ISIS lost a ton of territory
As of October 2016, the terrorist group had lost about 16 percent of the territory it held at the beginning of the year, according to a report by IHS Conflict Monitor. The Iraqi government and coalition forces are currently fighting for control of Mosul.
With the loss of territory, ISIS has shifted its focus from controlling territory to pulling off attacks abroad.
Obama expands public lands more than any other president
President Obama designated three new national monuments. Using the Antiquities Act of 1906, he has established 23 new monuments while in office
A former Speaker of the House gets 15 months in prison
Dennis Hastert, a man once second in line to the presidency, is now in prison for a case involving hush money he paid to cover up his sexual abuse of teenaged boys.
Hastert, a Republican, admitted to molesting the boys when he was a wrestling coach in the 1960s and 70s.
"What I did was wrong, and I regret it," he said at his sentencing hearing in April.
The first private moon mission is approved
Florida-based Moon Express will send an unmanned vessel into orbit in 2017 after receiving approval from five different U.S. agencies signed off on it.
Congress overrides the first veto of Obama's presidency
In a rare moment of bipartisanship, Congress in September voter to override a bill that would allow family members of September 11 terrorist attacks victims to sue Saudi Arabia. Fifteen of the 19 plane hijackers were Saudi nationals.
"[The veto] has to do with me not wanting a situation in which we’re suddenly exposed to liabilities for all the work that we’re doing all around the world," Obama told CNN.
