a shot during the third round of the PGA Championship. Mickelson, 50, went on to win the event and become the oldest golfer ever to win a major championship. David J. Phillip/AP

May 22: World champion gymnast Simone Biles became the first woman in history to land a Yurchenko double pike vault in competition when she pulled off the move during the GK US Classic in Indianapolis. Amy Sanderson/Zuma

May 22: Stefania performs for Greece during the Eurovision Song Contest. Italian punk-rock rock band Måneskin won this year’s competition. Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters

May 24: A gibbon walks amid miniature models of vehicles at a zoo in Bakhchisaray, Crimea. Alexey Pavlishak/Reuters

May 25: Palestinians hold a candlelight vigil amid rubble in Gaza City. It was after a ceasefire had been reached between Israel and Hamas. Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

JUNE

A 12-story residential building partially collapsed June 24 in the South Florida community of Surfside. A side of the building crashed to the ground, leaving huge piles of debris. Almost 100 people were killed.

“This is a horrific catastrophe,” Surfside Mayor Charles W. Burkett said. “In the United States, buildings just don’t fall down.”

Earlier in the month, US President Joe Biden took his first trip abroad since being elected. He attended a G7 summit, met with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and had his first sit-down with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

June 1: A tranquilized and blindfolded bear named Arthur is prepared for a helicopter flight so that he can be released into the wilderness near Bella Coola, British Columbia. Researchers in the province have been tracking orphan grizzly cubs, reared in a shelter, to see whether they can thrive back in the wild. Alana Paterson/The New York Times/Redux

June 4: Projections of Vincent Van Gogh works are displayed at a preview of the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit at New York’s Pier 36. John Minchillo/AP

June 5: Former US President Donald Trump speaks at a Republican convention in Greenville, North Carolina. During his speech, Trump baselessly claimed that his election defeat was “the crime of the century.” Travis Dove/The New York Times/Redux

June 6: Glenda Valdez, left, is reunited with her daughter Emely in Austin, Texas. It had been six years since Valdez left for the United States, saying goodbye to her daughter in Honduras. Then in May, she identified Emely when watching an Associated Press story on young people crossing the Mexican border alone. Eric Gay/AP

June 10: Softball players from the University of Oklahoma pile on top of pitcher Giselle Juarez after the final out of the Women’s College World Series. It is Oklahoma’s third national title since 2016. Sarah Stier/Getty Images

June 10: Jill Biden, the first lady of the United States, turns around to reporters to show the word “love” on her blazer. Biden and her husband were in England ahead of the G7 summit. “We’re bringing love from America,” she said. Patrick Semansky/AP

June 11: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II uses a sword to cut a cake at a charity event in St. Austell, England. She was joined by Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, left, and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. Oli Scarff/WPA Pool/

June 11: In this aerial photo, boys swim off a jetty that’s surrounded by marine mucilage, aka “sea snot,” in Kocaeli, Turkey. The coastline of Turkey’s Sea of Marmara has been covered with the thick layer of slime, threatening undersea life. The mucilage is mostly made up of bacteria and phytoplankton’s mucous secretions. Pollution causes an excess of nutrients in the water that acts as a catalyst for these massive blooms, as does the man-made climate crisis. Chris McGrath/

June 12: Danish soccer players join arms around teammate Christian Eriksen as paramedics work to resuscitate him during a Euro 2020 match. Eriksen collapsed in the middle of the match and had to be resuscitated with CPR and a defibrillator. Wolfgang Rattay/AFP/

June 13: People attend the funeral of Waseem Ahmed, a police officer who was killed in a shootout with Kashmiri rebels on the outskirts of Srinagar in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Two civilians and two police officials were killed in the clash, police said. Dar Yasin/AP

June 16: A security officer asks the media to step back at the start of a summit between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Seated from left are US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Biden, Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The summit, held in Geneva, Switzerland, was the first meeting of Biden and Putin since Biden was elected President. Denis Balibouse/Pool/AFP/

June 19: People celebrate the Juneteenth holiday at the Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, DC. A couple of days earlier, President Joe Biden signed legislation establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. It commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Major General Gordon Granger announced the end of slavery in Galveston, Texas, in accordance with President Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Kenny Holston/The New York Times/Redux

June 20: A woman in Thailand’s Hua Hin district found an unexpected visitor in her house in the middle of the night — a wild Asian elephant. “I have seen elephants roaming around our town looking for food since I was young,” Ratchadawan Puengprasoppon said of the close encounter. “But this is the first time they actually damaged my house.” The elephant came into the kitchen because it smelled food, the Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said in a Facebook post. Ratchadawan’s house is also located next to the entrance of a national park where elephants live, said Prateep Puywongtarn, a staff member at the Huay Sat Yai Subdistrict Administration Organization in Hua Hin. Radchadawan Peungprasopporn

June 21: Women grieve during the viewing of 10-year-old Justin Wallace, who was fatally shot earlier that month in Queens, New York. A 29-year-old man was charged with homicide in Justin's shooting. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

June 22: Angry parents and community members protest after a Loudoun County School Board meeting was halted by the school board because the crowd refused to quiet down in Ashburn, Virginia. Chaos erupted at the meeting over a proposed transgender policy and claims that critical race theory is being taught in the classroom. Critical race theory centers on the idea that systemic racism is part of American society and that institutions function to give White people dominance in society. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

June 22: An injured resident of Togoga, Ethiopia, arrives at a hospital in Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region, after a government airstrike hit a Togoga market. There was international condemnation over the airstrike, which killed dozens of people as fighting intensified between Tigray's ruling party and forces aligned with Ethiopia's military. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/

June 24: Water-level lines are seen on the rocky banks of Utah’s Lake Powell. Much of the Western United States has been experiencing a historic and unrelenting drought, the worst in the region in at least 20 years. Justin Sullivan

June 24: Debris is piled up after a 12-story residential building partially collapsed in the South Florida community of Surfside. Nearly 100 people were killed in the collapse. Chandan Khanna/AFP

June 25: Students attend a graduation ceremony at the Harriet Tubman Early Childhood Education Center, a preschool in the Bronx, New York. Amir Hamja/The New York Times/Redux

June 26: Former US President Donald Trump holds his first post-presidency rally at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Wellington, Ohio. Maddie McGarvey

