2023 facts for kids

The year 2023 was a time of big changes and important events around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic became less severe, and the WHO (World Health Organization) announced that it was no longer a global health emergency.

Sadly, there were many terrible natural disasters. A huge earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, causing many deaths. Cyclone Freddy was the longest-lasting tropical storm ever recorded, bringing lots of damage to Malawi and Mozambique. Storm Daniel caused massive floods in Libya, and more earthquakes struck Morocco and Afghanistan.

Conflicts continued in places like Ukraine and Myanmar. There were also new conflicts and political problems in several African countries, including a war in Sudan. A major conflict started in October between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict also ended, leading many Armenians to leave the region.

In the world of money, some large banks in the United States failed, and a big bank in Switzerland was bought out. There were also huge deals where large companies bought smaller ones, like Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard.

Technology saw a big jump with AI. Programs that can create text, images, and music became much better. Companies like OpenAI and Google are leading the way in this exciting new field.

Events

January

• January 1 – Croatia started using the euro currency and joined the Schengen Area. This means people can travel between Croatia and many other European countries without passport checks.
• January 5 – The funeral for Pope Benedict XVI was held in Vatican City. About 50,000 people attended.
• January 8 – In Brazil, supporters of the former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings.
• January 15 – A plane crash in Nepal killed all 72 people on board.
• January 17 – The President of Vietnam, Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, stepped down.
• January 18 – A helicopter crash near Kyiv, Ukraine, killed 14 people, including Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs.
• January 25 – Chris Hipkins became the new Prime Minister of New Zealand.
• January 27 – Protests started in Israel after an Israeli military raid in Jenin.

February

• February 1 – Lebanon's central bank greatly reduced the value of its money due to a financial crisis.
• February 3 – The US announced it was tracking alleged Chinese spy balloons. One was shot down over South Carolina.
• February 3 – A train carrying dangerous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, causing a large fire and releasing chemicals.
• February 5 – Cyclone Freddy formed in the Indian Ocean. It became the longest-lasting tropical storm in history, causing over 1,400 deaths in southeastern Africa.
• February 6 – A massive earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, followed by a strong aftershock. This caused widespread damage and killed more than 59,000 people.
• February 14 – The European Parliament voted to ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars from 2035 to help fight climate change.
• February 21 – Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was stopping its part in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with the US.
• February 25 – Bola Tinubu was elected as Nigeria's new president.
• February 28 – A train crash in Greece killed 57 people and led to protests about railway safety.

March

• March 2 – Võ Văn Thưởng became the new President of Vietnam.
• March 4 – Countries at the United Nations agreed on a new High Seas Treaty to protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030.
• March 10 – Xi Jinping was re-elected as President of the People's Republic of China for a third term.
• March 10 – Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to restart diplomatic relations, with China helping to make the deal.
• March 10 – Silicon Valley Bank, a large bank in the US, failed. This was one of the biggest bank failures since 2008.
• March 14 – OpenAI launched GPT-4, a new and more powerful version of its ChatGPT AI model.
• March 17 – The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian president Vladimir Putin.
• March 19 – The Swiss government helped arrange for UBS to buy Credit Suisse, another large bank.
• March 23 – World Athletics banned transgender women who have gone through male puberty from competing in female events.
• March 24 – A series of tornadoes killed at least 26 people in Mississippi and Alabama.
• March 26 – Honduras switched its official recognition from Taiwan to the People's Republic of China.
• March 29 – Brazil and China agreed to trade using their own currencies instead of the United States dollar.

April

• April 4 – Finland became the 31st member of NATO, which is a military alliance.
• April 14 – The European Space Agency launched JUICE to search for life around Jupiter's moons.
• April 15 – Germany closed its last nuclear power plants after 50 years.
• April 15 – Fighting broke out in Sudan between the army and a paramilitary group.
• April 19 – A crowd crush at a charity event in Yemen killed at least 90 people.
• April 20 – SpaceX's Starship rocket, the largest ever built, launched for the first time but exploded shortly after.

May

• May 1 – First Republic Bank, another large US bank, failed and was bought by JPMorgan Chase.
• May 3 – A school shooting in Serbia and another mass killing the next day left 19 people dead, leading to large protests.
• May 5 – The World Health Organization ended its declaration that COVID-19 was a global health emergency.
• May 6 – The coronation of Charles III as King of the United Kingdom was held in London.
• May 7 – Syria was allowed back into the Arab League after being suspended since 2011.
• May 9 – Cyclone Mocha formed and killed over 400 people in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
• May 14 – The 49th G7 summit took place in Hiroshima, Japan, with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy attending.
• May 24 – Canada and Saudi Arabia agreed to restart full diplomatic relations.
• May 25 – Russia and Belarus signed an agreement to allow Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
• May 28 – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won a third term as President of Turkey.

June

• June 2 – A train collision in India killed at least 296 people and injured many more.
• June 6 – The Nova Kakhovka dam in Ukraine was destroyed, causing massive floods.
• June 6 – Smoke from wildfires in Canada caused New York City to have the worst air quality in the world.
• June 14 – Scientists announced they had created the first synthetic human embryo from stem cells.
• June 14 – At least 82 people died when a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Greece.
• June 18 – All five people on board the Titan submersible died when the vessel imploded while exploring the wreck of the Titanic.
• June 19 – The United Nations General Assembly adopted the High Seas Treaty, aimed at protecting marine life in international waters.
• June 23 – The Wagner Group, a private military company, began an armed conflict with the Russian military, but it ended quickly.

