2024: Looking Back
A collage of major events in 2024 (Ryan Win-Ruan/The Puma Prensa)
Written By: Liam Winkelman, Wyett Pinney, Ryan Win-Ruan
As we enter the new year, we look ahead to the possibilities that the future holds, but it is essential to remember the blur of events that the last year has brought. Here’s a summarized list of some of the most impactful events from the previous year:
January
The year started eventfully with the copyright for Steamboat Willie ending on January 1, ending the nearly 100 years of Disney postponing their first creation of 1928 from entering the public domain. Shaking the media again was when the Epstein Island list was revealed on January 3, which came with some surprising discoveries about the attendance of Bill Clinton, Stephen Hawking, and various other famous figures. On a more scientific note, January 29 marked the first Neuralink brain chip implanted into a person, opening a wide variety of options for people with disabilities that previously prevented them from having complete control over their bodies. 2023 was an excellent year for movies, with films like The Barbie Movie and Oppenheimer culminating in the Golden Globe Awards hosted on January 7, 2024, with Oppenheimer winning the Best Motion Picture award.
February
February began with the 66th Grammy Awards ceremony, in which Flowers by Miley Cyrus won Record of the Year, and Midnights by Taylor Swift won Album of the Year. February also marked Super Bowl XLVIII– the hard-fought battle between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, eventually ending in a victory for the Chiefs. This marks the second Super Bowl win in a row for the Chiefs, and ties them for third-most Super Bowl wins, next to the Greenbay Packers and the New York Giants. It was also a monumental month for science, especially space; N.A.S.A landed the space rover Odysseus on the moon, with its namesake coming from the Greek hero from Homer's Odyssey. Secondly, three new moons were discovered throughout February, two orbiting Neptune and one orbiting Uranus.
March
March came in on a high note, with Slovakia closing its last coal-fired plant in favor of a more environmentally friendly power production operation, which will hopefully set a trend that will continue over the next few years around the world. March also saw the creation of the Artificial Intelligence Act, the world's first comprehensive regulatory measure for AI made by the European Union on March 14. Continuing on a positive note, the Neuralink brain chip was successfully used to play a game of chess, demonstrating the variety of uses of this new technology. The positivity ends there with the raiding of Sean “Diddy” Combs’s LA mansion on March 25, which led to numerous online jokes about his actions and the vast collection of baby oil in his home.
April
In early April, O.J. Simpson died, ending his controversial life, after the murder of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman in which he was the only suspect. April also saw the start of Trump's criminal trial, with the jury deciding in May that he was guilty of 34 counts. In better news, Voyager 1's data transmission was repaired, or at least decrypted, marking its 48th year roaming while supplying us with discoveries about the universe. This repair is also a step in the right direction for fixing future interstellar missions remotely. April was by no measure a dull month, though it appeared to be substantially less eventful than its counterparts.
May
May is often forgotten in the tumult of significant local events, but it was a busy month worldwide. Across the Pacific, China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft launched on May 3, collecting the first-ever samples from the far side of the moon. The famous conflict between rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake peaked in the US as the hit song “Not Like Us” was released on May 4, while Billie Eilish’s album “Hit Me Hard and Soft” was released on May 17. On May 30, US and UK armed forces attacked the separatist group known as the Houthis off of the coast of Yemen, a nation on the Arabian Peninsula, signaling a restart to conflicts in the region.
June
In the last days of the 2023-2024 school year and the first days of summer break, political movements picked up pace: Trump and Biden continued their campaigning in the race for the presidency, while to the US’s southern border, Claudia Sheinbaum became the president of Mexico on the 2nd. In the music world, singer Charlie XCX’s album Brat was released on the 7th and was an immediate hit across the US. From the 13th to 15th, the 50th G7 Summit, a political and economically-oriented conference in which many of the world’s most heavily industrialized nations discussed several major world events, some of which are still ongoing (the Russo-Ukrainian War, climate change, pollution, etc.), was held in Apulia, Italy.
July
This summer was the hottest one on record, and there were also many metaphorically heated events. On July 13, newspapers lept into action when Trump faced his first assassination attempt at one of his rallies in Butler, Pennsylvania, where would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks fired a shot that whizzed by Trump’s ear. Crooks was quickly found and killed, but the story raised controversy about the FBI’s ability to monitor critical events and keep politicians safe. Later, on May 24, another news story rocked the world of US politics when President Biden stepped down from his candidacy and was replaced by his vice president, Kamala Harris, as the Democratic candidate running for president in the upcoming 2024 election. And, of course, who could forget the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France? It was an event filled with emotions, controversies, and the occasional pollution warning/health hazard on the river Seine.
