2023 Around the World: Discover, Learn, and Challenge

The Chinese zodiac names each year after one of its 12 signs; this year is the Rabbit year. Despite being China’s biggest annual holiday, Lunar New Year celebrations have been muted for the past three years due to the pandemic. Jan. 22, 2023, marked the first time in three years that people could finally get back to their hometowns to see their families after the Chinese government lifted its strict “zero-COVID” policy.

As a government energy-saving measure backfired, Pakistan went without power for several hours on Jan. 23, 2023. During low usage hours overnight, the government turned off electricity to conserve fuel. As a result, schools, hospitals, factories, and shops were out of power or water during the brutal winter weather. Activist group NetBlocks.org says the power outage has also significantly reduced Pakistan’s internet access.

Instead of King Charles III’s portrait on the A$5 banknote, Australia will replace Queen Elizabeth II’s portrait with a design honoring Indigenous culture in Australia (AKA the First Australians). After consulting with the federal government, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced the change on Feb. 2, 2023. Indigenous groups will be involved in designing the updated banknote. The current note will continue to be issued until the revised design is ready.

The traditional “Korean age” system considers the time spent in the womb as one year and adds another year every January 1, regardless of the actual birthday. This means some Koreans can be two years older than their international age. However, this system changed starting June 28, 2023, when South Korea adopted the international age system for all official documents. This means more than 51 million people have become younger overnight.

According to multiple Feb. 21, 2023, news reports, a panel in the Japanese justice ministry wants to raise the country’s consent age from 13 to 16. The move comes in response to criticism that existing laws didn’t do enough to protect children. A series of reforms to the penal code will also make voyeurism a criminal offense and clarify what rape prosecution requires. In the United States, the age of consent varies between 16 and 18 years old. It’s 16 in Britain and South Korea, 15 in France, and 14 in Germany and China. Japan’s age of consent hasn’t changed since 1907.

India recently stirred the pot (and not just a curry one) by referring to itself as “Bharat” in the Sept. 2023 G20 summit dinner invitations. For those who missed the memo, “Bharat” is an ancient Sanskrit term deeply rooted in India’s history and is also the name mentioned in the Indian Constitution. But why the sudden change in RSVP name tags? Well, with national elections looming, the ruling party, BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decided to spice things up a bit. Some say it’s a nod to India’s rich Hindu past. Others believe it’s a political strategy to challenge the newly formed opposition alliance named “INDIA” (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance).

Caste systems have ruled India and other parts of South Asia for thousands of years, providing privileges to the upper castes and repressing the lower castes. Dalits, on the lowest rung of Indian Hindu castes, have been called “untouchables.” Caste discrimination in India was outlawed more than 70 years ago, but it still happens and is widespread in diaspora communities in the US. Seattle became the first US city to ban caste discrimination on Feb. 21, 2023, when its city council added caste to its anti-discrimination laws.

On June 21, 2023, as part of the International Day of Yoga celebrations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a yoga session at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The session broke the Guinness World Record for the participation of people of 135 different nationalities. This beat the previous record of 114 nationalities set in Qatar in March 2022. PM Modi performed various yoga poses on the UN lawn with hundreds of people and delivered a speech on yoga’s benefits. He also met with various leaders and dignitaries during his three-day visit to the US, which started a day earlier.

India’s railway system is ranked #1 in the world in terms of passengers carried, with a record of 721.6 billion person miles per year. This means India’s railways transport more people over greater distances than any other country. The second busiest is China, with 423.3 billion person miles per year. On June 2, 2023, two passenger trains and a goods train collided in Odisha state in India, killing over 300 people and injuring about 1,000 more, making it one of the most tragic train collisions in India’s history. The most severe one was in 1981 when 800 people died.

With 343 square miles (889 sq km) of surface area, the Salton Sea is California’s biggest lake by surface area. It’s been shrinking for decades despite water cuts and conservation efforts, causing health and environmental problems. The New York Times reported on Feb. 25 that the Salton Sea faces another water crisis, affecting farmers in the area, due to drought and a nearly dry Colorado River.

Fun fact: The Salton Sea was accidentally created in 1905 when an engineer tried diverting some of the Colorado River into a canal. However, he ended up flooding a dry basin below sea level.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said approximately 2.3 to 2.5 tonnes of natural uranium have gone missing from a site in Libya. The missing uranium was stored at a former nuclear facility near Sabha in southern Libya. The IAEA has been monitoring the site since 2004 when Libya agreed to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

Who stole it?

The IAEA suspects that armed groups or smugglers looted the uranium amid the security chaos that has plagued Libya since Muammar Gaddafi’s overthrow and killing in 2011. The missing uranium could power dirty bombs or fuel nuclear reactors. On March 16, 2023, the IAEA urged Libya’s authorities and neighboring countries to cooperate in recovering the material and preventing its misuse.

Taiwan is an island nation in East Asia that was formerly called Formosa by Portuguese explorers in the 16th century. The Formosan black bear is an endangered subspecies of black bears native to Taiwan and is seen as a symbol of Taiwanese identity.

Why is it beating Pooh?

A patch depicting a Formosan black bear holding Taiwan’s flag and punching Winnie-the-Pooh, representing China’s president Xi Jinping, has become viral online as a defiant gesture against China’s military drills around Taiwan in April 2023. Winnie-the-Pooh is often used as an internet meme to mock Xi Jinping and is censored in China.

The Order of Merit for special achievement is Germany’s highest distinction for a former leader. On April 17, 2023, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier honored former Chancellor Angela Merkel with this award for her near-record 16 years of leading the country. She was the first woman, the first East German-born, and the longest-serving chancellor since Otto von Bismarck in the 19th century. Only two other ex-chancellors received the honor: Konrad Adenauer, the first chancellor of West Germany after World War II, and Helmut Kohl, the chancellor who oversaw Germany’s reunification in 1990.

At the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers, Khartoum is Sudan’s capital and largest city. It’s also the seat of the country’s de facto ruler, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who clashed with his deputy, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (also known as Hemedti), the leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). This movement originated from the notorious Janjaweed militias that committed crimes against humanity in Darfur, a region in western Sudan, in the 2000s. On Apr. 15, 2023, the RSF attacked key government sites in Khartoum and other cities, sparking four days of violence that killed at least 185 people and injured more than 1,800. The clashes threatened the transition to civilian rule that began after the removal of longtime dictator Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019.

Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948, after the British mandate over Palestine ended. This year, according to the Hebrew calendar, Israel marks its 75th anniversary on April 26, 2023. However, the celebrations are overshadowed by a political crisis that has divided the country for months.

