And history was made with the first all-female refereeing crew at a men’s World Cup.Another notable moment this year was the overturning of Roe v. At the Winter Olympics, American Erin Jackson became the first Black woman to win an individual medal in speedskating. The United States saw the confirmation of the country’s first Black woman Supreme Court justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson. The Queen’s funeral drew crowds by the tens of thousands as they paid their last respects to a monarch who reigned for an unprecedented 70 years.This was also a year of firsts. She died two days after inviting Truss to form a new government. The 96-year-old monarch had worked with 15 British prime ministers, from Winston Churchill to Liz Truss. Photographer Pete Luna of the Uvalde Leader-News photographed the chaotic scene outside the school as young elementary students ran for safety while the gunman was still inside.And on September 8, Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, sending shockwaves around the world.

The attack on March 9, just 13 days after the war started, was one of the most brutal days of the conflict that continues to this day.In June, the United States once again witnessed a school shooting, this time in Uvalde, Texas. The unnamed woman and her baby died days later.This image has come to symbolize one of many Russian atrocities in the war in Ukraine. Photographer Evgeniy Maloletka captured one of the most vivid pictures of the war for the Associated Press, showing a photo of an ashen-face pregnant woman, holding her lower abdomen, being carried on a stretcher moments after a bomb was launched at a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine.

Yet some days offered joy and pride.From Russia’s war in Ukraine to the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, these are some of the remarkable stories of the year.The year started, calmly, as the world slowly began to come out of a long, drawn-out pandemic hibernation.However, consistent with the brittleness of these modern times, a full-blown war erupted in Ukraine in February as Russia invaded the country, ending and upending the lives of many, including civilians and children.

It was a year that captured historically significant and surprising moments, triggering disbelief and despair. The world witnessed an unwieldy and unparalleled set of news events in 2022.

I Once Was a Monkey by Jeanne M. Lee