NOTEWORTHY EVENTS IN THE LIVES OF 2022’S GRADUATING CLASS

As this year’s graduates look forward, we also reflect on some noteworthy events that occurred during their lives. Most of this year’s grads were born in 2003 and 2004.

2003

■ The Space Shuttle Columbia explodes on re-entry, killing seven crew members. The U.S. invades Iraq and deposes Saddam Hussein.

2004

■ Facebook launches as a social networking site. Former president Ronald Reagan dies at age

93. Massachusetts becomes the first state to legalize same-sex marriage.

2005

■ Hurricane Katrina strikes Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, killing 1,600 people. YouTube goes online.

2006

■ The Blu-ray disc format is released. Ohio voters pass a statewide smoking ban for public places. The Greene Towne Center opens in Beavercreek.

2007

■ Nancy Pelosi is elected as the first female speaker of the House of Representatives. Scouting marks its 100th anniversary. The first iPhone is released. Thirty-two students and professors are killed in the Virginia Tech campus shooting.

2008

■ A global financial crisis takes hold, as a U.S. mortgage meltdown leads to an international banking crisis and stock market crashes. In September, the remnants of Hurricane Ike blast the Dayton area with high winds, leaving many without power for a week. The GM Moraine Assembly plant closes in December.

2009

■ Barack Obama becomes the United States’ first black president. Michael Jackson dies at age

50. Sonia Sotomayor becomes the first Hispanic person to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Casinos are approved by Ohio voters.

2010

■ The Navy ends a ban of women on submarines. Thirty-three Chilean miners trapped underground during in a mining accident are rescued.

2011

■ Osama bin Laden is killed during an American military mission in Pakistan. The Space Shuttle Atlantis touches down at Kennedy Space Center, ending the 30-year shuttle program, which began with Columbia in 1981.

2012

■ England’s Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 60th year on the throne. San Francisco adopts a $10 hourly minimum wage, making it the highest in the country. Whitney Houston dies at age 48. A gunman kills 26 people, including 20 young students, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Snapchat takes off, becoming one of the most popular messaging apps for teens.

2013

■ Pope Benedict XVI resigns. Jorge Mario Bergoglio is elected as the first Jesuit pope and chooses the name Francis. Michele Knight, Amanda Berry and Georgina DeJesus are found in Cleveland after being held captive for more than 10 years by Ariel Castro

2014

■ Robin Williams commits suicide at age 63. The Dayton Flyers basketball team reaches the Elite Eight, equaling their best showing in 30 years. The police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., energizes the Black Lives Matter movement, as more incidents of racial tension with police follow.

2015

■ Ohio State’s football team wins the national championship in January under coach Urban Meyer. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is found guilty for his role in the Boston marathon bombing. CBS broadcasts the final episode of “The Late Show with David Letterman,” ending its 22-year run. ISIS strikes on different continents, including an attack in Paris that claims 130 lives.

2016

■ Millions of people wander outside trying to “catch” Pokemon on their phone. Donald Trump is elected president, defeating Hillary Clinton. Celebrity deaths come by the dozens, from Prince and David Bowie, to Muhammad Ali and Fidel Castro, to John Glenn and Nancy Reagan.

2017

■ The opioid epidemic, long a problem in Ohio, gets widespread national attention. A flood of reports of sexual misbehavior by high-profile men leads to the #MeToo movement.

2018

■ After the Feb. 14 Parkland, Fla., school shooting, students around the United States begin a new level of activism, calling for stricter gun laws and better school safety. Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court after a contentious fight. Ohio legislators change diploma rules in December, six months before high school graduations. Sears files for bankruptcy and Toys R Us closes all of its stores.

2019

■ A Memorial Day tornado outbreak ravages the Dayton area, hitting Trotwood, Dayton, Beavercreek and other areas very hard. A man opens fire in the Oregon District on Aug. 4, killing nine people before police kill him. Elsewhere, the famed Notre Dame Cathedral burns in Paris, the U.S. women’s soccer team wins the World Cup, and a college admissions cheating scandal shows how far some wealthy parents will go to get their children into elite universities.

2020

■ The Senate acquits President Trump of impeachment charges. The Dayton Flyers are ranked No. 3 in the nation in men’s basketball and then … the COVID-19 pandemic changes the world in mid-March. Businesses close, sports and events are canceled, schools move to remote learning. Hospitals fill up and thousands die. Government stimulus plans offer direct payments as well as rental aid and enhanced unemployment benefits. People argue over what public health steps should be in place. On May 25, George Floyd is killed by a Minneapolis police officer, sparking worldwide protests for racial justice, including many in Dayton. In the fall, Joe Biden is elected president, over Donald Trump, amid record voter turnout and false claims

of voter fraud. Kamala Harris becomes the first woman vice president

of the United States. 2021

■ On Jan. 6, supporters of Trump storm the U.S. Capitol, briefly threatening the peaceful transfer of power. This is also the year of living through COVID. Those schools that were still remote welcome students back; vaccines become widely available; health and mask rules waver back and forth as COVID outbreaks surge and wane; the 2020 Olympics are held after a year delay. Supply chain issues result in shortages of many products. The Dayton Arcade reopens after 30 years. The U.S. finally withdraws from Afghanistan in chaotic scenes.

2022

■ The year starts with a huge COVID spike after the holidays, with many hospitalizations and deaths. The Cincinnati Bengals make a surprise run to the Super Bowl and fall just short against the Rams. Ketanji Brown Jackson becomes the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. Russia attacks Ukraine, the stock market tumbles, and inflation hits hard, sending gas and food prices higher. The May election is a mess, as Ohio leaders can’t decide on legislative maps, but locals Nan Whaley and Mike DeWine advance to the November governor’s race.