What’s Israel’s political crisis?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces widespread opposition and protests over his attempt to overhaul the judiciary and his alliance with far-right and religious parties. Opposition leader Yair Lapid has boycotted the main state ceremony for Independence Day, and some bereaved families have asked politicians to stay away from military cemeteries on Memorial Day.

Nova Kakhovka Dam is a strategically vital dam in southern Ukraine. It is situated on the Dnieper River and holds back an enormous body of water that supplies water to the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014. It also provides cooling water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is now under Russian control. On June 6, 2023, Ukraine accused Russian forces of blowing up the dam in Nova Kakhovka. Moscow denied the attack and said Kyiv intentionally sabotaged the dam. The dam’s collapse caused water to cascade over the damaged structure, flooding homes and forcing thousands to evacuate.

Australia is the first country worldwide to approve MDMA for PTSD and psilocybin for hard-to-treat depression. The Therapeutic Goods Administration put the two drugs on the approved medicines list starting July 1, 2023, but for a price — the treatment costs about $10,000 (Australian. It’s roughly $6,600 US dollars) per patient.

Fun Fact: Oregon was the first US state to legalize adult psilocybin use, and Colorado’s voters decriminalized psilocybin in 2022.

Screenshot: NBC News – YouTube

The highest peak of the Atlas Mountains is located in Morocco. Specifically, roughly 40 miles south of Marrakesh. On Sept. 8, 2023, this region shook with a 6.8 magnitude earthquake, killing over 2,900 people. This was the deadliest earthquake in Morocco since 1960, when a quake killed more than 12,000. Marrakesh’s famous Koutoubia Mosque, the largest in the city and a UNESCO World Heritage site built in the 12th century, was severely damaged, as were the famous red walls surrounding the old city.

The Khalistan movement advocates for an independent homeland for Sikhs in India’s Punjab region. While the idea of Khalistan has been around for a while, it made headlines in 2023 due to the alleged assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Canadian Sikh leader and Khalistan advocate. This incident led to a diplomatic tiff between Canada and India, with ambassadors expelled. Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, even suggested there was “credible evidence” of India’s involvement in the assassination.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. While it’s internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, it has been under Armenian separatist control for decades. In Sept. 2023, a mass exodus of up to 120,000 Armenians fled the area due to fears of persecution under Azerbaijani rule.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem. This mosque has stood for centuries and has been a focal point in the longstanding and deeply rooted conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. The attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, involving a large-scale surprise terror attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians, were named Al-Aqsa Floods by the Gazan forces committing the atrocities. 1,400 Israelis were murdered by Hamas terrorists in their homes and at a music festival massacre, resulting in the evacuation of 1.1 million Gazans as the IDF retaliated.

The Cenotaph in Whitehall stands as a silent sentinel in the heart of London, solemnly honoring those who laid down their lives in the Great War and subsequent conflicts. During the Armistice weekend in Nov. 2023, a pro-Palestinian march was rerouted to avoid this iconic memorial, which, after a political tango involving the Prime Minister and the Metropolitan Police, agreed to a route that respected the sanctity of the remembrance events.

In 2023, Paris and other French cities experienced a notable increase in bedbug infestations, leading to widespread public and mental health concerns. The French government, recognizing the severity of the issue, hosted emergency meetings to devise strategies to manage the situation, especially in light of the ongoing Rugby World Cup and the upcoming 2024 Olympics. Bedbugs, notorious for their blood-sucking habits, can cause physical discomfort and psychological distress despite not being carriers of diseases. The resurgence of these pests observed not just in France but globally, has been attributed to factors like globalization and bedbug adaptation to resist chemical eradication methods used in the past.

The cosmic dawn is what astronomers call the time when galaxies first formed in the universe, about 500 million to 1 billion years after the Big Bang. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently spotted six massive galaxies from this era that are so huge they shouldn’t exist. As reported on Feb. 22, 2023, these galaxies, billions of times heavier than our sun and as compact as the Milky Way, are so large and mature that they challenge current theories of early galaxy formation.

On March 17, 2023, scientists unveiled new data on the possible origins of the Covid-19 pandemic — and put this confusing creature in the spotlight. Raccoon dogs are members of the canine family, which includes domestic dogs but are most closely related to foxes. They are native to East Asia, including parts of China, Korea, and Japan. Raccoon dogs have long been farmed for their fur and sold for their meat in live animal markets. The animals were occasionally sold at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where many virologists suspect the Covid-19 pandemic may have started.

Bobi is a 31-year-old Rafeiro do Alentejo, a purebred livestock guardian dog who lives in Conqueiros, a rural village in Portugal. He was born on May 11, 1992, and declared the world’s oldest dog by Guinness World Records on February 2, 2023.

Fun Facts: Bobi celebrated his 31st birthday on May 11, 2023, with a traditional Portuguese party that included local meats and fish, a dance troupe, and over 100 guests. His owner, Leonel Costa, said Bobi only eats human food and lives peacefully surrounded by other animals and nature. Bobi has also broken the record for the oldest dog ever. This record was previously held by Bluey, an Australian cattle dog who lived for 29 years and 5 months from 1910 to 1939.

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Italy, scheduled for May 21, 2023, was canceled due to sudden floods, its management announced on May 17. It was the first Grand Prix canceled since the 2020 Australian Grand Prix, which was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The floods had disastrous effects on the Emilia Romagna region. Interestingly, another major racing event, the Coca-Cola 600 race, scheduled for Sunday, May 28, 2023, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, was postponed to Monday, May 29, 2023, due to persistent and heavy rain. This was the first time inclement weather forced the Coca-Cola 600 to run on Memorial Day afternoon since 2009.

This meteorological marvel, named for its resemblance to the Greek letter Omega (Ω), is essentially a high-pressure zone sandwiched between two low-pressure zones. This atmospheric arrangement was responsible for Storm Daniel’s birth and path around Sept. 4, 2023. Storm Daniel later wreaked havoc in Greece, Libya, and other surrounding countries, causing unprecedented damage. More than 5,000 people were reported dead in Libya, and as many as 10,000 more are believed to be missing.

Screenshot: The New York Times YouTube Channel

Born in 1996 and announced in 1997, Dolly, the sheep, was the world’s first mammal cloned from an adult cell. Sir Ian Wilmut, the mastermind behind this groundbreaking achievement, died on Sept. 10, 2023. Wilmut was knighted in 2008 for his services to science. His research has paved the way for advances in stem cell treatments that could cure degenerative conditions in the future.

Fun Fact: Dolly was named after country singer Dolly Parton. We’re too embarrassed to say why.

