Top 20 Moments That Made the World STAND STILL This Century (So Far)
#20: The Death of Queen Elizabeth
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For many years, we watched history unfold before our very eyes. Elizabeth II, who ascended to the throne in 1952, held the title of longest-reigning British monarch until her passing on September 8, 2022. Having ruled for 70 years and 214 days, Elizabeth surpassed Queen Victoria, who reigned for 63 years and 216 days. Elizabeth’s passing in 2022 became one of the most significant events of the modern era. The news of her death was understandably huge, given her historic pedigree. As such, an estimated 26.5 million people tuned in to watch her state funeral in the UK, making it the country’s second most-watched broadcast of the 21st century.
#19: The Titan Submersible
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For a couple of days in June 2023, the world could think of nothing else but the Titan submersible. Having launched on June 18, the tiny boat was descending to the wreck of the Titanic when it lost contact with its mother ship. Over the next four days, the world watched with increasing curiosity, wondering what had happened to the vehicle. The event was widely discussed on social media, as millions were fascinated by the various elements of the wild story. Some expressed concern, while others joked about the shoddy construction of the submarine. Whatever the case, interest was widespread and enormous, until we finally learned that the craft had suffered a catastrophic hull breach and imploded.
#18: The Black Saturday Bushfires
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The former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, called Black Saturday “one of the darkest days in [the country’s] peacetime history.” And she’s not exaggerating. While these fires are named after one particular day, they actually spanned several weeks between February and March of 2009. Stemming from a variety of factors, including lightning and arson, the fires ravaged the state of Victoria, destroying over 3,000 buildings and claiming 173 lives. Black Saturday itself refers to February 7, when over 400 individual fires were observed throughout the state. The international reaction was swift, with many countries providing both physical and financial assistance.
#17: The Manchester Arena Attack
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On May 22, 2017, pop star Ariana Grande held a concert at Manchester Arena, drawing thousands to the building. Shortly after the concert ended, at 10:31 pm, a terrorist attack occurred in the arena’s foyer, killing 22 innocent people and injuring over a thousand others. The bombing attracted widespread attention, with then Prime Minister Theresa May immediately forming the Commission for Countering Extremism. A good chunk of the international reaction came via Grande’s involvement. Her sympathy response briefly became the most-liked tweet in the site’s history. Just two weeks after the tragedy, Grande organized the benefit concert One Love Manchester, which was attended by over 50,000 people and raised more than £17 million for the victims and their families.
#16: The Death of Michael Jackson
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The death of Michael Jackson was not just like any other celebrity passing; it was truly a momentous event. Despite the controversy that followed him late in life, The King of Pop was widely mourned when he died of a drug overdose on June 25, 2009. Various factors went into the widespread grief, including Jackson’s enormous popularity, the sudden nature of his death, and his relatively young age of 50. His passing caused a huge upswing in album sales, making him the highest-selling artist of 2009, with over 35 million copies sold. Jackson was so popular that his memorial service, which was held at L.A.’s Staples Center, was streamed by an estimated three billion people - just under half the entire world.
#15: The Beirut Explosion
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2020 was a big news year. On August 4, the world briefly set aside the COVID pandemic to focus on Lebanon, which suffered a catastrophic explosion when stores of ammonium nitrate blew in the Port of Beirut. The blast was enormous, physically shaking the entire country and even being heard as far away as Cyprus. In fact, it was one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in world history, and it caused Prime Minister Hassan Diab to resign his position. Landmarks across the world were lit in support of Lebanon, and some countries removed their own stores of ammonium nitrate to prevent a similar disaster. It was also a huge deal on social media, with many people spreading shocking footage of the explosion.
#14: The Las Vegas Shooting
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On October 1, 2017, America suffered its deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman, exacerbating an already bad weapons crisis in the country. A shooter took aim at those attending the Route 91 Harvest festival on the Las Vegas Strip, attacking from the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel. His shots killed 60 and injured over 400, with additional casualties incurred amid the ensuing chaos. In response, U.S. lawmakers banned the sale of bump stocks, which allowed the shooter’s weapons to fire at a faster rate. Misinformation and conspiracy theories spread widely on social media, and the Mandalay Bay closed access to the shooter’s area. Additionally, the Vegas Golden Knights retired the number 58 to honor the immediate victims of the attack.
#13: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
Just like the Titan submersible, the world was left in the throes of speculation when Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared on March 8, 2014. The plane, flying from Malaysia to China, was carrying 239 people when it veered off course and vanished from radar screens. The nature of the story - a gigantic airplane vanishing without a trace - caused a huge international reaction, with reported sightings, wild conspiracy theories, and expert analysis coming in at equal measures. Adding to the mystery was the Malaysian government, whose reaction was weirdly befuddling and inaccurate. The disappearance led to the most expensive search in aviation history, which sadly has been unable to locate the aircraft.
#12: The Death of Nelson Mandela
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Heralded as an icon of civil rights, social justice, and democracy, Nelson Mandela actively fought against apartheid, the system of racial segregation that plagued South Africa from the late ‘40s to the early ‘90s. Mandela helped end the controversial system, fostered and encouraged racial equality, and became the first President of South Africa in 1994. His initial hospitalization in 2011 attracted widespread media attention, and he died at the age of 95 on December 5, 2013. Most news outlets were devoted to covering his death and legacy, and many foreign representatives traveled to South Africa to attend his memorial service at Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium.
