To say that 2025 has been a tumultuous year is a clear understatement of the facts. Our country has been turned upside down by an unhinged dictator-wanna-be and all of his cronies who are taking his policies far too much to heart, unleashing cruelty on our streets, causing absolute mayhem in every corner of the government, upsetting our health and school systems and so much.
The effect he and his “administration” has wrought on the world as a whole isn’t any better especially where Venezuela is concerned, his inability to get the Ukraine-Russia war ended despite his claim that it would be done “on day one” and the fact he decimated the East Wing of the White House for a ridiculously opulent, and extremely unneeded, ballroom.
Even the entertainment world has been turned on its head in more ways than one because of this madman and his “people” especially where Jimmy Kimmel and the purchase of Warner Brothers Discovery are concerned, but it is still the hope of many in this country that aspects of our daily lives will take an important turn as 2026 gets underway, especially in regards to the mid-term elections.
Until that time comes, let’s take a look at some of the bigger headlines – good, bad or otherwise – for this past year, broken down by month:
January
Careless driver in New Orleans killed 10 people and injured 30 on Bourbon Street
A cybertruck exploded outside Trump Hotel in Las Vegas
President Biden awarded second highest civilian award to leaders of the January 6 committee and 18 other people
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down as party leader
Major winter storm hit over half the country
First person died from bird flu in Louisiana
7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Tibet’s holiest city, 93 perished
Meta (the umbrella company to Facebook) ended fact-checking program
Massive firestorm throughout Los Angeles that hit Pacific Palisades, part of Malibu, some of the Hollywood Hills and Altadena
Israel and Hamas agree to Gaza cease fire deal
President Biden gave final address, warning of big tech and social media manipulation
Historic winter storm hits Southeast, breaking records set in 1895; Louisiana under 10 inches of snow
Ski resort hotel in Turkey went up in flames with 76 people losing their lives
Another deadly high school shooting in Nashville
Israeli troops prevented Palestinians from returning to their homes in Northern Gaza
South Korea indicted President Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of leading an insurrection
Jim Acosta left CNN after turning down 12 Midnight TV slot
Plane collided with Army helicopter near Washington airport
Small medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia with a fiery explosion; no one on board survived
Chuck Todd, the former Meet the Press moderator, left NBC after 18 years
February
Several people injured after car plows into crowd in Munich, Germany
Delta airplane overturns while landing at Toronto airport
Joy Reid and Alex Wagner lost their jobs at MSNBC because of programming changes
Washington Post opinion editor, David Shipley, left the paper due to new direction taken by newspaper owner Jeff Bezos
March
American Airlines plane suddenly and mysteriously erupted into flames at Denver International Airport
Severe storm threat shifted to the East Coast
The stranded astronauts finally made it home safe
Massive 7.7 earthquake in Southeast Asia, centered in Myanmar
Massive wildfires in the South of US, specifically in the Carolinas and flooding in Texas
Far-Right EU leader Marine Le Pen found guilty of embezzlement and banned from 2027 election (she was barred for 5 years)
April
Heavy rain and tornadoes sweep Central United States
A tourist helicopter from Spain plunged into the Hudson River in New York City
Aircraft crashed in Boca Raton, Florida
5.2-magnitude earthquake hit San Diego, California
Murder suspect Luigi Mangione was indicted on federal charges in the killing of Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare
20-year-old son of local sheriff’s deputy allegedly opened fire new Student Union at Florida State University
Private, single-engine plane crashed in rural Illinois, four people lost their lives
Lori Daybell, the mother convicted of murdering two of her children in a so-called doomsday plot, was found guilty of conspiring with her brother to kill her fourth husband
Massive wildfire erupted in Ocean County, New Jersey
Car plowed through Vancouver Filipino festival, 11 people lost their lives
Russian Dictator Putin declared a temporary truce during Victory Day celebrations
United States fighter jet fell overboard while avoiding Houthi attack
May
The first American is elected Pope, Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo, was born in Chicago
Lester Holt left the anchor desk at NBC Nightly News
St. Louis-area hit with tornadoes, taking the lives of at least 5 people, injuring 35 others and affecting more than 5,000 homes
Former President Joe Biden diagnosed with prostate cancer
Mexican Navy sailboat crashes into Brooklyn Bridge with nearly 300 aboard; it caused two deaths and 19 people injured
More deaths due to tornadoes in Kentucky and Missouri
