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Defining Moments of the Decade: WTF, 2010s

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By: burgundy bug

Defining moments of the decade: WTF, 2010S!?

Source: The Burgundy Zine

Defined by cultural shifts, technological advancements, the climate crisis, the expansion of e-commerce, the rise of social media, and the continuation of memes, the 2010s brought major sociological changes that will continue to shape 2020.

Table of Contents

2010: Social Media and Smart Phones

The percentage of the US population with a social media profile skyrocketed from 21 percent in 2009 to 44 percent in 2010, Statista reports.

Now, 79 percent of the US population has a social media profile.

Apple presented the world with the “thinnest smartphone ever” in June, and Instagram launched in October with 25,000 people signing up on the first day. Instagram now has over one billion users, according to Statista.

The Oil Spill

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April 2010 marked the largest oil spill in history, says Encyclopedia Britannica.

The explosion occurred when a surge of natural gases blew up a concrete core. 11 workers lost their lives and 17 were injured when natural gases traveled up through the rig’s riser to the platform and ignited.

BP, the oil company that owned Deepwater Horizon, originally estimated that 1,000 barrels were spilling into the gulf each day. The US government later estimated that over 60,000 barrels were spilling out during the peak of the disaster.

Rage Comics Are All the Rage

Originating from a 4chan forum board in 2008, crudely drawn expressions in simple two to eight panel comics created in MSPaint known as “Rage Comics” dominated Facebook feeds.

Rage Comics left us with iconic characters such as “Rage Guy,” “Cereal Guy,” “Okay Guy,” “Fuck Yea Guy,” “Forever Alone Guy,” “Y U NO Guy,” “Me Gusta Guy,” and the most recognizable, the “Troll Face.”

Carlos Ramirez copyrighted the Troll Face in 2010 under the title, “A comic about the nature of internet trolling,” as seen in the United States Copyright Office’s database.

Lady Gaga’s Meat Dress

Lady Gaga’s 2010 Video of the Year Award acceptance speach at the VMAs in Sept. 2010

Source: Lady Gaga Teases ‘Born This Away’ in Acceptance Speech at the 2010 Video Music Awards | MTV

Lady Gaga sported a meat dress on stage as she accepted the 2010 Video of the Year award for her single “Bad Romance” at the Video Music Awards in Sept. 2010.

Although Lady Gaga’s no stranger to making fashion statements, Vogue reported her juicy apparel was more of a political statement against the US military preventing those who identify as LGBTQ from serving.

Republicans Take the House

After the 2010 Midterm Elections, Democrats lost 63 seats in the United States House of Representatives, giving Republicans the majority, The New York Times reported. Republicans also gained six governors.

Democrats lost six seats in the United States Senate but still retained a majority.

Continue to 2011 –>

2011: Natural Disasters

Video footage of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

Source: Rare Video: Japan Tsunami | National Geographic

The fourth-largest earthquake in the world struck Japan on March 11, 2011, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a tsunami with waves over 124 and a half feet in height and resulted in a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, says an NOAA summary report.

The event took 15,890 lives, injured 6,152, and 2,590 were still missing as of Feb. 2015.

Together, the earthquake and tsunami caused $220 billion worth of damage in Japan.

East Africa experienced severe, record-breaking droughts, causing a famine that left over 11.5 million people food insecure, NASA reported.

Meanwhile, the widespread rainfall over the Mindanao, Philipines caused floods that affected 120,038 families, according to Relief Web.

Thailand also experienced devasting floods that took over 884 lives and left millions homeless or displaced, says a report from Aon Benfield. 65 provinces in Thailand were affected, accounting for $45.7 billion (USD) in damages.

“The [Thailand] floods are one of the top five costliest natural disaster events in modern history.”

2011 Thailand Floods Event Recap Report | Aon Benfield

19 named storms and seven hurricanes hit the North Atlantic Basin, the NOAA reported. Three of the hurricanes were Category 3 (major hurricanes).

