Alaska Airlines Plane Loses Door

January 5th

Shortly after Alaska Airlines Flight 1282’s takeoff on January 5, a door plug filling the port-side emergency exit blew out of its frame, resulting in an uncontrolled decompression inside the aircraft. Luckily, seat 26A next to the plug was unoccupied. However, a boy in row 25 had his shirt ripped off, and his mother reported that she had to hold onto him so that he wouldn’t be blown out of the plane. It was also reported that three passengers had minor injuries requiring medical attention once the aircraft made an emergency landing in Portland.

An investigation into the accident found that the four bolts securing the door plug were missing and that records from the supplier of the plane, Boeing, showed evidence that the plug had been installed without bolts before delivery to Alaska Airlines.

The cabin door plug was discovered in the backyard of a home in the Cedar Mill area of Oregon, and two mobile phones blown out of the plane were found, one in a backyard and the other by a road.

Sweden joins NATO

March 7th

On March 7th, Sweden officially became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), following Finland’s induction. Sweden applied for NATO membership on May 18th, 2022, after the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.

Sweden has long held a policy of neutrality in military affairs, beginning after the Napoleonic Wars. The country remained neutral in both world wars and chose not to join NATO when it was founded in 1949. The Russian invasion raised security concerns across Europe and prompted a shift in public opinion, resulting in Sweden applying for NATO membership.

While this was a significant modification of Sweden’s foreign policy, this move strengthened their national security and allowed them to align with NATO’s collective defense policy, particularly in the Baltic region. This marks a new era in Sweden’s policies in the face of new and upcoming global threats.

Baltimore Bridge Collapse

March 26th

In the early morning of March 26th, a cargo boat crashed into one of the pillars supporting the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The Francis Scott Key Bridge spanned over one and a half miles before it fell. The bridge was originally built in 1977, with estimates showing that it was used by several millions of people each year.

The bridge fell because the container ship Dali crashed into it. The ship left the Port of Baltimore at midnight, but the ship quickly went through a blackout. The Dali’s crew called emergency services to let them know what could happen, and they were able to clear most of the bridge. Six workers doing maintenance on the bridge perished in the incident, but those were the only fatalities.

The Port of Baltimore faced short-term challenges as the port was closed off by the rubble of the bridge. Local ports like the Port of Norfolk and other ports on the Atlantic Coast relieved the pressure, and the channel and the port opened on June 10th. Estimates now have the date of reopening the bridge as sometime in 2028.

Solar Eclipse

April 8th

On April 8, millions of Americans were offered the rare chance to witness a total solar eclipse. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly between the Earth and Sun, blocking out all of the Sun’s light. During the few minutes of totality, the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, becomes visible in an amazing show of light and provides a rare chance for scientists to study the Sun’s atmosphere.

The eclipse passed over North America diagonally, beginning off of Mexico’s West coast and traveling through parts of Texas and up to Northeastern Maine. The eclipse entered Canada before exiting North America along Newfoundland’s Atlantic coast. Those in the path of totality witnessed a brief period of complete darkness, while those outside this path saw a partial eclipse.

Trump Assassination Attempts

July 13th and September 15th

Donald Trump faced two assassination threats against his life in the calendar year. The first of the attempts came on July 13th in the rural town of Butler, Pennsylvania. Thomas Crooks, a 20-year-old who was a native of Pennsylvania, fired his AR-15 in the direction of Trump. While Trump was hit on the right ear, a crowd member was fatally shot with two other crowd members facing severe injuries. The shooter was shot by Secret Service agents moments after his attempt on Trump’s life.

The head of the Secret Service received bipartisan criticism for their slow response and resigned as a response to the criticism. Despite overhauls at the Secret Service, another attempt against Trump’s life came in Florida.

On September 15th, a shooter was found by Secret Service agents hiding in the bushes near Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach. Secret Service agents fired at the suspect and eventually were found and arrested after a chase with police officers. Both attempts led to increased security around presidential candidates.

Paris Olympics

July 26th to August 11th

Three years after the oddity that was the Tokyo Summer Olympics, Paris got to hold the first non-COVID-affected Summer Olympic games since 2016. The games opened with the opening ceremony being held on the River Seine. Over the course of the games, 32 sports were contested.

In the end, the United States ended up tied with China on the gold medal count with 40 gold medals each. In terms of total medals, The United States had 35 more medals than China. Albania, Cape Verde, Dominica, Saint Lucia, and the Refugee Olympic Team all won their first medals during the course of the games. Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei won the most of any athlete, collecting 6 total medals.

The U.S. Men’s Basketball Team barely squeaked by Serbia and France to claim their fifth consecutive gold medal at the Olympic Games. For obvious reasons, surfing was not held in Paris; instead, it was hosted in the French territory of Tahiti. This version of the Olympic Games saw the debut of breaking, or breakdancing, as an Olympic sport.