Researchers observing female European common frogs found these Oscar-worthy performances. Led by Dr. Carolin Dittrich, a postdoctoral researcher with a keen eye for amphibious antics, the research showed that a third of these female frogs exhibit a behavior known as “tonic immobility” or, in simpler terms, they “play dead.” This peculiar behavior was brought into the limelight in a study published in October 2023. However, Dr. Dittrich found references to such behaviors in texts over 250 years old.

Screenshot: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver / HBO

The Pūteketeke bird, known for its unique vomit-producing behavior, won the “Bird of the Century” contest organized by Forest & Bird, a conservation group in New Zealand. Comedian John Oliver played a significant role in the contest. He promoted the Pūteketeke bird on his show, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” encouraging viewers to vote for it. The competition, while humorous, served the serious purpose of raising awareness about New Zealand’s native birds and their conservation.

David Attenborough. Photo: John Cairns, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna, a critically endangered species, was rediscovered in the Cyclops Mountains of Papua, Indonesia. This unique creature, an egg-laying mammal and a distant relative of the platypus, both part of the monotreme family, was discovered in 1961 and thought to be extinct. However, recent efforts by Oxford University researchers captured its existence on camera in June and July 2023. Weighing between 5 and 10 kilograms, this echidna is known for its hedgehog-like spines, an anteater-like snout, and mole-like feet. David Attenborough, the famous naturalist the species is named after, is reportedly delighted by this discovery.

With 343 square miles (889 sq km) of surface area, the Salton Sea is California’s biggest lake by surface area. It’s been shrinking for decades despite water cuts and conservation efforts, causing health and environmental problems. The New York Times reported on Feb. 25 that the Salton Sea faces another water crisis, affecting farmers in the area, due to drought and a nearly dry Colorado River.

Fun fact: The Salton Sea was accidentally created in 1905 when an engineer tried diverting some of the Colorado River into a canal. However, he ended up flooding a dry basin below sea level.

Scientists found traces of phosphorus in water plumes squirting through the ice crust of Enceladus, a tiny ocean-bearing moon that orbits Saturn. The discovery was announced in June 2023, based on 2008 data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Enceladus has all six elements needed for life: carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and, apparently, phosphorus in the form of phosphates. Enceladus also has a “soda ocean” beneath its icy surface, discovered in May 2023 by another team. The soda ocean is rich in sodium carbonate, which could help regulate the pH and alkalinity of the water and make it more suitable for life.

In a twist of events that Mother Nature probably found amusing, the 2023 Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada surprised attendees with a natural mud spa treatment as heavy rains transformed the festival grounds into vast cement-like mud puddles. This unexpected ‘feature’ left over 70,000 attendees stranded, turning their desert party into a muddy staycation. Looks like the climate protests over there had their point proven by the weather. As for the Ebola outbreak scare, that was a false rumor on social media, probably started by someone who missed the mud memo.

Screenshot: NBC News – YouTube

The highest peak of the Atlas Mountains is located in Morocco. Specifically, roughly 40 miles south of Marrakesh. On Sept. 8, 2023, this region shook with a 6.8 magnitude earthquake, killing over 2,900 people. This was the deadliest earthquake in Morocco since 1960, when a quake killed more than 12,000. Marrakesh’s famous Koutoubia Mosque, the largest in the city and a UNESCO World Heritage site built in the 12th century, was severely damaged, as were the famous red walls surrounding the old city.

In 2023, Paris and other French cities experienced a notable increase in bedbug infestations, leading to widespread public and mental health concerns. The French government, recognizing the severity of the issue, hosted emergency meetings to devise strategies to manage the situation, especially in light of the ongoing Rugby World Cup and the upcoming 2024 Olympics. Bedbugs, notorious for their blood-sucking habits, can cause physical discomfort and psychological distress despite not being carriers of diseases. The resurgence of these pests observed not just in France but globally, has been attributed to factors like globalization and bedbug adaptation to resist chemical eradication methods used in the past.

On Feb. 1, 2023, Australian authorities found the capsule containing a radioactive substance that was lost during transportation from north of Newman to the north-eastern suburbs of Perth and reported on Jan. 25, 2023. The round and silver capsule measuring 6mm in diameter and 8mm tall, was searched for along a 1,400km (870-mile) section of the Great Northern Highway in the Western Australian desert – a distance longer than the Californian coastline.

How dangerous was it?

The missing capsule is a 19-GBq (a unit of radioactive decay) cesium-137 ceramic source used in radiation gauges. It emits beta and gamma radiation. An hour at a one-meter distance from the capsule is like getting 10 X-rays. The steel container prevents radioactive material from escaping, but contamination would be disastrous had it broken.

Tourette syndrome is a condition that affects the nervous system and causes people to make sudden sounds or movements that they cannot control, such as blinking, coughing, swearing, or repeating words. It usually starts in childhood and varies in severity and frequency. There is no cure for Tourette syndrome, but some treatments can reduce the symptoms. Lewis Capaldi, diagnosed with Tourette syndrome since childhood, announced on June 27, 2023, that he was taking a break from touring for the foreseeable future. He is focusing on his mental and physical health after struggling during a performance at the Glastonbury music festival three days earlier. He said he hoped to return to the stage soon.

“Pragyan” translates to ‘wisdom’ in Sanskrit. The rover, with its profound name, was part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission that successfully landed on the Moon on Aug. 23, 2023. It landed near the lunar south pole. On Sept. 2, the Pragyan rover was put into “sleep mode” to protect it during the lunar night, which lasts for two weeks and sees temperatures drop to -250 degrees Celsius. The ISRO planned to reawaken the rover on Sept. 22 but has been unable to contact the robot since.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft embarked on a seven-year mission to explore the asteroid Bennu. Its primary goal was to collect samples of the asteroid’s rocky fragments and dust and safely return them to Earth. These samples, believed to be around 4.6 billion years old, will provide invaluable insights into the early solar system.

Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman were awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their pivotal discoveries concerning modifying nucleosides in mRNA. These discoveries significantly impacted the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. This dynamic duo, who began their journey together in 1998, unlocked the secret to preventing the immune system from attacking synthetic mRNA. This revelation, published in 2005, fundamentally altered our understanding of how mRNA interacts with the immune system. Their discovery was a monumental milestone that enabled the rapid development and global distribution of mRNA vaccines during the pandemic, notably by Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer, saving countless lives across the globe. Once met with skepticism and funding challenges, this mRNA technology has potential future applications for vaccines against other diseases, such as influenza, malaria, HIV, and cancer.