June 26: Kristian Sbaragli and Bryan Coquard, seen in the foreground, were among the dozens of cyclists who got caught in a massive crash during the first stage of the Tour de France. The crash was caused by a female spectator who was holding up a big sign on the side of the road. The sign knocked down German cyclist Tony Martin, starting a chain reaction in the closely clumped group. Days after the crash, the spectator was identified and arrested. Anne-Christine Poujoulat/Pool/

June 27: Rapper Lil Nas X kisses one of his backup dancers while performing at the BET Awards. The kiss won him a standing ovation from some members of the audience. Bennett Raglin/

June 27: An employee sets a table at a restaurant on the Celebrity Edge cruise ship, the first revenue-earning cruise to depart from the United States since the start of a pandemic-induced hiatus. The ship left the coast of Florida to travel to Costa Maya, Mexico. Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg/Getty Images

June 28: People rest at a cooling center that was set up at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. A record-breaking heat wave was searing the Pacific Northwest, making life miserable for many. Kathryn Elsesser/AFP/Getty Images

June 28: Actors perform at the National Stadium in Beijing during a celebration marking the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

June 29: Tennis star Serena Williams wipes away tears during her first-round match at Wimbledon. The seven-time Wimbledon champion suffered a hamstring injury during the first set and had to pull out of the tournament. The injury also caused her to miss the US Open in August. Julian Finney/Getty Images

June 30: Comedian and actor Bill Cosby appears in front of the media in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, after he was released from prison. Pennsylvania's highest court overturned his sexual assault conviction, saying his due process rights were violated. Bastiaan Slabbers/EPA-EFE/Shuuterstock

JULY

The rapid spread of the Delta coronavirus variant — a more transmissible strain that had quickly become dominant in many countries — led to new face mask guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC recommended in July that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors when in areas with “substantial” and “high” transmission of Covid-19 — that is, nearly two-thirds of all US counties. Before that, the guidance was that most fully vaccinated people could go without masks indoors.

In Japan, there was mounting pressure from health experts, business leaders and the public to call off the Tokyo Olympic Games, which had already been postponed a year because of Covid-19. But the Games went ahead as planned, although very few fans were allowed to attend.

July 2: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II drives her Range Rover as she attends the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Windsor, England. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

July 7: A visitor takes pictures of a sculpture during the International Contemporary Art Fair in Madrid. Samuel de Roman/Getty Images

July 8: Confetti falls on Zaila Avant-garde, a 14-year-old from New Orleans, after she won the Scripps National Spelling Bee. She's the first African American contestant to ever win the event. Scott McIntyre/The New York Times/Redux

July 10: Soccer star Lionel Messi lifts the trophy after Argentina defeated Brazil to win the Copa America. It was Messi’s first international title and Argentina’s first major title in 28 years. Amanda Perobelli/Reuters

July 10: The Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, consumes a home in Doyle, California. It's the second time in less than a year that the small town has been ravaged by a wildfire. Noah Berger/AP

July 10: UFC fighter Conor McGregor is carried off on a stretcher after he broke his leg in a bout against Dustin Poirier. Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports

July 11: Novak Djokovic falls to the ground in celebration after he defeated Matteo Berrettini in the Wimbledon final. It was the Serbian's 20th grand slam title, tying him with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most grand slam singles titles ever by a man. Florian Eisele/AELTC/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

July 11: A member of the Afghan Special Forces drives a Humvee during a combat mission against the Taliban. The Taliban were moving rapidly to take over districts in northern Afghanistan. Danish Siddiqui, the Reuters photographer who took this photo, was killed a few days later during clashes in Afghanistan. Siddiqui had been a photographer for Reuters since 2010, and he was the news agency's chief photographer in India. He was also part of a Reuters team that won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography covering Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar. Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

July 11: Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Galactic, carries Sirisha Bandla on his shoulders while celebrating their historic spaceflight. Branson became the first billionaire to travel to space aboard a spacecraft he helped fund. Bandla is the second woman born in India to fly to space. Andres Leighton/AP

July 12: Zacharia Mutai, the head rhino keeper at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in northern Kenya, checks on Najin and Fatu, the last two northern white rhinos alive on the planet. Scientists have been working on advanced reproduction technologies to try to save the species from extinction. Ami Vitale

July 13: Messages of love and support cover a mural of soccer star Marcus Rashford in Manchester, England. It had been defaced with racist graffiti after Rashford was one of the England players who missed a penalty in the Euro 2020 final against Italy. He and a couple of his Black teammates were also targeted with racial abuse on social media. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

July 14: Spanish model Marta Lozano walks the red carpet during a screening at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters

July 17: Jutta Schelleckes sits in the living room of her apartment, which was destroyed by flooding in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany. More than 200 people in western Europe were killed in severe flooding that was caused by historic rainfall. Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images

July 17: Tokyo's new National Stadium is seen from the observation tower of a nearby skyscraper just days before the start of the Summer Olympics. Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times/Redux

July 19: People drink on the dance floor of The Piano Works in London's Farringdon district. England’s Covid-19 restrictions had just been lifted at midnight. Alberto Pezzali/AP

July 20: Mark and Jeff Bezos show the words "Hi Mom" written on their hands as they briefly fly into space. They were two of the four people aboard the New Shepard, the rocket ship made by Jeff Bezos' space company, Blue Origin. The company plans to use the ship to take wealthy thrill-seekers on high-flying joy rides in the months and years to come. Blue Origin

July 20: Giannis Antetokounmpo celebrates after leading the Milwaukee Bucks to an NBA title. He scored 50 points in the title-clinching game against Phoenix, lifting the Bucks to their first championship in 50 years. Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

July 22: Rapper Kanye West appears at a listening event for his new album, “Donda,” at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. West was staying at the venue to complete the album. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

July 22: A man touches a portrait of the late Haitian President Jovenel Moise outside a cathedral where a memorial service was held in Cap-Haitien, Haiti. Moise was assassinated in July during an attack on his private residence. Matias Delacroix/AP

July 22: Cars sit in floodwaters after heavy rain in Zhengzhou, China. More than 100,000 people were evacuated from Zhengzhou, a city of 12.6 million on the banks of the Yellow River. Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images

July 23: Tennis star Naomi Osaka lights the Olympic cauldron at the end of the opening ceremony in Tokyo. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, there were no fans in attendance. And over the course of this year’s Olympic Games, only a handful of venues allowed any fans at all. Matthias Hangst/Getty Images