“Hurricane Irene was the first Hurricane since Ike in 2008 that made landfall in the [United States],” the NOAA said.

The 2011 Hurriance season in a four and a half minute timelapse

Source: The 2011 Hurricane Season in 4.5 minutes | NOAAVisualizations

The Mississippi River experienced historic flooding at levels that hadn’t been seen since the early 20th century, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

“The late winter and early spring of 2011 were filled with snowmelt and heavy rain events—including the Tornado Super Outbreak of 2011,” Encyclopedia Britannica says. “As a result, the tributaries of the Mississippi and, consequently, the river itself began to swell in April.”

Thousands of square miles of agricultural land and residential areas had been submerged, resulting in an economic loss of $800 million for Mississippi, the NOAA reported.

Continue to 2012 –>

2012: It’s the End of the World as We Know It

Some had predicted the world would end on Dec. 12, 2012, the date the Mayan calendar allegedly ended – except, the world didn’t end and the Mayan calendar didn’t end on Dec. 21, 2012, NASA said.

“The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth,” NASA explained. “This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012 and linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012 – hence the predicted doomsday date of December 21, 2012.”

Dec. 21 was not the end of the Mayan calendar, rather the end of the Mayan long-count period.

“Just as your calendar begins again on January 1 – another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar,” NASA added.

Gangnam Style

Gangnam Style by PSY music video

Source: PSY – GANGNAM STYLE(강남스타일) M/V | officialpsy

Coinciding with the date the world was “supposed to end,” Korean rap artist PSY’s music video for his global hit “Gangnam Style” was the first YouTube video to reach one billion views, HISTORY reported.

“Though no longer the most-watched video on YouTube, ‘Gangnam Style’ was an inescapable cultural phenomenon, serving as an introduction to K-pop for millions around the world and as a lasting example of internet virality.”

“Gangnam Style” becomes the first YouTube video to reach one billion views | HISTORY

2012 United States Presidential Election

With 332 electoral votes and 65,446,032 popular votes, Barack Obama was elected to serve a second term with Vice President Joe Biden, according to the map on 270toWin.

Colorado and Washington Go Green

Colorado Amendment 64 and Washington Initiative 502 passed in 2012, making them the first states to legalize recreational cannabis.

Now, more than half of the United States has decriminalized or legalized cannabis on a medical or recreational level, according to a DISA map of cannabis legalization throughout the nation.

Mass Shootings

During the premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colo. 12 people lost their lives and 70 more were injured in a mass shooting on July 20, 2012, CNN reported. James Holmes was found guilty on all 165 counts against him three years later.

One of the deadliest school shootings took place in United States history shortly thereafter. After taking his mother’s life, 20 children, and six adults were fatally shot by Adam Lanza at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012. Lanza died by suicide, as well.

Curiosity Reaches Mars

NASA’s Curiosity rover lands on Mars

Source: Curiosity has Landed | NASA

The car-sized NASA rover Curiosity touched down on the surface of Mars on Aug. 5, 2012, says NASA’s Curiosity Overview.

Curiosity was designed to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes as part of a long-term effort to explore the planet through robotics.

Since then, Curiosity has discovered conditions once habitable for ancient life, NASA reported in March 2013.

“Scientists identified sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon – some of the key chemical ingredients for life – in the powder Curiosity drilled out of a sedimentary rock near an ancient stream bed in Gale Crater on the Red Planet last month,” NASA said.

Curiosity is still making groundbreaking discoveries, the latest being the way oxygen behaves on Mars that “so far scientists cannot explain through any known chemical processes,” NASA said in Nov. 2019.

Continue to 2013 –>

2013: The Equal Rights Movement

The Defense of Marriage Act, enacted in 1996 under the Clinton Administration, was ruled unconstitutional in a 5-4 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States on June 26, 2013, according to Oyez.

