“It was a year like no other.”
We say that all the time, but this one really was.
In 2023, we saw a former president become the first president ever to be criminally indicted. We watched a grueling series of votes — 15 — to elect a speaker of the House only to see that man’s exit nine months later. People around the world prayed for the recovery of a football player whose collapse on the field was watched by millions as the game was broadcast on national television.
Here’s a look at some of the top stories from 2023.
1. Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest, recovery and return to football
In the first quarter of the Jan. 2 “Monday Night Football” game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills, Damar Hamlin, a 24-year-old safety for the Bills, tackled Bengals receiver Tee Higgins, taking him to the ground. Hamlin stood up after the tackle and took two steps before collapsing to the turf in full cardiac arrest.
Medical personnel at the field worked on Hamlin for 11 minutes using CPR and an automated external defibrillation device to restart his heart before rushing him to a local hospital.
Hamlin would recover from what was later confirmed to be an episode of commotio cordis, a rare incident in which cardiac rhythm is disrupted by a blow to the chest during a specific 40-millisecond beat of the heart. Ninety-seven percent of the people who experience such a blow will die if they do not have medical help within 3 minutes.
2. The Titan implosion
On June 18, a submersible called the Titan carrying five people to view the wreckage of the Titanic lost communications with the ship that it launched from soon after it began its descent to the ocean floor. A massive search was begun in the North Atlantic, and for four days, people around the world held out hope the vessel would be found before the 96-hour supply of oxygen ran out.
Tragically, at about the hour the oxygen in the craft would have run out, the U.S. Coast Guard announced that it had found a debris field from the Titan, which authorities said had imploded about two hours after it was launched. Killed in the submersible were Stockton Rush, the American CEO of OceanGate; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French deep-sea explorer and Titanic expert; Hamish Harding, a British businessman; Shahzada Dawood, a Pakistani-British businessman; and Dawood’s son Suleman.
3. Lewiston, Maine shooting spree ends with 18 dead
On the evening of Oct. 25, Robert Card, a military reservist who had a history of mental health issues, walked into the Just-In-Time Bowling Alley in the small town of Lewiston, Maine, and began shooting. He killed seven people, including a 14-year-old boy there for a youth bowling league event.
Card, 40, then left the bowling alley and drove 4 miles to Schemengees Bar & Grille which was hosting an event for members of the deaf community. He entered that building and, again, began firing. Eight people were shot dead there. Three others died on their way to the hospital.
In a matter of 12 minutes, Card had shot and killed 18 people and wounded another 13. Following a 48-hour manhunt, authorities found Card in a tractor-trailer, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
4. Kevin McCarthy’s speakership begins/ends
Since he was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007, Kevin McCarthy had made it no secret that he wanted to be a leader in the Republican Party. In January, he got his chance to take the ultimate seat of power, but the road to becoming the nation’s 55th speaker of the House was not an easy one.
McCarthy was nominated for speaker in the Republican-majority House, but on Jan. 3 when the vote was taken, he failed to secure a majority of votes with 19 members of his own party opposing him. After four days of voting and deal-making, McCarthy agreed to a rule that would allow any one member of the House to call for his ouster from the speakership. He won a majority of votes on the 15th ballot and became the Speaker.
However, he was only on the job for nine months when Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, went to the well of the House on Oct. 3 to call for a “motion to vacate.” The motion passed, and McCarthy lost the vote, ending his speakership.
5. Former President Donald Trump indicted — four times
In 2023, in four courtrooms across the country, former President Donald Trump faced criminal indictments.
During a five-month span, Trump was indicted in Washington, D.C., on four felony counts related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election; indicted on 13 felony counts in Georgia for alleged election interference; indicted on 34 felony counts in New York in connection with hush money payments to a porn star; and indicted on 40 felony counts in Florida for hindering the government’s efforts to retrieve classified documents and for possession of those documents.
Trump, who is running for president in 2024, is the only president to ever be indicted on felony charges. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
6. The death of Matthew Perry at 54
Matthew Perry, best remembered by fans as Chandler Bing on the NBC sitcom “Friends,” died in October.
Perry, who had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse, was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his home in Los Angeles on Oct. 28. According to the medical examiner, Perry died due to “acute effects of ketamine,” a dissociative anesthetic that is also used as a treatment for depression. The medical examiner said other circumstances that contributed to Perry’s death included the effects of buprenorphine, an opioid used to treat opioid use disorder, drowning, and coronary artery disease.
Perry was 54.
7. Hamas attacks Israel; Israel attacks Gaza
On Oct. 7, the paramilitary wing of Hamas launched a surprise attack on communities, a music festival, army bases and other locations in Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 people hostage. In response, the Israeli government pledged to destroy the organization considered a terrorist group by many countries, including the United States.
Israel launched a ground invasion with coordinated rocket attacks in Gaza, where the territory’s health ministry official says more than 20,400 Palestinians have been killed and almost all of the territory’s 2.3 million people have been displaced.
8. A hole in the sun?
Scientists have identified what looks like a giant hole about the size of 60 Earths in the sun’s atmosphere. While it may look like a hole, what astronomers are seeing in images taken by NASA is cooler areas of the sun which appear darker in ultraviolet and X-ray images. Hotter areas in surrounding regions appear brighter in images. The cooler areas are called coronal holes and are found on the outermost region of the sun’s surface.
9, A Chinese spy balloon wafted across the US
From Jan. 28 to Feb. 4, a high-altitude balloon originating from China flew across North American airspace. The balloon came into the country over Alaska and then flew south through western Canada and eventually into the contiguous United States. A week later, the U.S. Air Force shot it down off the coast of South Carolina. U.S. officials claim the balloon, which had a propeller for maneuverability, carried intelligence-gathering equipment but that it did not appear to have sent information back to China.
10. Student loan plans, rulings and repayments
Student loans, President Joe Biden’s plan to erase them and the realization that repayment of those would have to begin again were topics that borrowers hung on in 2023.
The president’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student loan debt was stuck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in June, and while other plans from the Biden administration offered relief to thousands of those who took out loans to pay for an education, the president’s most comprehensive plans faced legal challenges.
While the president vowed to continue to tweak plans that would pass legal muster, the pause in paying back federally backed student loans ended, and in October, millions were told they had to begin repaying the money.
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