Sauron is the main antagonist of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings fantasy series, seeking to conquer Middle-earth with his army of orcs and all-seeing eye. A team of scientists named an entire group of butterflies after him in a paper published in May 2023 because of the black rings on their orange hindwings, resembling Sauron’s eye. Saurona butterflies belong to a group called Euptychiina in the southwest Amazon rainforest.

Fun Fact: Sauron is not the only Lord of the Rings character to inspire species names; others include Gandalf, Gollum, and Bilbo. Sauron is also the name of a dung beetle, a frog, a dinosaur, and a galaxy.

Holmes was the founder and CEO of Theranos, a startup that raised nearly $1 billion from investors and became a Silicon Valley sensation. However, The Wall Street Journal exposed her technology as flawed and dangerous in 2015. She was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in January 2022 and sentenced to 11 years in prison in May 2023. She was incarcerated on May 30, 2023, in a women’s prison camp in Texas.

The US Department of Agriculture approved the first-ever lab-grown chicken in the US on June 21, 2023. Two California companies, Upside Foods, and Good Meat, have the go-ahead to offer chicken derived from animal cells in restaurants and later in supermarkets. The process involves taking a small sample of cells from a live chicken and placing them in a bioreactor with nutrients to grow them into meat. The result is a chicken nugget or burger with the same texture and flavor as conventional chicken. However, it is without harming any animals or producing greenhouse gases.

According to the International Energy Agency, global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy production grew by 0.9 percent in 2022, reaching a record high of more than 36.8 billion metric tons. As reported on Mar. 2, 2023, this was mainly driven by the rebound in air travel, the switch from natural gas to coal in Asia, and extreme weather events that reduced hydropower and increased electricity demand.

Known in Brazil as “O Rei” or “The King,” legendary professional footballer Edson Arantes do Nascimento, AKA Pelé, died on Dec. 29, 2022, at 82, following a battle with colon cancer.

Paris Saint-Germain said on Jan. 9, 2023, that they would be playing a friendly game in Riyadh on Jan. 19 against a composite team of players from Ronaldo’s new club Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal. After the 37-year-old star slapped a mobile phone out of a fan’s hand last April, he had to wait until Jan. 22 to make his formal debut for Al-Nassr in a league game against Al Ettifaq.

Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 38,387 points in his career. LeBron James became the second NBA player to score 38,000 career points on Jan. 15, 2023. He also broke the record for being the youngest player to ever reach every career scoring milestone from 21,000 to 38,000 points. If the Lakers star keeps his current rate, he could become the top all-time scoring player as early as February.

Tom Brady announced his retirement from the NFL on Feb. 1, 2023. Again. He briefly retired from the NFL after the 2021 season. Originally, Brady was with the New England Patriots, but he signed with the Buccaneers in 2020. His first season with the Buccaneers earned him his seventh Super Bowl win. His final season broke the league record for completions (490) and pass attempts (733). He’ll now become a TV analyst for Fox Sports in a 10-year, $375 million deal.

Tom Brady Fun Facts

• He is the NFL’s career leader in passing yards (89,214) and touchdowns (649).
• He holds multiple NFL records, including the most Super Bowl wins (7), Super Bowl MVP awards (5), and playoff wins (35).
• He has three NFL MVP awards and was selected to the Pro Bowl 15 times.
• He finalized his divorce from model Gisele Bündchen during his final NFL season.

Breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career record of 38,387 points with a fadeaway 2-pointer in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 7, 2023, LeBron James became the NBA’s leading career scorer. He is the first player to top Abdul-Jabbar’s 1984 record in nearly 40 years. James scored the record-breaking 38,388th point in the third quarter of the game. After the record-setting shot, the game was paused for a ceremony with Abdul-Jabbar and NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs, won his second Super Bowl MVP award on Feb. 12, 2023. Despite a high ankle sprain, Mahomes completed 13 out of 14 passes for 93 yards, two touchdowns, and two brilliant runs in the game’s second half, earning him MVP. The Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles.

As of Feb. 28, 2023, Novak Djokovic has been number one in the ATP rankings for a total of 378 weeks, breaking Steffi Graf’s record of 377 weeks at the top of the WTA rankings. He already became the male tennis player with the most weeks at the top in March 2021, when he surpassed Roger Federer’s record of 310 weeks as ATP number one. Serena Williams has been ranked number one for a total of 319 weeks.

FIFA changed the format for the 2026 World Cup to have 12 groups of four teams each instead of 16 groups of three teams each. This means that there will be 48 teams playing in the tournament (up from 32), which the US, Mexico, and Canada will co-host. The change was approved by FIFA’s Council on March 14, 2023, and will increase the total number of games to 104 from 64 in the previous edition in Qatar.

Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal was in the hospital getting a replaced hip. On March 19, 2023, he posted a photo of himself in a hospital gown on Twitter, which caused concern among fans. O’Neal had his hip replacement surgery on March 15.

Tiger Woods won his fifth green jacket in 2019, at 43, becoming the second-oldest Masters winner. The oldest Masters winner is Jack Nicklaus, who was 46 when he won his sixth green jacket in 1986. Woods’s 2019 victory was his first major title in 11 years after overcoming multiple injuries and personal issues. He is currently still recovering from another car crash in 2021 that left him with severe leg injuries.

Did Woods play the 2023 Masters?

Woods appeared on Apr. 6 at the 2023 Masters, battling injury concerns with his back and foot. He withdrew before the third round resumed on Apr. 9, ending his streak of completing every round he has played at Augusta National.

Jon Rahm, born in Spain, won his first major title at the US Open in 2021. He won his second major title and first green jacket at the 2023 Masters on April 9. He became the first European golfer to achieve this feat. Rahm joins an elite group of Americans who have won both majors, such as Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Phil Mickelson. He also became the fourth Spaniard to win the Masters, joining Sergio Garcia, José María Olazábal, and Seve Ballesteros. He won on Ballesteros’s 66th birthday. Ballesteros died in 2011 and was Rahm’s idol and a two-time Masters champion in 1980 and 1983.

Pelé, who won three World Cups with Brazil and scored over 1,000 goals in his career, died on Dec. 29, 2022, at 82. His body was placed in a golden casket and laid to rest in a mausoleum in Santos, where he played most of his club soccer.

Fun Facts: The mausoleum has two golden statues of Pelé, artificial grass, images of fans in a stadium, and an endless soundtrack of cheers. It opened to visitors on May 15, 2023. Fans visiting the mausoleum must book a time on the Memorial Cemetery website.

Novak Djokovic is the only male tennis player to achieve this feat. He won his third French Open title on June 11, 2023. He also holds the record for most Grand Slam singles titles won by a male player with 23. Djokovic is also the only male player to win all nine Masters tournaments and has done so twice. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players ever. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have both won each of the four Grand Slam tournaments at least once, but not three times.

