2019 is going, goinggggg, (almost) gone!
It's hard to believe we're nearing the END OF A DECADE. Since this will be the last Friday Finds of 2019, I thought I would review some of the best and worst moments of 2019:
- January: China made history with the first-ever landing of the far side of the moon.
- February: Marshmello held a concert for more than 10 million people on Fortnite.
- March: A stem cell tranplant resulted in the second patient being HIV free.
- And, 50 people were charged in the college admissions scandal.
- April: The first-ever image of a black hole was unveiled thanks to the creation of an algorithm by a 29-year old woman.
- May: San Francisco became the first city to ban the use of facial recognition software.
- June: Amazon made One Day shipping the norm for Prime Members.
- July: The US Women's Soccer Team won their FOURTH World Cup.
- August: CNN and Viacom agreed to an all-stock merger bringing them to a market capitalization of $26 billion (for comparison, Walt Disney is at ~$274 billion).
- September: Purdue Pharma, makers of OxyContin, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of its plan to settle dozens of lawsuits for its role in the Opioid Crisis.
- October: The first all-female spacewalk took place.
- November: The most diverse class of lawmakers were sworn into the 116th congress.
- And, IG began testing hidden likes in the US.
- December: Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" snags the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, 25 years after its release.
- And, Donald Trump became the third-ever US President to be impeached.
Did I miss anything? What do you think 2019's biggest moments were? I'd love to hear from you!
Oh, and in case we don't chat before the holidays... happy holidays! Cheers to 2020!
Gold Stars:
- Twelve mid-Atlantic and northeast states have come together to create a plan to curb tailpipe emissions.
- Alexa, Siri and Google just bought each other BFF bracelets. They worked together to create a new standard, CHIP to make sure our smart homes are actually, well, smart.
- Sprint is sprinting towards carbon neutrality. They plan to source 100% renewable energy and be carbon neutral by 2025.
- Delta is committed to reduce emissions by 50% by 2050. They just signed a long-term agreement with sustainable fuel producer, Gevo, which offers a 75% lower carbon footprint throughout the fuel's lifecycle.
Yikes:
- Did you turn off your location tracking on Facebook? Good. Except, they’re still tracking your location. And selling it to advertisers.
- Wake FedEx up when December ends. Amazon just banned third-party sellers from using FedEx Ground to ship Prime orders, adding to FedEx's woes.
Stuff You Should Know:
- Hoping to catch some powder this winter? You're not alone. Uber is releasing Uber Ski, guaranteeing that you'll have room for your skis/board during your ride.
- IHOP is hopping into fast casual. Theyr'e launching their new concept, Flip'd, in Atlanta in April 2020.
- Chrismas is around the corner which means many of us will be busy last-minute holiday shopping this weekend. 147.8 million of us to be exact.
- Google released it's Year in Search data. 2019's US Top Trending search term was Disney Plus.
- Hello, caffeinated Gatorade. TBD if this will energize sales.
- Flight delayed when you're trying to get home for the holidays? Don't fear, Burger King is here. They're giving away free Impossible Whoppers to delayed travelers.
- Coke brought back their Global CMO role after they ditched the position in 2017.
- Facebook and Instagram are closing an ad loophole that allowed branded content (aka influencer posts) to feature vaping and guns. Weapons, tobacco and vaping are now banned. And, alcohol and diet supplements have new special restrictions.
On my GoodReads:
Since it's the holiday and many of us are taking some well deserved time off, I thought I'd share one of my favorite fiction books from this year.
A Gentleman in Moscow tells the story of a Russian count who is sentenced to house arrest in one of Moscow's finest hotels. Not only is it BEAUTIFULLY written, but I spent HOURS reading through reviews of the book because I could not get enough.
Truly my favorite book of 2019. And, in case you need more persuading, Bill Gates also listed it as one of his favorite books from 2019.
PS: Since finishing A Gentleman in Moscow, I have read Rules of Civility by the same author which I would also highly recommend.
PPS: if you, like me, feel bad buying paper books all the time I highly recommend downloading Libby (e-books app, but you have to get a library card which you can normally do online) or buying used books on Amazon.
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