The 2016 Summer Olympics, and then Paralympics, were held in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, which bested out three other competitors as host cities seven years ago, one of which was Chicago. The US female gymnasts certainly caused a stir, like they have in the past, which were among the highlights. (This coming year of 2017 will see the selection of the 2024 city--and if it's Los Angeles, I am making a point to go there to attend the Opening Ceremony.)
Politically, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff was impeached.
There was also a change in leadership in Britain, when voters there approved their country's exit from the European Union in a referendum during the summer. Prime Minister David Cameron resigned, making way for Theresa May to take the office, only the 2nd women ever to do so.
Zooming in from the world stage, one of the biggest stories in the United States was the 2016 presidential campaign and elections. A crowded field of Republican candidates narrowed down to Donald Trump as the Republican nominee, with Hilary Clinton taking the Democratic nomination over Bernie Sanders. It was notable how a Chicago Tribune editorial indicated that the candidates running for the respective nominations showed how the electorate was making each party fight for its soul. Another Chicago Tribune editorial highlighted the unfavorable nature of both major party candidates by endorsing Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, for president.
Donald Trump pulled off a win over Hillary Clinton in a real stunner. I can still remember that "jaw-dropping" feeling the morning after the general election, and then chuckling at the idea that this was actually happening. This was the culmination of a rather nasty campaign, which I felt was summarized well by a PBS news commentator remarking on one of the presidential debates, saying what he saw that evening "was not elevating".
There continued to be chaos in various cities over racially-charged police shootings of unarmed minority citizens. It made the selection of Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates, a timely pick for the One Book, One Oak Park summer read at the Oak Park Public Library.
Chief Rick Tanskley of the Oak Park Police retired after nearly 30 years, and was succeeded by Tony Ambrose as Chief.
Notable individuals who passed away from us this year included actress Carrie Fischer, former First Lady Nancy Reagan, Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro, and Ascension Parish Deacon Joseph Walsh.
Antonin Scalia passed away in February, leaving a vacancy on the Supreme Court. President Obama nominated Merrick Garland as a replacement, and Republicans in the Senate refused to consider him.
The Supreme Court made major rulings on abortion and immigration. And debate reached a fever-pitch on the rights of transgender individuals after North Carolina passed a law keeping washroom and locker room facilities strictly separated by objective biological sex, which unleashed strong backlash, especially from the corporate world.
The company that produces Epipen got into controversy over the exorbitant price of the epipen.
In other business news, Trader Joe's pulled off a pretty good April Fool's joke by announcing it was going out of business--a joke that fooled me.
In the local political scene, Anan Abu-Taleb requested a change in his title from President of the Oak Park Village Board of Trustees to Oak Park Mayor, which was approved by the Board of Trustees. He claimed that the term "mayor" better communicates what the position is about, but I feel it's unnecessary to change titles around to make more sense to outsiders--sticking with our own terminology is okay. Mr. Abu-Taleb also proposed making the mayor position salaried.
The Oak Park Public Library acquired District 97's Multicultural Collection, which had to move out of its space at Julian Middle School to allow for my instructional space to meet the sharp increase in enrollment there. The collection is now housed at the Dole Branch of the Oak Park Public Library, with a grand opening ceremony set for later in January.
Ernest Hemingway scholars from throughout the world came to Dominican University for a biennial conference on Papa.
The budget problems continued in the state of Illinois, with a stop-gap measure put in place at the end of June to make funds available for some services.
Flint, MI, had a major crisis with tainted water supplies.
The major weather and natural event stories of 2016 included Hurricane Matthew, a major winter snow storm in the Eastern United States in January, and earthquakes in Japan, Ecuador, and New Zealand. There was one particularly bitterly cold spell in mid-January, which didn't deter my Dad and I from joining hundreds of others at the 2016 March of Life Chicago. We had some fairly hot days later on in the summer in Chicagoland, including two very hot and humid days back-to-back toward the end of July, with powerful storms both those evenings. One storm damaged a walkway at the Illinois Medical District CTA Blue Line station.
The National Weather Service changed the format of its public weather products so they are now in lower- and upper-case type, instead of all capital letters, evoking an earlier era of teletype. That was an interesting kind of change to make.
Chicago's Archbishop Blase Cupich was designated a cardinal by Pope Francis at a consistory in November, along with a number of others from throughout the world, including Bangui, Central African Republic.
Among the locations Pope Francis traveled included Mexico and Sweden.
One of the most exciting sports events was the Cubs baseball team winning the World Series after a 108-year championship drought, in a real nail-biter of a series that came down to the wire and a God-send rain delay in Cleveland.
Major milestones achieved this year included Queen Elizabeth II turning 90, Pope Francis turning 80, 75 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor, the National Park Service Centennial, Indiana's Bicentennial, and St. Cornelius Parish in Chicago marking its 90th Anniversary.
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