Significant Occurrences 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Let’s hit the rewind button. We’re going back to the wild, weird, and wonderful years: 2016 through 2020. Buckle up—this isn’t a history lesson. It’s a highlight reel of pure chaos.

2016: The Year of Unicorns and Surprises

First up: 2016. It was the year Pokémon GO sent millions of us stumbling into traffic. Yes, you. Don’t lie. We chased virtual Pikachus with real-world abandon.

Meanwhile, Harambe the gorilla became an accidental internet deity. A meme was born from a tragedy. We still don’t know why, but we all “dicks out” for a while.

In politics, the Chicago Cubs broke a 108-year curse. A goat? No, just a miracle. And Leo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar. The universe made a little more sense.

Quirky Quake: The “Damn Daniel” Vans

A teenager named Daniel got famous for wearing white Vans. That’s it. That’s the whole story. We all lost our minds over sneakers.

Oh, and Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency. The polls got it wrong. The world blinked, then laughed, then cried. 2016 was that friend who never sticks to the plan.

2017: The Solar Eclipse and Clown Panic

2017 gave us a total solar eclipse across America. People drove for hours to stand in the dark. Millions stared at the sky with funny glasses. For two minutes, we all felt like astronomers.

Remember the “clown sightings”? Creepy clowns were spotted in random forests and parking lots. Nobody knew why. We all just agreed: clowns are terrifying now.

Tech-wise, the Nintendo Switch launched. It changed gaming. You could play Zelda on a toilet. Civilization peaked.

Pipeline transportation occurrences in 2019 - Transportation Safety

The “MeToo” Wave

This was the year a simple hashtag exploded. Women spoke up about harassment. The silence broke like a cheap window. Hollywood shook. Weinstein fell.

On a lighter note, the “Bird Box” challenge? Not yet. That came later. But we did get “Despacito” stuck in every eardrum on Earth. Luis Fonsi became king for a summer.

2018: The Year of the Fidget Spinner and Royal Love

2018 was the fidget spinner. Spinning plastic toys were the only thing that mattered. We spun them in class, in meetings, in our dreams. Then we forgot they existed.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry married Meghan Markle. A royal wedding with a gospel choir. A black American princess in the British monarchy. Boom.

In space, Elon Musk launched a red Tesla into orbit. With a dummy astronaut in the driver’s seat. The car is still floating out there. That’s very show-offy.

The “Infinity War” Snap

Avengers: Infinity War made half the world vanish. Thanos snapped his fingers. Audiences gasped. Then they went home and argued about it on Twitter. It was cinema.

Also, the “Tide Pod” challenge happened. People ate laundry detergent. For internet fame. We survived, barely. 2018 was dumb, but fun dumb.

Bar plot for each beach, showing the occurrence of observed beaching

2019: Fire, Baby Yoda, and a Really Big Bird

2019 started with the Notre Dame Cathedral on fire. The world watched it burn. We held our breath. Then a year later, it still wasn’t fixed. But hey, Baby Yoda arrived.

Disney+ launched, and the internet collapsed into green baby cuteness. “The Child” became the most powerful being. He drank soup. We died.

In wildlife, “Carole Baskin” became a villain from a Netflix show. Tiger King was about a mullet-wearing zoo owner. Joe Exotic. It was the oddest true crime ever.

A Record-Breaking Heatwave

July 2019 was the hottest month on record. We all sweated through our clothes. Climate change stopped being a theory. It became a sticky, humid reality.

Also, the UK had a massive election. Boris Johnson won. Everyone confused? Yes. But 2019 saved its biggest chaos for last.

2020: The Year We All Stayed Home

2020 arrived like a sneaky villain. COVID-19 spread across the globe. We locked our doors. We hoarded toilet paper. Why toilet paper? Nobody knows. It was a primal instinct.

Zoom became our new home. We attended meetings in pajama bottoms. We saw everyone’s messy bookshelves. Your cat walked across the keyboard. Mine too.

Cumulative occurrences of keyword plus for pedagogical leadership

The Black Lives Matter protests erupted after George Floyd’s death. A global reckoning. Streets filled with signs and silence. It was heavy. It was necessary.

Murder Hornets and Tiger Strikes

Remember “murder hornets”? Invasive, giant wasps that could decapitate bees. We were already scared of a virus, and then: insect terror. 2020 laughed at us.

Also, a tiger at the Bronx Zoo caught COVID. A tiger. We all joked: “Even the animals can’t catch a break.” The tiger recovered. We didn’t.

But 2020 also gave us amazing bread. Everyone baked sourdough. Our kitchens smelled like yeast and hope. We made banana bread like it was a national sport.

The End of an Era

2020 was the most memorable dumpster fire ever. But it also taught us to slow down. We watched the stars from our balconies. We called our moms.

And as the year limped to a close, a vaccine appeared. Science won. 2020 couldn’t keep us down forever.

So there you go. 2016 to 2020 in a nutshell. We danced to “Despacito,” spun fidget spinners, survived a pandemic, and fell in love with a green alien baby. What a ride. Let’s do it again? …Maybe not.