--- description: At the close of 2021, we continue to wrestle with the reality of COVID-19’s impact, but we have learned that humanity can rise above. title: Looking Back On the Year That Was 2021 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte598f9c67eef1142/698a20e5457a520ca1d65ecf/year-in-review-time-youtube-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Looking Back On the Year That Was 2021 ## Video: 2021: A Year in Review [Watch (HLS stream): 2021: A Year in Review](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3EOATB2d.m3u8) (2:08)  _Published 2021-12-10. At the close of 2021, we continue to wrestle with the reality of COVID-19’s impact on everything from the global economy to our holiday traditions, but we have learned that humanity can rise above._  by [Karl Vick](/author/karl-vick/)  ## Karl Vick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large Dec 20, 2021 5:00 AM CUT  Victor J. Blue—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Karl Vick](/author/karl-vick/)  ## Karl Vick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large Dec 20, 2021 5:00 AM CUT It was a lurching, stammering year that began in hope, flirted with whiplash, and shuddered to a halt. In 2021, [miraculously effective vaccines showed up](https://time.com/5927342/mrna-covid-vaccine/ "undefined"), a new President [promised unity](https://time.com/5930876/joe-biden-inauguration-photos/ "undefined"), and a [jury convicted the man who killed George Floyd](https://time.com/6075908/derek-chauvin-sentence/ "undefined"). It was also the year that [supporters of the losing candidate took over the U.S. Capitol](https://time.com/6087571/time-michael-fanone-cover/ "undefined"), [Asian-Americans were given new reason](https://time.com/5947723/atlanta-shootings-anti-asian-violence-america/ "undefined") to fear for their lives, and COVID-19 [killed Americans at a faster rate](https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/12/14/1063802370/america-us-covid-death-toll "undefined") than before free, life-preserving injections were available across the land. Is it any wonder that, from [Naomi Osaka](https://time.com/6077128/naomi-osaka-essay-tokyo-olympics/ "undefined") to [Simone Biles](https://time.com/athlete-of-the-year-2021-simone-biles/ "undefined"), the deliberate preservation of mental health, of resilience, was a major theme? But resilience was everywhere. The world emerging from the worst of the pandemic focused a new concentration on the intolerable inequities brought into high relief by lockdown, and [climate change](https://time.com/climate-change-solutions/ "undefined") that made itself more evident by the day. If social media thrives on the strife that now defines our politics, we still know how to recognize the best in one another. 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