Small plane crashed in San Diego, setting home ablaze
Two Israeli embassy staffers – Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim – were shot dead outside DC’s Capital Jewish Museum
Supreme court rejected bid for religious charter school in Oklahoma
Billy Joel announced brain disorder with all concerts cancelled
June
At least six people injured in Boulder Colorado after “act of terror” with a makeshift flamethrower
Two people found dead at a remote campground in Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park
Israel attached Iran nuclear program
ABC News let correspondent Terry Moran go after he criticized a member of the current “Administration”
Over 200 people perished in Air India Crash
Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were killed by a Trump supporter and Trump voter and this same killer attacked Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette
Tyler Perry was hit with a lawsuit accusing him of sexually harassing and assaulting an actor
Karen Read, from Massachusetts, who was accused of killing her police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe in 2022, was found not guilty of murder in a retrial
A mega-yacht with 400 passengers crashed into a New York City dock
A madman opened fire at a Michigan church
Iran targeted a U.S. military base in Qatar
Legendary Anna Wintour announced she would leave her post as Head of Editorial Content at American Vogue after 37 years
A house in Philadelphia exploded
Two firefighters were killed in an Idaho ambush
July
Sean “Diddy” Combs convicted on 4 out of the 5 charges lodged against him
Mall shooting in Savannah, Georgia
Mass shooting in River North (in Chicago, Illinois) outside Artis Nightclub
Catastrophic flooding in Texas
Massive fire in San Luis Obispo County in California
Former Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit reportedly died by suicide just hours after Russian Dictator Putin fired him
New Mexico flash flooding
A plane crashed and exploded on a runway outside London
A fire at an assisted living home in Fall River, Massachusetts took the lives of at least nine people
Three deputies were killed in an explosion at a sheriff’s department training facility in Los Angeles
Bryan Kohlberger, the man accused of the killings of four University of Idaho students, was given four life sentences
An 8.8 magnitude earthquake off Russia’s coast led to warnings and Tsunami advisories for parts of Japan and Alaska
Former Vice President Kamala Harris announced she would not run for California Governor
August
Four people lost their lives due to a shooting in Montana
A U.S. Army Sergeant allegedly shot and wounded five soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia
Two people lost their lives when a helicopter crashed into a Mississippi River barge north of St. Louis
Three people lost their lives in a shooting at a Target store in Austin, Texas
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has been cancelled after the Skydance/Paramount merger
A Pennsylvania steel factory explosion trapped people in the rubble
Hurricane Erin reached a catastrophic category 5 level, hitting the Caribbean Islands
Two cruise passengers drowned within hours of each other on Carnival’s new private island in the Bahamas
Jasveen Sangha, known as the Ketamine Queen, plead guilty to her involvement in the death of Friends actor Matthew Perry
Two Utah police officers lost their lives while responding to a domestic disturbance
MSNBC announced a name change to MS NOW as the cable news network split from NBC News
Sadly Nazi flags were spotted hanging from a Texas High School roof
New York City was rocked with a Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak
Haboob, a towering wall of dust, slammed Phoenix, Arizona with a towering wall of dust, causing damage, airport delays and power outages
A shooter fired in church pews at a Minnesota Catholic school, killing two children and injuring at 17 others
Mass exodus of cast from Saturday Night Live
September
Former Real World “star” Kelley Wolf was arrested on suspicion of electronic harassment in the midst of her bitter divorce from Party of Five actor Scott Wolf
East Coast beaches were hit with fecal contamination warnings ahead of Labor Day weekend
Three people were hospitalized after a minivan drove through a Pennsylvania festival
Hawaii was under a state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Kiko
Australia mushroom murderer Erin Patterson was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 33 years
Russia hit Kyiv’s heavily protected government district
A Utah trucker was arrested after teens were found in a 29-degree refrigerated trailer
Four soldiers were believed to have perished in a military helicopter crash
Starbucks announced it would reduce its total number of coffeehouse across North America
A 27-year-old gunman attacked a midtown Manhattan office building because he was anger at the NFL due to his chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain condition
A destructive flood in Arizona took the lives of four people and swept away 1,000 propane tanks
A wildfire burned more than a third of one of Africa’s biggest national parks.
