2022 has been an extraordinary year. Throughout this year, so many events have happened that make this year unforgettable for most. Here are 8 of the most important and influential events that happened in 2022. 

• Russian Invasion of Ukraine 

Undoubtedly, the Russian Invasion of Ukraine was one of the most, if not the most important event that happened in 2022. In March 2022, Russia officially declared war on Ukraine. Massive amounts of public attention were put onto the small country as Russia sent tanks, missiles, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers across the border. After the war officially started, the US, Germany, Sweden, and over 35 other countries gave billions of dollars to Ukraine. Over 60 billion dollars came from the US, and 30 billion came from those other countries. The war on Ukraine has forced those countries to put sanctions on Russia, which are intended to hurt their economy. However, these sanctions have had the side effect of increasing the prices of numerous consumables, most noticeably gasoline. This is why the war is the most important thing to have happened in 2022.

• Queen Elizabeth II died, and Prince Charles Becomes King

On September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth died, marking the end of one of the longest-reigning monarchs in history. Queen Elizabeth has ruled over England for over 70 years, ever since that day in 1952 when she became the queen. Her husband, Philip, died a year before her, making him the longest-living royal consort. For most people, Queen Elizabeth was the only English monarch they ever knew. She has met 13 different US presidents, which is amazing. Needless to say, this event easily takes second in importance, but the next event is even more influential.

• Elon Musk Buys Twitter

On October 27, 2022, Elon Musk bought Twitter for 44 billion dollars. The CEO of Tesla has always advocated for free speech and has made very bold statements on the platform about his thoughts. When he first suggested the idea of him buying Twitter, they gave him a price of over 50 billion, and most people thought it was something that wouldn’t come to be. However, after a lot of negotiation behind the scenes, Musk suddenly announced his purchase of the website, creating a lot of surprise and attention. This has a huge impact on the platform because Musk took down numerous rules governing free speech and unbanned accounts such as the one belonging to the former president, Donald Trump. This event takes 3rd place by a narrow margin.

• Monkeypox Takes a Toll

Monkeypox was first identified in the 1950s in monkeys, thus giving it its name. The virus gives smallpox symptoms, but this wasn’t known until it was detected in a human in 1972. The virus stayed mostly under wraps until 2022 when the virus spread to several countries and infected a couple of thousand people. After just coming out of a global pandemic, the world was not in the mood for another pandemic. Thankfully, there are fewer than a hundred active cases, but this is still a really important event that happened in 2022.

• Argentina Wins World Cup

On November 20, 2022, Qatar hosted the 22nd world cup. 200 billion dollars were used to build stadiums and set up the tournament. 16 countries competed in this event. On December 18th, Argentina won the world cup against France with a score of 4-3. They received $42 million and the 2022 world cup trophy. This event takes 5th place.

• Daylight Savings Time was Removed Completely

In 1918, Daylight Savings Time was implemented in the United States to preserve daylight and energy. Throughout the years, while it has been helpful, it is greatly annoying to adjust to the new times. With time, we have achieved better methods to use energy, and Daylight Savings Time became solely an annoyance. Therefore, as of 2022, Daylight Savings Time was completely removed through a unanimous decision. This affects the daily lives of everyone, which is why it is ranked this high in importance.

• World Record Lottery Won; 2.04 Billion Cash Prize Awarded

The biggest lottery ever won was in 2018, with a 1.5 billion dollar prize given to a single person. Nobody ever thought it would recur again, the prize was just too huge. Then, in late 2022, the Powerball jackpot went unclaimed for several drawings in a row. Eventually, the prize surpassed 1 billion dollars, and people started to take notice. The prize ended at 2.04 billion before the record prize was claimed by a person from California. This prize surpasses the old record by over 500 million dollars, which is a big difference. To put in a number form how much money this person won, it would be $2,040,000,000.00. After taxes are taken away, the winner will walk away with over 1.7 billion dollars, which is still a great sum.

• COVID Restrictions Removed

Around December 2019 the first cases of COVID-19 were reported. It could have easily been avoided but people didn’t pay too much attention to something which would later be known worldwide. While the cause of covid wasn’t confirmed vaccines were created after a year and the pandemic was starting to stop. In 2022 people saw those changes as Covid Restrictions were starting to get removed. Schools started having people go back to class in person and many businesses and places were able to open again. So this event the 8th place.

2022 was a year that had some amazing events. We covered 8 events that happened, but there are still many more events that affected everyone across the world. Just coming out of the pandemic, our country has been chaotic. There is the chance that we can get another year of chaos, but it is much likelier that 2023 will be an enjoyable and exciting year.