Hey, Everybody,

Today is Saturday, 3 December 2016. The last month of 2016. Only 28 days left until 2017. Is everyone ready?? Did you accomplish all of your goals for this year?? What are some things you accomplished this year?? 

My resolutions for this year were: 

1. To make friends and keep them == I've made a lot of great friends this year!! Check!!

2. Fitness and health == I did okay at this goal. I could've done better, but I'm not disappointed. So, check.

3. To get more into English teaching (work really hard at it) == I'm super proud of how hard I've worked this year to be the best tutor I can be. Double check!!

4. Start building my freelance career == This, like the fitness and health goal, I could've done better on, but I still did learn a lot this year, so I'm counting this as check!!

5. Learn to be happy and to let go of the past == This year, I worked really hard on this, and I know I still have room for improvement, but I did accomplish this goal. CHECK!!

As we all know, this has been a very full and eventful year. Here are some of the most notable events from this year.

January: 

6. North Korea states that they have successfully tested a thermonuclear weapon. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" breaks North American box office record, passing the $760.5m taken by "Avatar".

16. First ever flower grown in space - a zinnia aboard the International Space Station using NASA Veggie system

23. Blizzard delivers record snow to 80 US states, New York 30 inches of snow. Washington 28 inches at least 15 killed. Zika virus outbreak in Brazil prompts Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador and Jamaica to recommend women delay pregnancies for up to 2 years

February:

4. Morocco's Mohammed VI switches on world's largest solar plant near Ouarzazate. Planned to power 1 million homes when fully completed 2018.

12. Pope Francis begins his visit to Mexico, arriving at “Benito Juarez” International Airport in Mexico City. He meets Patriarch Kirill in Havana - the first meeting between Catholic and Russian Orthodox church heads for nearly 1,000 years. 

16. China announces it will relocate 9,000 people in Guizhou province, before completion of world's largest telescope (FAST), designed to look for extraterrestrial life.

21. Lock of John Lennon's hair sells for $35,000 at an auction in Dallas, Texas.

28. Leonardo DiCaprio wins his first Oscar.

29. Leap Year.

March:

2. Longest non-stop scheduled commercial flight by distance, Emirates A380 flies 14,200km (8,824 miles) Dubai to Auckland in 17 hours, 15 minutes. Oldest known land fossil (Tortotubus - 440 million years old) from Gotland, Sweden, revealed by British scientists. US astronaut, Scott Kelly, and Russian astronaut Mikhail Kornienko return to earth after 340 days. 

14. President Vladimir Putin orders Russian troops out of Syria. NASA releases data showing February 2016 warmest month ever recorded globally - 1.35C above the long-term average.

20. Barak Obama becomes the first US President to visit Cuba since 1928, arriving for a 2-day tour.

April:

6. First baby born with DNA from 3 parents through mitochondrial transfer in Mexico.

10. Explosions and a fire caused by fireworks at Puttingal Temple in Kerala, India, kills more than 100 and injures nearly 400.

16. 7.8 Earthquake hits Ecuador.  Several earthquakes hit Japan.

May:

10. Indian fertility clinic announces that a 70-year-old woman has successfully given birth to a baby boy.

21. EgyptAir flight MS804 goes missing over the Mediterranean on route Paris to Cairo.

22. US President Barack Obama arrives in Vietnam for a 3-day tour

23. Chinese archaeologists announce findings of the earliest use of barley in China to make beer, Shaanxi province 3400-2900 BC.

27. Barack Obama is the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima.

28. Harambe, a gorilla from Cincinnati Zoo, is shot after dragging about a boy who slipped into the enclosure.

June:

7. "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", a play written by Jack Thorne with JK Rowling, premieres in London.

12. Gunman claiming allegiance to the Islamic State opens fire at gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, killing 49, injuring 53 - worst mass shooting in the US

23. The United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union in their "Brexit" referendum.

July:

5. NASA's Juno spacecraft successfully enters Jupiter's orbit.

6. Pokémon Go, the real-world mobile game by Niantic, is first released. African American Philando Castile is shot by police in St Paul, Minnesota after being pulled over for a broken rear light, killing is filmed.

15. Attempted military coup in Turkey fails, nearly 300 killed, 6,000 then arrested.

31. Yuriko Koike is the first woman to be elected Tokyo Governor.

August:

5. 31st Summer Olympics officially opens in Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

12. Cannes becomes first French resort to ban the burkini

13. American swimmer Michael Phelps ends his career at the Rio Olympics.

24. 6.2-magnitude earthquake strikes central Italy, killing 268, injuring 400.

September:

18. Earliest known fishhooks at 23,000 years old discovered on Okinawa Island, Japan, findings published in PNAS journal.

21. Three genetic studies published in "Nature" conclude all non-African descended from one migration out of Africa 50-80,000 years ago. Migrant boat carrying 450-600 people capsizes off the Egyptian coast, only 163 rescued.

25. World's largest radio telescope at 500m wide in Guizhou Province, China begins operating.

26.  First US Presidential debate: Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton vs Republican Donald Trump at Hofstra University

28. Hurricane Matthew forms near the Windward Islands will go on to kill over 1000 in Haiti, the Caribbean, and the US.

October:

3. Yoshinori Ohsumi from Japan wins Nobel Prize for Medicine for research into autophagy

9. Second US Presidential debate: Hostile confrontation between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton at Washington University, St. Louis

11. South Korean firm Samsung announces it will permanently stop production of Note 7 phones after complaints devices caught fire

12. James Charles (17) becomes the 1st male face of make-up label CoverGirl

19. Third US Presidential debate: Donald Trump notably refuses to say if he will accept the result of election during the debate with Hillary Clinton at Nevada University, Las Vegas.

27. 6.6-magnitude quake hits central Italy - strongest earthquake in Italy for 36 years.

31. Halloween - Had to add this since it's my favorite holiday :)

November:

6. Indian government declares levels of air pollution in Delhi an emergency situation, closing schools and construction sites,

8. Donald Trump is elected President of the United States.

28. A plane carrying Brazilian Chapecoense football team crashes near Medellin, Colombia killing 71 players and journalists.

30. UNESCO adds Belgian beer to its Cultural Heritage List.

We have had such a full year!! So much has happened!! Some good, some bad, some that will go in the history books.

I hope you all have had a good year so far and will end this year on a good note :)

See you soon,

Elaina.C :)

**If you have any questions about this blog's vocabulary or phrases, please comment or send me a message and I'll answer as soon as I can :)