Year in Review: Here are the top headlines of 2023
WASHINGTON - 2023 was a year marked with contentious cultural, political and social issues.
The distinct polarization among the American public that has characterized the past few years maintained with a new Pew Research study showing that nearly 80% of Americans have an unfavorable view of politics in the U.S.
Something a majority of Americans do agree on though: 62% of adults say democracy in the U.S. could be at risk depending on who wins the 2024 election, according to an AP-NORC poll.
No matter what happens, it’s sure to be an eventful year, just as 2023 was.
Here’s a look back at some of the most important events that impacted the U.S. this year.
January
Senators grill Ticketmaster following Taylor Swift debacle
In 2022, Ticketmaster found itself in hot water after millions of Taylor Swift fans were unable to get their hands on tickets to the entertainer’s highly-anticipated "Eras Tour."
In January, lawmakers grilled leaders of the world’s largest ticket seller, saying its market dominance means it faces little pressure to innovate and improve.
The company issued an apology to Taylor and the Swifties but they are still under the microscope over their prices, hidden fees and other ticketing practices.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy elected after 15 rounds of voting
After days of voting, Republican Kevin McCarthy was voted in as House speaker on a historic post-midnight 15th ballot, overcoming holdouts from his own ranks and a challenging week that tested the fresh GOP majority’s ability to govern.
After four days of grueling ballots, McCarthy flipped more than a dozen conservative holdouts to become supporters, including the chairman of the chamber’s Freedom Caucus.
ON THE HILL: McCarthy elected House speaker after chaotic
The chaotic election set a tone for the Republican party that echoed through the year with deep divisions within the party blocking movement on legislation from issues ranging from fiscal budgets to D.C.’s crime bill and funding for Ukraine and Israel.
I’m not that Kevin McCarthy! Mean posts confuse FOX 5’sentertainment reporter with former House Speaker
FOX 5's Kevin McCarthy has been dealing with mix-ups surrounding his name for years, so it's no surprise that he has learned how to find humor in otherwise downright mean social media posts from people who think he's the former House Speaker.
Five Memphis police officers charged in brutal beating death of Tyre Nichols
Five former Memphis police officers with the now-disbanded Scorpion unit — Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Tadarrius Bean — were charged in the deadly arrest of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols.
The officers were charged with second-degree murder and other offenses in Nichols’ Jan. 7 beating. He died three days later in the hospital. Three emergency responders were also fired in connection to Nichols’ death.
The incident sparked outrage and protests across the country with renewed calls for police reform and new training.
February
Tom Brady retires after more than 20 seasons in NFL
Tom Brady retired after 23 seasons in the NFL. His first 20 were with the New England Patriots, and he spent his final three in Tampa Bay with the Buccaneers.
He will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer with his seven Super Bowl victories, three MVPs and numerous NFL records.
Chinese spy balloon spotted over U.S.
A huge, high-altitude Chinese balloon sailed across the U.S. on Friday, Feb. 3.
The object became the subject of serious accusations from the Pentagon, which alleged that China had been using it to observe sensitive military sites despite China's firm denials.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly canceled a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at easing U.S.-China tensions.
Train carrying toxic chemicals derails in East Palestine, Ohio
A train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio forced thousands of residents out of their homes as toxic chemicals threatened their community when more than four dozen train cars derailed.
Some 50 freight cars went off the tracks and overturned on the outskirts of the small town near the Pennsylvania state line, prompting persistent environmental and health concerns.
The derailment prompted emergency evacuations as fears grew about a potential explosion of smoldering wreckage.
Norfolk Southern has pledged several million dollars to cover the cost of the response and recovery and the EPA ordered the company to cover the costs of cleanup from the derailment.
March
Trump indicted: Charged in New York over hush money paid during 2016 campaign
Donald Trump became the first former president to be indicted in a criminal case following a grand jury investigation into hush money payments made on his behalf during the 2016 presidential campaign.
At the focus of the investigation was hush-money payments made to women on Trump’s behalf. Prosecutors from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have been presenting evidence to the grand jury and calling witnesses since January.
