21 major world events in 2021

Maya Adimora, Beyond the Gates editor|August 14, 2021

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay

History continues to roll out life-changing events in 2021, as the world moves forward.

It may seem miraculous that the world has survived 2020 and more than half of 2021 without ending. Although 2021 isn’t as chaotic as 2021, we are still dealing with the repercussions of last year and a “new normal” brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is a list of what has happened or will happen this year:

  1. January 6 – President Trump’s supporters stormed the United States Capitol to overturn the 2020 Presidential election.
  2. January 15 – Over 2 million people worldwide had died from COVID-19.
  3. January 20 – President-elect Joe Biden took office as the President of the United States.
  4. February 21 – A military coup ousted Myanmar’s state counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi.
  5. March 25 – Over 500 million vaccinations worldwide were administered.
  6. April 19 – Raúl Castro stepped down as First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party. After 62 years, Cuba is free from the Castro brother’s rule.
  7. April 17– Over 3 million people worldwide had died from COVID-19.
  8. April 20 – Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all three charges—second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter—for George Floyd’s murder.
  9. April 20 – The President of Chad, Idriss Déby, was killed after 30 years in office.
  10. May 1 – President Biden announced that all U.S. military would be withdrawn from Afghanistan.
  11. May 10 – The Israeli–Palestinian conflict officially commenced with widespread violence.
  12. May 21 – Israeli-Palestinian conflict reached a ceasefire.
  13. June 13 – Israel’s parliament voted to end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12 year reign. Naftali Bennett was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Israel.
  14. June 29 – Over 3 billion vaccinations worldwide were administered.
  15. July 7 – Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated and his wife, First Lady Martine Moïse was critically injured.
  16. July 8 – Over 4 million people worldwide died from COVID-19.
  17. July 11 – Italy won the UEFA Euro 2020 after being postponed due to the pandemic.
  18. July 23 – The 2020 Summer Olympics, or Tokyo 2020, began after being postponed due to the pandemic.
  19. September 26 – 2021 German federal election will take place. Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to retire afterward.
  20. October 22 – 2021 Japanese general election will take place.
  21. November 1 – The 2021 UN Climate Change Conference will take place in Glasgow, Scotland after being postponed due to the pandemic.