2021’s Year in Pictures: Twelve months of change, division and hope

January

The Capitol was placed under lockdown and Vice President Mike Pence left the floor of Congress as hundreds of protesters swarmed past barricades surrounding the building where lawmakers were preparing to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the Electoral College. 

The image of Sanders and his mittens became a meme sensation, with people photoshopping Sanders into funny settings and historical photos. 

February

Millions of customers lost power for days in subfreezing temperatures in Texas and more than 200 people died after a severe winter swept through the state. 

March

Everard, whose death sparked a nationwide outcry about violence against women in the U.K., went missing as she was walking home from her friend’s house. Wayne Couzens, who was a serving member of London’s Metropolitan Police at the time, pleaded guilty in July to murdering the 33-year-old marketing executive. 

Eight people were killed in a string of attacks at three spas in the Atlanta area. Six of the eight victims were women of Asian descent. 

The huge container ship disrupted global marine traffic after it blocked the canal for nearly a week. 

April

Prince Philip, who died at 99, was the longest-serving consort of any British monarch.

Chauvin was found guilty on all counts in Floyd’s death, a verdict that could send him to prison for life. The death of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, in May 2020 touched off international protests against police brutality and racial injustice.

May

The crash raised questions about safety in one of the world’s busiest metro systems. It spreads across a vast urban sprawl and is home to some 20 million people, transporting about 6 million people daily.

The glow from the bubbling hot lava spewing out of the volcano could be seen from the outskirts of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavík, about 20 miles away.

By early May, India became the second country after the United States to pass 20 million total infections. 

The exchange of fire between Israel and Gaza killed more than 250 Palestinians, including 66 children, and a dozen Israelis, including two children.

June

“This is not a ‘kumbaya’ moment,” Biden said at a news conference later. “I’m not confident he’ll change his behavior,” he said, alluding to the hacking, foreign election interference and human rights abuses allegedly committed under the auspices of Putin’s authoritarian Russia. 

School districts across the country are struggling to address accusations that administrators are indoctrinating students in progressive ideas about race, gender and sexuality.

Firefighters ended their search for bodies at the site of the building on July 23, after a month of painstaking work among the dangerous debris that was piled several stories high. Ninety eight people died in the collapse.

July

Torrential rain led to severe flooding and destruction across western Europe, wreaking havoc in parts of Belgium and the Netherlands, and leaving Germany reeling from its worst natural disaster in decades. 

The Dixie Fire would become the second largest in recorded state history, burning more than 963,000 acres. The fire started on July 13 and was fully contained on Oct. 25, according to fire officials. The cause is under investigation. 

August

Firefighters from more than 20 European countries joined forces to stop the progress of the fires.

More than 120,000 people were safely flown out of Afghanistan during a chaotic 18-day evacuation operation in Kabul, including around 6,000 Americans, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

Texas’ largest city saw a major surge of the delta variant of the coronavirus, taxing EMS personnel and overwhelming city hospitals. 

September

Ida struck near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on Aug. 29 as a Category 4 hurricane, although winds had briefly reached a Category 5 level of 157 mph. Landfall caused catastrophic flooding and blew roofs off homes, but more people died in the densely populated areas of the Northeast, mostly because of Ida’s historic floodwaters.

Broadway shows began to reopen to live audiences for the first time since the pandemic began nearly 18 months earlier.

Horses will no longer be used by Border Patrol officers in Del Rio, after the release of photographs showing agents on horseback charging at Haitian migrants seeking to cross into the U.S.

The installation included more than 660,000 small plastic flags, some with personal messages to those who have died, planted in 20 acres of the National Mall.  

A picture of Ndakazi went viral in 2019 after she photobombed a park ranger’s selfie. She died after a prolonged illness at the park’s Senkwekwe Center where she had lived for more than a decade.

After 16 years beset by crises and critics, Merkel, arguably the world’s most powerful woman, stepped down from the world stage in September.

October

November

A Wisconsin jury found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty in the fatal shooting of two men during protests in Kenosha last year, capping a trial that touched on issues of gun rights and race.

The three white men were found guilty of felony murder in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was running in their neighborhood when they confronted him last year.

Four students were fatally shot at the school in Oxford Township, roughly 30 miles north of Detroit. The suspected shooter was a sophomore at the school. 

December

Even as the U.S. reached a Covid-19 milestone of roughly 200 million fully vaccinated people, infections and hospitalizations were spiking, including in highly vaccinated pockets of the country like New England.

Dozens of devastating tornadoes roared through five states, leaving more than 80 people dead in what President Joe Biden said was “one of the largest” storm outbreaks in U.S. history.

See 2020’s Year in Pictures

Photo edited by Shahrzad Elghanayan, Matt Nighswander, Elise Wrabetz and the NBC News photo team; Development by Jiachuan Wu and Robin Muccari.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com