Minutes after the indictment was announced, Trump released a lengthy statement calling it the next step in a "witch-hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement."
Alex Murdaugh found guilty in double murder of wife, son
Former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was convicted of killing his own wife and son on March 2.
After just three hours of deliberations, the jury found Murdaugh guilty on all charges — two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a violent crime — bringing an end to the captivating trial that pushed rural Colleton County into the national spotlight for more than five weeks.
Authorities alleged that on June 7, 2021, 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh was shot twice by his father with a shotgun while 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh was struck with four or five bullets from a rifle fired by her husband.
Murdaugh later called 911 claiming that he had found his son and wife dead when he returned home from a visit with his mother.
Following the guilty verdict, Murdaugh was ordered to serve two life sentences for the homicides.
Silicon Valley Bank gets shut down by federal regulators
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) seized control of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), confirming the lender was shut down by California regulators amid a run on the bank.
The collapse of SVB marked the second-biggest bank failure in U.S. history after Washington Mutual in 2008.
The bank, the 16th largest in the U.S., failed after depositors hurried to withdraw money amid anxiety over the bank’s health.
Nashville school shooting: Suspect who killed 6 drew maps, surveilled campus, police say
A former student shot through the doors of a Christian elementary school in Nashville and killed three children and three adults after elaborately planning the massacre by drawing out a detailed map and conducting surveillance of the building, police said.
"We have a manifesto, we have some writings that we’re going over that pertain to this date, the actual incident," Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said. "We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place.
Drake said in an interview with NBC News that investigators believe Hale, who identified as transgender, had "some resentment for having to go to that school."
The massacre at The Covenant School came in a series of mass shootings in a country that has grown increasingly unnerved by bloodshed in schools.
April
Judge halts FDA approval of abortion pill mifepristone
A federal judge in Texas on ordered a hold on U.S. approval of the abortion medication mifepristone, throwing into question access to the nation's most common method of abortion in a ruling that waved aside decades of scientific approval.
The abortion drug has been widely used in the U.S. since 2000 and there is essentially no precedent for a lone judge overruling the medical decisions of the Food and Drug Administration. Mifepristone is one of two drugs used for medication abortion in the United States, along with misoprostol, which is also used to treat other medical conditions.
President Biden formally announces his bid for reelection
Joe Biden officially launched his presidential campaign for 2020, making him the 20th Democratic candidate to join the race.
The former vice president announced his third run for president in a video released online.
Biden joined a diverse set of contenders, including six women, five people of color, and one member of the LGBTQ community. At 76 years old, he is the second-oldest, but he has the most political experience of any candidate.
May
First Republic Bank seized by regulators, sold to JPMorgan Chase
Regulators seized troubled First Republic Bank, making it the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history, and promptly sold all of its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase in a bid to end the turmoil that has raised questions about the health of the U.S. banking system.
It's the third midsize bank to fail in less than two months. The only larger bank failure in U.S. history was Washington Mutual, which collapsed at the height of the 2008 financial crisis and was also taken over by JPMorgan in a similar government-orchestrated deal.
June
Missing submersible imploded near Titanic wreckage, leaving no survivors, Coast Guard says
A submersible carrying five people to the Titanic imploded near the site of the shipwreck and killed everyone on board, authorities said, bringing a tragic end to a saga that included an urgent around-the-clock search and a worldwide vigil for the missing vessel.
OceanGate Expeditions, the company that owned and operated the submersible, said in a statement that all five people in the vessel, including CEO and pilot Stockton Rush, had "sadly been lost."
The others on board were two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
OceanGate had been chronicling the Titanic’s decay and the underwater ecosystem around it via yearly voyages since 2021.
July
Hollywood actors strike, joining writers in 1st industry-stopping walkout since 1960
Leaders of a Hollywood’s actors union voted Thursday to join screenwriters in the first joint strike in more than six decades, shutting down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with the studios and streaming services broke down.