“The result is that DOMA denies same-sex couples the rights that come from federal recognition of marriage, which are available to other couples with legal marriages under state law,” Oyez explains. “The Court held that the purpose and effect of DOMA is to impose a ‘disadvantage, a separate status, and so a stigma’ on same-sex couples in violation of the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection.”

Additionally, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi founded the Black Lives Matter movement in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman, the Black Lives Matter website says.

“The project is now a member-led global network of more than 40 chapters.”

Herstory | Black Lives Matter

Snowden Leaks

Edward Snowden released classified information on the federal government surveilling the phone calls and digital communications of United States and foreign citizens in June 2013, Pew Research Center reported.

49 percent of Americans said the information leaked served public interest, but 54 percent held his case should still be pursued by the government.

Snowden was charged with espionage in June before he found temporary asylum in Russia.

Boston Marathon Bombings

At the finish line of the Boston Marathon, bombs went off that took three lives and injured 260 others on April 15, 2013, the Associated Press reported.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty of all 30 counts against him on April 8, 2015.

Colorado Wildfires

An estimated 4,026 wildfires burned over 1.25 million acres in Colorado during June 2013, averaging a record-breaking 309.6 acres burned per fire according to the NOAA.

Two lives, 500 homes, and 200 outbuildings were lost to the wildfires, says a Colorado State University Power Point.

Suppressing the fires cost $9.3 million and insurance losses were over $402.5 million, with an estimated total market loss of $116.3 million.

Google Plus Integration

“My Thoughts on Google+” by Emma Blackery

Source: My Thoughts on Google+ | Emma Blackery

Worlds collided when Google integrated its social network platforms Google+ and YouTube, making it a requirement to connect a Google+ account to your YouTube profile in order to comment on videos in Nov. 2013, YouTube announced.

Although it was boasted as a feature to help filter and sort comments for users, it faced backlash by many creators including British YouTuber Emma Blackery.

Google announced they were shutting down personal Google+ accounts on April 2, 2019. Now the platform is only available for G Suite accounts operated by schools and businesses.

Continue to 2014 –>

2014: Here Comes Dat Ellen’s Oscars Selfie

Ellen’s selfie with Jared Letto, Jennifer Lawrence, Channing Tatum, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Bradley Cooper, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong’O, Peter Nyong’O, and Angelina Joelie at the Oscars became the most retweeted tweet of all-time, reaching over one million retweets in just 45 minutes on March 2, 2014, according to Mashable.

As this article goes to publication almost six years later, Ellen’s Oscars selfie has over three million retweets.

227 Passengers, 12 Crew Members, and an Entire Airplane Disappear

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared with 227 passengers, and crew members aboard the Boeing 777 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Bejing, China, Encyclopedia Britannica explains.

The flight took off at 12:41 a.m. local time and sent its last transmission at 1:07 a.m., just six minutes after reaching a cruising altitude.

The last voice communication was sent at 1:19 a.m. Two minutes later, the transponder used to communicate with air-traffic control was switched off.

The Malaysian military and civilian radar began tracking the plane at 1:30 a.m. as it turned around and flew over the Malaysian Penninsula. Then, it flew over the Strait of Malacca.

The radar lost contact with flight MH370 as it flew over the Andaman Sea. An Inmarsat satellite over India received hourly signals from the plane until 8:11 a.m.

Search efforts ensued that stretched from the Indian Ocean west of Australia to Central Asia, but the first piece of debris was not found until July 26, 2015.

The search was officially called off in Jan. 2017 and an American company, Ocean Infinity, received permission from the Malaysian government to continue to search until May 2017.

In July 2018, the Malaysian government released a report on MH370’s disappearance that deemed mechanical malfunction was highly unlikely and the change in flight path was “likely the result from manual inputs” – despite none of the crew members displaying behavior that would’ve indicated they were suicidal.

To this day, it’s unknown why MH370 disappeared.

