From global tragedies to technological breakthroughs, 2024 was a year of unforgettable moments. Join us as we explore the events that captivated the world's attention, from natural disasters and political upheavals to scientific advancements and celebrity scandals. These are the stories that defined a year and left an indelible mark on history.
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00:00President Joe Biden has just announced that he is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the 2024 events that captured the attention
00:11of people all over the globe. This, of course, came as a huge shock.
00:17Diddy indictment. For nearly three decades, Sean Diddy Combs was one of the most influential
00:23figures in the entertainment industry. So tell me about your birthday party. Am I invited?
00:28Yes, yes, you're definitely invited to all my parties. You just haven't seemed to show up,
00:32though. We haven't completely skirted controversy over the years. It seemed as
00:36though his legacy would be mostly untarnished. That all changed in 2023 when singer Cassie,
00:42an ex of Combs, filed a lawsuit against him detailing abuse she had experienced.
00:48This was later corroborated by hotel surveillance footage.
00:51It was painful to to see Cassie like that because she's such a,
00:55you know, a beautiful human being. In March,
00:59Combs's properties were raided by Homeland Security, leading to an extensive indictment
01:04in September. A year ago, Sean Combs stood in Times Square and was handed a key to New York City.
01:12Today, he's been indicted and will face justice in the Southern District of New York.
01:16The disgraced mogul is currently incarcerated, awaiting trial on numerous counts,
01:21including racketeering. He's also been named in numerous lawsuits.
01:27In September, Southeast Asia and South China were devastated by the onslaught of Typhoon Yagi.
01:33These are from the coastal city of Haiphong, and you can see there this is just after the
01:39typhoon has made landfall there. This tropical cyclone impacted regions
01:44in numerous countries, including China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.
01:49The death toll from Asia's most powerful storm this year continues to rise.
01:54At least 844 people were killed as a result of Yagi, as well as more than 2,000 injuries
01:59and 129 cases of missing persons. It was also devastating to infrastructure,
02:05with more than 741,800 structures either damaged or permanently ruined.
02:10This usually busy bridge in Fuzhou province was swept away. Authorities said initial
02:16investigations suggested there were eight vehicles on the bridge when it collapsed.
02:20The total cost of all of these damages was $16.6 billion.
02:25International assistance was promptly initiated to help with recovery,
02:28but the impact of Typhoon Yagi on this part of the world will likely be felt for generations.
02:34Deaths of Boeing Whistleblowers
02:36In January, an Alaskan Airlines flight traveling from Portland, Oregon to Ontario
02:41had to make an emergency return landing after an improperly installed
02:45door plug was blown out after takeoff. It's not the door, but it looks like the
02:49outline of the door. They call it a plug. It could be used as a door,
02:52but it wasn't being used in this case. The plane, a Boeing 737 MAX 9,
02:57was missing four bolts essential to keeping that plug in place.
03:00And soon, the aviation giant's questionable manufacturing practices weren't such a secret.
03:06Why would they do this? Schedule.
03:08It's schedule. To get planes out the door.
03:12To make money. Yeah.
03:14Two former Boeing employees, John Barnett and Joshua Dean, had spoken out against the
03:18company's procedures and both died within about a month of each other.
03:22This comes after Joshua Dean expressed concerns
03:25over manufacturing issues with the company's 737 MAX planes.
03:29Barnett had reportedly taken his own life, while Dean had contracted a sudden illness.
03:35However, the proximity of their deaths amidst the ongoing investigation
03:39has led to some suspicions of a greater conspiracy at play.
03:43Taylor Swift concerts cancelled in Vienna. While a pop star of Taylor Swift's magnitude
03:48cancelling concerts is sure to draw headlines, this was a particularly harrowing scenario.
03:53News out of Vienna, where officials say they are cancelling multiple Taylor Swift shows,
03:58part of her heiress tour, out of safety concerns.
04:01Swift was set to perform three concerts in Vienna, Austria,
04:04as part of her globe-spanning Heiress tour in August.
04:07However, the day before the first concert was scheduled, two teenagers were arrested
04:12for planning a terror plot against the concert, with a third arrested the following day.
04:16I think it's a very tragic thing, but I'm also very happy that they stopped, they found the person.
04:22The shows were subsequently cancelled and tickets were refunded.
04:26Swifties, understandably disappointed, congregated in public squares and churches,
04:31and Swift's Heiress tour concert film was broadcast by public broadcaster ORF.
04:36On August 22, Swift issued a statement expressing her sorrow,
04:41as well as her gratitude to her fans and the authorities for their support.
04:52Death of Alexei Navalny
04:54In February, the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny
04:57was announced by the country's Federal Penitentiary Service.
05:00Navalny started out as an anti-corruption blogger, exposing on his YouTube show
05:05the lavish lifestyles enjoyed by Putin and his inner circle.
05:09Navalny, 47, who was serving a 19-year sentence at a corrective colony at the time of his death,
05:15had reportedly fallen unconscious following a walk.
