2019 has been a long year, nobody can deny that. The past 365 days have been filled with joy and sadness, hope and heartbreak, but most of all: new beginnings. Both in Long Valley and the world, there has been remarkable change, and it’s hard to imagine things will ever be the same again. Here is a recap of all the events you might have missed or forgotten over the past 12 months, both here at WMC and in the greater world.

January

• January 4th: The instagram account @world_record_egg is started. The egg would go on to become the most liked picture on Instagram, with 53.3 million likes, as last counted by the New York Times. With likes now obscured on Instagram, it is unlikely this feat will ever be topped

  

• January 10th: Nicolas Maduro is re-elected to his post as President of Venezuela. His presidency is immediately challenged by the opposition, which marked the beginning of a presidential crisis still going on today.

February

• February 6: Donald Trump makes his delayed State of the Union speech to congress. With the government shutdown finally over, the government is now allowed to proceed as normal. 
• February 27: The hotly anticipated movie “Captain Marvel” is released. The movie is a hit with critics and fans alike, but attracted controversy from those that dislike the movie, especially from people identifying themselves with the “Alt-Right. Much hate was directed at the star, Brie Larson, as some disliked the fact that Captain Marvel’s gender has been changed from the original comic books. The directors decry the negative press as being sexist and claims that many people that criticize the movie are internet trolls. 

March

• March 6: Jeopardy! Host Alec Trebeck announces that he has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He would later seek chemotherapy and his treatment is still ongoing today.

• March 27: Indian music channel T-Series overtakes gaming channel PewDiePie as the largest channel on YouTube, passing 100 million subscribers. This comes after months of back and forth between the two, including multiple diss tracks and other insults, mostly in jest. However, some supporters of PewDiePie began attacking T-Series with racist or harmful messages, leading to both sides calling an end to the mock war. 

April

• April 10: Scientists announce that the first picture of a black hole has been taken, definitively proving their existence. According to NASA.gov, the black hole is 6.5 billion times more massive than our Sun, and is located in the center of a galaxy 55 million light years away from earth.

  

• April 10: New Zealand passes one of the strictest assault weapons bans seen in the western world. This comes just weeks after the deady Christchurch Mosque Shooting that left 51 people dead.

May

• May 15: Alabama passes the most stringent anti-abortion bill in the nation. The bill, which completely outlaws abortion with no provisions for rape or incest, was heavily criticized. According to the Washington Post, doctors performing abortions would be charged with a class A felony, akin to murder or rape. Later on, a judge temporarily blocked the bill from taking effect. It is unknown whether the Supreme Court will make a statement. 

June

• June 10: The first protests take place in Hong Kong. These protests target a controversial act that would allow any Hong Kong citizen to be extradited to Mainland China for any reason. Currently, Hong Kong is governed under the “One Country, Two Systems” Policy, which means that while Hong Kong is a part of mainland China, it also has its own domestic government, separate from the mainland. Protestors claim that this bill would violate that right and further erode their freedoms

July

• July 10: the first democratic debates are held, with 12 candidates taking the stage. Much attention is given to Biden, the frontrunner, Warren, who performed very well throughout all the debates, and Marianne Williamson, who was known for her zany antics and perplexing statements throughout the debate.

  

August

• August 10: Jeffrey Epstein is found dead in his prison cell. Though officially ruled as a suicide, many speculate that foul play was involved. Conspiracies begin to spread that he was assassinated by someone wishing to prevent him from testifying in court.

• August 24: The first death E-Cigarette related death is confirmed in the United States. Several more follow in the months following this incident. The CDC later points to Vitamin E Acetate, a substance found in some counterfeit carts containing THC as a cause.

September

• September 1: Hurricane Dorian touches down on the East Coast. This Category 5 hurricane is estimated to have cost 3.5 billion dollars worth of damages, according to CNN. Most of this damage is concentrated not in the United States, but in developing nations in the Caribbean, who were hit the hardest by the storm.

October

• October 16: Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party wins a narrow victory in the Canadian general election, losing the majority, but hanging onto power. This comes after news of his major blackface scandal, which severely hurt his campaign. The leader of the opposition, Andrew Scheer, would go on to resign from leadership of the Conservative Party at the end of the year.

November

• November 3: Officials in the German city of Dresden declare a “Nazi Emergency”. Officials claim that the rise of the alt-right and other hate groups, such as the German white nationalist party Alternative for Deutschland, has caused a rise in hate crimes and other events which decrease public safety. This reflects a rise in nationalism seen going on throughout the western world, seen most prominently in the U.S, U.K, France, Poland, and Germany.

December

• December 10: In a landslide election, the United Kingdom’s conservative party retains power over the country. Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, swears that Brexit, the issue that has been gripping the U.K. for the past 4 years, will be completed once and for all. Johnson (often described as a “British Trump”) has been rocked by scandal throughout his Premiership. This election is a big win for him and could mark a major change in British policy.

  

• December 11: Greta Thuneberg is named TIME person of the year, for her efforts in saving the environment and working to prevent climate change. Climate Change Deniers, including President Trump, have launched attacks on her character and her work over the year, and she is often seen as a polarizing figure among older generations.

Overall. 2019 has been a year filled with a range of emotions, from joy to sadness, heartbreak to hope. But with the new year, we all get a new start to our lives. A chance to put the past in the past and look to the future. It is our choice, and hopefully, by this time next year, we can look back at 2020 and be glad at where we came from.