Goodbye 2016

Hello & welcome to this fortnight’s GK nugget. 

December has seen the birthdays of some iconic figures-  the original showman of Hindi cinema – Raj Kapoor – was born on 14th December 1924.  The Lord of tamil cinema – Rajnikanth – was born on 12th December 1950.  Dilip Kumar was born on 11th December 1922 while 11th December 1969 was when India’s first chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand made his first appearance on planet earth. Of course there are many more names to add to that list, but while going through all these dates I realized that this will be the last GK nugget of 2016. 

So instead of sharing trivia on a single topic, this weekend’s GK Nugget will do a quick recap of the momentous events that unfolded across the globe on its this year’s journey around the Sun.

January 2016:

Jan 16 – Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman and nominee Tsai Ing-wen garnered 56.1% of the presidential vote thus becoming the First Female President of Taiwan. She took office on May 20^th.

Jan 28 – The World Health Organization announces an outbreak of the Zika virus

Jan 30 - German Angelique Kerber upset defending champion Serena Williams, to win her first Australian Open Women's Singles Championship. Importantly, Kerber becomes the first German of any gender to win a Grand Slam since Steffi Graf's last championship at the French Open in 1999.  

February 2016:

Feb 7 – North Korea launches a long-range rocket into space, violating multiple UN treaties and prompting condemnation from around the world

March 2016:

Mar 15 – In a major step forward for Artificial Intelligence, Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo computer program beat the leading GO player Lee Sedol of South Korea 4-1.

Mar 22 – Three coordinated bombings in Brussels, Belgium kill at least 32 and injure at least 250. The Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS) and the Levant claims responsibility for the attacks.

April 2016:

Apr 3 - "Panama Papers," referring to millions of confidential documents, were leaked from a Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The Panama Papers reveal details of how some of the globe's richest people funnel their assets into secretive shell companies set up in lightly regulated jurisdictions.

May 2016:

May 19 – Egypt Air Flight 804 crashes with 66 people on board over the Mediterranean Sea en route from Paris to Cairo.

June 2016:

Jun 1 – The Gotthard Base Tunnel (in Switzerland), the world's longest and deepest railway tunnel (57.09 kms), is opened following two decades of construction work. Full service began on 11^th December 2016.

Jun 5 - Serbian Novak Djokovic wins the French Open tennis tournament and becomes the first man to hold all four major grand slam tennis titles at the same time since 1969.

Jun 23 – The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union - BrExit

Jun 28 – ISIL claims responsibility for attacking Atatürk Airport in Istanbul, killing 45 and injuring around 230.

July 2016:

Jul 6 – Augmented Reality game Pokémon GO released by Nintendo which goes on to take the world’s

fancy. (My post about it - http://bit.ly/2a4kRLN)

Jul 10 – Portugal win the Euro 2016 football championship.

Jul 15 - Turkey experiences an attempted coup by a group of soldiers within the country's military which was not successful.

August 2016:

Aug 5 – The 31^st Olympic games begin in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. (My post on some Olympic trivia - http://bit.ly/2b5A0PD)

Aug 31 – The Brazilian Senate voted to impeach the President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff.

September 2016:

Sep 4 - Pope Francis canonizes Mother Teresa in Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City, officially making her Saint Teresa.

Sep 9 –North Korea conducts its fifth and reportedly biggest nuclear test. World leaders condemn the act.

October 2016:

Oct 1 – 15 - The 2016 winners of the Nobel Prize are announced in Oslo, Norway and in Stockholm, Sweden. (My post on trivia about the Nobel Prizes - http://bit.ly/2dC9rGL)

Oct 13 - Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej dies at the age of 88 in Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital. He was the modern world's longest-reigning living monarch.

Oct 24 - Tata Group fires its Chairman, Cyrus Mistry.

November 2016:

Nov 8 – USA votes in their 58^th presidential election with Republican Donald Trump emerging as President elect.

Nov 9 – Indian government bans ₨ 500 & ₨ 1,000 currency notes with immediate effect.

December 2016:

Dec 2 – Formula 1 race driver Nico Rosberg announces his retirement from the sport, 5 days after winning his maiden Formula 1 World championship.

Dec 4 – Italian PM Matteo Renzi resigns after Italian voters reject his proposal to reform the Italian constitution.

Dec 4 – New Zealand PM John Keys resigns citing personal reasons

Dec 9 - South Korean lawmakers to impeach President Park Geun-hye​, the country’s first female leader.

Any particular events that you thought were impactful and which aren’t in my list?

While it’s been a very eventful 2016, here’s hoping that 2017 is a positive and lovely year for all.

Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas & a Happy & Prosperous New Year.