1.  Pokemon Go

With over 500 million downloads to date, Pokemon Go swept the world by storm. The app brought nostalgia for all the 90s kids, as they were the first generation to experience the joy of Pokemon. With the app having more downloads than the population of the United States, Pokemon Go made national headlines. The app quickly died down due to a lack of server stability and unresponsiveness from the developers though, but still remains in the top 100 apps in both the Google Play and App Stores.

Credit:  https://www.theodysseyonline.com/gifs-explain-pokemon-experience

2. Trump elected

Through a year of scandals, divisiveness, and political correctness, Donald Trump managed to emerge as the leader of the free world. In a heated campaign, Trump seemingly managed to unroot the foundation of the Republican party, eradicating potential leaders of the party, and instead allowed only his supporters to survive. He also divided the Democratic party through the split between Bernie Sanders supporters and Hillary Clinton supporters, while also calling Clinton “crooked” and saying that she should be thrown in jail. Trump’s unprecedented methods has led America into an uncertain 2017.

Credit: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/01/28/donald_trump_reaction_gifs_for_the_fox_news_debate.html

3. Brexit

Brexit proved to be the beginning of 2016’s divisiveness, with the unexpected result to leave the United Nations surprising universally everyone. This unexpected result led to an increase in racism across not only the United Kingdom, but the world. This result helped cause the next event on this list.

Credit: https://www.tenor.co/view/brexit-eu-europe-ukip-nigel-gif-5109269

4. “Hamilton”

The play that brought America together in the early part of 2016, Hamilton rocked America. With its multi-ethnic cast and modernize songs, Hamilton appealed to nearly every American. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the playwright and formerly cast as Alexander Hamilton, brought American history to the forefront of everyone’s mind.

Credit: http://www.hercampus.com/school/haverford/hamilton-gifs-election-cycle

5. Leonardo DiCaprio won an Oscar

In a year of the unexpected, Leonardo Dicaprio winning an Oscar was the kick in the butt that got it all going. Many felt that DiCaprio had been snuffed in each of his four nominations, but in 2016 that all changed for DiCaprio. The Revenant provided the means for DiCaprio to finally capture his first Oscar.

Credit: http://68.media.tumblr.com/3a6e30983f0bab67a105d590f169f8ba/tumblr_n1qv61U7ZU1qcnhxqo1_500.gif