This year has been full of wonderful moments that have made us smile as we think back on them. We’ve collected our 10 most favourite moments from the past year.
10. “Gangnam Style” goes viral: The K-Pop hit by South Korean rapper, Psy, took the whole world by storm this summer when the ridiculous music video went viral. The catchy song about South Korea’s elite Gangnam District plus Psy’s now trademark dance moves helped break YouTube’s records for most viewed video. Currently the video has more than 800 million views and that number is only increasing!
9. Discovery shuttle retired: This year the infamous space shuttle Discovery took off for the final time when it flew piggy-back on a Boeing place from Florida to Washington D.C. It is now part of the prestigious Smithsonian Museum and will remain there as a symbol of the history of space discovery to which Discovery dedicated almost 30 years.
8. Obama re-elected: This year’s presidential election gained a lot of attention worldwide with Barack Obama running against Republic candidate Mitt Romney. There were lots of controversies and humour, but in the end the best man won to the delight of not only the citizens of America, but the citizens of the world! Obama’s re-election is also noteworthy because he introduced a new regulated health care system similar to Canada’s.
7. Queen’s Diamond Jubilee: In 1952 Queen Elizabeth II took the throne as Queen of the British Commonwealth after the death of her father King George VI. This year, she celebrated 60 years of her reign with her Diamond Jubilee celebration in London, England. Queen Elizabeth is the second monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee in the history of Britan, with Queen Victoria being the first. That’s pretty impressive!
6. Solar Eclipse: This year we had two solar eclipses; one was in May and the other in November. These were the last solar eclipses until 2015! Modern technology allowed the eclipses to be streamed live so they could be viewed safely on your computer rather than staring into the sun, which is extremely dangerous even during an eclipse.
5. Summer Olympics: Held in London this year, the Summer Olympics were full of exciting performances, world records being broken and Canada breaking its own number of medals won! There were lots of controversies, of course, but there was more excitement and good cheer not just in jolly old Britain, but all over the world.
4. Higgs boson discovery: The Higgs boson is a subatomic particle which scientists have been trying to prove the existence since 1964. This July, to the delight of the scientific community, it was finally proven that it existed. This discovery is important because it sheds light on how particles actually get their mass. It was always suspected that the Higgs boson was responsible for this, but it could not be proven, until now!
3. Transit of Venus: The last of this century’s two transits happened in June and was a breathtaking sight. The transit refers to when Venus happens to pass in between the Earth and Sun, and can be seen as a small black disk against the sun. This is a frequent but rare event and the next transit won’t be until December 2017! If you weren’t able to see this beautiful natural occurrence, don’t fret! There are tons of beautiful photos on the Internet for you to gaze at!
2. Curiosity lands on Mars: Curiosity is currently roaming the deserts of Mars on a mission to verify the existence of organic life on the red planet. People all over the world tuned in for what we now referred to as “the seven minutes of terror” when Curiosity had its turbulent landing on Mars. But once the rover was on the red planet, the world let out a sigh of relief. We’ve since been enjoying its many photos, some of which are in colour for the first time ever!
1. Felix Baumgartner jumps to Earth from Space: In October of this year, this daredevil and extreme athlete not only became the first man to jump to Earth from space, but also became the first man to break the sound barrier with his fall!Baumgartner took a huge risk attempting this jump and thousands of eyes watched his televised jump and held their breaths until his parachute opened and he successfully landed. This was by far the coolest thing to have happened this year!
Did your favourite moment make it on to our list? Let us know in the comments or by tweeting @TheMagazineHQ!