July 26: From left, Russian gymnasts David Belyavskiy, Artur Dalaloyan, Nikita Nagornyy and Denis Ablyazin react after winning gold in the team all-around. Russian athletes at these Olympics were officially recognized as members of ROC, an abbreviation of the Russian Olympic Committee. That’s because in 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency banned Russia from all international sporting competitions, including the Olympics, for doping non-compliance. Russian athletes can’t compete under their country’s name, flag and national anthem until December 2022. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

July 26: The Philippines’ Hidilyn Diaz reacts after winning Olympic gold in the 55-kilogram weightlifting competition. It was her country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal. Prior to Diaz’s gold, the Philippines had claimed three silvers and seven bronzes. Diaz won one of the silvers at the 2016 Olympics. Luca Bruno/AP

July 27: US Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell wipes his eye as he watches a video about the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Gonell and three other police officers who defended the Capitol that day testified before a House select committee investigating the attack. The officers made it clear that they are still dealing with physical and mental trauma from that day. Jim Bourg/Pool/AP

July 27: US gymnast Simone Biles performs on the vault during the Olympic team all-around event. She stumbled on the landing and withdrew right after that, saying she wasn’t in the right frame of mind to compete. She later pulled out of the individual all-around, which she won in 2016. “I have to focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my health and well-being,” she told reporters. Associated Press photographer Natacha Pisarenko, who took this photo, recalled how quickly the story changed. “We were watching the most recognized athlete in gymnastics switching her focus from winning to taking care of her mental health,” Pisarenko said. “I can’t even imagine how the external pressure might have felt. It is so powerful to watch a woman in her situation prioritize herself.” Natacha Pisarenko/AP

July 28: US swimmer Katie Ledecky crushes the field in the Olympic final of the 1,500-meter freestyle. She finished the race more than four seconds ahead of silver medalist Erica Sullivan, a fellow American. Ledecky won two golds and two silvers in Tokyo, adding to the six medals she won in previous Olympics. Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

July 29: US gymnast Sunisa "Suni" Lee competes on the balance beam during the Olympic individual all-around. Lee won the gold, becoming the fifth straight American to win the event going back to the 2004 Olympics. Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images

July 30: American swimmer Caeleb Dressel swims the 100-meter butterfly during the Tokyo Olympics. The next day, he finished the final in 49.45 seconds, winning gold and breaking his own world record in the process. Dressel won five gold medals in Tokyo, more than any other athlete. Clive Rose/Getty Images

July 30: US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene removes her mask dramatically while crossing from the House side of the US Capitol, where masks were required, to the Senate side, where they were not. The House had just reinstated its mask mandate. Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

July 31: Russian fencers Sofia Pozdniakova, top, and Olga Nikitina celebrate after winning gold in the team sabre event during the Tokyo Olympics. Elsa/Getty Images

July 31: Lydia Jacoby's goggles fell off while the American was swimming in a mixed relay at the Tokyo Olympics. The US team finished fifth in the event, which was a 4x100-meter medley. Great Britain won the gold. Xu Chang/Xinhua/Eyevine/Redux

July 31: From left, Jamaican sprinters Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shericka Jackson celebrate after sweeping the 100 meters at the Tokyo Olympics. Thompson-Herah won gold and was followed by Fraser- Pryce and Jackson. Thompson-Herah later won the 200 meters as well and became the first-ever woman to win the 100 and 200 at consecutive Olympics. Petr David Josek/AP

AUGUST

The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August, nearly two decades after they were driven out of the country’s capital.

The Taliban’s resurgence coincided with the withdrawal of US troops, which US President Joe Biden first announced in April. Before the Taliban entered the presidential palace in Kabul, they were able to take control of other major cities with little to no resistance.

On August 16, the day after the Taliban takeover, hundreds of people poured onto the tarmac at Kabul’s international airport, desperately seeking a way out of the country. On August 26, a suicide bomb attack outside the airport killed dozens of Afghan civilians and 13 US service members.

Also in August, Haiti was hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 2,100 people. The Caribbean country was still dealing with fallout from an earthquake in 2010 that killed an estimated 220,000 to 300,000 people. The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July added further instability.

August 1: Tomi Petteri Putaansuu, aka Mr. Lordi of the rock band Lordi, gets his second shot of a Covid-19 vaccine from nurse Paula Ylitalo in Rovaniemi, Finland. Jouni Porsanger/Lehtikuva/AFP/Getty Images

August 1: During the Olympic medal ceremony for the women’s shot put, the United States' Raven Saunders lifted her arms above her head and made an X with her wrists. When the silver medalist was asked what the gesture meant, she explained that “it’s the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet.” Saunders has been outspoken in the past about her desire to destigmatize mental health conditions. “Shout out to all my Black people. Shout out to all my LGBTQ community. Shout out to all my people dealing with mental health,” she said. “At the end of the day, we understand it's bigger than us and it's bigger than the powers that be.” Francisco Seco/AP

August 1: British diver Tom Daley, who has an Instagram account devoted to his hobby of knitting and crochet, works on a new creation while watching the women's 3-meter springboard final. On his Instagram Stories, he revealed he was making a "jumper," or sweater, for a French bulldog. Daley, who won a gold medal in the synchronized 10-meter platform event, picked up the hobby during the pandemic. Joe Giddens/PA Images/

August 2: From left, Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali and Mohamed Tindouft compete in the Olympic final of the 3,000-meter steeplechase. El Bakkali won the gold. Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

August 2: New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard says “thank you” and bows after a lift at the Tokyo Olympics. She became the first openly transgender woman to compete in the 125-year history of the Olympics. Martin Rickett/PA Images/AP

August 2: Anna-Maria Alexandri and Eirini-Marina Alexandri, artistic swimmers from Austria, perform their free routine together at the Tokyo Olympics. The sisters are two of three triplets. Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

August 2: Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim, left, and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi share the podium during an Olympic medal ceremony. They agreed to share the gold medal in high jump after they both cleared 2.37 meters but failed to clear 2.39. Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus was awarded the bronze. No silver medal was awarded. Dylan Martinez/Reuters

August 2: Members of the Yankee Stadium grounds crew try to catch a cat during a Major League Baseball game in New York. Adam Hunger/

August 3: Norway’s Karsten Warholm celebrates after winning gold in the 400-meter hurdles. Warholm finished the race in 45.94 seconds, breaking his own world record. David Ramos/