August
As Maria Carillo High School began a new school year, a few notable events were there to kick off the 2024-2025 year. While the Olympics were still in full swing, Hurricane Debby landed on August 5, wreaking havoc across the US’s Southeastern Seaboard and causing millions in infrastructural damages before moving north and dissipating on May 9. In science, an ocean’s worth of water was discovered deep in Mars’ crust, a promising aspect for the future of space travel. A spike in medical cases rattled scientists/doctors as pox, also known as monkeypox, was designated an international public health concern on August 1. It briefly caused global concern, though it eventually died down over time as the situation was contained.
September
September’s main events started in the second half, starting with on September 15. Trump, a presidential candidate at the time, was playing golf at the International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida when an assassination attempt was made on him for the second time that year. The would-be assassin, identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, hid in a bush with an AK-47-style weapon, planning on ending Trump’s run in the presidential race, saving an upcoming president's life from possible death. Just a day later, Sean "Diddy" Combs, an American Rapper, was finally put in jail for his crimes of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transportation to engage in prostitution, bringing back a wave of memes about him and cementing his name as part of the messy legacy of 2024. Also, on September 16, the new food “Lunchly” was promoted by the popular YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI throughout the internet, gaining much controversy. “Lunchly” was seen as a cash grab by its famous creators, and it was not the healthy alternative to “Lunchables” as they promised to kids worldwide. Finally, on September 26, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida, going on to cause ~150 billion dollars in damages to the state.
October
Kicking off the month with another hurricane named Hurricane Milton — it was a category five rather than the category four that Helene was, category five being known for being extremely dangerous, despite this causing less damage overall. Skipping forward in the month, on October 23, Trump “put the fries in the bag” while working at a McDonald's. This quickly became an internet sensation, allowing the public to see a former president do such an entry-level job. This was also seen as insensitive as a billionaire who worked at a fast food chain pretending to show himself as “one of the people” while only serving prescreened consumers. On October 28, the hit album Chromakopia by Tyler, the Creator was released, shaking up the music scene with its creative tunes and ways of portraying music. The same week, an internet scandal happened over Chase Bank ATMs. People found checks would clear no matter what balance you had, so committing check fraud became a newfound (and very illegal) trend on the internet, causing backlash as it was illegal (no, duh). Finally, to cap off the month, the Dodgers won the World Series, their first win since 1988.
November
A huge deciding factor for our coming years happened this month; on November 4, the election was held to determine the future President of the United States. Trump won 312 electoral college votes to Harris’s 226 out of the 270 votes needed to win. This may cause much change in the coming year as many “day one” claims and political polarization may cause more major controversy between political parties over policies like immigrants and tariffs in the coming months. On November 15, Mike Tyson, a famous boxer far out of his prime, fought Jake Paul, a new and upcoming hothead boxer, in a boxing match, with Jake Paul being the young challenger at 27 and Mike Tyson at 58, more than double his age. This fight left a bad taste in many people's mouths regarding their age difference, scripts posted online, and the battle's outcome, with Jake Paul emerging victorious. On = November 22, the movie Wicked was released, taking the internet by storm due to its phenomenal marketing and being from a famous IP as an adaptation of a Broadway musical of the same name, following the Wizard of Oz cinematic universe.
December
Ignoring the yearly festivities that come with December, here are some events exclusive to this year. On December 3, Korea was placed under martial law, but this order was quickly repealed due to their president being shut down by the people and lawmakers, the vote being 190-0 despite his political following. The very next day, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, was allegedly assassinated by Luigi Mangione. This murder was very well thought out and was a clear public statement on how the rich are still as vulnerable as the people despite their lavish lives and how they should be held accountable for their actions. Later, on December 12, the Game of the Year Awards was announced after much anticipation. Controversy followed surrounding a poker remix called Balatro (I recommend trying), a remake of Final Fantasy VII, and an expansion on Elden RIng, all on the list of potential winners, as well as a kid's game, Astro Bot, winning over the other massive games that were also contenders, surprising many. Near the end of the month, rumors about a TikTok ban started, causing people to mostly say, “It won't happen.” little did they know it would be a lot more serious this time.
Overall, 2024 was an eventful, albeit rushed, year packed with emotion. Everything from new moons to assassinations to elections filled the year, creating a constant stream of the latest news. Now, all that's left is to see what 2025 has in store!