What will you remember when you look back on 2021?
From military coups to vaccine rollouts, Olympic Games to the Capitol Hill riot, the year was marked by a string of firsts – some of which many would rather never repeat.
As the globe rang in the New Year 12 months ago, all eyes were on whether a group of vaccines developed in record time would help put the lid on spiralling Covid-19 infections. Then, as cases gradually began to fall around the world, attention turned to the process of unlocking after 18 months of staying indoors.
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It was not all plain sailing, with spikes in the number of infections coming as other global events threatened to rock the international community. As the year came to an end, residual fears of energy shortages coupled with concerns over a number of potential conflicts kept international diplomats working late into the night.
But the year was also marked by high points, including huge strides forward in tackling the world’s deadliest diseases, the return of large-scale events and, for sports fans, the England football team almost clinching victory in the Euro 2020 final.
To find out how closely you’ve been paying attention to all the big news – good and bad – over the past year, take our quiz of the year:
In addition to the waxing and waning of the coronavirus crisis, the world also faced a string of unprecedented climate events, culminating in the meeting of Cop26 in Glasgow. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle continued to make waves, triggering crisis talks in the Royal Family with racism allegations in March.
Joe Biden hit the ground running in his first 100 days in the White House, but soon found his approval ratings plummeting amid rumours of a fallout with Kamala Harris. Angela Merkel also departed the political scene, making way for a successor after 16 years as chancellor of Germany.
China’s designs on Taiwan continued to make headlines, while fears of a resurgent Russia invading Ukraine sent the UK and US into frantic diplomatic and military manoeuvres.
And the debate over public health versus personal liberty rumbled on from 2020 into 2021, with vaccine mandates becoming the new battleground.
