The year in review: Top news stories of 2023 month-by-month

Year in review: 2023's top news stories month-by-month

January began with turmoil in the U.S. House of Representatives, with Kevin McCarthy requiring 15 ballots to be elected speaker. 

He lasted nine months. 

Kevin McCarthy: The exit interview

In February, the U.S. Air Force shot down a Chinese spy balloon that had drifted across North American airspace. Officials later concluded with high certainty that the balloon never transmitted any intelligence to China. 


A court sketch of former President Donald Trump at his arraignment in a New York City courtroom on April 4, 2023. He pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Jane Rosenberg

In March, former President Donald Trump was indicted in New York, the first of his four criminal indictments this past year.


In April, a trove of classified Pentagon documents began circulating on internet message boards. Twenty-one-year-old airman Jack Teixeira was arrested and charged with the leaks.


King Charles III and Queen Camilla can be seen on the Buckingham Palace balcony ahead of the fly-past during the coronation day events, May 6, 2023 in London, England. Getty Images

May brought the coronation of Charles III and Camilla as king and queen of the United Kingdom. Dress code? Formal.


June saw two tragedies at sea: The implosion of the Titan submersible killed five; and the sinking of a fishing trawler off the Greek coast killed more than 500 migrants.

Inside the OceanGate Titan tragedy

Scenes from "Oppenheimer" and "Barbie," two blockbusters that opened on the same day, drawing audiences to both.   CBS Boston

The "Barbenheimer" phenomenon shattered box office records in July, drawing fans to theaters in droves, and in style.

"Oppenheimer," the father of the atomic bomb

Lahaina, Maui, August 17, 2023. An aerial image east of town, where homes and businesses lay in ruins after a devastating wildfire swept through.  Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Wildfires ripped across the Hawaiian island of Maui in August, leaving 100 dead.


President Joe Biden joins striking members of the United Auto Workers on the picket line outside GM's Willow Run Distribution Center, in Bellville, Wayne County, Michigan, Sept. 26, 2023. EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/REUTERS

In September, the United Auto Workers began a strike against the "Big Three" auto makers, resulting in a record 25% wage increase over the next four-and-a-half years.


Family and friends of Kibbutz Kfar Aza residents who were kidnapped by Hamas militants during the October 7 terror attack on Israel rally outside The Kirya, the Tel Aviv headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces, Oct. 26, 2023. Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

The militant Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel in October, setting off a bloody conflict now nearing the end of its third month.

Hamas' tunnels: Piercing a battleground beneath Gaza

The Texas Rangers won baseball's World Series in November, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks for their first championship in franchise history.


And at December's United Nations Climate Change conference, nearly 200 countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels. A hopeful crowd cheered the announcement.

       
Story produced by Robert Marston. Editor: Joseph Frandino.

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