If we received a dollar for every time the phrase, “Wow, 2025 flew by!” was muttered, we’d all be much richer. To combat the idea of fleeting time, let’s take a look back at some of the biggest headlines from 2025.
January:
Jan. 20, President Donald Trump was inaugurated, becoming the only president besides Grover Cleveland to serve two nonconsecutive terms and, at 78, the oldest candidate to win office. His election was marked by changes to government policy, like the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency.
February:
Feb. 2, during the 67th annual Grammy Awards, Beyoncé won three times, becoming the most decorated Grammy artist. She currently holds 35 wins and 99 nominations. Her achievements that night included winning Album of the Year for Cowboy Carter, a career first.
March:
Mar. 18, American astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore landed back on Earth after a delayed return. Mechanical issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft forced the astronauts to make an emergency landing at the International Space Station. This turned their projected week-long trip into one that lasted 286 days.
April:
April 2, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) removed the “X” (non-binary gender) option from all of its documentation, including passports, IDs and immigration forms. This change aligned with a larger federal shift to emphasize biological sex in documentation. Backlash ensued from various groups advocating for non-binary, gender non-conforming, intersex and transgender rights, as well as immigration groups.
May:
May 8, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the first American pope of the Roman Catholic Church. The election followed the death of Pope Francis on April. 21, which sent shockwaves throughout the catholic and general population. Prevost had previously served as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a position responsible for selecting and managing bishops worldwide.
June:
June brought the start of the “No Kings” protests aimed at President Trump’s policies, the most notable occurring on June 14, during Trump’s birthday parade. Millions of people peacefully took to the streets with signs declaring “No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings.”
July:
July 16, social media erupted after a couple was caught hiding from the kiss cam during a Coldplay concert in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Kristin Cabot and Andy Byron, the people featured in the video, both worked for the tech company Astronomer at the time. After the discovery of their relationship, they were forced to resign due to Byron’s position as CEO and Cabot’s boss. The whole ordeal began trending online, with people mocking the couple’s reactions to getting caught.
August:
Aug. 26, music artist Taylor Swift and Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce announced their engagement on Instagram. The couple had been dating for roughly two years after becoming official in November of 2023. The photo was captioned with “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” paying homage to their fanbase’s nicknames for the couple.
September:
Sep. 10, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at a campus event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The event was the first of Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour,” in which he debated college students on polarizing political issues. A 33-hour manhunt ensued, eventually leading to the arrest of 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.
October:
Oct. 8th, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement. Israeli troops withdrew from all parts of Gaza, prompting the release of the 20 surviving Israeli hostages on Oct. 13. Israel responded to Hamas’ actions by releasing dozens of Palestinian prisoners and allowing aid to flow into Gaza. These actions marked the hopeful decline of a nearly two and a half year war.
November:
Nov. 20, President Trump authorized the release of the so-called “Epstein files”, documents pertaining to the controversy surrounding American financier and billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein’s case involved sex trafficking charges and many well-known names in Hollywood and American politics. As of today, only 12,000 documents containing 125,000 pages have been released, while over 2 million more await review.
December:
Dec. 8, Syria rejoiced as the United States repealed sanctions related to the Caesar Act. The Act was created in 2019 to punish the violent Bashar al-Assad regime for its war crimes. As a result, Syria was put in economic isolation by the United States and the European Union, leaving major impacts on the lives of civilians. Now, nearly one year after the Syrian people overthrew Bashar, the removal of this act will enable Visa and Mastercard transactions, as well as billions of dollars of projected revenue to enter Syria.
A multitude of changes and controversies defined 2025 and were met with celebration and condemnation. This past year taught valuable lessons in various aspects of life and led to both personal and civil transformations.
