(10) Disney+ Changes The Streaming Scene Forever: Though it doesn’t have as many movies or television shows as Netflix, Disney+ is the exclusive streaming home of a significant chunk of Disney’s massive archive of content including Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic. Before their launch on November 12th there wasn’t a large competitor for Netflix in the streaming world; however, it is more realistic that the average consumer has both services rather than choosing one. This launch marks the shift toward a more classic cable bundle feeling for the many streaming services.

(9) Longest Government Shutdown: The United States federal government shutdown of 2018–2019 occurred from midnight EST on December 22, 2018, until January 25, 2019. It was the longest U.S. government shutdown in history, lasting over a month. It led to much protest and uproar from the lack of wages for government workers.

(8) Changes in Space: Just before 10:30 a.m. local time on January 3, the Chang’e 4 robotic spacecraft made a soft landing on the Moon’s South Pole-Aitken Basin area, otherwise known as the “far side” or “dark side” somewhere no human object has been before. The dark side is never visible from earth and no spacecraft has ever attempted landing before. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket transported into orbit 60 Starlink satellites on May 23rd, which were intended to create a new way of internet for Earth, but it sparked conversations about the ethics of a single company unilaterally changing the appearance of the night sky almost as soon as the fleet was deployed. This conversation may lead to a future one on the laws of space, an action humans have not reached yet.

(7) Iranian Women Allowed to Attend Soccer Games for the First Time Since 1981: For the first time in almost four decades, women were allowed to buy tickets and attend a match in Iran. “Finally,” one fan said on Twitter, “the gates are open to us.” This huge move happened in October and joyed many fans throughout the country representing the trend toward better treatment of women from around the world.

(6) Patient With HIV Cured Through STEM Cell Treatment:The man had Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system (a key part of our immune system). He received a stem cell transplant from a donor to generate new healthy blood cells. The stem cells given to the man had a natural mutation that protects against infection from some types of HIV. These are the first steps toward treatment and cure of this disease.

(5) Same-Sex Marriage Legalized in Taiwan and Austria: Lawmakers in Taiwan have approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, a landmark decision that makes the self-ruled island the first place in Asia to pass gay marriage legislation. Xiaogang Wei, who heads the Beijing Gender Health Education Institute, called the bill’s passing a historic moment, not only for Asia but for the global LGBTQ rights movement. Same-sex marriage also was historically legalized in Austria on January 1st, 2019. This was also significant because the country of Austria is Predominantly Roman Catholic. The legalization of same-sex marriage in two very separate parts of the world highlights the strides being made in the LGBTQ+ community around the world.

(4) The First Biracial Child Born Into The Royal Family: Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor is the son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. He was born on May 6th, 2019 and this is a history making moment because of his mother’s genealogy. Meghan, before marrying Harry, was born, raised and living in America. She was also biracial; therefore Archie, the 7th in the line of English succession is of African descent and also will be raised partially American, two firsts for the royal family. This is the same royal family that represents England, arguably the most imperialist country in the world at one time. This was a country that oppressed millions of african slaves, but now have a biracial child in the family. This is truly history-making.

(3) President Donald Trump Faces Possible Impeachment: Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, brought an official impeachment inquiry to Donald Trump after a highly scrutinized phone call with Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in which President Trump supposedly asked for a political favor in the Ukrainians investigating his opponent, Joe Biden, in exchange for military aid and a meeting with Trump. This is still ongoing, but the possible impeachment is still historical as the last time a president was met with possible impeachment was 1998.

(2) New Zealand Mosques Shooting: On March 15th, 2019, the Christchurch mosque shootings were two consecutive terrorist shooting attacks at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, during Friday Prayer. The shooter live-streamed the shooting on Facebook. It took 51 lives, but the truly history-making moment was when the New Zealand government banned semi automatic weapons only weeks after the shooting.

(1) Hong Kong Protests: Hong Kong’s protests began in June against plans to allow extradition to mainland China. Critics feared that this might undermine the independence of the judiciary and put dissidents at risk. The bill was withdrawn in September, but protests continue and now demand full democracy and police action investigation. Police-activist clashes have become more and more violent, with police firing live bullets and protesters attacking officers and throwing petrol bombs.