August 3: US President Joe Biden, speaking in front of a painting of George Washington, responds to a reporter's question after a White House news conference. Tom Brenner/The New York Times/Redux

August 3: American gymnast Simone Biles is congratulated by coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi after they realized Biles would win an Olympic medal in the balance beam final. Biles had pulled out of several events earlier in Tokyo, citing mental health concerns. Specifically, she said she had "the twisties," a mental block in gymnastics in which competitors lose track of their positioning midair. But she bounced back with a bronze medal in the balance beam and tied Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals ever won by an American gymnast. Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock

August 6: A beach volleyball match is played at a mostly empty venue in Tokyo. Attendance was restricted at many Olympic events because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Alexandra Garcia/The New York Times/Redux

August 8: A woman reacts as a wildfire approaches her house in the village of Gouves, on the island of Evia, Greece. Thousands of residents were forced to flee Evia, which is about 100 miles north of Athens. Konstantinos Tsakalidis/Bloomberg/Getty Images

August 8: A right-wing protester points an airsoft gun at journalist Justin Yau, who was covering clashes between right-wing protesters and anti-fascist protesters in Portland, Oregon. It was not known at the time, however, that it was an airsoft gun. Police determined that later, according to The Oregonian. The toy replica guns shoot plastic pellets and are designed to be nonlethal. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

August 8: Soccer star Lionel Messi bids a tearful farewell to FC Barcelona after spending more than 20 years at the Spanish club. Messi won 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League titles at Barcelona. He is also the club's all-time leading goalscorer. Messi now plays for Paris Saint-Germain after signing a two-year contract. Marc Gonzalez Aloma/Europa Press/Getty Images

August 8: Boys and local boatmen play atop a submerged structure at Daraganj Ghat, one of the flooded banks of the Ganges River in Prayagraj, India. Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images

August 10: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo walks toward a helicopter after he announced he would resign. The announcement came a week after New York Attorney General Letitia James released a report that said Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women and created a "hostile" work environment for women. Cuomo has denied all of the allegations, saying he never touched anyone inappropriately, but he acknowledged that some of his behavior made others uncomfortable. His last day in office was August 23. Mark Lennihan/AP

August 12: A newborn Bornean orangutan is held by his mother, Suli, at a zoo in Fuengirola, Spain. The species is critically endangered. Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images

August 12: Members of the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees take the field before the "Field of Dreams" baseball game in Dyersville, Iowa. It was the first time a Major League Baseball game had been held in the state, and the game was played on a field next to the original "Field of Dreams" movie site. Stacy Revere/Getty Images

August 14: A smuggler guides a group of migrants across the Rio Grande, from Mexico into Roma, Texas. In July, the United States saw a two-decade high in the monthly number of migrants detained at the US-Mexico border. John Moore/Getty Images

August 14: Oxiliene Morency cries out in grief after the body of her 7-year-old-daughter, Esther Daniel, was recovered from the rubble of their home in Les Cayes, Haiti. A 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti that morning, leaving more than 2,100 people dead and thousands more injured. Joseph Odelyn/AP

August 15: Taliban fighters sit inside the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, hours after former President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan nearly two decades after they were driven out of Kabul by US troops. Zabi Karimi/AP

August 16: Afghans run alongside a US Air Force transport plane on the runway of Kabul’s international airport. Video showed people clinging to the fuselage of the aircraft as it taxied. On the day after the Taliban takeover, hundreds of people poured onto the tarmac, desperately seeking a route out of the country. AP

August 16: Chaunda Lee, a single mother of eight who has five children living with her, prepares her youngest child, MiAsia Carr, for school in Louisville, Kentucky. Lee and her family were facing eviction that week, but they were granted a reprieve because of the federal eviction moratorium on evictions. Lee lost her previous home to a fire on Christmas Day, according to the Louisville Courier Journal. The US Supreme Court ended the federal moratorium on evictions on August 26. Amira Karaoud/Reuters

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August 17: A man carries a bloodied child as a wounded woman lies on the street after Taliban fighters fired guns and lashed out with whips, sticks and sharp objects to control a crowd outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. “The violence was indiscriminate,” Los Angeles Times photographer Marcus Yam told CNN. “I even watched one Taliban fighter, after firing some shots in the general direction of the crowd, smiling at another Taliban fighter — as though it were a game to them or something.” Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock

August 19: In this still image taken from a video posted to social media, a baby is handed to American troops over the perimeter wall of the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Maj. James Stenger, a spokesman for the Marines, confirmed to The New York Times that the baby received medical treatment and was reunited with their father at the airport. Omar Haidiri/AFP/Getty Images

August 19: People sit inside a military aircraft during an evacuation from Kabul. The US Air Force evacuated approximately 3,000 people from Kabul's international airport that day, according to a White House official. The official said the group contained nearly 350 US citizens, family members of US citizens, Special Immigrant Visa applicants and their families, and other vulnerable Afghans. Some civilian charter flights had also departed the Kabul airport in the previous 24 hours. Staff Sgt. Brandon Cribelar/US Marine Corps/Reuters

August 20: Vandalized images of women are seen outside a beauty salon in Kabul. As news broke that the Taliban had captured Kabul, some images of uncovered women were painted over. When the Taliban last ruled in Afghanistan, women were barred from public life and only allowed outside when escorted by men and dressed in burqas. Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

August 20: A man crawls away with a donated bag of rice after people in Vye Terre, Haiti, temporarily overtook a truck loaded with relief supplies. Haiti was devastated six days earlier by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. Fernando Llano/AP

August 20: A great white shark is seen in the waters around Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The area has become a magnet for adult white sharks in the last decade, with one of the densest seasonal concentrations in the world, according to The New York Times. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times/Redux

August 22: A member of the far-right group the Proud Boys, top, fights with a counterprotester inside a truck in Portland, Oregon. Extremist groups and counterprotesters clashed over that weekend, stopping several lanes of traffic, smashing vehicle windows and instigating fights. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

August 25: Health care workers treat Covid-19 patients at a chapel that had been converted into an intensive care unit in Quezon City, Philippines. Hospitals in the Philippines were running out of beds as the country struggled to cope with a huge wave in Covid-19 cases fueled by the more infectious Delta variant. Ezra Acayan/Getty Images

