2025 is officially over, and it was an unforgettable journey that changed the lives of people around the world. As 2026 begins, let’s reflect on some of the most significant events that made up the extraordinary year of 2025.
January 27: Nvidia stocks fell by $588.8 billion after the Chinese AI Model DeepSeek was released, who claimed they could perform at the level of ChatGPT, but at a fraction of the cost. Nvidia’s stock plummeted as a result, marking the single biggest loss of stock in 24 hours to ever occur.
January 29: Chinese animated film Ne Zah 2 is released and becomes the top-earning movie of not only 2025, but of all time.
February 9: The Kansas City Chiefs are defeated by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Superbowl, with the Eagles winning by 18 points.
February 10: Over 100 world leaders gather in Paris to discuss the development of AI. They decided to invest several billion dollars in AI and pledged to pursue “inclusive AI”.
February 25: In the South American country of Chile, a nationwide blackout caused power outages for 90% of citizens. The national emergency affected around 8 million homes and lasted about 7 hours.
March 2: Firefly Aerospace’s commercial lander Blue Ghost becomes the first of its kind to make a soft landing on the moon.
March 26: Masaki Kashiwara became the first mathematician in Japan to be awarded the Abel Prize, one of the most prestigious math awards.
April 2: Scientists presented a pacemaker (a device that helps control the heartbeat) as small as a grain of rice. Even though it only provides a temporary solution, it is completely harmless and easily injected, making it revolutionary in the medical field.
May 3: Lady Gaga’s “Mayhem on the Beach” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, became the highest-attended concert by a female artist with over 2.5 million attendees.
May 8: Cardinal Robert Prevost became the first pope from the United States, having been born and raised in the Chicago area. He was elected as the 267th pope and assumed the title of Pope Leo XIV.
May 9: The Food and Drug Administration of the U.S. approves the very first in-home test for cervical cancer.
June 22: The U.S. military uses “bunker buster” bombs to strike Iranian nuclear sites, leading Israel and Iran to agree to a ceasefire two days later.
July 4-7: Deadly flash floods occur in central Texas, fueled by extreme rainfall. At least 135 people are found dead, and the cost of the disaster is estimated to cost around $18 to 22 billion.
July 23: American Eagle releases a heavily disputed ad featuring Sydney Sweeney where the actress discusses the heritability of genetics. Some argued the campaign promoted Western beauty standards and eugenics, while others simply believed it was wordplay.
August 7: ChatGPT-5 is released by OpenAI, who claims the model is a significant advance in AI intelligence and reasoning.
August 26: Pop star Taylor Swift and Chiefs player Travis Kelce release an Instagram post announcing they are engaged.
September 7: Carlo Acutis is canonized by Pope Leo XIV after dying from a severe case of leukemia. He’s regarded as the “first millennial saint”.
September 8: Dramatic Gen Z protests begin in Nepal as the government’s social media ban is protested by thousands of students, creating a political crisis and eventually resulting in the dismissal of Nepal’s prime minister.
October 10: A ceasefire is implemented in the war between Israel and Hamas, ending around 2 years of bloody conflict.
October 12: The former President of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, flees the country after the military sides with Gen-Z protestors who objected against service failures, nepotism, and economic hardship.
October 19: Thieves disguised as construction workers break into the Louvre Museum and steal more than $100 worth of Napoleonic jewels. They used a furniture lift to get to an upper-floor window and escaped with mopeds after they had stolen the treasure.
November 1: The Grand Egyptian Museum officially opens, making history as the largest archeological museum in the world. It also features an exclusive array of items discovered in King Tutankhamun’s tomb.
November 12: The last penny is made in Philadelphia, which ends more than two centuries of production. The reason is that they became too expensive to produce; the cost to make one penny had risen to 3.7 cents.
November 20: The painting El sueño by Frida Kahlo becomes the most expensive piece by a woman artist sold at an auction, purchased for a whopping $54.7 million.
November 26: Tesla shareholders approve a compensation package costing $1 trillion for CEO Elon Musk. It is the biggest compensation package in corporate history and will allow Musk to receive stock awards worth the same amount he bought it for. That is, if he meets a number of ambitious goals over the next decade.
December 10: In Australia, a social media ban for users younger than 16 goes into effect, making them the first country to do so. Banned platforms include Youtube, Facebook, X, TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram.
December 20: A German engineer named Michaela Benthaus becomes the first person to travel to space in a wheelchair.
As 2026 unfolds, let’s consider how memorable 2025 was to people around the world. It taught us how interconnected we truly are and shaped our knowledge, culture, and daily lives in ways that we could have never predicted. The opportunities and challenges we face in 2026 will grow and shape us even more than they did in 2025.
Here’s to a year that surprises us in the most transformative and unforgettable ways!
