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Updated by Rajashri Venkatesh on Jan 14, 2017
Headline for 10 Most Important Events of 2016
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10 Most Important Events of 2016

From the Olympics at Rio to the US President Election, 2016 has been nothing but filled with signification world events. Here are 10 such events that will probably go down in history.

Olympics, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The 2016 Summer Olympics officially known as the Games of the 31st Olympiad and commonly known as Rio 2016, was a major international multi-sport event held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 August to 21 August 2016. More than 11,000 athletes from 205 National Olympic Committees, including first time entrants Kosovo, South Sudan, and the Refugee Olympic Team, took part. With 306 sets of medals, the games featured 28 Olympic sports, including rugby sevens and golf, which were added to the Olympic program in 2009. These sporting events took place at 33 venues in the host city, and at five in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasília, and Manaus.

Setouchi Triennale

The Setouchi Triennale is a contemporary art festival held every three years on several islands in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan and the coastal cities of Takamatsu and Tamano. The festival was set up in 2010 with the aim of revitalizing the Seto Inland Sea area, which has suffered from depopulation in recent years.[1] The festival features over 150 artworks by artists from both Japan and overseas, many of whom make use of abandoned homes to host or even become their art installations. The Triennale lasts for eight months with three main sessions; the spring session runs from March to mid-April, the summer session runs from mid-July to early September, and the autumn session runs from October to early November.

Transit of Mercury 2016

Such transits of Mercury occur just once every eight years on average; the last one happened in 2006, and the next one won't come until 2019. (Venus is the only other planet in our solar system that transits from our perspective, as it and Mercury are the only two planets closer to the sun than Earth. Venus last crossed the sun's face in 2012 and won't do so again until 2117.)

Colombia Strikes a Peace Deal

Colombia's government and Marxist Farc rebels announced a revised peace deal to end 52 years of armed conflict, after voters rejected a prior peace accord in a referendum. "We have reached a new final agreement to end the armed conflict, which incorporates changes, clarifications and some new contributions from various social groups, which we have gone through one by one," said a joint statement read out by diplomats from Cuba and Norway, the peace process guarantors.

South Korean parliament impeach President Park

South Korean lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to impeach President Park Geun-hye over an influence-peddling scandal, setting the stage for her to become the country's first elected leader to be expelled from office in disgrace.
The impeachment motion was carried by a wider-than-expect 234-56 margin in a secret ballot in parliament, meaning more than 60 of Park's own conservative Saenuri Party members backed removing her. The votes of at least 200 members of the 300-seat chamber were needed for the motion to pass.

Britain Votes to Leave E.U

Britain has voted to leave the European Union, a historic decision sure to reshape the nation’s place in the world, rattle the Continent and rock political establishments throughout the West. Not long after the vote tally was completed, Prime Minister David Cameron, who led the campaign to remain in the bloc, appeared in front of 10 Downing Street on Friday morning to announce that he planned to step down by October, saying the country deserved a leader committed to carrying out the will of the people.

Donald Trump formally wins US presidency

Donald Trump has secured 270 votes in the Electoral College to formally win the United States presidency. Votes from Texas electors put Mr Trump over the top, despite two Republican electors casting protest votes. An effort by anti-Trump forces to persuade Republican electors to abandon the president-elect came to practically nothing and the process unfolded largely according to its traditions.

North Korea claims successful test of nuclear warhead

North Korea said it hit the button on its fifth and potentially most powerful nuclear test Friday morning, claiming to have successfully detonated a nuclear warhead that could be mounted on ballistic rockets. State media said the test would enable North Korea to produce "a variety of smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power."

Juno to Jupiter

Juno is a NASA space probe orbiting the planet Jupiter. It was built by Lockheed Martin and is operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 5, 2011 (UTC), as part of the New Frontiers program, and entered a polar orbit of Jupiter on July 5, 2016 (UTC), to begin a 20-month scientific investigation of the planet. After completing its mission, Juno will be intentionally deorbited into Jupiter's atmosphere

Copa América

Copa América (America Cup), until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol in Spanish), is an international men's football tournament contested between national teams from CONMEBOL. It is the oldest international continental football competition. The competition determines the continental champion of South America. Since the 1990s, teams from North America and Asia have also been invited to participate.