Ebola Epidemic

The World Health Organization reported cases of Ebola in southeast Guinea, which marked the beginning of the West Africa Ebola epidemic – the largest Ebola epidemic in history, said the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.

“Weak surveillance systems and poor public health infrastructure contributed to the difficulty surrounding the containment of this outbreak and it quickly spread to Guinea’s bordering countries, Liberia and Sierra Leone,” the CDC explained. “By July 2014, the outbreak spread to the capitals of all three countries. This was the first time EVD extended out from more isolated, rural areas and into densely populated urban centers, providing an unprecedented opportunity for transmission.”

Dat Boi

A 3D model of a frog on a unicycle known as “dat boi” was released in July 2014 that subsequently went viral on social media two years later, says Know Your Meme.

Republicans Take the Senate

Republicans took majority in the United States Senate by nine seats during the 2014 United States Midterm Elections, according to the Wall Street Journal’s map.

Additionally, Republicans gained 13 seats in the United States House of Representatives and two governors.

Rest in Peace, Robin Williams

Beloved comedian and actor Robin Williams was found dead in his California home on Aug. 11, 2014, according to the coroner’s report released on Nov. 5, 2014.

Williams was found hanging in his locked-basement and it was determined the actor had lost his life to suicide.

Comet Landing

The European Space Agency’s Philae probe made history as the first to land on a comet in Dec. 2014, the ESA announced.

“Our ambitious Rosetta mission has secured a place in the history books: not only is it the first to rendezvous with and orbit a comet, but it is now also the first to deliver a lander to a comet’s surface,” said Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s Director General.

What Goes Up Must Come Down

CNN’s coverage of Solange and Jay-Z’s elevator dispute

Source: Solange and Jay Z break silence on elevator fight | CNN

Singer-songwriter Solange Knowles, pop-queen Beyoncé’s sister, and rap-artist Jay-Z, husband of Beyoncé, were caught amidst a physical dispute in an elevator at the Met Gala, CNN reported.

They later released a statement assuring the public that Solange and Jay-Z had said their apologies and moved on from the situation.

Continue to 2015 –>

2015: JUST DO IT

Actor Shia LaBeouf delivers an intense motivational speech

Source: “Just Do It” Full Motivational Speech HD – Shia LaBeouf #INDRODUCTIONS |
Rattacko

Shia LaBeouf released a 31-minute motivational speech that spurred into a series of internet memes and parodies in May 2015.

According to Vox, the video was a collaborative art project by LaBeouf,  Nastja Säde Rönkkö, Luke Turner, and fine arts students at Central Saint Martins in London. Each monologue was written by a student.

The “Just Do It” portion that blew up online was written by Joshua Parker, a 2015 fine arts BA who was particularly enthusiastic about athletic culture at the time.

Joshua Parker’s portion of the viral Shia LaBeouf art project

Source: #introductions | Joshua

SCOTUS Defends Same-Sex Marriage

In Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in a 5-4 decision the Fourteenth Amendment protects the right to marry as a fundamental liberty for same-sex marriages, too, according to Oyez.

“Judicial precedent has held that the right to marry is a fundamental liberty because it is inherent to the concept of individual autonomy, it protects the most intimate association between two people, it safeguards children and families by according legal recognition to building a home and raising children, and it has historically been recognized as the keystone of social order,” Oyez explained.

“The exclusion of same-sex couples from the right to marry violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

Obergefell v. Hodges | Oyez

Caitlyn Jenner on the Cover, No Longer Undercover

Caitlyn Jenner made her transition public on the cover of Vanity Fair’s June 2015 issue.

“Jenner had actually gone through various stages of transition once before, in the mid- and late 1980s,” the Vanity Fair article says. “He took hormones that resulted in breast growth and had his beard removed through an incredibly painful two-year regimen of electrolysis that he withstood without any medication because ‘pain is kind of, for me, part of the pain for being me … this is what you get for being who you are. Just take the pain.'”

Rumors had started circulating, so Jenner began living in a one-bedroom house in Malibu in “almost total seclusion” during her initial transition in the ’80s.

