January:
- A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at a nightclub in Istanbul killing 39 people and injuring 79 others
- Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States
- Millions of people worldwide join the Women’s March in response to Trump’s inauguration
- The British Red Cross describes the current situation in England’s NHS hospitals as a “humanitarian crisis”
- Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness resigns
February:
- North Korea receives international condemnation after test firing a ballistic missile across the Sea of Japan
- Kim Jong-nam, half-brother to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is killed after being attacked by two women with VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport
- The Queen commemorates her Sapphire Jubilee
- Cressida Dick is appointed Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, the first woman to hold the position in the force’s 188-year history
March:
- With up to 20 million people at risk of starvation and famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria, the UN warns of the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II
- The UK triggers Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, starting the Brexit negotiations with the EU
- Thousands of people including NHS employees, campaigners and union representatives March in London to protest “yet more austerity” in the health service
- Four people die, later rising to six, and at least forty others are injured in what is treated as a terrorist attack, when a car driver ploughs through pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before stabbing PC Keith Palmer to death
April:
- In response to a suspected chemical weapons attack, the US launches 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at an air base in Syria, significantly damaging US-Russia relations
- The US drops the GBU-43/B MOAB, the world’s largest non-nuclear weapon, on an IS base in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan
- Britain goes an entire day without using coal power to generate electricity for the first time since the Industrial Revolution
- Anthony Joshua defeats Wladimir Klitschko to become WBA World Heavyweight Champion
May:
- President Trump fires FBI Director James Comey, leading to calls for the appointment of a special cousnel
- Computers around the world are hit by a large-scale ransomware cyberattack, the WannaCry cryptoworm goes on to affect at least 150 countries
- Former FBI Director Robert Mueller is appointed Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice, taking over the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US Presidential election
- An Islamic terrorist bombing attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester kills 22 people and injured more than 500 others
- Paper £5 notes cease to be legal tender
- Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 to win the FA Cup for a record thirteenth time
June:
- The US government announces its decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement
- Eight people are murdered and dozens are wounded by Islamist terrorists in an attack on London Bridge and Borough Market
- Two IS terrorist attacks are carried out simultaneously at the Iranian Parliament building and the Mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini, both in Tehran, killing 17 and wounding 43 more
- A snap general election is held in the UK resulting in a hung parliament, with the Conservative party losing their majority. Days later, the Conservatives enter a confidence-and-supply deal with the DUP, agreeing on £1 billion in favour of support
- Paul Nuttall resigns as UKIP leader after they lose their only seat in the general election
- Tim Farron resigns as leader of the Liberal Democrats
- A fire at Grenfell Tower kills 72 people and injures more than 70 other
- The Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, Iraq is destroyed by IS
- Solar, wind and nuclear power each provide more electricity than gas and coal combined for the first time in the UK
- One person is killed and ten others injured after a van runs down pedestrians near Finsbury Park Mosque
- England under-20s win the FIFA U-20 World Cup, beating Venezuela 1-0 in the final
July:
- The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is voted for by 122 states
- Mosul is declared fully liberated from IS
- The Lake District becomes a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- The Office for National Statistics reports that crime in England and Wales has seen its largest annual rise in a decade, increasing by 10% overall from April 2016 to March 2017
- Sir Vince Cable is appointed the leader of the Liberal Democrats
August:
- The Unite the Right rally is held in Charlottesville, Virginia by a variety of white nationalist and far-right groups. Heather Heyer, a counter-protester, is killed after being hit by a car
- The first terrorist attack ever sentenced as a crime in Finland kills two people and injures eight others
- Hurricane Harvey strikes the United States, causing at least 108 deaths and total damage reaching $125 billion
- The Duke of Edinburgh carries out his final official engagement before retiring from public duties at the age of 96
- Big Ben falls silent as a four-year renovation begins
September:
- Russian President Vladimir Putin expels 755 diplomats in response to US sanctions
- North Korea conducts its sixth and most powerful nuclear test
- The International Olympic Committee awards Paris and Los Angeles the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics respectively
- A 7.1 magnitude earthquake strikes central Mexico, killing more than 350, leaving up to 6000 injured and thousands more homeless
- Hurricane Maria strikes the Caribbean causing at least 3000 deaths and damage in excess of $91.6 billion
- Women are eligible to join the RAF Regiment, making the RAF the first British armed service to accept both genders in all roles
- A survey by the National Centre for Social Research finds that, for the first time, a majority (53%) of British adults describe themselves as non-religious
- An explosion on a tube train at Parsons Green station is treated as a terror attack, 29 injuries are reported but no deaths
- UK scientists edit the DNA of human embryos for the first time
- Measles is declared eradicated in the UK for the first time
October:
- Stephen Paddock opens fire on a crowd in Las Vegas killing 59 people and injuring 868 more, surpassing the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting as the deadliest mass shooting by a lone gunman in US history
- The US announces its decision to withdraw from UNESCO, immediately followed by Israel
- A truck bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia kills at least 587 people and injures 316 more
- Raqqa is declared fully liberated from IS
- At the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping assumes his second term as General Secretary with political theory Xi Jinping Thought written into the party’s constitution
- Based on the results of a referendum, Catalonia declared independence from Spain, but the Catalan Republic is not recognised by the Spanish government or any other sovereign nation
- Following numerous acid attacks, it is announced that the sale of acid to under 18s will be banned
- Revised figures from the Office of National Statistics suggests the UK is £490 billion poorer than previously thought
- Women in Scotland are to be allowed to take abortion pills at home
- England under-17s beat Spain 5-2 to claim the FIFA U-17 World Cup
November:
- A new species of orang-utan is identified in Indonesia, the first great ape to be described for almost a century
- Deir ez-Zor, Syria and Al-Qa’im, Iraq are declared liberated from IS
- German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, publishes 13.4 million documents known as the Paradise Papers, revealing offshore financial activities of politicians, celebrities and corporations
- A gunman opens fire in a Baptist church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing 26 people and injuring 20 more
- A magnitude 7.3 earthquake strikes the border of Iraq and Iran leaving at least 530 dead and over 70,000 homeless
- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is placed under house arrest, as the military take control of the country. He resigns six days later after 37 years of rule
- A new record price for any work of art is set as da Vinci’s Salvador Muncie sells for $450 million at Christie’s, New York
- Ratko Mladić is found guilty of genocide committed in Srebrenica during the 1990s Bosnian War, the worst massacre in Europe since World War II. He is sentenced to life in prison
- A mosque attack in Sinai, Egypt kills 305 worshippers and leaves hundreds more wounded
- A report by the British Medical Journal shows that NHS and social care austerity has been responsible for 120,000 excess deaths since 2010 under the Tories
December:
- Russia is banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, following an investigation into state-sponsored doping
- The US officially recognises Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
- The Iraqi military announces it has fully liberated of all of Iraq’s territories from IS
- The Walt Disney Company announces that it will acquire most of 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox film studio,
- The UN Security Council votes 15-0 in favour of additional sanctions on North Korea
- The EU announces that the UK’s Brexit transition period will be no later than 31st December 2020
Other:
- The UK’s biggest single of the year, in terms of sales and streams, is Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You”
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi claims $1.3 billion at the box office, making it the highest grossing film of the year
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