The Olympics came to a close with the closing ceremony which included a look ahead to the 2028 Summer Olympics which will be held in Los Angeles.

Shohei Ohtani Becomes the First Member of the 50/50 Club

September 19th

In baseball, players are usually either able to hit or steal bases, but not both. Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers has proven that he can do both.

Shohei Ohtani opened the season with a new team, going in free agency from the Los Angeles Angels to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Shortly before the season, Shohei Ohtani’s Japanese interpreter was arrested for fraud charges.

On the field, Shohei Ohtani proved to be unlike anything the baseball world had ever seen before. Ohtani collected 54 home runs over the course of the 162 games he played in the 2024 season. In addition to hammering home runs, Ohtani also was able to steal bases at a tremendous rate. Over the season, he managed to steal 54 bases. On September 19th against the Marlins, Shohei Ohtani had one of the best individual performances in one game going 6/6, homering three times, stealing three bases, and getting ten RBIs. With that performance, Ohtani became the first-ever player in a season to get 50 home runs and 50 steals.

Ohtani capped off his historic season with a National League MVP Award and winning the World Series as a member of the Dodgers.

Hurricanes Debby, Milton, and Helene

Debby: August 5th, Helene: September 26th and Milton: October 9th

This year, three hurricanes clobbered Florida’s Gulf Coast causing extensive damage and costing millions in recovery efforts.

The first hurricane of the trio, Hurricane Debby, hit early August near Florida’s Big Bend, bringing heavy rain, tornadoes, and gusty winds as far north as Quebec. Debby was much more mild compared to the latter two.

Hurricane Helene, the second of the trio, hit in late September. Helene made landfall near the Big Bend, exacerbating Debby’s damage. A 15-foot storm surge left thousands of homes and businesses destroyed. This caused the most destruction in the greater Tampa Bay Area, where ten people drowned in their homes. As another hurricane developed in the Gulf, meteorologists, emergency managers, and residents worried about hurricane debris causing even more damage.

While Helene caused extensive damage in Florida, the storm wreaked havoc in Western North Carolina. Up to 30 inches of rainfall caused flooding, the most seen in the area since 1916. This flooding left thousands of roads and major highways unpassable and rendered most power and telephone lines destroyed. This storm took 103 lives in North Carolina alone, making it one of the deadliest hurricanes in recent years.

The final hurricane, Milton, hit just two weeks after Helene. Due to being one of the fastest intensifying hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, there wasn’t much time to prepare. Projected to hit Tampa Bay, the fear of a potentially benchmark-setting 15-foot storm surge caused mass evacuations. Despite this, many were unable to get out, as most hotels across Central Florida were booked by those rendered homeless by Hurricane Helene.

Milton ultimately came ashore as a Category 3 just south of Tampa Bay. It is estimated that wind gusts surpassed 100 mph near the landfall site. The extreme winds left St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field without a roof. While the projected storm surge never hit, 20 inches of rainfall still caused extensive flooding.

US Election

November 5th

The culmination of a tumultuous election season came on November 5th, with Donald Trump taking home the ultimate prize, the presidency.

At the start of 2024, the election looked primed to be a rematch of the 2020 presidential election with Joe Biden facing Donald Trump. That all changed when Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance proved to be the final straw in his reelection bid. Instead of Joe Biden running for the Democrats, it would instead be Vice President Kamala Harris.

Kamala’s election campaign lasted a little over a hundred days, but it proved not to matter in the end. Donald Trump took the presidency securing 312 electoral college votes, more than the necessary 270 votes to win the presidency. Of the seven commonly agreed upon swing states, Donald Trump won all of them.

Republicans also saw wins in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. In the Senate elections, Republicans will have 53 senators enough to secure the majority in the Senate. In the House of Representatives, Republicans maintained a majority with 220 representatives.

Until the midterm elections of 2026, Republicans will hold a stronghold on the federal government.

Notre-Dame Cathedral Reopens

December 7th

Five years after a devastating fire nearly destroyed it, Notre Dame de Paris formally reopened on Saturday, November 7th. The two-hour opening ceremony celebrated the completion of the 5-year long restoration of the cathedral.

The fire in April 2019 left much of the roof and interior damaged and unstable. Millions were inspired to donate to help fund the restoration of this historic and cultural landmark, some even donated while the fire was still burning. The restoration project cost about $900 million and involved approximately 2,000 craftspeople and 250 companies. True to the age of the cathedral, 13th-century building techniques were used to rebuild the spire framework from local oak wood, while the iconic gargoyles and chimeras were also restored, with some completely re-carved from 1,300 cubic meters of French limestone.

This collective effort, uniting craftsmen from around the world, allowed the iconic monument to be reborn. At the end of the opening ceremony, the word “merci,” meaning “thank you” was projected onto the side of the cathedral, as a way of recognizing all those involved in the resurrection.