The Denver Nuggets play their home games at Ball Arena, 5,280 feet (1,609 meters) above sea level. This makes it the highest-altitude arena in the NBA and the highest venue for any major professional sports team in North America. The Miami Heat, who faced the Nuggets in the 2023 NBA finals, had to deal with thin air and low oxygen levels. The Nuggets won all three home games in the series, including the decisive Game 5 on June 12, 2023. They beat the Heat 94-89 to clinch their first-ever NBA title. Nuggets center Nikola Jokić was named the NBA Finals MVP after averaging 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds, and 7.2 assists in the series.

Lionel Messi, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, announced on June 7, 2023, that he had joined Inter Miami. This is a club owned by another soccer legend, David Beckham. Messi played for Paris Saint-Germain for two years after leaving Barcelona, his long-time club, in 2021. He won the World Cup with Argentina in 2022. Messi had other offers from Europe and Saudi Arabia, but he chose Miami for its lifestyle and brand opportunities.

Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man” speech was delivered on July 4, 1939, at Yankee Stadium in New York City in front of more than 60,000 people. Gehrig had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), later known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He retired from baseball that day and died two years later. In the speech, Gehrig said he considered himself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. On the 84th anniversary of Gehrig’s famous speech, on July 4, 2023, Sarah Langs, a baseball reporter and producer at MLB Advanced Media, who has Lou Gehrig’s disease, was honored at Yankee Stadium along with six other women with the disease.

20-year-old Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz won his second Grand Slam title by defeating Novak Djokovic in a five-set final at Wimbledon on July 16, 2023. He became the youngest men’s champion since Boris Becker, who won the title at 17 in 1985.

Fun Fact: Roger Federer, who retired earlier this year, won his first Wimbledon title at 21 in 2003.

What happened to Djokovic?

Alcaraz’s victory ended Djokovic’s long Wimbledon reign. Djokovic aimed for his eighth Wimbledon crown, equalling Margaret Court’s 24 majors record. During the match, he received two warnings: one for taking too long to serve and another for smashing his racket against the net post.

Cristiano Ronaldo danced, dazzled, and delivered by scoring a whopping six goals in the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup. In the August 12, 2023, final, his team, Al-Nassr, clinched their first-ever Arab Club Champions Cup title. This was Ronaldo’s first trophy with Al-Nassr.

Back in the days when the internet was still dialing up, and Y2K was the biggest scare, young Serena Williams was making waves at the US Open. Fast forward to 2023, and 19-year-old Coco Gauff follows in her footsteps, advancing to the quarterfinals of the US Open in consecutive years. On Sept. 3, 2023, Gauff showcased her prowess by defeating Caroline Wozniacki, reminding us that history repeats itself. By Sept. 5, she also became the first American teenager to reach the US Open semi-finals since Williams in 2001. On Sept. 10, she won her first grand slam title, becoming the first American teenager to win the US Open and the youngest American woman to reach the US Open final since 17-year-old Williams in 1999. This time, with much better internet.

In the 2023 US Open at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, Novak “Never-Stop” Djokovic carved his name alongside tennis royalty. On Sept. 10, 2023, Djokovic clinched his 24th Grand Slam title, tying Margaret Court’s legendary record. He surpassed Serena Williams’s 23 titles, Rafael Nadal’s 22 titles, and Roger Federer’s 20 titles. This victory saw Djokovic become the oldest US Open men’s champion in the Open Era at the ripe age of 36.

On Sept. 24, 2023, in the Berlin Marathon, Tigist Assefa from Ethiopia redefined marathon running for women. She completed the race in a jaw-dropping 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 53 seconds, obliterating the previous world record set by Brigid Kosgei in 2019 at the Chicago Marathon. This achievement was even more remarkable, considering it was only her third competitive marathon.

Fun Fact: During her record-breaking run, Assefa wore the newly released single-use Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1s by Adidas. These shoes are claimed by Adidas to be “enhanced with unique technology that challenges the boundaries of racing” and have a price tag of £400.

On Oct. 8, 2023, at the Chicago Marathon, Kenyan runner Kelvin Kiptum made history by becoming the first to run a marathon in less than 2 hours and 1 minute. He crossed the finish line with an astonishing 2 hours and 35 seconds. This achievement was particularly impressive, considering it was only the third competitive marathon of his career. His record-breaking performance was a personal victory and a moment of national pride as he continued the legacy of his fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, the previous record holder. On Feb. 11, 2024, Kiptum, 24,  died in a road accident alongside his coach in western Kenya.

On Dec. 18, 2022, Lionel Messi’s two goals helped Argentina win its third World Cup title by beating France 4-2 in a penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw. He became the first man in a single edition of the World Cup to score in every round of the knockout and group stages, and, at 35, the oldest man to score five goals in a single World Cup tournament.

Guinness World Records said on Jan. 10, 2022, that Elon Musk broke the record for the biggest loss of personal fortune, losing $182 billion since November 2021, according to Forbes, and blowing away the previous record of $58.6 billion set in 2000 by Japanese tech investor Masayoshi Son.

Beyoncé won a record-breaking 32nd Grammy Award, overtaking Hungarian-British conductor George Solti, whose record of 31 Grammys had stood for more than 20 years.

Breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career record of 38,387 points with a fadeaway 2-pointer in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 7, 2023, LeBron James became the NBA’s leading career scorer. He is the first player to top Abdul-Jabbar’s 1984 record in nearly 40 years. James scored the record-breaking 38,388th point in the third quarter of the game. After the record-setting shot, the game was paused for a ceremony with Abdul-Jabbar and NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

The Phantom of the Opera ended its 35-year Broadway run on April 16, 2023, after 13,973 performances at New York’s Majestic Theatre. It became the longest-running show in Broadway history in 2006, surpassing the previous record-holder, Cats, and has grossed over $1.36 billion since its opening in January 1988. The Phantom of the Opera still plays in other countries and venues, such as London’s West End and Las Vegas. The musical is based on a novel by Gaston Leroux and features a score by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Fun Fact: The Lion King remains the highest-grossing Broadway show in history and the longest-running Disney musical, with over $1.8 billion on Broadway as of April 2023.

Billy Joel started his monthly residency at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in January 2014. On June 1, 2023, he announced he would play his final show in July 2024. Joel sold 1.6 million tickets during his residency. With 150 shows, Joel holds the record for the most lifetime performances by any artist at the venue.

On June 21, 2023, as part of the International Day of Yoga celebrations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a yoga session at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The session broke the Guinness World Record for the participation of people of 135 different nationalities. This beat the previous record of 114 nationalities set in Qatar in March 2022. PM Modi performed various yoga poses on the UN lawn with hundreds of people and delivered a speech on yoga’s benefits. He also met with various leaders and dignitaries during his three-day visit to the US, which started a day earlier.