05:18The official cause ruled combined disease as the reason,
05:21a claim disputed by Navalny's widow, Yulia.
05:25We should come together and fight against this evil, she said.
05:29As one of the most prominent voices of dissent against Vladimir Putin's government,
05:33Navalny's death prompted much outcry internationally,
05:36with multiple world leaders holding Putin directly responsible.
05:39Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny's death.
05:44Thousands gathered in Moscow to pay their respects at Navalny's funeral,
05:47which was also streamed live.
05:49Kate Middleton Reveals Cancer Diagnosis
05:52In March, Catherine, Princess of Wales, commonly known as Kate Middleton,
05:57announced her cancer diagnosis via a video message.
06:09This had been detected following abdominal surgery she had received in January,
06:13and had necessitated her stepping away from public life
06:17while she underwent preventative chemotherapy.
06:20Before her diagnosis was made public,
06:22conspiracy theories about her whereabouts were being spread widely.
06:26Middleton concluded her video by speaking words of encouragement to others with cancer.
06:34She wasn't the only member of the British royal family to share serious health news.
06:39In February, Buckingham Palace announced that
06:41King Charles had been diagnosed with a form of cancer.
06:44Throughout this period,
06:45His Majesty will continue to undertake state business and official paperwork as usual.
06:51Donald Trump assassination attempt
06:53In July, a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally
06:56for former President and current President-elect Donald Trump near Butler, Pennsylvania.
07:07Trump's upper right ear was hit, while two other attendees were injured,
07:11and another, Cory Comperatore, a former volunteer fire chief, was killed.
07:35Culprit, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks,
07:38was killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper team just seconds later.
07:42A photo of Trump with his fist raised shortly after being shot was soon widely circulated.
07:47A motive for the shooting has yet to be determined.
07:50Trump went on to win the general election in November,
07:53and this was arguably the defining moment of his campaign.
07:57Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon
07:59In September, Israel launched airstrikes against Lebanon amidst the continuing Israel-Hezbollah
08:04conflict.
08:09In the first day of attacks, 558 people were killed, including 50 children and 94 women.
08:17This was the deadliest day in the country's history since the 2006 Lebanon war.
08:22It also occurred within days of electronic devices exploding in Lebanon and Syria,
08:27killing at least 42 people and injuring more than 3,500 others in an apparently coordinated attack.
08:33Yes, Andy, this latest wave has thrown Lebanon further into chaos.
08:37Some 90,000 Lebanese were displaced as a result,
08:40furthering the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East.
08:43Things escalated further in September with the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
08:49A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah was reached in November.
08:54America and France will oversee the ceasefire along with a UN peacekeeping force.
08:59However, this was soon followed by further violence,
09:01with each side accusing the other of violating the terms of the agreement.
09:06Joe Biden withdraws from presidential race
09:08In July, President Joe Biden announced that he would be withdrawing from the 2024 presidential
09:13race.
09:14This announcement came nearly a month after a debate performance against
09:18former President Donald Trump that was widely viewed as disastrous.
09:22Look, if we finally beat Medicare...
09:28Thank you, President Biden.
09:29President Trump.
09:30This, along with concerns about Biden's approval rating and fitness to serve a second term,
09:35led to widespread calls within the Democratic Party for him to step aside.
09:39Though Biden repeatedly denied that he would drop out of the race,
09:42that did little to quell the ongoing discontentment amongst his party.
09:46And so the 46th president posted a letter to X announcing his withdrawal from the race.
09:50I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down
09:56and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.
10:03That same day, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place,
10:07and supporters quickly rallied around her.
10:09This campaign is not just about us versus Donald Trump.
10:13Though Harris ultimately lost the election,
10:16many believe Biden's departure from the race greatly improved the Democrats' overall chances.
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10:38Neuralink Demonstrates Brainship
10:40The concept of being able to manipulate our surroundings purely through thought
10:44has been long seen as purely fantastical.
10:47It's Carrie!
10:52And while full-on telepathy or telekinesis might not exist,
10:56that doesn't make this any less of a technological breakthrough.
10:59In March, neurotechnology company Neuralink, co-founded by Elon Musk,
11:04first demonstrated a device they had successfully implanted into a human's brain.
11:09One day, one of my buddies from college called me up.
11:13We talked pretty regularly and he was like,
11:16hey Neuralink, they opened up the human trials and I said, what's Neuralink?
11:21This device, appropriately referred to as telepathy, allowed Nolan Arbaugh,
11:26a 29-year-old man with quadriplegia from a driving accident,
11:30to control a computer cursor via his thoughts.
11:33This was demonstrated via a live stream on X,
11:36in which the chip allowed Arbaugh to, among other things, play online chess.
11:41This is all from there to there, yeah man.
11:44Since then, a second person has successfully tested this device,
11:48which could literally change the way we think.
11:51What 2024 moment do you think impacted the world the most? Let us know in the comments.
11:56I was just very happy that I would be a part of something that I believe is so monumental and
12:02this next step forward of helping people with paralysis.
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