However, Jenner feared what the reaction might be to her transition, so she stopped the process in the late ’80s.

About 30 years later, Caitlyn proceeded with the transition and was “finally free” by embracing her complete journey in Vanity Fair.

Two months before making the cover of Vanity Fair, Caitlyn had opened up about her struggles with gender identity in an interview with Diane Sawyer.

Amtrak Derails

Eight passengers lost their lives and 185 others were hospitalized when eastbound Amtrak passenger train 188 derailed in Philadelphia, Pa. on May 12, 2015, says the National Transportation Safety Board.

The train had been going 106 mph as it entered the Frankford Junction curve, where the speed limit is 50 mph.

In response, Amtrak installed inward-facing cameras on its current fleet of ACS-64 locomotives, implemented speed enforcement at those curves, and implemented Positive Train Control on all of its property in the Northeast Corridor.

Pope Francis Visits the United States

Pope Francis visited the United States from Sept. 22 through Sept. 27, 2015, stopping at the Andrew Airforce Base, the White House, New York City, and Philadelphia during his trip, the United States Embassy reported.

“The President invited him and more importantly, in the context of that invitation, the dynamic, the personal interaction, was more than warm; they hit it off on a number of issues including, I think, migration, poverty, exclusion, and people falling through the cracks,” said Ambassador Ken Hackett in an interview with America Magazine. ” As soon as we were let in immediately afterwards you could feel the atmosphere in the room was very positive.”

Hotline Bling

“Hotline Bling” by Drake music video

Source: Drake – Hotline Bling | Drake

Drake released the music video for his single “Hotline Bling” on Oct. 26, 2015, which inspired countless internet memes, gifs, and parodies.

The single spent 45 weeks on the charts and peaked at #2 on Oct. 24, 2015, Billboard reports.

Paris Terror Attacks

130 lives were lost and 494 individuals were wounded during the Paris terror attacks that occurred on Nov. 13 and Nov. 14, 2015, CNN reported.

The attackers were armed with rifles and explosives at six targeted locations in Paris, which ISIS claimed responsibility for.

Continue to 2016 –>

2016: Who Let the Trumps Out, Who, Who, Who

After a heated, insult-driven campaign, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States with Mike Pence as Vice President in the 2016 United States Presidential Election.

Trump was elected with 304 electoral votes and 62,980,160 popular votes, according to 270toWin. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton had 227 electoral votes and 65,845,063 popular votes.

Women in Congress

A historic number of women were elected to serve in the United States Congress, accounting for 19.5 percent of the 535 members, the Center for American Women and Politics reported.

20 women served in the US Senate and 85 served in the US House of Representatives.

Brexit

The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union with a 51.9 percent majority in 2016, BBC said.

Pepe the Frog is a “Hate Symbol”

Pepe the Frog from Matt Furie’s “Boy’s Club” comic series was coined a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League in 2016 due to the growth of “alt-right” Pepe memes depicting the frog in a racist or bigoted fashion.

Is It Hot on This Planet, or Is It Just Us?

In 137 years of record-keeping, 2016 marked the hottest year on record, the NOAA’s international report confirmed.

The global surface temperature, greenhouse gases, and global sea levels were highest on record. Tropical cyclones were above average, as well.

Meanwhile, Arctic Sea ice coverage reached a near-record low.

The Wicked Witch of the West melting in the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz”

Source: Giphy

Orlando Nightclub Shooting

49 people lost their lives and more than 50 were wounded in a mass shooting that took place at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., the deadliest mass shooting in America at the time, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

When Life Gave Her Lemons, Beyoncé Made “LEMONADE”

“LEMONADE” by Beyoncé trailer

Source: LEMONADE Trailer | HBO | Beyoncé

Beyoncé premiered her visual album “LEMONADE” on HBO on April 23, 2016 to an audience of 787,000, TV by the Numbers reported.