Elton John started his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in 2018 and announced that it would be his final tour after more than 50 years of performing live. The tour had 330 shows across five continents and grossed over $887 million as of May 2023, making it the highest-grossing tour ever. The tour’s highlight was his performance at the Glastonbury Festival on June 25, 2023, with 120,000 people in the audience and a record 7.3 million people watching live on BBC One. Elton John ended his tour in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 8, 2023.

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian painter known for his sensual and decorative style. His paintings are among the most expensive in the world. Lady with a Fan is his last completed portrait before his pneumonia death in 1918. The painting was sold at Sotheby’s in London on June 27, 2023, after a 10-minute bidding war. The final price of $108.4 million (85.3 million pounds) set the record for the most valuable artwork ever sold at auction in Europe. It surpassed the previous record of $104.3 million for Alberto Giacometti’s sculpture Walking Man I, set in 2010. The Van Gogh and Picasso mentioned in our multiple-choice options are displayed in museums and were not auctioned.

Taylor Swift achieved this feat with her latest release, “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),” which debuted at No. 1 on the chart dated July 22, 2023, with 716,000 equivalent album units. Her other three albums in the top 10 were “Midnights” (No. 5), “Lover” (No. 7), and “Folklore” (No. 10). The last living artist to have four albums in the top 10 simultaneously was Herb Alpert in 1966. Prince did it posthumously in 2016.

Fun Fact: She also surpassed Barbra Streisand as the female artist with the most #1 albums in history, with 12.

On Oct. 8, 2023, at the Chicago Marathon, Kenyan runner Kelvin Kiptum made history by becoming the first to run a marathon in less than 2 hours and 1 minute. He crossed the finish line with an astonishing 2 hours and 35 seconds. This achievement was particularly impressive, considering it was only the third competitive marathon of his career. His record-breaking performance was a personal victory and a moment of national pride as he continued the legacy of his fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, the previous record holder. On Feb. 11, 2024, Kiptum, 24,  died in a road accident alongside his coach in western Kenya.

The hat in question, a bicorne hat, was famously worn by Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor known for his military prowess and distinctive fashion style. This particular hat fetched €1.932 million  ($2.1 million) at a Paris auction on Nov. 19, 2023. The hat’s unique sideways style, known as “en bataille,” made Napoleon easily recognizable on the battlefield. It’s one of approximately 20 remaining hats out of 120 that Napoleon is believed to have owned. The hat’s sale set an unprecedented record, surpassing the previous €1.884 million record for a Napoleon hat sold in 2014. The auction occurred amidst renewed interest in Napoleon, partly fueled by Ridley Scott’s biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix.

Mark Rutte, the answer we’re looking for, has been the face of Dutch politics for what seems like forever but is 13 in actual years. He became Prime Minister on Oct. 14, 2010. Known for his pragmatic leadership and fondness for cycling to work (because, let’s face it, who needs a limo when you have a bike in the Netherlands?), Rutte has been a steady hand at the Dutch political wheel. In July 2023, Rutte announced his resignation. The Dutch parliamentary elections were held on Nov. 22, 2023, paving the way for the first leader to take the helm in over a decade. Forming the next government will probably take months, as no party took over 20% of the vote.

Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, was born in 1924 in Plains, Georgia. The League of Nations Assembly adopted the Geneva Protocol a day after his birth. This protocol prohibited using chemical and biological weapons in international armed conflicts. On Oct. 1, 2023, Carter celebrated his 99th birthday at his presidential library and museum in Atlanta. Carter is the longest-lived US president ever, and his wife, 96-year-old Rosalynn Carter, is the second-longest-lived first lady after Bess Truman.

Fun Fact: Jimmy Carter, whose full name is James Earl Carter Jr., was the first American president born in a hospital.

The world’s oldest known wooden structure was discovered near Kalambo Falls, on the border between Zambia and Tanzania. This remarkable find, dated almost half a million years old, offers a glimpse into our ancient ancestors’ lives. The structure, made of two interlocking logs, was likely part of a platform or walkway. Its preservation is attributed to the high water levels and fine sand of the Kalambo River. This discovery, made in 2019 and published in Nature on Sept. 20, 2023, challenges our understanding of Stone Age human lifestyles. It suggests they might have been more settled than previously believed.

Fun fact: This structure is so old that it predates modern humans. Nevertheless, the logs were shaped using sharp stone tools, as evident by the cut, chopped, and scraped marks.

“Oppenheimer,” directed by Christopher Nolan and starring the enigmatic Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer (you know, the atomic bomb guy), exploded onto the scene on July 19, 2023, and by September, amassed a whopping $912 million worldwide. This atomic achievement made it the highest-grossing biopic, leaving “Bohemian Rhapsody” in second place.

Fun Facts: “Oppenheimer” is also Universal Studio’s highest-grossing R-rated film, currently the third-highest-grossing film of 2023, behind “Barbie” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” It’s also Christopher Nolan’s third highest-grossing film, after “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Released in 2000, “Chicken Run” not only had chickens plotting an escape but also managed to soar high, becoming the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time, raking in over $225 million. And guess what? These chickens are back in the coop with a sequel, “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget,” set to premiere on Netflix on Dec. 15, 2023. But not without some drama! Julia Sawalha, the original voice of Ginger, claimed she was dropped from the sequel in 2020 because her voice was deemed “too old.” She was replaced by Thandiwe Newton. Mel Gibson, who voiced Rocky in the classic film, was replaced by Zachary Levi.

According to a Reuters special report published on June 27, 2023, Donald Trump is the only living US president whose ancestors didn’t enslave people. His family history is mostly European, with his paternal grandparents immigrating from Germany and his mother from Scotland. Joe Biden had just one direct ancestor, five generations distant, who owned one slave. Barack Obama also had one direct ancestor, six generations removed, who owned two enslaved people. George Bush’s direct ancestor was six generations removed and enslaved 25.

Some trivia facts:

• Thomas Jefferson owned over 600 enslaved people during his lifetime, the most of any US president. He was the first president to bring enslaved people to the White House (which was built largely by enslaved Black workers).
• Ulysses S. Grant was the last president to own a slave. He freed the formerly enslaved person, William Jones, in 1859.
• Woodrow Wilson was the last president born into a slave household.

