Top Ten 2021 Stories: A Year In Review

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s that time of year once again.  Time to take a look at the Top Ten 2021 Stories of the year.

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The year provided plenty of huge stories that didn’t make our Top Ten 2021 Stories list.  Among them include:

• Mass shootings at an Asian massage parlor in Atlanta, Boulder grocery store, FedEx Indy
• NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned. His brother, Chris Cuomo, was fired from CNN
• Beyoncé became the most Grammy awarded female in history
• A cargo ship got stuck in the Suez Canal
• Zaila Avant-garde, aged 14, became the 1st Black person to win the Scripp’s National Spelling Bee
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Those were all newsworthy stories.  However, let’s take a look at our picks for the Top Ten 2021 Stories of the year.

10.) DONALD TRUMP IMPEACHED (Again)

Yes, 2021 was a bad year for Donald Trump.  Not only did he lose the election and get tossed out of The White House, but he was banned from Facebook, Twitter, and all mainstream social media.

Oh, and he got impeached, AGAIN!

9.) BIDEN INFRASTRUCTURE DEAL

After months of infighting among Democratic factions and the usual stonewalling from Republicans, President Biden successfully passed and signed into law a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure plan.

According to WhiteHouse.gov, the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will rebuild America’s roads, bridges, and rails, expand access to clean drinking water, ensure every American has access to high-speed internet, tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, and invest in communities that have too often been left behind.”

The Biden infrastructure deal will almost certainly be the centerpiece of his presidency.
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8.) TEXAS POWER OUTAGE

In February of 2021, millions of Texans lost power and more than 100 people died due to a winter storm mix that knocked out a poorly designed Texas power grid system. More than 4.5 million homes and businesses were left without power for several days during brittle cold temperatures.
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7.) PASSAGES

The world lost several notable icons in 2021 across entertainment, sports, politics, and more.  Here are the names of those we lost in our Top Ten 2021 Stories list.

ENTERTAINMENT:
Tanya Roberts (actress), Siegfried Fischbacher (Siegfried & Roy fame), Phil Spector (record producer), Gregory Sierra (actor “Sanford & Son”), Larry King, Cloris Leachman, Cicely Tyson, Dustin “Screech” Diamond, 
Hal Holbrook, Christopher Plummer, Mary Wilson (The Supremes), Chick Corea, Danny Ray (James Brown ‘cape’ man), Yaphet Kotto (actor), George Segal (actor), Jessica Walter (actor), DMX (rapper), Olympia Dukakis (actor), Charles Grodin (actor), Paul Mooney (comedian), Gavin MacLeod (actor), B.J. Thomas (“Raindrops” singer), Clarence Williams III (“Mod Squad” actor), Ned Beatty (actor), Suzanne Douglas (actor), Biz Markie (rapper), Jackie Mason (comedian), Dennis Thomas (Kool & The Gang), Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones), Ed Asner, Willard Scott (former TODAY SHOW weatherman), Michael K. Williams (“The Wire” actor), Don Everly (The Everly Brothers), Norm MacDonald (SNL alum), Michael Constantine (actor), Sarah Dash (LaBelle singer), AJ Johnson (comedian/actor), Willie Garson (actor), Melvin Van Peebles (actor/director), Jay Sandrich (director), Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou of the “Andy Griffith Show”), Saginaw Grant (Native American actor “The Lone Ranger”), Peter Scolari (actor), James Michael Tyler (actor), Stephen Sondheim (composer), Virgil Abloh (designer), Eddie Mekka (actor)

SPORTS:
Paul Westphal (NBA), Floyd Little (NFL Hall of Fame), Tommy Lasorda (baseball great), Hank Aaron (Baseball home run king), John Chaney (Temple basketball coach), Leon Spinks (boxer), Marvelous Marvin Hagler (boxer), Elgin Baylor (former NBA great), Lee Elder (golfer)

POLITICS:
Sheldon Adelson (Vegas casino owner and GOP donor), George Schultz (former Secretary of State), Rep. Ron Wright (R-TX), Rush Limbaugh (conservative radio host), Vernon Jordan (lawyer, civil rights activist, Bill Clinton figure), G Gordon Liddy, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Vice-President Walter Mondale, (Former) Sen. John Warner (husband of Elizabeth Taylor), Donald Rumsfeld (former Defense Secretary), Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), Adlai Stevenson, Gen. Colin Powell, FW de Klerk (former South African president), (Former) Sen. Bob Dole.

NOTABLES:
Eric Jerome Dickey (author), Ted Lumkin, Jr. (Tuskegee airman), Frank Shankwitz (Make A Wish foundation), Larry Flynt (Hustler magazine), Roger Mudd (journalist), Prince Philip of England, Bernie Madoff (Ponzi scheme figure), F. Lee Bailey (OJ Simpson lawyer), John McAfee (antivirus software founder), Ron Popeil (infomercial inventor), Malikah Shabazz (daughter of Malcolm X).
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6.) JUSTICE SYSTEM

The US justice system provided a number of wins and losses during 2021.

Former police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd in Minnesota.  MAGA teen Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted after killing 2 men and wounding another during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael, and William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. were each found guilty of killing Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.
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5.) TOKYO OLYMPICS

After delaying the games in 2020 due to COVID-19, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games went forward in the summer of 2021 without spectators at any of the events.  Despite a rise in the Delta variant this summer, the games went off without a hitch.
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4.) AFGHANISTAN FALLS TO THE TALIBAN

After years of the US fighting a war in Afghanistan, President Biden brought the troops home and the nation of Afghanistan fell into the hands of the Taliban terrorist group on August 15, 2021.
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3.) BIDEN – HARRIS INAUGURATION

On January 20, 2021, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.  Historically, Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first female, first Black and first South Asian Vice-President of the United States.

The ceremony was held at the US Capitol but without tens of thousands of spectators.  Interestingly, a bitter Donald Trump refused to attend the inauguration.

Also of note:  The Biden-Harris inauguration introduced Pete Buttigieg as the first openly gay cabinet member (Secretary of Transportation) and Deb Haaland as the first Native American cabinet member (Secretary of the Interior).
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2.) DELTA & OMICRON VARIANTS/THE VACCINE

Although 2020 gave us the Alpha variant of COVID-19, 2021 brought us the Delta and Omicron variants which have both wreaked havoc throughout the world.

Delta was more deadly, but Omicron has proven to be more contagious. Thankfully, a COVID vaccine was introduced in 2021 to halt hospitalizations and rapid deaths.

In recent days, Omicron has caused grave concern within the US after shutting down Broadway theaters, sporting events, universities, and corporations.  In fact, those who have received 2 or even 3 vaccines are still testing positive with breakthrough COVID cases.
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AND, COMING IN AT NUMBER 1 IN OUR TOP TEN 2021 STORIES:

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1.) JANUARY 6th TRUMP/MAGA INSURRECTION

In a last-ditch effort to steal his lost election and remain in The White House, Donald Trump held a rally outside 1600 Pennsylvania on January 6th then directed his MAGA sycophants to the US Capitol — where they broke onto the floors of the House of Representatives and US Senate, then stormed through the building looking to hang/kill VP Mike Pence, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and others.

They also spread feces and urine throughout the hallways, decimated offices and meeting rooms, rifled through private papers and documents, and even took photos standing on the floors of the House and Senate and in the private office of Speaker Pelosi.

It was one of the darkest days in US history.

So, did we leave any of your Top Ten 2021 Stories out of our list?  If so, tell us in the comments below!

OK WASSUP! discusses the Top News Today:
Top Ten 2021 Stories of the year!