Christopher Hartwell
@SILIENCESEEN
Jan. 20— Donald Trump sworn into office
Sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America, this controversial figure stepped into power on the morning of Friday, January 20. The following day, rallies were held in Washington, D.C. in protest of this, most notably the Women’s March, which gathered around 500,000 participants in D.C. and millions worldwide.
May 22— Ariana Grande concert in UK disrupted by deadly explosion from suicide bomber
On May 22, 2017 people in attendance of the Ariana Grande concert being held in the Manchester Arena were unfortunate witnesses to a suicide bombing. The blast from the explosive killed 22 people who were at the concert as well as the bomber themselves.
This in turn led to the return of Ariana Grande to perform a benefit concert for the victims of this attack.
July 4— North Korean missile test
North Korea successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time, which the country claimed could reach “anywhere in the world.”
This successful test combined with the knowledge to produce nuclear weapons has concerned many leaders from around the world. Since then, more tests have confirmed fears that North Korean leadership are not responding to sanctions pushed for by the Unites States or other countries.
Matters regarding relations between the U.S. and North Korea have not been helped by President Trump’s public statements and posts through his twitter account.
Aug. 12— Nazis march in Charlottesville
The “Unite the Right” rally brought together members of the public from far right to protest the removal of confederate monuments. After conflict arose between the protesters and counter-protesters, a member of the rally drove their car into the crowd, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.
Aug. 25-Sept. 20— Hurricane season causes catastrophe
During an unusually destructive hurricane season this year, there were three separate hurricanes that swept through the United States. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria all did extensive damage to infrastructure, leading to the nearly complete destruction of the Puerto Rican power grid and hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.
Oct. 1— Las Vegas shooting the worst of its kind
At the Route 91 Harvest music festival, gunfire was opened into the crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel. After shooting 1,100 rounds into the crowd of 22,000 people during 10 minutes of continuous fire, 58 people were left dead and another 546 were injured.
This was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history to occur, and sparked many debates across the country about gun control, outlawing the use of bump stock devices of the kind that the gunman used, and more.
Oct. 8— Northern California wildfires
A total of 250 wildfires swept across Napa, Lake, Sonoma, Mendocino, Butte and Solano Counties.
Due to the high wind and dry weather conditions surrounding these fires, the flames spread rapidly, leading to massive destruction of property, a recorded 44 deaths, another 185 hospitalizations and billions of dollars in damage.
Oct. 15— #metoo
On October 15, 2017, Alyssa Milano tweeted out the following:
“If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too.’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.”
As an outcome of this post by the American actress, the #metoo movement was sparked which has thus far lead to the coming forward of millions of people who have been assaulted.
It also has started some sexual assault investigations in businesses around the world, including in the entertainment and news industries which have fired several members due to allegations.