We Didn’t Start the Fire: The Wild Events of 2021

As the end of the semester is quickly approaching, it is interesting to look back to January. So much has happened in the world. Many people were hoping that 2021 might be a chance to slow down and return back to “normal.” However, within the first week of the New Year, it became apparent that was not going to happen.The title of this article references a Billy Joel song which covers major historical events from 1949 to 1989. The song has been interpreted many different ways.The main message of the song focuses on how we interpret history. While 2020 and a lot of 2021 seem like absolute dumpster fires, this song is a reminder that even the largest historical events become no more than footnotes in history textbooks. Here are some of those events which were huge this year, but may one day be forgotten.

Donald Trump banned from Twitter

Following the Capitol riots (which were a major event, and I doubt they will be forgotten), Donald Trump was banned from Parler, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Reddit. It is funny to think about the fact that for a small period of time, you and I held power that the president of the United States did not have.

Suez Canal

For six days, the Suez Canal was blocked by just one ship, the Ever Given. This accident was a reminder of the catastrophic effects of just one mistake. Four hundred and twenty vessels were waiting for the ship to be freed. They carried everything from grain, food, medical supplies and fuel. The blockage held up $9 billion in trade each day. 

Texas power outage

Temperatures in Texas reached record lows in February. This left millions without power. The Texas senate has since mandated that power plants weatherize their facilities. One humorous meme did result from the storm. Twitter users caught Senator Ted Cruz leaving the state for a trip to Cancún. Users started photoshopping him fleeing from disasters and used the hashtags #TedFled or #CancunCruz.

GameStop

Small time investors got to mess with hedge funds by using their own tools against them, just because they wanted to. It began when Reddit users started investing through apps like Robinhood. Large numbers of people started buying stocks that hedge funds thought the price would go down on. Because of the large buy in of stocks, their prices went up. This forced the fund to scramble for money to cover their margin. Economists have called it absurd, unexpected and hilarious. This joke is definitely one for the books.

I have missed listing some events of 2021 here, and really, how could I not? Even if I could remember all of the major events, I couldn’t fit them all on this page. The wheels of time and the pages of history just keep on turning.

Sierra Lastine is a sophomore

English literature major from

Grand Junction, Colo.