August 26: Wheelchair basketball players from the United States and Germany compete in a preliminary round game at the Paralympics in Tokyo. Like the Olympics, the Paralympics had been postponed a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Buda Mendes/Getty Images

August 26: Ireland’s Ellen Keane, seen in the foreground, swims next to New Zealand’s Sophie Pascoe during a 100-meter breaststroke race at the Tokyo Paralympics. Keane went on to win the gold, and Pascoe won the silver. Adam Pretty/Getty Images

August 26: An injured person arrives at a hospital after a suicide bomb went off outside the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. The attack, which killed dozens of Afghan civilians and 13 US service members, came as the United States and other Western countries were racing to complete a massive evacuation following the Taliban takeover of the country. The terror group ISIS-K, which rivals the Taliban in Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the bombing. Victor J. Blue/The New York Times/Redux

August 26: US President Joe Biden pauses as he listens to a question about the suicide bombing in Kabul. He vowed to retaliate for the attack. "We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay," he said. Evan Vucci/AP

August 27: Ruhullah, 16, mourns during the burial of his father, Hussein, a former police officer who was killed in the suicide bombing at the airport in Kabul. Ruhullah survived the blast but did not know his father had died until he made his way back to his family the next day. Victor J. Blue/The New York Times/Redux

August 27: An injured cow is transported by a helicopter near the Klausen Pass mountain pass in Switzerland. Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

August 29: US President Joe Biden and other officials watch as flag-draped cases carrying the remains of American service members killed in Afghanistan return to the United States. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

August 30: People gather around the incinerated husk of a vehicle that was hit by a US drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan. Ten members of one family — including seven children — were killed in the strike. In September, a US military investigation found that the vehicle targeted was likely not a threat associated with ISIS-K, according to Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top general of US Central Command. McKenzie told reporters that the strike was a “mistake” and offered an apology. Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

August 30: Michael Wilson stands in the doorway of his flood-damaged home in Norco, Louisiana. Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana with devastating force, leaving more than 1 million customers without power as it flooded homes, ripped off roofs and trapped residents in dangerous rising waters. It tied Hurricane Laura and the Last Island Hurricane of 1856 as the strongest storm to ever hit the state. All had top winds of 150 mph. Dan Anderson/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

August 30: US Army Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commanding general of the 82nd Airborne, boards a C-17 military transport plane to depart Kabul. He was the last US soldier to leave the country. Master Sgt. Alexander Burnett/US Army/AP

August 31: Taliban fighters storm the Kabul airport after the US military completed its withdrawal. Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

SEPTEMBER

This year was the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, and across the United States, people paused to honor the victims and reflect on the day.

US President Joe Biden was joined by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama for a moment of silence in New York City. Former President George W. Bush attended a ceremony near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Later in the month, the US border crisis took center stage again when thousands of migrants created a makeshift camp under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas. Chaotic scenes at the bridge, including law enforcement officers on horseback using aggressive tactics, outraged local and federal officials.

September 1: Mohamad Hawik, 15, rests in a bed at a hospital in Tripoli, Lebanon. He was injured in August when a fuel tanker exploded in northern Lebanon’s Akkar region. Three of his brothers were among those killed. Lebanon has been suffering from a severe fuel shortage, leading to long lines at gas stations and extended blackouts. Military and security sources said that the Lebanese army had seized a hidden fuel storage tank in the town of Altalil and was in the midst of handing out gasoline to residents when the explosion took place. Francesca Volpi

September 1: Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring a goal during a World Cup qualifier against Ireland. Ronaldo scored both goals in the 2-1 victory, passing Iran's Ali Daei to become the all-time greatest goalscorer in men's international soccer. Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile/Getty Images

September 2: Ice floats around boats at a port in Ilulissat, Greenland. As climate change warms the planet, ice loss has increased rapidly. According to a study this year published in the journal Cryosphere, Earth has lost a staggering 28 trillion tons of ice since the mid-1990s. Mario Tama/Getty Images

September 3: A woman and child displaced by flooding look over donated clothing at an evacuation center that was set up inside a high school gym in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Torrential rain from Hurricane Ida's remnants caused deadly flooding in parts of the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic as the storm made its way up the East Coast. Stephanie Keith/The New York Times/Redux

September 4: Luciana Benetti feeds her pet pig Chanchi in Buenos Aires. Chanchi was given to her as a birthday present last year, and he has been a loyal and loving companion. Natacha Pisarenko/AP

September 5: People perform during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympics. Ennio Leanza/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

September 7: A man scavenges for recyclable materials at Dandora, the largest garbage dump in Nairobi, Kenya. Brian Inganga/AP

September 8: Journalists from Afghanistan's Etilaatroz newspaper — video journalist Nemat Naqdi, left, and video editor Taqi Daryabi — undress to show wounds they sustained after Taliban fighters tortured and beat them while in custody. They had been arrested while reporting on a women's rights protest in Kabul. Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

September 8: A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee is removed from its pedestal in Richmond, Virginia. A pair of rulings from the state Supreme Court cleared the way for its removal after intense national debate over the statue's purpose and place along Monument Avenue, a historic tree-lined street in the former Confederate capital. Bob Brown/Pool/Getty Images

September 10: Actor Ben Affleck and actress and singer Jennifer Lopez walk the red carpet together during the Venice Film Festival in Italy. The two were photographed holding hands and kissing, publicly confirming that they were a couple again. They were engaged in 2002 but later broke up. Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images

September 10: Dr. Rebecca Taub performs a surgical abortion at the Trust Women clinic in Oklahoma City. Taub is from the San Francisco Bay Area, but she travels to the clinic once a month to perform dozens of abortions, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Many of the women she treated in September were from Texas, which had just enacted a new law barring abortions at six weeks. Gabrielle Lurie/The San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images

September 11: Emma Raducanu celebrates after winning the US Open tennis tournament in New York. Raducanu, 18, is the first qualifier in the history of the Open Era to win a major title. She defeated fellow teen Leylah Fernandez in the final 6-4, 6-3. Elsa/Getty Images

September 11: A moment of silence is held at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York. It was the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. From left are former President Bill Clinton; former first lady and US Sen. Hillary Clinton; former President Barack Obama; former first lady Michelle Obama; President Joe Biden; first lady Jill Biden; former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Bloomberg's partner, Diana Taylor; and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Chip Somodevilla/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

September 11: The Tribute in Light memorial shines at the World Trade Center site in New York. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