Nicola Sturgeon became Scotland’s longest-serving First Minister on May 25, 2022, serving seven years, six months, and five days after becoming the county’s first female first minister. Sturgeon resigned in February 2023 amid a scandal over her ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) funding. She was arrested and questioned by police on June 11, 2023, becoming the first Scottish first minister to be arrested. She was released without charge later that day. Sturgeon maintained her innocence and vowed to clear her name.

Fun Fact: Humza Yousaf is the current, youngest and first minority ethnic first minister of Scotland. He succeeded Nicola Sturgeon in March 2023 after she resigned. He has not been in office long enough to break other records.

India’s railway system is ranked #1 in the world in terms of passengers carried, with a record of 721.6 billion person miles per year. This means India’s railways transport more people over greater distances than any other country. The second busiest is China, with 423.3 billion person miles per year. On June 2, 2023, two passenger trains and a goods train collided in Odisha state in India, killing over 300 people and injuring about 1,000 more, making it one of the most tragic train collisions in India’s history. The most severe one was in 1981 when 800 people died.

Bobi is a 31-year-old Rafeiro do Alentejo, a purebred livestock guardian dog who lives in Conqueiros, a rural village in Portugal. He was born on May 11, 1992, and declared the world’s oldest dog by Guinness World Records on February 2, 2023.

Fun Facts: Bobi celebrated his 31st birthday on May 11, 2023, with a traditional Portuguese party that included local meats and fish, a dance troupe, and over 100 guests. His owner, Leonel Costa, said Bobi only eats human food and lives peacefully surrounded by other animals and nature. Bobi has also broken the record for the oldest dog ever. This record was previously held by Bluey, an Australian cattle dog who lived for 29 years and 5 months from 1910 to 1939.

First Citizens Bank is a family-owned bank founded in 1898 by Frank Holding Sr. and his family. It has become the largest family-owned bank in the US, with over 500 branches in 19 states. On March 26, 2023, the bank purchased all deposits and loans from Silicon Valley Bridge Bank. This was the financial institution whose collapse in March 2023 was the second-largest in US history and set off a chain reaction that caused the third-biggest bank-fail.

Mitch McConnell surpassed Mike Mansfield’s record of 16 years as Senate leader on Jan. 4, 2023. The Republican from Kentucky has been in the Senate since 1985 and is currently the minority leader after losing the majority to the Democrats in 2021. McConnell fell at a Washington, DC, hotel on Mar. 8, 2023. He suffered a concussion and a minor rib fracture. On Mar. 13, he was released to recover in an inpatient rehabilitation facility. McConnell is 81 years old and has a history of polio, a shoulder fracture, and difficulty climbing stairs.

With industry experts predicting it would be one of the top preorders of the decade, bookshops in the UK opened early on Jan. 10, 2023. The first week of Prince Harry’s autobiography, Spare, in stores saw 467,183 print copies sales through UK retailers, making it the UK’s fastest-selling nonfiction book ever. This does not include ebook sales or audiobook copies. The book sold over 1,430,000 copies on its first day of sale in the US, Canada, and the UK.

The House Democrats formally elected Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York to be their leader on Jan. 3, 2023, uniting around the liberal lawyer to fight a Republican majority. At 52, Jeffries represents a generational shift for House Democrats after two decades under Nancy Pelosi. He’s the first black politician to lead either party in Congress. In the first rounds of voting for speaker, Jeffries got more support than the main Republican candidate, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California – but not enough to win.

While Kim Petras, who won a Grammy award with Sam Smith for their duet “Unholy,” is the first transgender woman to win the award for pop duo/group performance, electronic music composer Wendy Carlos was the first transgender woman to win a Grammy in 1969 when she picked up three awards.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is the very first superhero movie to win Best Picture at the Oscars. Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the film was praised for its inventive and humorous exploration of identity, culture, and quantum physics.

Ke Huy Quan won Best Supporting Actor at the 95th Academy Awards for his role in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” He gave an emotional speech in which he thanked his wife, mother, brother, and fans. He also shared his story of being a refugee from Vietnam and achieving the American dream.

Fun Fact: As a child in the ’80s, Quan played Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Data in The Goonies.

Donald Trump was indicted by a grand jury in New York County on Mar. 30, 2023, on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The charges stem from a hush-money payment his former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, paid to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. Trump was arrested on Apr. 4, 2023, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and flown to New York City by federal marshals. He pleaded not guilty and was released without posting bail. His next court date is Dec. 4. The judge, Juan M. Merchan, warned Trump’s defense to refrain from statements that incite civil unrest. This relates to Trump’s recent social media posts that threatened “death and destruction” if he was charged and used racist language and images against the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg. Trump is a candidate for the US presidency in 2024.

What about Nixon, Johnson, and Clinton?

Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon after he resigned in 1974. The Senate acquitted Andrew Johnson of impeachment in 1868 and Clinton in 1998. However, Clinton was barred from practicing law in Arkansas and before the Supreme Court. Neither of them was ever arrested.

Jon Rahm, born in Spain, won his first major title at the US Open in 2021. He won his second major title and first green jacket at the 2023 Masters on April 9. He became the first European golfer to achieve this feat. Rahm joins an elite group of Americans who have won both majors, such as Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Phil Mickelson. He also became the fourth Spaniard to win the Masters, joining Sergio Garcia, José María Olazábal, and Seve Ballesteros. He won on Ballesteros’s 66th birthday. Ballesteros died in 2011 and was Rahm’s idol and a two-time Masters champion in 1980 and 1983.

Montana passed a bill that makes it illegal for app stores to offer TikTok in the state. The bill was motivated by concerns about potential Chinese spying through the app. It specifies that the ban would be lifted if TikTok is sold to a non-Chinese company or Congress passes a law banning TikTok nationwide. Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the unprecedented law on May 17, 2023, making Montana the first state to ban TikTok from app stores starting Jan. 2024. Nonetheless, it will face legal challenges from TikTok and other groups claiming it violates free speech rights.

Johnny Logan at Eurovision 1987

Johnny Logan won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland twice: in 1980 with “What’s Another Year” and in 1987 with “Hold Me Now.” He also wrote the winning song for Ireland in 1992, “Why Me?” performed by Linda Martin.

Loreen matched his record by winning for Sweden in 2012 with “Euphoria” and in 2023 with “Tattoo,” bringing the contest back to Sweden for the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s win in 1974 with “Waterloo,” and becoming the first female singer to achieve the feat.

The Queen’s Paddington Bear skit won the Most Memorable Moment Award at the Bafta TV Awards on May 14, 2023. The skit was created as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations and featured the Queen and Paddington Bear having a dance-off. It marked the first time a royal won the public vote at the Bafta TV Awards.

