CNN’s top 100 digital stories of 2019

What a news year 2019 was. The team at CNN Digital looked back on the stories that resonated most in this frenetic news year. We always want to know what you, our audience, is most interested in. We find this list both reflective and informative about the work we do and the people we do it for.

The list not only speaks to a nonstop news cycle, but to the diverse interests and intellectual curiosity of millions of people who came to CNN’s digital platforms this year.

When news breaks, people turn to CNN. Natural disasters. Horrific mass shootings. People we lost. Riveting US political news and analysis. Those kinds of stories are definitely on this list.

But so are stories about business strategies, inspiring people, wild medical tales, unique travel pieces and “zeitgeist” stories about the culture and time we live in.

As we enter an election year, we will keep up the critical work of covering the campaigns and the political climate in the US, and continue to report on an array of important and interesting stories around the world.

CNN Digital saw its biggest audiences so far in 2019, with a monthly average of more than 162 million people coming to read and watch our brand of essential and engaging journalism. We thank each and every one of you, and we promise to keep going.

–Meredith Artley, Editor in Chief, CNN Digital Worldwide

1. Live Story: Fire at Notre Dame Cathedral

2. Live Story: Hurricane Dorian slams into the Bahamas

3. Live Story: Dozens killed in Christchurch mosque shooting

4. Live Story: President Trump has been impeached

5. Live Story: Deadly shooting in El Paso, Texas

6. Live Story: Hurricane Dorian threatens the US

7. It’s only $4.99. But Costco’s rotisserie chicken comes at a huge price

8. Live Story: Hurricane Dorian intensifies as it heads for US

9. Live Story: Hurricane Dorian threatens the US after devastating the Bahamas

10. Live Story: Hurricane Dorian heads for the US mainland

11. The Dayton shooter wore a mask, bulletproof vest and hearing protection as he opened fire, police chief says

12. Police sources: New evidence suggests Jussie Smollett orchestrated attack

13. Live Story: Three key witnesses testify in impeachment inquiry

14. Opinion: Mueller’s report looks bad for Obama

15. Live Story: The government is STILL shut down

16. Live Story: Mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio

17. Live Story: House launches Trump impeachment inquiry

18. Live Story: Michael Cohen testifies before Congress

19. Cameron Boyce, Disney star, dies at 20 after a seizure, family says

20. Live Story: The government shutdown is over

21. 20 people killed in El Paso shooting, Texas governor says

22. A shocking image of a drowned man and his daughter underscores the crisis at the US-Mexico border

23. A mother’s warning: If you have white teen sons, listen up …

24. At least 12 dead after disgruntled employee opens fire at Virginia Beach municipal center

25. Analysis: Nancy Pelosi just pulled a major power move on Donald Trump’s State of the Union

26. Live Story: Deadly school shooting in Santa Clarita

27. How a cheap, brutally efficient grocery chain is upending America’s supermarkets

28. She lived for 99 years with organs in all the wrong places and never knew it

29. Live Story: Robert Mueller testifies

2019: The year in pictures

30. Which drink is best for hydration? Hint: It isn’t water

31. Live Story: The Mueller report is out

32. Jennifer Hart drove her six children to their deaths as her wife looked up how much they would suffer, a jury says

33. Marcia Cross says her anal cancer is linked to HPV and husband’s throat cancer

34. Commonly prescribed drugs are tied to nearly 50% higher dementia risk in older adults, study says

35. Live Story: Sri Lanka attack death toll rises to 290

36. This college dropout was bedridden for 11 years. Then he invented a surgery and cured himself

37. Live Story: This is the longest shutdown in US history

38. A new video shows a different side of the encounter between a Native American elder and teens in MAGA hats

39. Live Story: Trump declares national emergency to fund the wall

40. Read Trump’s phone conversation with Volodymyr Zelensky

41. Exclusive: White House preparing draft national emergency order, has identified $7 billion for wall

42. Exclusive: Giuliani associate willing to tell Congress Nunes met with ex-Ukrainian official to get dirt on Biden

43. Analysis: The greatest trick Donald Trump ever pulled

44. Keanu Reeves not touching women is a thing

45. Trump’s offer of temporary protection for immigrants to end shutdown is a ‘non-starter,’ say Democrats

46. Live Story: The 2019 Oscars

47. Explosive revelations in Russia saga add up to a bad day for Trump

48. Dollar stores are everywhere. That’s a problem for poor Americans

49. Nine-year-old child genius to graduate university

50. Earthquakes put Ridgecrest residents on edge: ‘Nobody in this town has slept for days’

51. Live Story: Hurricane Dorian nears Puerto Rico

52. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responds to dance video critics with more dancing