September 12: Singer Doja Cat hosts the MTV Video Music Awards in New York. She also performed and won Best Collaboration for the song “Kiss Me More” with SZA. Jeff Kravitz/MTV VMAs 2021/Getty Images

September 12: The carcasses of dead white-sided dolphins lie on a beach after being pulled from blood-filled waters off the island of Eysturoy, which is part of the Faroe Islands. More than 1,400 dolphins were killed in what local authorities said was a traditional whaling hunt. The killing was denounced by marine conservation group Sea Shepherd as a “brutal and badly mishandled” massacre and several supporters of whaling condemned it. Sea Shepherd

September 12: The Formula 1 car driven by Max Verstappen lands on the top of Lewis Hamilton's car during a collision at the Italian Grand Prix. Both drivers were able to walk away from the incident, but they were ruled out for the remainder of the race. Hamilton told reporters that he felt “fortunate to be alive.” Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty Images

September 13: California Gov. Gavin Newsom attends a campaign rally in Long Beach, California. Newsom was facing a recall election born in partisan anger over his pandemic response, but it ended with a vote of confidence in his strategy to combat it. Newsom’s victory was bolstered by a robust turnout among Democrats, who outnumber Republicans nearly two to one in the Golden State. Leah Millis/Reuters

September 13: US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wears a dress that says “tax the rich” while attending the Met Gala in New York. Many of the red-carpet looks offered up various interpretations of the all-American theme inspired by the Met Costume Institute’s exhibit, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion.” Jamie McCarthy/MG21/Getty Images

September 14: People exit the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York after a showing of the musical “Hamilton.” Broadway shows were just coming back after being shut down for much of the pandemic. Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

September 15: The main booster returns to Earth after a SpaceX rocket launched four people — none of whom were professional astronauts — into the planet's orbit. This mission, dubbed Inspiration4, was the first orbital mission in the history of spaceflight to be staffed entirely by tourists or otherwise non-astronauts. John Kraus/Inspiration4

September 15: Former Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney cries as she testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Maroney, Simone Biles, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman sharply criticized how FBI agents handled the sexual abuse allegations against Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor now serving a long prison sentence. “They allowed a child molester to go free for more than a year, and this inaction directly allowed Nassar's abuse to continue,” Maroney said. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

September 19: A US Border Patrol agent on horseback tries to stop migrants on the banks of the Rio Grande near the Del Rio International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas. Thousands of migrants, most of whom were Haitian, created a makeshift camp under the bridge, hoping to seek refuge in the United States. Chaotic scenes at the bridge, including the law enforcement officers on horseback using aggressive tactics, horrified local and federal officials. Paul Ratje/AFP/Getty Images

September 19: Migrants wait to be processed near the Del Rio International Bridge in Texas. US Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said messages spread on social media or by word of mouth, which claimed the border at Del Rio was open, prompted the surge of migrants. The Biden administration was still relying on a Trump-era border policy, linked to the coronavirus pandemic, to swiftly remove migrants and repatriate them. Adrees Latif/Reuters

September 19: A patient at a Covid-19 reserve hospital in Moscow votes in Russia's parliamentary election. Vladimir Gerdo/TASS/Getty Images

September 20: Container ships are anchored outside the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles as they wait to offload their goods. Around the world, many ports have been congested due to the surge in demand for commodities and goods. But the supply chain crisis is more than just a traffic jam of container ships. A global shortage of trucks and drivers and computer chips are just a few of the other factors contributing to the crisis. Mario Tama/Getty Images

September 21: Ndakasi, an orphaned mountain gorilla, lies in the arms of caregiver Andre Bauma at the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She died a few days later after a prolonged illness. She was 14. An image of Ndakasi and another gorilla went viral in 2019 when they photobombed another caretaker’s selfie. Brent Stirton/Getty Images

September 23: German Chancellor Angela Merkel feeds Australian lorikeets at Marlow Bird Park in Marlow, Germany. Merkel, Germany’s first female chancellor, did not run for re-election this year. She is stepping down at the end of her fourth term. Georg Wendt/DPA/AP

September 26: US golfers celebrate after winning the Ryder Cup in Kohler, Wisconsin. The Americans dominated the European team from the outset and won 19-9. Anthony Behar/PA Images/Getty Images

September 28: An empty picture frame is displayed at the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, Denmark. Two works by artist Jens Haaning were supposed to be filled with around $84,000 in Danish banknotes for an exhibit about the future of labor. But Haaning kept the cash and entitled the new artwork “Take the Money and Run,” leaving only the tape that was supposed to hold the money. Haaning said he has no plans to return the money and is “not worried” about possible consequences. The museum's director, Lasse Andersson, said the artist has until January, when the exhibition ends, to repay the loan. Henning Bagger/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

September 28: Actor Daniel Craig arrives at the world premiere of the James Bond film “No Time to Die” in London. It is the final Bond film for Craig, who has played the character five times since 2006’s “Casino Royale.” Henry Nicholls/Reuters

September 30: Panda Huan-Huan cuddles her cub, Fleur de Coton, after feeding her at the Beauval Zoo in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, France. Huan-Huan gave birth to another cub in August. Guillaume Souvant/AFP/Getty Images

September 30: A man accused of robbery sits next to Taliban members while in custody at a police station in Kabul, Afghanistan. Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images

September 30: A fisherman feeds whale sharks around Tan-Awan, a small town in the Philippines’ Cebu Province. People visit the town to swim with the whale sharks, the world’s biggest fish. Hannah Reyes Morales/The New York Times/Redux

OCTOBER

The month of October started with news of a pipeline leak in Southern California. About 25,000 gallons of oil were spilled in the breach, which occurred about 5 miles off the coast of Huntington Beach. It took over a week to clean up the spill, which was first estimated at more than 100,000 gallons.