It was the first strike for actors from film and television shows since 1980. And it’s the first time two major Hollywood unions have been on strike at the same time since 1960, when Ronald Reagan was the actors’ guild president.
August
Brawl at Montgomery, Alabama riverfront dock caught on video
A massive brawl broke out on a riverfront dock in Montgomery, Alabama over what appeared to be the docking of a pontoon boat, and the city’s mayor said several "reckless" individuals were detained.
The fight between a group of individuals and a man, who appeared to be a dockworker, was captured on video around 7 p.m. by onlookers aboard a nearby boat at Riverfront Park.
The video of the incident rapidly went viral and dominated social media for days with memes, gifs and spoof videos spawning from it.
September
New poll shows Trump pulling even with Biden in hypothetical 2024 rematch
A new poll showed that in a hypothetical Election Day rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the two would be tied for votes.
The Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that if the election were held today, both candidates would win 44% of registered voters — a marked dip for Biden and a tick upward for Trump amid his barrage of legal trouble. Another 7% remain undecided and 4% say they would not vote at all.
One of the few issues that the American public seems to agree on is concerns about both candidate's ages. An AP-NORC poll showed that 77% of Americans believe Biden is too old to serve and 51% say Trump is too old to serve.
NASA UFO panel recommends additional research following year-long study on sightings
Back in June 2022, NASA announced that it was commissioning a report on sightings of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs). The findings of the year-long independent study were published in September.
The 33-page report is not a review of past UAP sightings but rather a roadmap on how to conduct specialized scientific research going forward.
The main message: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
The agency makes several recommendations for future studies on UAPs and its role in research conducted in conjunction with the Department of Defense’s recently launched AllDomain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which is dedicated to sharing information on UAP cases with the public as they are declassified and approved for release.
October
House votes to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker
In a historic vote, Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker of the House. It's the first time in 113 years, the House has voted to vacate the speaker's chair.
Two months after his historic ouster, McCarthy announced that he would resign and would leave Congress by the end of the year.
His announcement capped a stunning end to a House career for the onetime deli counter owner from Bakersfield, California, who ascended through state and national politics to become second in line to the presidency, until a cluster of hard-right conservatives engineered his removal in October.
McCarthy is the only speaker in history to be voted out of the job.
War breaks out between Israel and Hamas
On Oct. 7, the militant Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel that left hundreds dead and thousands more injured.
A day later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war and since then, more than almost 23,000 people – the vast majority of them being Palestinian – have been killed.
Protests have continued across the U.S. and the war with many calling for a ceasefire.
Israel has vowed to keep up the fight until Hamas is destroyed and removed from power in Gaza and all the hostages are freed.
November
Virginia Democrats sweep legislative elections, take full control of House and Senate
Ballots still being counted in pivotal Virginia election races
Results are coming in to the FOX 5 newsroom on Election Night 2023, and in Virginia, voters are deciding which party -- Democrats or Republicans -- will hold the reigns of power in Richmond. FOX 5's Tom Fitzgerald has the latest details.
Virginia Democrats who campaigned on protecting abortion rights swept Tuesday’s legislative elections, retaking full control of the General Assembly after two years of divided power.
The outcome was a sharp loss for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who exerted a great deal of energy, money and political capital on an effort to secure a GOP trifecta.
Virginia Democrats largely centered their message to voters around pledges to protect abortion rights. Virginia is the only state in the South that has not enacted new restrictions on abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.
The results are certain to comfort the national party as President Joe Biden and other Democrats are expected to prioritize abortion rights in next year’s campaign to energize their voters.
December
Alleged congressional staffer fired after filming sex tape inside Senate hearing room: report
A person identified as a congressional staffer has been fired after allegedly filming an explicit sex tape inside a Senate hearing room, according to a report on FOX News.
The amateur pornographic video was published online Friday and shows the alleged staffer having sex with another man on the dais in hearing room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building, the report says.
Posts on social media claimed the alleged staffer worked for Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin's office. The act could have violated Senate ethics rules and could lead to charges being filed, FOX says.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.