As December is on its way in, society begins to realize that the end of the year is approaching. While 2016 is starting to come to a close, it is a great time to reminisce on the events that happened this year. It has been quite chaotic, resulting in an increased use of social media, which has also made this year a crazy one. 2016 has only been getting weirder and weirder as time goes on, and will be remembered for its strange events. The top five most bizarre things/trends/events that happened in 2016 are:

#5- The bottle flipping trend

What’s been considered impressive recently? The answer to this question is odd, due to the answer being about most commonly, a water bottle. If anyone is caught flipping a bottle and having it land without falling on its side, the room will most likely either erupt into screams with amazement or sighs of annoyance (because some people are extremely annoyed by this trend). This has gone so far that teachers have started banning this action in their classrooms and are hesitant about even allowing water.

Julia Hyde, a freshman at BHS, says, “Water bottle flipping may seem ridiculous, but I believe it gives students a sense of accomplishment in a crippling world filled with pressure and extremely unreasonable expectations.” This has blown all over social media and is one of the biggest trends

of 2016.

#4- The election

This election has caused so much panic that many say they had wished they moved to Canada instead of remaining in the US while it took place. The race was a nail-bitter but came to an end as Trump was selected to be the next president of the US. Although it was nerve-racking, the reactions of people from not just the US but from all over the world were what made the election even more chaotic. Many have been joking about this event while others have been losing their minds. This can be seen on many social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and more. Instead of being a normal election, this has turned into a huge internet meme and will go down in history.

#3- The Harambe Incident

The killing of this famous gorilla has made its way through all social media platforms as a meme. The situation is listed on cnn.com- “The 3-year-old boy was dragged across a moat by the 450-pound gorilla on Saturday. After a 10-minute encounter, Cincinnati Zoo officials shot and killed the beloved and endangered gorilla, named Harambe. The boy was not seriously injured.” The life of this endangered animal has caused many controversies all over the media and was trending for a long time. Many argue that Harambe should have lived, while others think the opposite. No matter what the popular opinion about this issue was, this was still a rather odd point in 2016.

#2- The Pokemon Go trend

Who would ever think that for a few weeks the entire world would be hooked to a Pokémon game? When the app was released in July, it became a huge trend and quickly spread throughout the media. Society revolved around catching the best Pokémon and was divided between teams Mystic, Instinct, and Valor. People began to go outside and talk to others much more just because of this game, which doesn’t happen easily. Eden Taylor, another freshman at BHS, adds, “I think it has had some positive effects on the community such as promoting local businesses and promoting walking for charity, but it has caused many accidents and distractions. When played in moderation, it can be a fun game.” This is what caused the millions of people wandering around towns and cities during most of the summer months.

#1- The Clown Incident

Just as society thought that 2016 couldn’t get weirder, they were proved wrong. Towards the beginning of October, clowns were rumored to be visiting schools or other highly crowded areas. The clowns didn’t end up doing too much, though, despite them saying how they’d do terrible things that included murdering students or burning the schools down. Fortunately, there have been no proven deaths by these clowns and everyone seemed safe. However, some have been spotted and have had issues with the police. This has also gone viral on social media, but in the form of videos or fake proof rather than memes or jokes. Who ever thought that most of the country would be living in fear of being hunted down by the clowns?

These five things aren’t even all that has happened in 2016; they are only the weirdest. This leaves society with one question- Will 2017 be even weirder? It looks like everyone will have to wait until it comes to find out. In the meantime, everyone can enjoy what’s left of 2016, hoping that things may calm down and not be too chaotic for the rest of December.