Outside Looking In
A look back at 2022
Another year has flown by and there were many major occurrences in 2022. But to try to remember them all is impossible. Here is a look back at some of them.
Perhaps the biggest news of the year was the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who spent 70 of her 96 years on England's throne. She died on Sept. 8.
Among the many other well-known personalities who passed away in 2022 were:
Sidney Poitier, the first Black person to win a lead-acting Oscar; actress Anne Heche; actor James Caan; iconic singer Olivia-Newton John; rock and roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis; comedian Bob Sagat; country-music legend Loretta Lynn; comedian Gilbert Gottfried' actress Angela Lansbury; rapper Coolio; comedic actress Kirstie Alley; actor Paul Sorvino; actor Ray Liotta; singer Naomi Judd; singer/actor Meat Loaf; actor Robert Morse; Academy Award-winning actress Louise Fletcher; director Peter Bogdanovich; Academy Award-winning actor William Hurt; singer Irene Cara; and comedian Louis Anderson.
The sports world also lost many well-known personalities such as soccer legend Pele; NFL coach Dan Reeves, NFL wide receiver Don Maynard, NBA coach Bill Fitch, NBA Hall of Famer Bob Lanier, former Minnesota Gophers running back Marion Barber III, NBA Hall of Famer Bill Russell, legendary baseball broadcaster Vin Scully, golf great Tom Wieskopf, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson, MLB Hall of Fame closer Bruce Sutter, NFL Hall of Fame punter Ray Guy, and MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry.
Other noteworthy events in 2022 were:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded the emergency use authorization for Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine boosters to children ages 12-15.
A 57-year-old Maryland man received a genetically modified pig heart in a first-of-its-kind transplant surgery.
The James Webb Space Telescope, which launched on Christmas Day of 2021, reaches its destination, nearly a million miles away from Earth.
Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine receives full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in people ages 18 and older.
Kim Potter, the former Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in April 2017, was sentenced to two years in prison.
President Joe Biden selected Katanji Brown Jackson as his nominee to the Supreme Court, the first Black women to sit on the highest court in the nation. She was sworn in on June 30.
President Biden announced his administration was banning Russian oil, natural gas and coal imports to the U.S. in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Twitter agreed to sell itself to Elon Musk in a deal valued at around $44 billion. Later, Musk moved to terminate the deal from its original agreement, claiming Twitter was in material breach of multiple provisions.
Coronavirus death reaches the 1-million mark on May 12.
Ten people are killed and three injured during a mass shooting by an 18-year-old at a supermarket in Buffalo, NY.
Nineteen children and two teachers are killed when an 18-year-old opens fire in a classroom at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX.
Musician R. Kelly is sentenced to 30 years in prison following his 2021 conviction on federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
Two-time U.S. Olympic basketball gold medalist Brittney Griner's trial begins. She had been detained in Russia since being arrested on Feb. 17 at a Moscow airport on drug smuggling charges. She pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to nine years in prison. On Dec. 8, she was released and returned the U.S. in a trade for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, nicknamed "The Merchant of Death."
A gunman kills seven people and injured dozens more at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, IL.
The FBI executes a search warrant at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, FL, as part of an investigation into the handling of presidential documents, including classified documents.
Hurricane Ian makes landfall along the southwestern coast of Florida near Cayo Costa as a Catagory-4 storm. At least 126 people are killed in storm-related incidents in central Florida.
A Connecticut jury decided far-right talk show host Alex Jones should pay eight families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims and one first responder $965 million in compensatory damages.
Former President Trump announced that he is seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
Nancy Pelosi announced that she will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership as Speaker of the House.
A gunman opens fire inside an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, CO, killing at least five people and injuring 25 others.
A gunman shoots and kills six people and injures four more inside a Walmart in Chesapeake, VA. The gunman, a store manager, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The world's largest active volcano, Mauna Loa, in Hawaii, erupts for the first time in nearly 40 years.