July

• July 4 – Iran joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, becoming its ninth member.
• July 14 – The SAG-AFTRA actors' union began a strike against major film and TV studios.
• July 20 – The films Barbie and Oppenheimer were released on the same day, creating a big cultural event known as Barbenheimer.
• July 23 – Tens of thousands of tourists had to leave Rhodes, Greece, due to wildfires and a heatwave.
• July 26 – The president of Niger was overthrown by the military.

August

• August 1 – The world's oceans reached a new record high temperature. July was also the hottest month ever recorded globally.
• August 8 – A series of wildfires on the island of Maui in Hawaii killed at least 101 people.
• August 23 – India's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft became the first to land near the south pole of the Moon.
• August 23 – Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and nine others were killed when their plane crashed in Russia.
• August 30 – The military in Gabon launched a successful coup, ending the Bongo family's 56-year rule.
• August 31 – A fire in a building in Johannesburg, South Africa, killed 77 people.

September

• September 2 – The Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched Aditya-L1, India's first mission to observe the sun.
• September 8 – A 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Morocco, killing at least 2,960 people.
• September 9 – The African Union became a permanent member of the G20 group of major economies.
• September 10 – Storm Daniel killed at least 5,000 people in Libya, and two dams collapsed in the city of Derna, destroying a quarter of the city.
• September 19 – Azerbaijan launched a military offensive against the Armenia-backed Republic of Artsakh, leading over 100,000 Armenians to flee the region.
• September 20 – Archaeologists in Zambia found the world's oldest wooden structure, dating back 476,000 years.
• September 24 – France announced it would end its military presence in Niger.
• September 25 – An explosion at a gas station in Nagorno-Karabakh killed about 170 people.

October

• October 3 – Kevin McCarthy was removed as Speaker of the US House of Representatives.
• October 7 – Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing many Israelis and taking hostages. This led to Israel declaring war on Hamas.
• October 7 – A series of earthquakes in Afghanistan killed over 1,000 people.
• October 13 – Microsoft completed its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a major video game company.
• October 14 – Australians voted against establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in their constitution.
• October 25 – Hurricane Otis, a very powerful hurricane, made landfall in Mexico near Acapulco, causing at least 80 deaths.
• October 31 – Israel intercepted a Yemeni Houthi missile with its missile defense system, marking the first instance of space combat in history.

November

• November 1 – The first AI Safety Summit took place in the United Kingdom, where 28 countries agreed on how to manage risky forms of artificial intelligence.
• November 2 – The Beatles released "Now and Then", their last ever song, featuring restored vocals by John Lennon and guitar tracks by George Harrison.
• November 6 – The death toll in Gaza passed 10,000, and the United Nations Secretary-General called for a ceasefire.
• November 9 – US surgeons announced the world's first whole eye transplant.
• November 10 – Australia granted "special" freedom of movement rights to people from Tuvalu for climate reasons.
• November 17 – The global average temperature temporarily went above 2°C (3.6°F) hotter than pre-industrial levels for the first time.
• November 19 – Javier Milei was elected President of Argentina.
• November 22 – Israel and Hamas agreed to a four-day ceasefire, during which some Israeli hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
• November 24 – Somalia joined the East African Community.
• November 30 – Brazil announced it would join OPEC+, a group of oil-producing countries.

December

• December 6 – Google DeepMind released the Gemini Language Model, a new powerful AI model.
• December 12 – At the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, countries agreed to "transition away" from fossil fuels for energy systems.
• December 16 – The Emir of Kuwait died and was succeeded by his half-brother.
• December 18 – Several shipping companies temporarily stopped operations in the Red Sea due to Houthi attacks on vessels.
• December 21 – The European Court of Justice ruled that threats by FIFA and UEFA to sanction football clubs joining the European Super League were unlawful.
• December 22 – The death toll in Gaza passed 20,000.
• December 29 – Russia launched its largest wave of drones and missiles on Ukrainian cities since the start of the war.
• December 31 – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announced she would step down from the throne in January 2024.

Demographics

The world population was estimated to be about 7.943 billion people at the start of 2023 and grew to about 8.119 billion by the end of the year. In April, India became the most populated country in the world, passing China.

Best-selling media

• The best-selling video game in 2023 was Hogwarts Legacy.
• The highest-grossing movie in 2023 was Barbie.
• The best-selling book in 2023 was It Ends with Us.

Nobel Prizes

Nobel medal

• Chemistry – Awarded for the discovery and creation of tiny particles called quantum dots.
• Economics – Awarded for research into how women's income and jobs have changed.
• Literature – Awarded to Jon Fosse for his unique plays and writing style.
• Peace – Awarded to Narges Mohammadi for her work promoting feminism.
• Physics – Awarded for methods that create super-fast light pulses to study how electrons move.
• Physiology or Medicine – Awarded for discoveries that helped create effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

See also

In Spanish: 2023 para niños