As this calendar draws to a close and we look forward to 2020, we again take time to reflect on a selection of some of the things and events that took place in 2019. Thanks as always for visiting. We've made it through another wild year together.
january: China lands a probe on the far side of the Moon. In the US, works from 1923 enter into public domain, the first tranche to do so since 1998. After a contested election, the incumbent government of Venezuela is declared illegitimate. We had to say a sad goodbye to Zuzu, a long time companion for my mother and a devilish dog.
february: The Trump administration announces its decision to withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, prompting Russia to follow suit. Pope Francis becomes the first pontiff to visit the Arab peninsula. A second summit between the US and North Korea collapses in failure. We bid farewell to fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld, musician Peter Tork, and actor Bruno Ganz.
march: A terrorist’s rampage kills fifty people during services in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, prompting the government to immediately ban the sales and ownership of assault weapons. Special Counsel Robert Mueller concludes his report on Russian interference in the US 2016 presidential election and summits it to the Attorney General. Copyright reforms pass in the EU Parliament. After successive failures to pass a divorce deal, Brexit is delayed. We had to say goodbye to musicians Dick Dale and Keith Flint, actor Luke Perry, as well as filmmaker Agnรจs Varda.
april: Wikileaks founder Julian Assange loses his political sanctuary after seven years residing in the Colombian mission to the UK and is apprehended at the behest of the US, to be extradited to stand trial for releasing classified materials. We sadly had to say goodbye to another canine companion, Chauncy. Astronomers capture the image of a black hole. Brexit is postponed again. During Holy Week, a conflagration engulfed Notre-Dame de Paris. Over three hundred individuals in Sri Lanka were massacred on Easter Sunday.
may: Austria’s far-right coalition government collapses after an incriminating video surfaces of a senior official emerges of him promising infrastructure contracts in exchange for campaign support to the posturing relative of a Russian oligarch during a meeting in Ibiza. Sebastian Kurz resigns as Austrian chancellor and Brigette Bierlein leads a caretaker government until new elections can be held. We bid farewell to master architect I.M. Pei, Tim Conway, Peter Mayhew, Leon Redbone and Doris Day. Grumpy Cat also passed away too soon.
june: The Trump family take a summer vacation, going off to London to see the Queen, fรชted by outgoing Prime Minister, Theresa May, discharging one of her last, onerous official duties before stepping down. The US administration reinstates most sanctions and travel restrictions against Cuba. Trump ordered strikes against Iran for the destruction of a US spy drone, belaying the order once jets were already in the air and instead authorised a cyber-attack against the government. Over the course of two evenings, the large pool of Democratic nominee hopefuls held debates. We had to say farewell to iconic New Orleans singer, song-writer and producer Mac Rebennack, otherwise known as Dr John, as well as epic, old Hollywood filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli and Gloria Vanderbilt.
july: Violent protests continue in Hong Kong.
An arsonist attacked an animation studio in Kyoto, killing dozens. Donald Trump channels his racism to strengthen his bid for re-election, having never stopped campaign, blowing a dog whistle that is clearly audible to all. Boris Johnston succeeds Teresa May as prime minister and head of the UK Tory party. We had to say goodbye to Brazilian musician Joรฃo Gilberto who introduced the world to bossa nova as well as business magnate and philanthropist turned independent politician Ross Perot (*1930), US Supreme Court associate justice John Paul Stevens, Argentine architect Cรฉsar Pelli and actors Rutger Hauer and Russi Taylor.
august: Protests continue in Hong Kong. India revokes the special status accorded to the disputed territory of Kashmir, escalating tensions with neighbouring Pakistan and China. More gun violence visits the US. Puerto Rico goes through three governors in five days. Sex-trafficker and socialite Jeffrey Epstein was found dead of apparent suicide in his jail cell awaiting trial. In the midst of a mass-extinction event, Trump repeals the Endangered Species Act and the Amazon burns. Poet and author Toni Morrison (*1931), Irish singer Danny Doyle and lyricist David Berman died as did actor Peter Fonda and animator Richard Williams.
september: Setting a dangerous precedent, the US national weather agency revises its hurricane forecast to match the antics and bullheadedness of Donald Trump in the wake of the death and destruction brought on the Bahamas.
