This gallery from The Associated Press showcases a year that included unprecedented events — such as the first ever criminal indictment of a former president, Donald Trump, in connection to a hush money scheme from his 2016 campaign. Trump was photographed surrounded by security as he was escorted to a Manhattan courtroom in April.
Some of the images focused on issues that the country continues to wrestle with, like immigration at the southern border where people come from around the world in hope of seeking asylum in the United States: A grim-faced man waits while cradling a sleeping child, reminiscent of Dorothea Lange’s iconic 1936 “Migrant Mother”; a small child is passed under concertina wire by the Rio Grande.
A weeping child on a bus, leaving the site of a school shooting in Tennessee, shows the toll of another year of gun violence.
But nature’s beauty is there, too, in a sea lion swimming in San Diego’s La Jolla Cove and a puffin carrying food to its chick off the coast of Maine.
Moments of fun and celebration had their place, such as dancers rehearsing for the “2023 Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes,” and the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights crowding together after winning their first Stanley Cup.
There were also those who inspired us: Simone Biles, soaring as she returned to competitive gymnastics and won the U.S. Classic, two years after withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health.
And no gallery would be complete without the woman who may have had the most interesting 2023 of all. There she is, in all her sparkly, record-breaking, history-making glory — Taylor Swift.
Traffic on Interstate 110 heads toward downtown Los Angeles in this long exposure photo on Jan. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
This image from video released by the City of Memphis shows Tyre Nichols leaning against a car after a brutal attack by five police officers on Jan. 7, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. Nichols died three days later. The five police officers, all of whom are also Black, were fired and later charged with various state felonies, including second-degree murder. (City of Memphis via AP)
A person takes a picture of the waves crashing on to the shore as ice forms on Oak Street Beach in Chicago on Feb. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
Firefighters battle a five-alarm fire in an apartment building on a frigid winter day in Montreal on Feb. 3, 2023. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)
Debris from a Norfolk Southern freight train lies scattered and burning along the tracks on Feb. 4, 2023, the day after it derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
A large plume of smoke rises over East Palestine, Ohio, after a controlled detonation of a portion of a derailed Norfolk Southern train on Feb. 6, 2023. Three days earlier, about 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed in a fiery crash. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
A fighter jet flies past the remnants of a large balloon after it was shot down above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Feb. 4, 2023. The Chinese balloon was part of a large surveillance program that China has been conducting for “several years,” according to Pentagon officials. (Chad Fish via AP)
Hikers are silhouetted against the setting sun at Papago park in Phoenix on Feb. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
State Route 138 winds through snow-covered trees near Hesperia, Calif., on March 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Alex Murdaugh is handcuffed at Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., on March 2, 2023. Murdaugh, a prominent attorney, was found guilty of murder in the 2021 shooting deaths of his wife and son. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)
Michael Cohen, former attorney to Donald Trump, leaves the District Attorney’s office in New York after testifying before a grand jury on March 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A child weeps on a bus leaving The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., following a mass shooting there on March 27, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)
Former President Donald Trump is escorted to a courtroom in New York on April 4, 2023. Trump is accused of falsifying internal business records at his private company while trying to cover up an effort to illegally influence the 2016 election by arranging payments that silenced claims potentially harmful to his candidacy. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Tennessee state troopers block the stairwell leading to the legislative chambers at the Capitol in Nashville, Tenn., on April 6, 2023, as Tennessee Republicans considered whether to expell three House Democrats for using a bullhorn to shout support for pro-gun control protesters in the House chamber. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Drag queen Alexus Daniels is reflected in a mirror while applying makeup, or “painting,” at home in Coal Township, Pa., on May 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Asylum-seekers wait between the double fence on U.S. soil along the U.S.-Mexico border near Tijuana, Mexico, on May 8, 2023, in San Diego. The migrants wait between the fences to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol agents. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Migrants waiting to apply for asylum between two border walls hold out phones in hopes of getting a charge on May 11, 2023, in San Diego. Pandemic-related U.S. asylum restrictions, known as Title 42, expired on May 11. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
People salvage items from a home after a tornado hit on May 13, 2023, in the unincorporated community of Laguna Heights, Texas, near South Padre Island. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Incarcerated graduate Jose Catalan poses for photos after his graduation ceremony at Folsom State Prison in Folsom, Calif., on May 25, 2023. Catalan earned his bachelor’s degree in communications through the Transforming Outcomes Project at Sacramento State University. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Jets fly overhead as graduates toss their hats into the air at the conclusion of the 2023 United States Air Force Academy Graduation Ceremony at Falcon Stadium on June 1, 2023, in Colorado Springs, Colo. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Traffic in New York moves along West Street past One World Trade Center, in this mirror image reflected in the facade of a building on June 7, 2023. The smokey haze was caused by wildfires in Canada. (AP Photo/Andy Bao)