Nvidia is the leading producer of graphics processing units (GPUs), essential for running complex AI models that generate human-like content. The company’s shares have soared by more than 200% since October 2023 as investors were impressed by its revenue forecast and generative AI innovation. On May 30, 2023, Nvidia briefly joined the exclusive club of US companies with a market value of $1tn. This club includes Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon.

The Denver Nuggets play their home games at Ball Arena, 5,280 feet (1,609 meters) above sea level. This makes it the highest-altitude arena in the NBA and the highest venue for any major professional sports team in North America. The Miami Heat, who faced the Nuggets in the 2023 NBA finals, had to deal with thin air and low oxygen levels. The Nuggets won all three home games in the series, including the decisive Game 5 on June 12, 2023. They beat the Heat 94-89 to clinch their first-ever NBA title. Nuggets center Nikola Jokić was named the NBA Finals MVP after averaging 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds, and 7.2 assists in the series.

The Church of England clergy made a formal pay claim for the first time in their nearly 500-year history on June 19, 2023. They demanded a 9.5% increase in their allowance from April 2024. The trade union Unite, representing over 2,000 clergy and lay officers in the Church of England, said that many clergy had to turn to charitable aid because they could not make ends meet on their current stipend, which was £26,790 ($34,300) in 2023. The union also pointed out that the Church of England had billions in the bank and could fully afford this modest increase. The Church of England said it would consider the pay claim in its annual recommendations.

The US Department of Agriculture approved the first-ever lab-grown chicken in the US on June 21, 2023. Two California companies, Upside Foods, and Good Meat, have the go-ahead to offer chicken derived from animal cells in restaurants and later in supermarkets. The process involves taking a small sample of cells from a live chicken and placing them in a bioreactor with nutrients to grow them into meat. The result is a chicken nugget or burger with the same texture and flavor as conventional chicken. However, it is without harming any animals or producing greenhouse gases.

Australia is the first country worldwide to approve MDMA for PTSD and psilocybin for hard-to-treat depression. The Therapeutic Goods Administration put the two drugs on the approved medicines list starting July 1, 2023, but for a price — the treatment costs about $10,000 (Australian. It’s roughly $6,600 US dollars) per patient.

Fun Fact: Oregon was the first US state to legalize adult psilocybin use, and Colorado’s voters decriminalized psilocybin in 2022.

The Alef model A is the first flying car approved for testing by the US government. It was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on June 12, 2023. Alef Automotive, a California startup, can now exhibit, research, and develop its flying car. The Model A can carry one or two people, fly up to 110 miles, and park like a normal car. The company has taken refundable pre-orders for more than 400 vehicles. However, it still needs approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to be used on roads.

The ITU held the world’s first-ever news conference with humanoid robots in Geneva, Switzerland, on July 7th, 2023. Nine robots and their creators were available for reporters’ questions at this “unprecedented media event.” This was part of the UN’s AI for Good Global Summit. The humanoid robots reassured human reporters at the event that they had no intention of overthrowing or replacing them. They did suggest they could be more efficient government leaders.

Screenshot: The New York Times YouTube Channel

Born in 1996 and announced in 1997, Dolly, the sheep, was the world’s first mammal cloned from an adult cell. Sir Ian Wilmut, the mastermind behind this groundbreaking achievement, died on Sept. 10, 2023. Wilmut was knighted in 2008 for his services to science. His research has paved the way for advances in stem cell treatments that could cure degenerative conditions in the future.

Fun Fact: Dolly was named after country singer Dolly Parton. We’re too embarrassed to say why.

Dianne Feinstein made history as the first woman to serve as Mayor of San Francisco after the assassination of Mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk in 1978. She continued her pioneering journey by serving in the US Senate for over three decades. In this role, Feinstein chaired the investigation into the CIA’s post-9/11 activities. In Feb. 2023, 90-year-old Feinstein, the oldest sitting US senator, announced she would not seek re-election in 2024. She died on Sept. 28, 2023.

Fun Fact: While Lady Bird Johnson didn’t run San Francisco, she was First Lady.

During the Synod of Bishops held from Oct. 4-29, 2023, in Vatican City, for the first time, women were not only participants but also had the right to vote in the discussions. Among the 365 voting members, 54 were women, actively contributing to the synod dialogues and decisions. The discussion topics were wide-ranging, including women’s roles in decision-making positions within the church and the potential for their ordination as deacons. This event also hosted discussions on contemporary issues, including LGBTQ+ inclusion and accountability in church governance.

On Oct. 3, 2023, the US House of Representatives witnessed an unprecedented event. Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his lofty perch as Speaker of the House. He became the first individual to experience such a fate through a resolution to remove them. The vote was a nail-biter, tallying 216 to 210, with a twist of eight Republicans, led by Matt Gaetz, voting to boot McCarthy. Amidst the turmoil, McCarthy declared he would not seek the Speaker’s gavel again, leaving the House in a frantic search for a successor and political spectators grabbing their popcorn.

“Mean Girls” celebrated “Mean Girls Day” on Oct. 3, 2023, by launching the entire film on TikTok, divided into 23 parts. It’s the first Hollywood studio film adapted for TikTok. Fans celebrate this day due to a notable scene where Cady Heron (played by Lindsay Lohan) informs Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett) that the date is Oct. 3. Paramount Pictures made this strategic move to bring the beloved 2004 movie, written by Tina Fey, to a younger audience. Fans of the franchise can look forward to the upcoming “Mean Girls” movie, based on the Broadway musical adaptation, set to hit theaters on Jan. 12, 2024.

In a historic turn at the 2023 CMAs, Tracy Chapman’s 1988 hit “Fast Car,” given a new lease on life with Luke Combs’ cover, sped past the competition to win Song of the Year. This made Chapman the first Black songwriter ever to snag the award. This win came 35 years after the song’s debut. The CMAs aired on ABC on Nov. 8, 2023, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Chapman was not present at the ceremony but sent a prepared statement that presenter Sara Evans read.

Swiftly making her mark in Grammy history, Taylor Swift became the first songwriter to score seven nominations in the Song of the Year category at the 2024 Grammys, announced on Nov. 10, 2023, where she was nominated for her songwriting on “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (The Short Film).” With this achievement, Swift overtook the historic nominations of Sir Paul McCartney and Lionel Richie, each with six nominations in the category.

Fun fact: Beyoncé led the 2024 Grammy nominations with nine nods, making her the most nominated artist for the year. With these nominations, Beyoncé tied with her husband, Jay-Z, for the most Grammy nominations in history, each with 88 nominations. Other top nominees included Kendrick Lamar with eight nominations; Adele and Brandi Carlile with seven; and Harry Styles, Mary J. Blige, DJ Khaled, Future, The Dream, and Randy Merrill with six.