#11: The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
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Also known as the BP oil spill, this unfortunately wasn’t the first industrial disaster to devastate our marine habitats, but it remains the largest on record. It began on April 20th, due to an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. The fallout from this disaster resulted in 205 million gallons of oil discharged into the Gulf of Mexico, and effects were still being felt years after the initial disaster. In fact, reports from 2012 stated that the oil refineries from Deepwater Horizon were still leaking, despite an official statement from 2010 that claimed the well was sealed.
#10: The Israel-Hamas War
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The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict has been ongoing for three-quarters of a century, with the 2023 Israel-Hamas War adding another tragic and bloody chapter. This latest conflict began when the Palestinian political and militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on the 7th of October 2023, killing around 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians. They also took 250 Israelis hostage, demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners. In retaliation, Israel dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza over six days and launched a ground invasion. So far, over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed. There have been widespread global protests, and Gaza has collapsed into a humanitarian crisis.
#9: 7/7
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On July 7, 2005, the UK experienced its worst terrorist attack in 17 years when four extremists carried out a horrible mission in downtown London. Three of the attackers detonated bombs in the city’s Underground, and a fourth attacked a double-decker bus in Bloomsbury’s Tavistock Square. The attacks killed 52 residents and injured over 700. The media response was swift and lengthy, with many broadcasters devoting uninterrupted coverage of the attack. The BBC website was also inundated with traffic, and it recorded its highest bandwidth ever that afternoon. The bombing was later recognized at the 2012 London Olympics, when a minute of silence was respectfully observed by international delegates during the opening ceremony.
#8: The Indian Ocean Earthquake & Tsunami
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On December 26, 2004, the most powerful earthquake of the 21st century to date struck off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake and resulting tsunami left over 227,000 people dead. Particularly hard hit were Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. The disaster prompted an international humanitarian response, with the World Food Programme donating provisions and various countries providing $14 billion in aid. Various fundraising events were also held across the globe, including the World Cricket Tsunami Appeal, the charity concert Tsunami Relief Cardiff, and FIFA’s Football for Hope.
#7: 2021 United States Capitol Attack
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On January 6th 2021, scenes of carnage in the US capital, Washington DC, shocked Americans watching the riot unfold on TV. At a rally before the attack, outgoing President Donald Trump told supporters the election had been stolen and urged them to march to the Capitol Building. Debunked by courts, state audits, and federal agencies, this claim was part of a campaign to overturn the election results and reinstall Trump as President. Within hours, 2,000 angry Trump supporters broke into the Capitol Building, assaulting police and searching for lawmakers gathered to formalize Joe Biden’s victory. Among them were members of far-right militias and neo-fascist groups, some of them armed. The insurrection failed, with lawmakers racing to safety before the mob reached them.
#6: Death of Osama Bin Laden
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In the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush announced the beginning of a “War on Terror”. The first stage of this war was the US invasion of Afghanistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden and his terrorist group al-Qaeda. This manhunt continued for almost a decade as bin Laden evaded capture. However, in 2011, the CIA tracked him down to a compound in Pakistan. In a helicopter raid codenamed Operation Neptune Spear on May 2nd, bin Laden was killed. For those who vividly recalled the events of 9/11, President Obama’s announcement that the al-Qaeda leader was dead was a landmark event.
#5: The November 2015 Paris Attacks
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In January 2015, France was left reeling from an Islamic terrorist attack on satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo”, in which 12 staff were killed. Several other smaller attacks occurred throughout the year. On November 13, these culminated in by far the deadliest. That night, in a series of coordinated attacks, terrorists detonated explosive vests and opened fire in streets and public venues in Paris. Three gunmen stormed a concert at the Bataclan theater, killing 90 people. In all, 130 lives were taken. The attacks sent shockwaves not only through France but also reverberated around the world.
#4: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
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For months, the buildup of Russian forces along Ukraine’s border had the world on edge. Would Russian President Vladimir Putin really give the order to invade? In 2014, Ukrainians had revolted against a pro-Moscow government, sick of corruption and abuse of power. Their success led Russia to annex Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. In February 2022, Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, furious at the country’s aspiration to join NATO. In response, the international community hit Russia with severe economic sanctions. Around the world, everyone’s eyes have been glued to their screens, watching the outgunned Ukrainians hold off the invading forces.
#3: Hurricane Katrina
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This Category 5 Hurricane was devastating not only due to its intensity, but a failure of flood-control systems and slow government response. On August 29, 2005, the hurricane made landfall in Louisiana. The storm surge breached New Orleans’ levees and flooded the city. Tens of thousands of residents had not evacuated. It didn’t matter if you were from there: TV and radio audiences could feel the distress and panic in the air. Critics argued that race and class were factors in the slow local and federal response. The hurricane left an estimated 1,392 dead in its wake, making it one of the deadliest in US history.
#2: 9/11
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Just about everyone who’s old enough to remember it can tell you where they were when they heard about the September 11 attacks in 2001. For New York, it was mid-morning when two hijacked passenger jets crashed into – and ultimately demolished – the Twin Towers as part of a coordinated attack. Another plane hit the Pentagon. After news of a fourth crash came to light that day, it became apparent that the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 took back their flight and downed the weaponized aircraft before it reached Washington D.C.. The event claimed close to 3,000 lives, and the world was forever changed.
#1: The COVID-19 Pandemic
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On March 12, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that the Covid-19 outbreak had become a pandemic. At the time, few of us fully understood what it would mean for our lives in the years to come. Nonetheless, the news had people worldwide glued to their screens - or running to stock up on groceries, especially toilet paper. Through lockdowns, the world watched as the virus continued to dominate headlines and the death toll skyrocketed from the hundreds into the thousands and then millions. The WHO’s announcement was the beginning of a long, rocky road for all of us. What did you think when you heard of these events? Let us know in the comments below!