Members of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrate after defeating the Florida Panthers to win the Stanley Cup in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals on June 13, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Hatched salmon with yolk sacs swim alongside unhatched eggs at the Atlantic Sapphire Bluehouse indoor salmon farm in Homestead, Fla., on June 28, 2023. The company’s system relies on an uncommon feature of the groundwater near the warehouse’s location: Salmon need both fresh and salt water, and both are found nearby. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Fireworks burst above the National Mall and, from left, the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol building, during Independence Day celebrations in Washington on July 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., center, is helped by, from left, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, after the 81-year-old GOP leader froze at the microphones as he arrived for a news conference on July 26, 2023, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Volunteer Daniel Hyduke of Miami Beach, Fla., clips a fragment of coral to be transplanted from the coral nursery to the reef near Key Biscayne, Fla., on Aug. 4, 2023. Scientists from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science established a new restoration research site there to identify and better understand the heat tolerance of certain coral species and genotypes during bleaching events. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
An Atlantic puffin brings a beak full of baitfish to feed its chick in a burrow under rocks on Eastern Egg Rock, a small island off the coast of Maine on Aug. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Simone Biles performs on the uneven bars at the U.S. Classic gymnastics competition on Aug. 5, 2023, in Hoffman Estates, Ill. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Taylor Swift performs during “The Eras Tour” on Aug. 7, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames on Aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP)
Mary Lou Beaver stands beside her family’s kitchen sink on Aug. 17, 2023, in Akiachak, Alaska. Most of the village’s nearly 700 people began getting modern plumbing for the first time this spring and summer. Beaver, a retired teacher who now lives in Anchorage, recalls packing water from the river in her youth, collecting rainwater and using an outhouse. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
Evacuees from the wildfires in Yellowknife, territorial capital of the Northwest Territories, are greeted with the Aurora Borealis as they arrive at a free campsite provided by the community in High Level, Alberta, on Aug. 18, 2023. (Jason Franson /The Canadian Press via AP)
The McDougall Creek wildfire burns on the mountainside above houses in West Kelowna, British Columbia, on Aug. 18, 2023. This year was Canada’s worst fire season on record. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
Racers, including eventual winner Ocean Kim (5), leave the gates for the championship race during the “T-Rex World Championship Races” at Emerald Downs in Auburn, Wash., on Aug. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Thick smoke from wildfires burning in the area hangs in the air as motorists travel on the Trans-Canada Highway east of Kamloops, British Columbia, on Aug. 20, 2023. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, raises his fist to acknowledge people in the gallery during a special session of the state legislature on public safety on Aug. 21, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani speaks to reporters as he leaves his apartment building in New York on Aug. 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Surfers float in the water while waiting for a wave in Malibu, Calif., on Aug. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Burned vehicles and other debris are scattered about a property destroyed by the Bush Creek East wildfire, in Scotch Creek, British Columbia, Canada, on Sept. 6, 2023. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
The sun sets behind the Manhattan skyline as a plane approaches for a landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Sept. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Migrants who crossed into the U.S. from Mexico pass under concertina wire along the Rio Grande river, on Sept. 21, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
A Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jew looks up in the Brooklyn borough of New York as a helicopter patrols the area during an event held for solidarity and prayer for Israel, on Oct. 9, 2023, two days after the brutal attack by Hamas militants in southern Israel. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Charlotte FC goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina deflects a shot by Inter Miami forward Leonardo Campana during the second half of an MLS soccer match on Oct. 18, 2023, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Dancers rehearse for the “2023 Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes” at St. Paul the Apostle Church in New York on Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Responders stand amid wreckage in the aftermath of a multi-vehicle pileup on Interstate 55 in Manchac, La., on Oct. 23, 2023. A “superfog” of smoke from south Louisiana marsh fires and dense morning fog caused multiple traffic crashes involving scores of cars. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Protestors cross the Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Oct. 28, 2023, in a pro-Palestinian demonstration demanding a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
People sign “I love you” while gathered at a vigil for the victims of Wednesday’s mass shootings, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2023, outside the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Jelly Roll performs “Need a Favor” at the 57th Annual CMA Awards on Nov. 8, 2023, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Royce Soble, of Atlanta, sits near a reflection pool at The Carter Center in Atlanta after the announcement that former first lady Rosalynn Carter had died, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