Prime minister Boris Johnson prorogues Parliament until only two weeks ahead of Brexit departure day. Trump also announces the cancellation of secret talks he was to hold with a delegation of the Taliban that probably otherwise would have been a 9/11 anniversary photo-op. Greta Thunberg leads a Fridays for the Future climate walkout in Washington, DC and addresses Congress and global strikes follow. After thirty years as presenter for BBC Radio 4 flagship Today programme, John Humphrys retires. House Democrats launch impeachment proceedings against Trump after it was revealed he sought to impugn his political opponents with the help of a foreign power, this time Ukraine. Photojournalist Charlie Cole (*1955) who captured the iconic image of Tank Man and artists Eddie Money (*1949) and Cars headman Ric Osasek (*1944) and pioneering journalist Cokie Roberts (*1943) passed away.
october: Trump withdraws US troops from the Kurdish controlled border region of Syrian and Turkey promptly invades.
Protests continue in Hong Kong, marring China’s seventieth anniversary celebrations. There is a terrorist attack on a synagogue in Halle. Trump refuses to cooperate with House impeachment proceedings. John Bannister Goodenough (
previously) is recognised with a shared Nobel in Chemistry for his pioneering work with lithium batteries. An all-women team of astronauts successfully complete a
space-walk. Brexit is delayed again with the extension pushed back to 31 January 2020. ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is killed in a raid by US military forces. The Trump administration is highly recalcitrant and uncooperative during impeachment proceedings. Long-time congress member representing Baltimore,
Elijah Cummings (*1951), passed away.
november: The Trump impeachment hearings go public.
Aide and political consultant
Roger Stone found guilty on all counts for obstruction of justice, witness tampering and lying to Congress just as Trump intimidates former Ukrainian ambassador live during her testimony and career diplomat Marie Yovanovitch is afforded the chance to reply in real time. A deadly knife-attack on London Bridge is halted by three by-standers, one with his bare hands and the others armed with a fire-extinguisher and a narwal tusk. The historic Austrian village of Hallstadt is partially burned down.
Frank Avruch (also known as Bozo the Clown, *1930) passed away. We also said farewell to William Ruckelshaus (*1932), America’s first Environmental Protection Agency administrator and government official who
defied Richard Nixon during the Saturday Night Massacre.
december: The venue moved from Chile due to ongoing unrest, the environmental summit COP25 commences in Madrid.
Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin step down. Greta Thunberg is named TIME’s Person of the Year. In the UK General Election, a sizable Tory upset gives Boris Johnson a mandate for the UK quitting the EU. Global trade wars with the US and the rest of the world as belligerents re-surges, this time over Nord Stream 2 (
previously) and opting for an energy source at least marginally cleaner than American oil and natural gas obtained by fracking. Wildfires continue to devastate Australia. We had to bid farewell to pioneering Star Trek screenwriter
DC Fontana (*1939), veteran stage and screen actor appearing in M*A*S*H*, Benson and
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Renรฉ Murat Auberjonois (*1940), spiritual guru Ram Dass (*1931), accomplished actress Anna Karina (*1940) and
Carroll Spinney (*1933), the puppeteer behind Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch (
previously) for nearly fifty years.
Like the explosion in the discovery of gravitational wave phenomena, more visitors like สปOumuamua and Borisov are bound to be found, advanced imaging techniques underwritten by more data but now both enterprises are in jeopardy by funding cuts to NASA, sponsor to both. And while anyone can determine whether a trajectory is parabolic or hyperbolic or predict a collision course, a potential loss of telemetry seems of great gravity when it comes to such global studies and preservation for Earth and other knock on effects. Significantly brighter than the previous two encounters and traceable by amateur astronomers, the comet, posing no threat to Earth, won’t be visible at perihelion as it will be on the other side of the Sun then in October but at its closest approach to Mars, it may be detected by Martian rovers and satellites.
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