The 13-track album details Beyoncé’s side of the Jay-Z infidelity rumors that had been circulating since 2014, according to a timeline by People magazine.

Stranger Things

The American sci-fi and Netflix original “Stranger Things” premiered its first season in July 2016, quickly garnering critical acclaim.

“This nostalgic nod to ’80s sci-fi and horror classics has earned 31 Emmy nominations, including two for Outstanding Drama.”

Stranger Things | Netflix

Leo Finally Gets an Oscar

Leonardo DiCaprio’s 2016 Oscar Awards acceptance speech

Source: Leonardo DiCaprio winning Best Actor | Oscars

33 years after his first Oscar nomination, Leonardo DiCaprio won an Oscar for Best Actor, commemorating his performance in the 2015 film “The Revenant.”

America the First to Eliminate Measles

The World Health Organization and Pan American Health Organization announced that America was the first to eliminate measles, a virus that can cause pneumonia, brain swelling, and death, in Sept. 2016.

“This achievement culminates a 22-year effort involving mass vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella throughout the Americas,” WHO and PAHO explain. “Measles is the fifth vaccine-preventable disease to be eliminated from the Americas, after the regional eradication of smallpox in 1971, poliomyelitis in 1994, and rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in 2015.”

Continue to 2017 –>

2017: The Total Solar Eclipse

The corona of the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse, photographed in Madras, Ore.

Source: Total Solar Eclipse | Penelope Peru Photography

Approximately 500 million people in North America were starstruck by the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017, according to NASA.

Although the total solar eclipse was visible throughout all of North America, only 14 states caught a glimpse of totality.

“Extremely Active” Atlantic Hurricane Season

17 named storms, six major hurricanes, and four additional hurricanes occurred during the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, the NOAA reported.

Three major hurricanes made landfall: Harvey in Texas; Irma in the Carribean and the southeastern United States; and Irma in the Carribean and Puerto Rico.

Hurricane Harvey was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Wilma hit Florida in 2005.

According to the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, Hurricane Harvey damaged 204,000 homes, flooding forced 39,000 to flee their homes, 25 percent of gas production was forced to shut down in the region, 200 million cubic yards of debris was left in the wake, and $125 million in damages occurred.

13 million people were affected by Hurricane Harvey and at least 88 lost their lives.

The Opioid Epidemic

About 68 percent of the lives lost to overdose in 2017 (more 70,200 total overdoses) were due to opioids, according to the CDC. By 2017, the number of overdoses due to opioids was six times higher than they were in 1999.

Now, it’s estimated that 130 Americans die every day due to an opioid overdose.

#MeToo Movement

The #MeToo Movement, founded in 2006 to help survivors of sexual violence, was TIME magazine’s 2017 Person of the Year as celebrities came forward and broke the silence on sexual abuse in the industry.

Actress Alyssa Milano began her #MeToo campaign with a single tweet on Oct. 15, 2017.

#MeToo had been tweeted over 19 million times as of Sept. 2018, according to Pew Research Center.

Women’s March

Women’s Marches in support of gender equality and civil rights happened globally on Jan. 21, 2017, says Encyclopedia Britannica.

It’s estimated that 4.6 million people participated throughout the United States and other countries.

Las Vegas Mass Shooting

58 people lost their lives and 800 were injured when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on the last night of a country music festival in Las Vegas, Nev., according to HISTORY.

“Although the shooting only lasted 10 minutes, the death and injury tolls made this massacre the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at the time of the attack,” HISTORY said.

Paddock targeted the crowd from the 32-floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel using an arsenal of 23 guns.

“Within the 10-minute period, he was able to fire more than 1,100 rounds of ammunition.”

It took an hour for authorities to breach into Paddock’s hotel room, where he was found dead by a self-inflicted gun wound.

Continue to 2018 –>

2018: Blue Wave

Democrats took the majority in the United States House of Representatives, gaining 40 seats, according to Politico. However, Republicans still hold the majority in the United States Senate.