The environment was also in the news at the end of the month when more than 120 world leaders attended COP26, a climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the last stop on Joe Biden's second trip abroad as President. He also attended the Group of 20 Summit in Rome and met with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

October 3: Frances Haugen is interviewed by Scott Pelley during a segment that aired on “60 Minutes.” Haugen was revealed as the Facebook whistleblower who released tens of thousands of pages of internal research and documents, causing a firestorm for the social media company. The former Facebook product manager, who worked on civic integrity issues at the company, said the documents show that Facebook knows its platforms are used to spread hate, violence and misinformation and that the company has tried to hide that evidence. Facebook aggressively pushed back against the reports, calling many of the claims “misleading” and arguing that its apps do more good than harm. Robert Fortunato for CBS News/60 Minutes

October 4: Birds feed on an oil-contaminated shore in Huntington Beach, California. A pipeline leak spilled about 25,000 gallons of oil in Southern California, devastating local wildlife and forcing some popular beaches to close. Mario Tama/Getty Images

October 5: Adrian James, a 2-year-old who tested positive for Covid-19, breathes with the help of a ventilator at the Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis. He eventually was removed from the ventilator and able to return home, Reuters reported. His mother, Tiffany Jackson, hoped his story would help others. “I just want people to realize it is serious,” she said. Callaghan O'Hare/Reuters

October 5: A protester is removed by security during a Louis Vuitton fashion show at the Louvre in Paris. It was the last day of Paris Fashion Week, and Extinction Rebellion activists briefly crashed the show to denounce the fashion industry’s role in the climate crisis. Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty Images

October 6: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivers his keynote speech on the final day of the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, England. Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

October 8: From left, Alex Sosias, Rosie Garcia and Xenia Danylyszyn pose for pictures against different backdrops at New York Comic Con. The convention was canceled last year because of Covid-19. Seth Wenig/AP

October 9: People are covered in streamers during the opening ceremony of the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, France. Stephane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty Images

October 13: A man sits on an apartment balcony in Arlington, Virginia. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

October 15: A man lies still as devotees light oil lamps over his body as part of rituals to celebrate the final day of the Dashain festival in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Niranjan Shrestha/AP

October 19: Remnants of a small plane, which burst into flames when it struck a fence during takeoff, lie in a field near Houston Executive Airport in Brookshire, Texas. More than 20 people were aboard the aircraft, but no major injuries were reported. Godofredo A. Vásquez/Houston Chronicle/AP

October 19: Dr. Rachel Levine, the assistant secretary for health at the US Department of Health and Human Services, is sworn in as an admiral of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. She became the USPHS Commissioned Corps’ highest ranking official and the first openly transgender four-star officer in the nation’s eight uniformed services. Chris Smith/US Department of Health & Human Services/Reuters

October 21: Actor Alec Baldwin talks on the phone outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, after he was questioned about a deadly shooting on the set of the film "Rust.” Baldwin discharged a prop gun that contained what investigators called a suspected live round, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, and injuring director Joel Souza. The incident remains under investigation. Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican/AP

October 23: Xander Zayas punches Dan Karpency during their middleweight bout in Atlanta. Zayas won by TKO in the fourth round. Brandon Magnus/Getty Images

October 24: Singer Adele hugs Ashleigh Mann after Mann’s boyfriend, Quentin Brunson, proposed to her on stage during the filming of Adele’s “One Night Only” special that aired on November 14. Mann was brought out to the stage with a blindfold and noise-canceling headphones. After the proposal, Adele sang “Make You Feel My Love.” Cliff Lipson/CBS/Getty Images

October 26: Japan's Princess Mako and her husband, Kei Komuro, announce their marriage at a news conference in Tokyo. Under Japanese law, female members of the royal household must give up their titles and leave the palace if they marry a commoner. Mako turned down a million-dollar payout from the government, which she was entitled to as a departing royal. Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images

October 29: US President Joe Biden gives Pope Francis a challenge coin during his trip to the Vatican. Between them is Italian translator Elisabetta Savigni Ullmann. Challenge coins originated in the military, and this one included the insignia of a Delaware Army National Guard unit that Biden’s son Beau served in. Biden said during his visit that coins are given to “warriors and leaders” and that the pope is “the most significant warrior for peace I’ve ever met.” Biden, a devout lifelong Catholic, met with the Pope for 90 minutes and said he discussed “a lot of personal things” with the pontiff. It was the fourth meeting between Francis and Biden, but their first since Biden became President. Vatican Media/AP

October 30: People demonstrate against the military takeover in Khartoum, Sudan. A few days earlier, Sudan’s military had dissolved the country’s power-sharing government and declared a state of emergency. The coup came after months of rising tensions in the country, where military and civilian groups had shared power since the ousting of former President Omar al-Bashir in 2019. Marwan Ali/AP

October 30: Ash from the Cumbre Vieja volcano covers a home on the Spanish island of La Palma on Saturday, October 30. The volcano started erupting in September. Emilio Morenatti/AP

October 30: Climate activist Greta Thunberg arrives at a train station in Glasgow, Scotland, ahead of the COP26 climate summit. More than 120 world leaders also attended the conference. Jane Barlow/PA

NOVEMBER

Multiple Covid-19 vaccines have been authorized for use around the world, and to date at least 218 countries and territories have administered more than 7 billion vaccine doses. But not all of those places are at the same stage of their vaccination campaigns.

By the end of the month, we learned of a new and potentially more transmissible coronavirus variant — a strain named Omicron — that prompted a fresh round of travel restrictions across the world.

November 2: The Atlanta Braves celebrate after winning the World Series in Houston. The Braves defeated the Houston Astros in six games to win their first title since 1995. Elsa/

November 2: Mayoral candidate Michelle Wu arrives at an election-night event in Boston. She defeated Annissa Essaibi George to become the first woman and the first person of color to be elected mayor in the city. Allison Dinner/

November 3: Finn Washburn, 9, receives a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in San Jose, California. The US Food and Drug Administration had just authorized Pfizer's vaccine for use in children ages 5 to 11. Noah Berger/AP

November 5: Members of a military honor guard carry the casket of former US Secretary of State Colin Powell during his funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Powell, the nation’s first Black secretary of state, was also a trailblazing military leader. He died at the age of 84. Jim Watson/AFP/

November 5: Travis Scott performs at the Astroworld music festival in Houston. Ten people were killed and dozens were injured during a crowd surge at the concert. Survivors of the surge described scenes where many attendees were pressed together and at times unable to stay upright or breathe. Amy Harris/Invision/AP

November 7: A local resident cheers on runners during the New York City Marathon. The event was canceled last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Amr Alfiky/The New York Times/Redux

November 9: Singer and actress Lady Gaga attends the London premiere of her newest film, "House of Gucci.” Samir Hussein/WireImage/

