While the global crisis of the pandemic has lessened, and good deeds have been done throughout the year, bad and shocking events seemed to be overwhelming over the last 12 months whether it was school shootings, racial tensions, horrific weather or one indictment after the other against a certain former “politician,” 2023 has been one hell of a year. But with the bad comes the good, and I know many of us try, as best we can, to focus on the good.
The following are just some of the top stories for this year, broken down by month:
January
Kevin McCarthy voted as Speaker of the House after several failed attempts
A 6-year-old shot his elementary school teacher in Virginia
Prince Harry’s expose book “Spare” came out
Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes are fired from Good Morning America 3 after illicit romantic affair is revealed
Jeremy Renner severely injured in snowplow accident
Deadly Walmart shooting in Indiana
East Jerusalem synagogue hit by gunman
Gunman attacks Lunar New Year’s Eve Celebration in Monterey Park, California
14 citizens hurt or threatened during January 6 insurrection were honored by President Biden with high public honor
February
7.8 earthquake in Turkey and Syria killed more than 41,000 people
Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 16 years in prison after rape conviction
R. Kelly sentenced to 20 years in federal prison related to child pornography charges
Rupert Murdoch acknowledged Fox News hosts endorsed election fraud falsehoods
The Chinese balloon incident took place
Buffalo grocery store shooting
Black Hawk plane crash in Alabama with no survivors
March
South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh guilty of murdering his wife and son
A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald Trump
School shooting in Nashville
Nationwide protests in France due to retirement age being raised from 62 to 64
April
Donald Trump arrested on 34 felony counts
Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard was arrested because of classified documents being leaked on the internet
The Phantom of the Opera comes to an end on Broadway after 35 years and 13,981 performances
An 85-year-old Missouri man charged in shooting a blak teenager who went to the wrong house
Fox Corporation and Donimion Voting Systems agreed to settle a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit
Don Lemon determined by CNN after 17 years
Tucker Carlson and Fox News parted ways
President Joe Biden announced his re-election bid
The Walt Disney Co. filed a First Amendment lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
May
Aerosmith announces 40-date arean farewell tour
The Writers Guild of America went on strike on May 2
Four Proud Boys convicted of sedition in January 6 case
A jury found Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation of E. Jean Carroll
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle involved in near catastrophic 2-hour car chase with paparazzi
Montana became the first state in the US to ban TikTok
Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy from January 6 case
Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced founder of the blood testing start-up Theranos, reports to prison for 11-year sentence
Actor Danny Masterson convicted on two criminal counts in his sexual assault retrial
June
Two passenger trains crashed in Odisha, India
Canadian wildfires caused bad air quality throughout much of the East Coast
Donald Trump is charged in classified documents inquiry
Pat Sajak is leaving the game show Wheel of Fortune after 41 seasons
Donald Trump surrendered himself to the U.S. marshals in Miamia
Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, was charged with two tax misdemeanors and illegally possessing a handgun
Titan submarine suffered catastrophic implosion, all 5 passengers lost
July
The Screen Actors Guild went on strike; first time in 63 years that both the writers and actors were on strike at the same time
Suspect arrested in serial killings of women near Gilgo Beach near Long Island
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared unable to speak halfway through a press conference
Actor Kevin Spacey found not guilty of sexual assault charges in UK trial
July was on track to be the hottest month globally since 1850
August
Donald Trump indicted for a third time by a Washington grand jury for his involvement with the January 6 riots
Massive wildfire in Maui County, Hawaii
Texas governor Greg Abbott was considered to have blood on his hands because of chained buoys placed in the Rio Grande that caused the death of several asylum seekers
Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin confirmed killed in plane crash
Donald Trump surrendered to authorities in Atlanta where he was required to pose for a mugshot after being indicted for a fourth time in five months
8 tornados hit the Midwest and triple digit temperatures in much of that same area
A white gunman who “hated Black people” killed several people, and then himself, in a Dollar General in Jacksonville, Florida
3 US Marines killed in an Osprey crash in Australia
A category 4 Hurricane hit the Gulf Coast
The blue supermoon was seen all around the world
Spain’s top soccer official resigned over unwanted World Cup kiss
The Nebraska women’s volleyball team played in front of 92,003 fans, making a world record in women’s sports
Fire ripped through a building in Johannesburg, causing countless deaths
September
Two more members of the Proud Boys get sentenced in the January 6 sedition case
Thousands of people stranded at the Burning Man festival due to mud from a torrential rain that closed roads
Enrique Tarrio, the ex-leader of the Proud Boys sentenced to 22 years in January 6 sedition case
Two people plowed through the Great Wall of China, leaving a gaping hole
A powerful earthquake struck Morocco, killing more than 600 people
The convicted killer, Danelo Cavalcante, was captured after he escaped prison, which prompted a 500-officer manhunt
The United Auto Workers went on strike
The Writers Guild of America finally reached an agreement with the studios after 148 days on strike
Donald Trump was found to have inflated property values on his holdings by as much as $2.2 billion
Record-breaking astronaut Frank Rubio finally returned to Earth after spending 371 days in space
New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez was indicted
October
Kevin McCarthy was ousted as Speaker of the House after a Republican rebellion
Gaza and Israel war breaks out with the Hamas launching a surprise assaults on civilians
Sidney Powell, a lawyer for Donald Trump, pleaded guilty in the Georgia Trump election case; also Jenna Ellis, another former Trump lawyer, also pleaded guilty; Ken Chesbro and Mark Meadows also pleaded guilty
A Lewiston, Maine man – Robert Card – killed 22 people in several locations, causing New Hampshire to close state lines in order to catch him
Mike Johnson was voted to Speaker of the House
The United Auto Workers union won their strike against Detroit Big Three automakers
November
New song by The Beatles “Now and Then” was released after an eventful journey that spanned five decades to be created
Lisa Franchetti is the first woman ever to be confirmed by the Senate to lead the United States Navy
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried convicted by a federal jury of fraud and conspiracy
Ohio voted to establish right to abortion
Democrats take control of Virginia Legislature
David DePape, the man who attacked Paul Pelosi, the husband of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, was convicted of his crimes
A brief pause in the war between Israel and Hamas allowed for many hostages to be freed and returned home on both sides
December
U.S. Representative George Santos was expelled from congress
Kevin McCarthy will leave Congress at the end of the year
Three Hamas hostages were shot by accident by the Israel military
Jury orders Rudy Giuliani to pay $148 million to the election workers he defamed in 2020 and then a short time later he declares bankruptcy
Prince Harry’s phone was hacked by U.K. tabloid as rules by judge in a landmark case
COVID-19, Flue and RSV Cases were on the rise
Cardinal Becciu found guilty of embezzlement in Vatican
Volcano erupts in Iceland near a power plant
The Colorado Supreme Court deems Donald Trump ineligible for 2024 ballot (first court to find that the disqualification clause of the 14th amendment applies and affirms that he engaged in insurrection)
Horrific university shooting in Prague
That is quite the list of just some of the top news items throughout the year!
I hope that you will join me through the end of this year, as I focus on the best and the worst of 2023 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: Top TV Moments
