A Year in Review: What happened in the news?

Transcription

1 A Year in Review: What happened in the news? By Newsela Editorial Team on Word Count 1,327 Level 1190L TOP (from left): President Donald Trump takes the oath of office. Photo by: WhiteHouse.gov. The Chicago Cubs win the World Series. Photo by: Arturo Pardavila III/Wikimedia Commons. A Syrian boy receives treatment after a chemical weapons attack. Photo: Cem Genco/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images. BOTTOM (from left): Disney's "Moana" was a big hit. Photo by: Disney. More than half a million people attended the Women's March on Washington, D.C. Photo by: Amanda Voisard/The Washington Post. The school year is one for the books. This year was jam-packed with news, from a historic election and wild weather to fidget toys and space travel. Here is an overview of some of this year's most memorable moments. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 1

2 A New U.S. President On the night of November 8, 2016, Donald Trump s surprise victory over Democratic nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shocked the world. Trump, a longtime businessman and host of the TV show "Celebrity Apprentice," made a splash in the political world. Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes, but it was Trump who managed to win the electoral college. On January 20, 2017, he was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. Adults were not the only ones to make their voices heard on election day. During Newsela's Students Vote 2016, nearly 400,000 students placed a vote for their presidential candidate. The voting took place from October 17 until November 1. Among students, Clinton won decisively, with 57 percent of students voting for Clinton versus 32 percent supporting Trump. Trump's supporters were thrilled to have a new voice in government who they hoped would represent their interests and beliefs. At the same time, Trump s first 100 days as president were mired in controversies, including his executive orders on immigration, his Cabinet picks and his push to end Obamacare. Movies And TV Disney s Moana made huge waves at the box office. The powerful story of a young Polynesian girl exploring distant seas to save her island was a massive hit with audiences. However, at the Oscars this year, another Disney movie, Zootopia, took home the award for best animated movie. Heroines broke records this year at the box office. "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," had the second-highest ticket sales ever in the U.S. on the day it premiered, just behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was released last This article is available at 5 reading levels at 2

3 year. Another movie full of heroines was "Hidden Figures," the untold story of NASA's black female computers who used math to safely launch John Glenn into the Earth s orbit. Space In February, space exploration company SpaceX announced it will fly two people to the moon next year. This feat has not been attempted since the NASA Apollo missions which ended nearly 50 years ago. President Trump signed a bill in March approving $19.5 billion in funding for NASA to work toward the goal of sending humans to Mars by the 2030s. Protests On January 21, 2017, the day after Trump s inauguration, millions of protesters around the world participated in Women s March events. Other protests like A Day Without Immigrants, A Day Without Women and an Earth Day March for Science all drew huge crowds. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 3

4 Last summer, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe filed a complaint against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the Dakota Access pipeline. The company building the pipeline responded by filing a legal complaint against members of Standing Rock Sioux tribe for blocking construction. The protest grew, and by the fall, tribal leaders and activists from across the country, including several celebrities, had traveled to North Dakota. Construction halted in December but resumed once Trump took office. The pipeline was completed in April. The Black Lives Matter movement also continued to grow as prominent cases from years past, such as the Walter Scott case, went to court, and tensions persisted between police officers and the African-American community. In the case of Walter Scott, the officer responsible plead guilty in court. Wacky Weather Hurricane Matthew slammed the East Coast in October with winds up to 120 mph. Hundreds of thousands of people across Florida, Georgia and South Carolina lost power in the first major hurricane to hit the East Coast in 11 years. Meanwhile on the West Coast, drought-stricken California saw record precipitation levels. The sudden end of the five-year drought had far-reaching impacts like wild superbloom events, overflowing reservoirs and puzzling shark migratory patterns. The year 2016 also turned out to be the warmest year on record. According to NASA, surface temperatures in January 2016 on Earth were the warmest they have been since scientists started keeping track in This article is available at 5 reading levels at 4

5 Fake News This year also saw the start of a new conversation about fake news and media literacy. Reports of fake news influencing the presidential election and even President Trump himself questioning many media outlets challenged many people, including students, to determine what is real and what is fake news. As a result, tech giants like Facebook and Google announced steps they would take to combat the spread of fake news by making it more difficult for publishers of fake stories. Amazing Animals New technologies, such as face-recognition software that can identify individual lemurs in the forests of Madagascar, are helping conservationists protect endangered species around the world. In Russia, a network of motion-activated cameras is allowing scientists to conduct the first census of wild snow leopards. Scientists also made some incredible animal discoveries this year. One team of scientists found that kea parrots in New Zealand can make each other laugh. The Syrian Civil War In March 2017, the Syrian Civil War entered its sixth year. By March, more than 5 million Syrian people had been forced to leave their homes because of the war. Around the world, people argued about whether to help these Syrian refugees. Tensions rose in the following months as devastating evidence showed the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against innocent civilians, killing dozens of children. In response, President Trump ordered an airstrike This article is available at 5 reading levels at 5

6 against the government of Syria's President Bashar al-assad. It marked the first time since the start of the conflict that the U.S. had bombed the Syrian government. Sports The Chicago Cubs finally broke their 106-year-long "curse" when they defeated the Cleveland Indians, winning the World Series for the first time since The New England Patriots matched up against the Atlanta Falcons for Super Bowl LI, and despite past accusations of cheating, Tom Brady brought the Patriots to yet another victory. In basketball, Oklahoma City Thunder player Russell Westbrook made history. He