November 9: Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist who in 2014 became the youngest-ever winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, marries Asser Malik, an operations manager for the Pakistan Cricket Board. Yousafzai gained international recognition for her activism against the Taliban's efforts to stop girls from attending school. When she was 15, she was shot in the head by a member of the Taliban and flown to England to receive treatment. Malin Fezehai

November 10: Kyle Rittenhouse breaks down on the stand as he testifies during his homicide trial in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse, 18, killed two people and shot another last year during the chaotic unrest that happened in Kenosha after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man. In the end, jurors agreed with Rittenhouse’s testimony that he feared for his life and acted in self-defense, and he was acquitted of all the charges against him. Sean Krajacic/Pool/

November 10: Remi Ouvrard takes a selfie on top of a hot-air balloon in western France. He broke the world record for standing on a hot-air balloon at altitude. The balloon reached an altitude of more than 3,637 meters (11,932 feet). Remi Ouvrard/AFP/

November 12: Supporters of pop star Britney Spears celebrate outside a Los Angeles courthouse after a judge terminated the conservatorship that had controlled her life for over a decade. Spears' father, Jamie, served as her conservator for 13 years, but he unexpectedly filed a petition in September to end the arrangement. Damian Dovarganes/AP

November 15: US President Joe Biden signs a bipartisan infrastructure bill into law during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. The $1.2 trillion legislation focuses on infrastructure such as roads and bridges. Evan Vucci/AP

November 16: Stranded migrants camp at the Bruzgi-Kuznica border crossing in Belarus. The migrants — most of whom are from the Middle East and Asia — were enduring grueling conditions as they tried to get into Poland and then travel deeper into Europe. James Hill/The New York Times/Redux

November 24: People react outside the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Georgia, after three men were found guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. The verdict brought an end to a highly publicized trial that was seeped in issues such as race and the rights and limitations of self-defense. Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was jogging near Brunswick when he was chased by three White men and fatally shot in February 2020. Video of the episode surfaced more than two months later, sparking widespread demonstrations. A sentencing date was not immediately set for the three convicted men: Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. Their attorneys said they planned to appeal. Marco Bello/Reuters

November 27: Germany’s Tobias Mueller falls while racing Austria’s Johannes Aujesky during a World Cup ski cross event in Zhangjiakou, China. Lintao Zhang/Getty

November 29: A tribute to Virgil Abloh is held at the Fashion Awards in London. Abloh, the acclaimed menswear designer for Louis Vuitton and the founder and CEO of Off-White, died of cancer at the age of 41. Jeff Spicer/BFC/Getty

November 30: People in Oxford, Michigan, attend a prayer vigil at the LakePoint Community Church hours after a deadly shooting at Oxford High School. Four students were killed and seven other people were injured in the shooting. The suspect, 15-year-old sophomore Ethan Crumbley, has been charged as an adult. His lawyer entered a plea of not guilty on his client’s behalf. Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press/USA Today Network

DECEMBER

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was shared by journalists Dmitry Muratov and Maria Ressa, who have both faced legal and physical threats during their careers as their respective governments cracked down on journalists’ rights.

Muratov heads the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. Six staff members at the Novaya Gazeta have been killed since Muratov co-founded the outlet in 1993, according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Ressa is the CEO of Rappler, a Philippine news outlet that has been critical of President Rodrigo Duterte's regime. She has been indicted multiple times on libel and tax-evasion charges that critics say are designed to silence independent media in the southeast Asian country.

"Free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda," said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

December 4: Ash Foster and his brother Cru carry their freshly harvested Christmas tree at the Sorghum Mill Christmas Tree Farm in Edmond, Oklahoma. Nick Oxford/Reuters

December 5: A man carries a child as other people salvage their belongings from an area covered in volcanic ash at the Sumberwuluh village in Indonesia's Lumajang district. Mount Semeru erupted a day earlier, killing dozens of people. Juni Kriswanto/AFP

December 8: Actor Jussie Smollett leaves a courthouse in Chicago next to his mother, Janet, and sister Jurnee. The next day, he was found guilty of five counts of disorderly conduct for making a false report to Chicago police that he was the victim of a hate crime in January 2019 — an attack prosecutors said he staged. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/

December 9: Elizabeth Dole, a former US senator and Bob Dole's widow, puts her head on the casket of her husband as he lies in state in the US Capitol Rotunda. Bob Dole, a former US senator and presidential candidate, died on December 5 at the age of 98. Andrew Harnik/Pool/AP

December 9: Filipino American journalist Maria Ressa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize this year along with Russian newspaper editor Dmitry Muratov, takes a selfie with Muratov, second from left, and members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee during a news conference in Oslo, Norway. Ressa is the CEO of Rappler, a Philippine news outlet that has been critical of President Rodrigo Duterte’s regime, while Muratov heads the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. Both have faced legal and physical threats during their careers as their respective governments cracked down on the rights of journalists. Torstein Bøe/NTB/AFP

December 26: Desmond Tutu, anti-apartheid leader and voice of justice, dead at 90

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Anglican cleric whose good humor, inspiring message and conscientious work for civil and human rights made him a revered leader during the struggle to end apartheid in his native South Africa, has died. He was 90.

In a statement confirming his death on Sunday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his condolences to Tutu's family and friends, calling him "a patriot without equal."

 "A man of extraordinary intellect, integrity and invincibility against the forces of apartheid, he was also tender and vulnerable in his compassion for those who had suffered oppression, injustice and violence under apartheid, and oppressed and downtrodden people around the world," Ramaphosa said.

DECEMBER 31, 2021

Betty White, TV’s Golden Girl, dies at 99

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Betty White, whose saucy, up-for-anything charm made her a television mainstay for more than 60 years, whether as a man-crazy TV hostess on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” or the loopy housemate on “The Golden Girls,” has died. She was 99.

White’s death was confirmed Friday by Jeff Witjas, her longtime agent and friend. She would have turned 100 on Jan. 17.

“I truly never thought she was going to pass away,” Witjas told The Associated Press. “She meant the world to me as a friend. She was the most positive person I’ve ever known.”

Witjas said White had been staying close to her Los Angeles home during the pandemic out of caution but had no diagnosed illness. It was unclear if she died Thursday night or Friday, he said.

Her death brought tributes from celebrities and politicians alike.

Sources: Reuters/CNN/TMZ/AP/AFP/ Bloomberg/ The Washington Post/ The New York Times/ Harpo Productions/ Anadolu Agency/ WPA Pool/ NBC/BET