There was no shortage of big news stories around the globe in 2019. Obviously, we couldn’t include all of them but here’s a recap of some of the big ones.
January 7 – Amazon overtakes Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable listed company for the first time, worth $797 billion.
January 14 – Approximately 30,000 Los Angeles educators go on strike, affecting more than half a million students.
January 25 - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to merge Whatsapp. Facebook, and Instagram. Despite this, the three services will remain their own individual apps.
January 25 - A 35-day government shutdown ends when Donald Trump signs a short-term spending measure, providing three weeks of stopgap funding while lawmakers work on a border security compromise.
February 3 - Super Bowl LIII takes place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The New England Patriots defeat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3.
February 14 - Amazon canceled its plan to build part of its second headquarters in Long Island City, Queens. The company said that opposition from state and local politicians prevented the company from going forward with the project. The company planned to building a 4 million-square-foot headquarters along the Anable Basin, an artificial inlet separating Queens from Brooklyn, to house its 25,000 new employees. That construction was expected to occur over the coming decade, and afterward, the company would have expanded the project to around 8 million square feet to accommodate an additional 15,000 workers.
February 15 - President Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border. This declaration may allow Trump to bypass Congress and build his wall with emergency funds.
February 27 - President Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified before members of the House. He answered questions about the decade he spent working for Trump, including how the President allegedly spoke with Roger Stone about WikiLeaks. Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the Russia investigation. However, the circumstances of this hearing following Cohen’s cooperation with special counsel Mueller made it extremely difficult for him to lie or dodge questions.
March 3 - Over a dozen tornadoes hit Alabama and Georgia. People hardly had any warning before the tornadoes hit, and unfortunately, 23 people died. Many homes and buildings were damaged.
March 15: At least 50 people were killed and 50 more wounded after a gunman opened fire at the Al Noor Mosque in New Zealand. The assailant, later identified as Australian citizen Brenton Harrison Tarrant, was arrested and charged with murder.
March 7: Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is sentenced in Virginia to 47 months in prison for bank fraud, filing false tax returns and failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.
March 24: No collusion: After Mueller’s lengthy investigation ends, the evidence found was not sufficient to establish that members of Trump’s campaign tacitly engaged in a criminal conspiracy with the Russian government to interfere with the election.
April 9 - Israelis go to vote and Netanyahu is the apparent winner.
April 9 - New York City declared a public health emergency due to an outbreak of measles. The emergency requires unvaccinated people in certain areas to either be vaccinated or face fines.
April 22 - A deadly earthquake hit the Philippines, killing at least 8 people. The earthquake was a magnitude 6.1 and destroyed several buildings and an airport.
April 25 - Former Vice President Joe Biden announces he is running for President.
April 27 - Gunman opens fire inside the Chabad of Poway synagogue in San Diego, California. The attack occurred on the final day of Pesach, killing one woman.
April 29 – Netanyahu fails to form government. Opposed by Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beiteinu and his one-time close aide, failed to form a governing majority. The prime minister then led the Knesset to dissolve itself, preventing another MK from being given the chance to form a coalition and triggering new elections.
May 31 - Twelve people are killed in a shooting at a municipal office in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The gunman is fatally wounded during a shootout with police.
June 7: After nearly three years of serving as the U.K. prime minister, Theresa May formally quit as the leader of the ruling Conservative Party over failed Brexit negotiations.
June 12 - The St. Louis Blues win their first Stanley Cup in their 52-year history after defeating the Boston Bruins 4-1 in Game 7.
June 13 - The Toronto Raptors defeat the Golden State Warriors with a series win, 4-2, in the NBA Finals.
June 30 - Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Korean Demilitarized Zone, becoming the first sitting US president to enter North Korea.
July 6: Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein is arrested and accused of serious crimes.
July 14 - Power was restored to Manhattan after nearly 70,000 homes experienced a blackout. Many people were stranded in subways and elevators until the fix.
July 25 - Former special counsel Robert Mueller testified before the House Judiciary and House Intelligence committees.
July 31 - American officials announce Osama bin Laden’s son, Hamza bin Laden and potential successor has been killed in US air strikes in Pakistan.
August 3 - Mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. The gunman, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, opens fire at a Walmart store, killing 22 people.
August 4 - Mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio. The gunman, 24-year-old Connor Betts, opens fire, killing nine people.
August 6 - In a stunning turn of events, Melinda Katz wins Queens District Attorney nomination by 55 votes after a recount erases Tiffany Caban’s slim election night lead.
August 10 – Jeffrey Epstein is found dead in his jail cell.
August 26 – The US recorded another 12 cases of Measles, bringing the overall total for the year to 1,215. The outbreak is across 30 states and the worst one since 1992.
September 6 - It was announced that Facebook is under another investigation. This time in regards to whether or not the company put users at risk.
September 17 - Israelis go to the polls, again. Israelis voted in the second Knesset elections of the year after the 21st Knesset dissolved itself in May. Early returns showed no clear winner, but indicated that Netanyahu would face a difficult path in forming a government.
September 23 – A whistleblower in the Trump administration released call information between President Trump and the president of Ukraine back in July. In the call, it appears that President Trump asked the president of Ukraine to investigate the son of Joe Biden, a potential opponent to Trump in 2020. This could aid the Democrats in the impeachment process
September 24 – Nancy Pelosi announces the launch of a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
October 18 - NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch conduct the first all-female spacewalk outside of the International Space Station.
October 26 - Dozens of wildfires were going in California, and power was cut off from 1 million people in an effort to combat the issue. Multiple deaths were reported.
October 31 - The Washington Nationals win their first World Series in their history after defeating the Houston Astros in Game 7.
November 12 - Beth Gavriel Celebrates Historic Hachnassat Sefer Torah in the heart of the Diamond District and expands their Beth Midrash in 47th Street.
November 21 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is indicted on corruption charges. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced his decision to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in three corruption cases. At the time, we wrote that “Mandelblit’s decision was not in and of itself a surprise, but that this indictment will include a charge of bribery, the most serious charge Netanyahu faced, represents the worst possible legal and political outcome for the prime minister.”
November 24 - Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced he was running for President.
December 10 - The New York Yankees went back to their old ways -- spending big bucks. With an eye at winning the World Series in 2020, the Yankees signed pitcher Gerrit Cole to a 9-year contract worth $324 million.
December 11 - Government formation period ends, forcing a third election. For 21 days, anyone — including Gantz or Netanyahu — could have garnered the support of 61 MKs to receive a mandate to form a coalition. As no one succeeded in doing so, Israelis will go the polls for the third time in 11 months.
December 18 - The House of Representatives votes to impeach Trump, charging a president with high crimes and misdemeanors for just the third time in American history.
2019 a year in REVIEW
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