It’s possible that 2023 will be remembered as the year the US labor movement got its groove back. Hot Strike Summer saw Hollywood’s writers and actors walk off the job, marking the first time that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA were on strike together since 1960. Both strikes concluded after tense negotiations regarding streaming residuals and the use of AI. UPS workers won major concessions just for threatening an economy-crushing strike, and UAW members wielded a chaotic new picketing strategy in their historic action against Detroit’s Big Three automakers that helped them score big raises.

The criminal cases pending against former President Donald Trump are polarizing: His critics say they demonstrate that he’s not fit to hold office, while supporters see them as attempts to hurt him politically. But when Georgia authorities released his mug shot, both sides were united in viewing the image as an opportunity to make some cash. It got featured in fundraising appeals and slapped on merch almost instantly.

Congress did not have its House in order this year. It kicked off the session with a painful 15-round vote in which Rep. Kevin McCarthy finally claimed the Speaker of the House job—only to find himself the first-ever lawmaker ousted from the role nine months later when his right-wing colleagues objected to his decision to work with Democrats to keep the government funded. Now, McCarthy is leaving Congress, and so are a record number of other lawmakers fed up with the drama. And speaking of drama, George Santos was also expelled from Congress.

Hamas’s surprise October 7 attack on Israel immediately reshaped global politics. The assault on southern Israeli towns and an outdoor music festival left 1,200 dead, according to Israel’s estimates. It was described by many as “Israel’s 9/11” and prompted the Israeli government to go to war with the goal of eradicating Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007. Hamas also captured about 240 hostages, including children, elderly people, and citizens of other nations, such as the US and Thailand. Some hostages have been released in exchange for temporary cease-fires or through other deals.

Israel’s war on Hamas has involved an intense bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip, a small and densely populated area. More than 20,000 people have been killed, including many women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. In addition to being responsible for the large death toll, the combat has created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, leaving the Palestinian territory without adequate food, clean water, fuel, and medical care. Despite facing international pressure for a broad cease-fire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive.

It was a year of extreme weather, whether that meant historic snowfall in California that finally pulled the state out of a drought or a scorching summer around the globe that clocked in as the hottest ever.

Don’t tread on my points. Did you cash in credit card points for holiday travel? If the Credit Card Competition Act of 2023 becomes law, that option could go away. The proposed legislation might affect how credit card companies structure their loyalty programs. Wanna speak out? The Points Guy can help.

One of the most iconic images of 2023 wasn’t even real. The so-called Drippy Pope pics, showing Pope Francis stepping out in a Balenciaga puffer that he never actually wore, turned out to be cooked up using AI image generator Midjourney by a Chicago man (who claimed to be high on magic mushrooms at the time). The viral image sparked anxiety over the possibility of deepfakes spreading misinformation about issues more consequential than the pontiff’s fashion sense.

For one week in June, the whole world was captivated by the fate of the OceanGate Titan submersible, which went missing during an expensive voyage to the wreckage of the Titanic. Unfortunately, the outcome was a sad one, as the search for the sub ended with confirmation that all five passengers—including OceanGate’s CEO, who had been warned about safety concerns—had died in an implosion.

What do a surprisingly clever feminist pink confection of a film created to sell dolls and a three-hour epic about the making of the atomic bomb have in common? Not much. But they had the same premiere date, and that was enough for the internet to embrace, turning a double feature of the two into a major phenomenon known as Barbenheimer. And it wasn’t just the custom-made Etsy merch that made money: With the hype boosting both films, Barbie became the first movie with a solo female director to make $1 billion, and Oppenheimer grossed more than any WWII movie ever had.

Lionel Messi’s move to the US may have been the biggest news in sports this year, but Barbie wasn’t the only cultural event to prove people will come out to watch women perform: 92,003 fans filled the University of Nebraska’s stadium to watch the Cornhuskers women’s volleyball team win, setting the world record for attendance at a women’s sports event. That’s more people than the stadium was built to hold for football games, so spectators were also seated on the field.

Did you really think we’d make it through a 2023 list without mentioning Taylor Swift? Though the pop star may see herself as the antihero, she had a lot of people rooting for her. Swift’s list of accomplishments this year includes her Eras Tour becoming the first concert tour ever to gross over $1 billion, releasing a concert film that helped keep movie theaters in business, becoming a billionaire, being named Time magazine’s Person of the Year—oh, and getting credited by the Fed for boosting the economy.