The midterm elections brought in another wave of diversity with a record-breaking number of women, people of color, and LGBTQ representatives, Vox reported.

117 women were elected to Congress: 102 to the US House of Representatives, 15 to the US Senate. 23 freshmen legislators were people of color and there are now at least 10 Congressional representatives who identify as LGBTQ.

Singapore Summit

President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea held a historic summit in Singapore where they established plans to maintain peace and prosperity between the two countries in June 2018, says a joint statement on the White House website.

These plans included the denuclearization of the Korean Penninsula.

In an interview with White House communications specialist George Stephanopoulos, Trump said he and Kim Jong Un had formed a “special bond” and developed a “pretty good relationship in terms of getting something done.”

President Donald Trump sits down for an interview with White House communication specialist George Stephanopoulos

Source: Trump describes ‘special bond’ he’s formed with Kim Jong Un | ABC News

Kim Kardashian Visits the White House

Reality star Kim Kardashian West visited the White House to speak with Trump about prison reform in May 2018 – particularly to urge Trump to pardon Alicia Marie Johnson, a woman who has been in prison for two decades due to drug-related offenses and isn’t eligible for parole, CNBC reported.

Shortly after their meeting, Johnson’s sentence was commuted, according to an ABC News article.

“I feel like my life is starting over again,” Johnson said. “It’s a miracle day.”

Kardashian West visited the White House again in Sept. 2018 to seek clemency for Chris Young, another nonviolent drug offender sentenced to life in prison.

As this article is being written, Chris Young is still in prison, Buried Alive says.

Southern Border Apprehensions

396,579 were apprehended at the southern border of the United States in 2018, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics.

107,212 were apprehended in “family units” (the number of minors accompanied by a parent or legal guardian), but 50,036 children were apprehended without a parent or guardian.

A Vox article highlights what happens to these unaccompanied minors. They’re sent to the Office of Refugee Resettlement within 72 hours of being apprehended, where they spend days to weeks in government facilities or short-term foster care while ORR officials attempt to identify the nearest relative in the United States who can care for the child while their immigration case is being resolved.

California Wildfires

California had one of the worst wildfire seasons in 2018, according to the United States Bureau of Labor.

A total of 7,510 fires burned in an area of 1,671,313 acres, the largest acreage burned on record, as of Nov. 2018. The fires caused over $10 billion in damages.

“In fact, the 2018 wildfire season in California recorded the largest fire in acres burned, most destructive fire in property loss and deadliest fires in the state’s history,” the United States Department of Agriculture said in an article about wildfires becoming a year-round occurrence throughout the nation.

Here Comes the Sun

NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe on the first-ever mission to “touch” the sun on Aug. 12, 2018.

“The spacecraft, about the size of a small car, will travel directly into the Sun’s atmosphere about 4 million miles from the surface,” NASA explains.

The Parker Solar Probe has recently completed its second flyby of venus, NASA announced on Dec. 26, 2019.

Big Businesses Bust

Sears filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in Oct. 2018, after closing at least 188 of their stores, according to a USA Today article.

Read: The Downfall of Department Stores

The Burgundy Zine

Toys R Us closed their remaining stores in June 2018, CNBC reported.

For a time, the company left the following message posted on their website:

“Thanks to each of you who shared your amazing journey to (and through) parenthood with us, and to every grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother, and sister who’s built a couch-cousin rocket ship, made up a hero adventure, or invented something gooey. Promise us just one thing: Don’t ever grow up. Play on!”

“Play On” Toys R Us | ABC News

Continue to 2019 –>

2019: Longest Government Shutdown in History

President Trump announced that he and other political officials were prepared for ‘a very long shutdown’ if he was unable to get funding approved for the wall on Dec. 21, 2018.

While postal, military, and entitlement programs were primarily unaffected by the shutdown, NASA, national parks, and the I.R.S have suffered the consequences.

