2022 was an incredibly eventful year, filled with noteworthy events that altered the world in several ways. Here is a list of some of the major political, economic, and musical events from each month of the year!

January: 

After tripling in price in less than four years, Apple becomes the first US business to be valued at $3 trillion. The U.S. reports 1.34 million new COVID-19 infections, a record globally, with the Omicron form thought to be responsible for 95% of cases. The largest-ever gaming and technology takeover involves Microsoft’s announcement that it will pay $70 billion to acquire Activision Blizzard, the company behind the popular online games “Call of Duty,” “World of Warcraft,” and “Candy Crush.”

February:

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, declares a “special military operation” in Ukraine and dispatches troops there. The United States and other nations start imposing sanctions on Russia, and confiscate the foreign assets of Russian businessmen. One of the major events of 2022 was the ongoing war, which had a lasting effect on the international system, European foreign policy, and the global economy as well as causing a large-scale migration of Ukrainians from the war.

March:

The COVID-19 death toll worldwide exceeds 6 million. On March 27, during the Oscars, comedian Chris Rock poked fun of Will Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith as he prepared to give an award. In an unexpected turn of events, Smith entered the stage and smacked Rock before yelling at him from the audience to “keep the name of my wife out of your f***ing mouth.” Smith issued a public apology for the event and has been barred from participating in any future Academy Award ceremonies for ten years. Furthermore, scientists also revealed on March 28 that a majority of the population may have microplastics swimming around in their blood. According to the study, 77% of those examined had the small particles. Over time, plastic breaks down into small fragments, and scientists have long cautioned about the potential harm these microplastics could do to the ecosystem. In the music industry, The Weeknd’s album “After Hours” was released and it was a commercial success and won several awards.

April:

Days after Elon Musk turned down a position on the board of the maker of the microblogging site, it was first reported that he was buying Twitter for $44 billion in April. It wasn’t until late October that Musk sealed the deal. Musk made significant changes to the platform’s policies and the company’s leadership as soon as he assumed control. He also let go of many staff and introduced premium products without much testing. After losing defamation lawsuits brought by the families of the Sandy Hook Massacre, Alex Jones’ businesses, including the website Infowars, declare for bankruptcy in the US.

May:

On May 14, in an apparent act of hatred, a white shooter opened fire at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing ten individuals, all of whom were Black. It was discovered that the shooter was a white supremacist who had penned a manifesto before to hitting the store, which catered primarily to Black consumers. After being apprehended, the shooter entered a guilty plea to all shooting-related offenses. Additionally, in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, a shooter entered and killed 19 children and two teachers while injuring another 17 people. After the shooting, law enforcement came under fire for the length of time it took for cops to enter the classroom, despite pleas from victims inside the building screaming for assistance.

June: 

The highly anticipated video game “The Last of Us Part II” by Naughty Dog was released and it quickly became one of the most successful video games of the year. Currently, Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann are the creators of the drama television series The Last of Us, a show streaming on HBO which is based on the game by Naughty Dog. The show takes place 20 years after a widespread fungal infection brought on by a mutation in the species Cordyceps that began a pandemic worldwide. The disease transforms its victims into aggressive, cannibalistic creatures that resemble zombies.

July: 

Shinzo Abe, a former Japanese prime minister, was killed in Nara, western Japan, while running for office. The suspect used a handmade gun to shoot Abe twice, and was caught on the scene. He was thought to have committed the crime alone after being angry over Abe’s affiliation with the Unification Church. World leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attended Abe’s burial on September 27 in Tokyo.

August:

One of the key catalysts for the massive protests that broke in 2022 about policing and racial inequality in the United States was the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, a Black medical worker, by police in Louisville, Kentucky, during an incompetent raid on her apartment. Despite the fact that no officer has ever been charged with shooting Ms. Taylor, the Justice Department on August 4 charged four active and retired police officers with federal civil rights crimes, including lying to get a search warrant for her apartment. At a hearing on August 23, Kelly Goodlett, one of the four, admitted guilt. Goodlett was a detective who had retired after being charged. Kyle Meany, one of the four officers, was let go by the Louisville Police Department. Additionally, after 20 years of war, the US formally withdrew from Afghanistan. President Joe Biden made the pullout a campaign promise, and it brought an end to the nation’s longest conflict and opened a new chapter in its history.

September:

Queen Elizabeth II, who ruled the United Kingdom for 70 years, passed away at the age of 96. She has been the monarch of Britain since 1952, when she succeeded to the throne at the age of 25 following the demise of her father. The Queen had been ill for days, but she continued to make irregular public appearances right up until the end of her reign. The Royal Family and world leaders, including President Draupadi Murmu, attended her state burial before she was laid to rest at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. King Charles III, her son, takes the throne in her place. Moreover, SpaceX launched its first private crewed space mission safely in September 2022. Entrepreneur and philanthropist Jared Isaacman led the Inspiration4 mission, which also had three other crew members, including a doctor, a teacher, and a businesswoman. The mission, which took out from Florida’s NASA Kennedy Space Center, represented a significant turning point for the commercial space industry and unlocked fresh opportunities for private space exploration.

October:

Nikolas Cruz, a teenage offender found guilty of killing 17 people in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018, received a non-unanimous life sentence without the possibility of parole from a Florida jury. A six-month sentence trial came to an end on October 13, 2022, with a result in which three jurors chose to spare Cruz’s life. Cruz’s 2019 defense proposal that he enter a guilty plea and get 34 consecutive life terms was rejected by the prosecution. After Cruz admitted guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in 2021, they steadfastly pursued the death penalty. Cruz’s defense team provided proof that he was born with a neurodevelopmental abnormality brought on by fetal alcohol syndrome during the sentencing trial. Witnesses said that his adoptive family disregarded warning signals of behavioral and developmental issues, preventing him from receiving necessary therapy, and that his birth mother used drugs and alcohol excessively throughout her pregnancy.

November:

11 years after reaching 7 billion, the United Nations predicted that the world’s population would reach 8 billion. The report shows progress in areas like global health and the fight against poverty, but experts caution that adding more people could put additional strain on the planet’s resources. With 1.4 billion citizens, India is anticipated to overtake China as the nation with the largest population by 2023. Kendrick Lamar’s album “Black Panther 2” was released in the music industry as the soundtrack for the follow-up Marvel film, and it was a commercial success.

December:

The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd iteration of the event, which featured competition between the men’s national teams of FIFA’s member countries. It was the second World World Cup staged fully in Asia after the 2002 competition in South Korea and Japan, and it was held in Qatar from November 20, 2022, to December 18, 2022. It was the first World Cup to be held in Arab and Muslim nations. The number of teams competing grew to 48 for the 2026 edition, making this event the last with 32 teams. The event was conducted in November and December to avoid the climatic extremes of Qatar. After a 3-3 stalemate following extra time, Argentina defeated France in the championship match, winning 4-2 on penalties to claim the championship. Argentina won its third championship, their first since 1986, and became the first country outside of Europe to do so since 2002.