Hollywood was in an uproar over AI creation Tilly Norwood
October
The killing of 2 people on Yom Kippur in Manchester, England outside a synagogue
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs being sentenced to more than four years in prison over prostitution conviction
Hundreds of trekkers were stranded by a blizzard near the eastern face of Mount Everest due to unusually heavy snow and rainfall in the Himalayas
Young environmentalist Greta Thunberg alleged torture in Israeli detention after her Gaza flotilla arrest
A 29-year-old Uber driver, Jonathan Rinderknecht, was arrested for starting the inferno in the Pacific Palisades, California that took the lives of over a dozen people and decimated over 5,4000 homes
For while it lasted Israel and Hamas reached a deal on the release of the remaining hostages and pulling back troops
Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela”
A Tennessee explosives manufacturing plant suffered a devastating blast, taking the lives of at least 16 people
A bar shooting in St. Helena Island in South Carolina caused the deaths of at least 4 people and injuring 16
737 days later, the last 20 living Israeli hostages were set free
The Supreme Court declined to hear Alex Jones’ effort to appeal a $1.4 billion judgment against the families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre
Prince Andrew was stripped of his Royal title amid the unrelenting allegations of his link to disgraced pedophile Jeffrey Epstein
The Louvre in France suffered a brazen daylight robbery where they fled with priceless jewelry
A pardoned Capitol rioter was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries
The deadliest police operation against drug gangs in Brazil’s history killed at least 121 people
Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Cuba after hitting Jamaica
Mass shooting at huge North Carolina house party that left two dead and 11 other wounded
November and December
At least three people were killed and 11 were injured after a UPS plane crashed in Louisville, Kentucky
The US Mint produced the final penny, ending the coin’s 232-year-old life
An ammonia leak in Oklahoma left dozens hospitalized
Major Democratic win in New Jersey, Virginia and New York as well as Prop 50 passing with a massive win in California as well as 3 Supreme Court judges in Pennsylvania
Shareholders granted Elon Musk a $1 Trillion Tesla payday [as if he deserves any of that?!]
Indiana homeowner Curt Anderson shot and killed a house cleaner on his front porch after she and her husband mistakenly showed up on his property, thinking it was a different address
A massive fire engulfed a residential apartment complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district
Two National Guard members shot near White House with Sarah Beckstrom losing her life because of 29-year-old, extremely troubled Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal
A 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck northwest of Anchorage, Alaska
Children killed in a mass shooting at a California birthday party
Huge 45 vehicle pile-up in Indiana after cars slid on ice in the largest wreck firefighters have ever seen
A suspect in the January 6, 2021 pipe bomb investigation was finally identified and arrested
Netflix and Paramount are in a battle royale over acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery
Legendary actor Dick Van Dyke turns 100-years-old
Brown University shooting in Providence, Rhode Island
Australia shooting on first day of Chanukkah on Bondi Beach
As for the multitude of war crimes, insults to female reporters, the inability to understand that tariffs are a tax on the American people, every department within the government being wrecked by the now-defunct DOGE (an idiotic, made-up department, I might add), the inhumane mass deportation efforts, the decimation of the Oval Office with his whorehouse “decorations” and countless other crimes against the American people, the list of offenses caused by the orange-faced bastard in the White House and all those “working on his behalf” easily spans pages and pages of information that I will refrain from providing here because we’ve seen all of them on the nightly news all year long. Needless to say, once the roles have been changed in Washington, D.C., I cannot wait for all of these people to be held accountable for what they’ve done to everyone across the globe.
I hope that you will join me through the end of this year, as I focus on the best and the worst of 2025 in the worlds of TV and movies, TV ratings and so much more.
NOTE: I apologize in advance for any omissions, spelling errors or oversights I might have made, but I definitely don’t apologize for any choices I made.
TOMORROW: Hit and Misses on TV
Rueben's Ramblings 