Nine out of 15 of the executive departments that were impacted include:

  1. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
  2. United States Department of Commerce (USDC)
  3. United States Department of Homeland Security (USDHS)
  4. United States Department of Housing and Urband Development (HUD)
  5. United States Department of Interior (USDOI)
  6. United States Department of Justice (USDOJ)
  7. United States Department of State (USDOS)
  8. United States Department of Transportation (USDOT)
  9. United States Department of Treasury (USDT)

According to a lawsuit filed by a federal employees union following the shutdown, approximately 400,000 federal employees were forced to work illegally without any compensation.

The longest government shutdown in history ended on Jan. 25, 2019 after government agencies had been “partially shuttered,” NPR reported.

However, the bill only agreed to fund the government through Feb. 15 and the shutdown would continue if Trump didn’t sign the spending bill by then.

When the fateful day arrived, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed that Trump had signed the bill, averting another government shutdown, CNN says.

Instead of continuing with a shutdown, Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border of the United States.

Read: U.S. Partial Government Shutdown

The Burgundy Zine

The Mueller Report

Almost two years after Robert Mueller began his investigation on Russian interference during the 2016 US Presidential Election, the full report was released.

“The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion,” the Mueller report states. “Evidence of Russian government operations began to surface in mid-2016. In June, the Democratic National Committee and its cyber response team publicly announced that Russian hackers had compromised its computer network. Releases of hacked materials—hacks that public reporting soon attributed to the Russian government—began that same month.”

The investigation found “no evidence of collusion” between the Trump campaign and the Russian government on election interference.

Trump Gets Impeached

The United States House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump in Dec. 2019 on charges for abuse of his office and obstructed Congress, the Washington Post reported.

“Democrats declaring him a threat to the nation and branding an indelible mark on the most turbulent presidency of modern times.”

Trump is impeached by the House, creating an indelible mark on his presidency | The Washington Post

College Admissions Scandal

Operation Varsity Blues found dozens of parents, college test administrators, and coaches guilty of rigging the college admissions process for parents willing to bribe their children into higher education, CBS News reported.

Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin found themselves caught in the crossfire of the scandal, one of which pleaded guilty

Huffman was sentenced to 14 days in prison on Sept. 13 with one-year of supervised release, 250 hours of community service, and a fine of $30,000.

Laughlin, accused of paying $500,000 to have her two daughters designated as recruits to the University of Southern California, pleaded not guilty.

First Image of a Black Hole

Through the Event Horizon Telescope, NASA captured the first image of a black hole on April 10, 2019.

Wildfires in the Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest experienced the most fire activity in the region since 2010, NASA reported. The fires were visible from space, as seen by the images NASA’s Aqua satellite captured.

World Record Egg

A photo of an egg posted by @world_record_egg on Instagram on Jan. 4, 2019 became the most-liked image on Instagram with 30.5 million likes in 10 days, surpassing Kylie Jenner’s Instagram post with 18 million likes that announced the birth of her daughter, Stormi Webster.

As this article is being written, the egg photo has 54,157,936 likes.

Continue to Bug’s Two Cents –>

Bug’s Two Cents

For many of us, this decade has been a rollercoaster of questionable fashion choices (this one’s for you, scene kids and hipsters), major transitions, and self-discovery amidst sociopolitical turbulence.

Yes, while I’m sure we’re all sick of the decade recaps at this point, this article took… A lot longer to write than I anticipated.

But there’s still a lot I didn’t mention: the Occupy Wall Street movement, ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, each state that passed recreational or medicinal cannabis legislation following Colorado and Washington, and many, many other major events.

However, in writing this article, I realized this decade was… Well, a shitshow, to be frank.

Yet, we’ve prevailed. While there’s still much to be done, we’ve grown stronger because of these challenges, especially in terms of fostering a more accepting attitude towards those who’ve been oppressed for centuries.

Here’s to 2020,
burgundy bug >:^)

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