53. Prince Harry accepts ‘substantial’ damages after helicopter photos forced royal couple from their home

54. Emily Hartridge, popular YouTube personality, dies at 35

55. Analysis: Why Shep Smith finally walked out of Fox News for good

56. Four flight attendants were arrested in Miami’s airport after bringing in thousands in cash, police say

57. Live Story: Whistleblower alleges White House coverup

58. Teenage boy goes blind after existing on Pringles, white bread and french fries

59. Grocery store employee missing for 10 years found behind store’s cooler

60. Live Story: Impeachment inquiry hearing with former US Ambassador to Ukraine

61. Passengers stuck on United flight in frigid cold for more than 14 hours

62. Teen dies of tapeworm larvae infestation in the brain

63. Exclusive: Top US Navy SEAL tells commanders in letter: ‘We have a problem’

64. Former Trump Organization executive says she expects President Trump will resign

65. Two people just got the plague in China — yes, the Black Death plague

66. Edward Snowden searched the CIA’s networks for proof that aliens exist. Here’s what he found

67. Live Story: Bombs tear through Sri Lankan churches and hotels, killing 250 people

68. Abigail Disney visited Disneyland. She is ‘livid’ about what she saw

69. Live Story: At least 3 dead in California garlic festival shooting

A child sleeps in a bag in the Syrian village of Beit Sawa in March 2018.

Cindy Tersme throws herself on the rubble of Ecole St. Gerard, a school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the country in January 2010. Tersme screamed in anguish after finding the lifeless body of her 14-year-old brother, Jean Gaelle Dersmorne. "I can see my brother's feet but can't pull him out," she said, weeping. The earthquake's death toll has been estimated at 220,000-300,000.

A bird is covered in oil at Louisiana's East Grand Terre Island in June 2010. Two months earlier, an explosion occurred aboard the Deepwater Horizon, a BP-contracted oil rig stationed in the Gulf of Mexico. For 87 straight days, oil and methane gas spewed from an uncapped wellhead 1 mile below the surface of the ocean. President Barack Obama described the oil spill as "the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced."

Lady Gaga wears a dress made of real meat at the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2010. Appearing later on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Gaga said the dress "has many interpretations, but for me ... if we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our bones."

This photo of Afghan woman Aesha Mohammadzai appeared on the cover of Time magazine in August 2010. Her Taliban husband and in-laws punished her for running away by hacking off her nose and ears and leaving her for dead. She became a symbol of the oppression of women in her war-torn country. She was flown to the United States, where she underwent multiple surgeries to reconstruct her nose.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen behind the heavily tinted window of a police van as he arrives at a London prison in December 2010. Assange has been a key figure in the major leaks of classified government documents, cables and videos. He spent much of the decade at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after the government of Ecuador granted him asylum. That asylum was revoked in 2019, and Assange is now fighting extradition to the United States, where he faces charges under the Espionage Act. Assange has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

A wave approaches Miyako, Japan, after a 9.1 magnitude earthquake occurred in March 2011. The earthquake caused a tsunami with 30-foot waves that damaged several nuclear reactors in the area. It is the largest earthquake ever to hit Japan.

A rebel celebrates as his comrades fire rockets at troops loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in April 2011. Gadhafi was killed in October 2011 after being captured by rebel forces. He had been in power since 1969.

Britain's Prince William kisses his new wife, Catherine, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in April 2011. The wedding was watched by millions around the world.

US President Barack Obama and members of his national security team monitor the Navy SEALs raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011. "Fourteen people crammed into the room, the President sitting in a folding chair on the corner of the table's head," said CNN's Peter Bergen as he relived the bin Laden raid five years later. "They sat in this room until the SEALs returned to Afghanistan." (Editor's note: The classified document in front of Hillary Clinton was obscured by the White House.)

A couple kisses on a street after riots broke out in Vancouver, British Columbia, in June 2011. Angry hockey fans, fuming over their team's loss in the Stanley Cup Final, wreaked havoc across downtown sections of Vancouver.

Hillary Clinton, while US secretary of state, checks her BlackBerry on a military plane in October 2011. Clinton said she used a private email account for her official work at the State Department and that she did so out of convenience. The FBI investigated whether Clinton or her aides had mishandled classified information either intentionally or in a grossly negligent way. In 2016, FBI Director James Comey said he would not recommend charges against Clinton, but he rebuked her and her aides for being "extremely careless" in the handling of classified information.

Tarana Akbari, 12, screams after a suicide bomber attacked the Abul Fazel Shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan, in December 2011. Twin bomb blasts killed dozens of Afghan people on the holy day of Ashura.

Egyptian soldiers arrest a protester during deadly clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square in December 2011. Images of the protester being stomped stoked anger among the pro-democracy demonstrators battling Egyptian security. Tahrir Square was the symbolic center of the uprising that brought down President Hosni Mubarak earlier in the year.

A protester reacts as the US mission in Benghazi was set on fire in September 2012. The US ambassador to Libya and three other US nationals were killed during the attack. The Obama administration initially thought the attack was carried out by an angry mob responding to a video, made in the United States, that mocked Islam and the Prophet Mohammed. But the storming of the mission was later determined to have been a terrorist attack.

An amusement park in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, is left in ruins after Hurricane Sandy hit the area in October 2012. The storm affected 24 states and all of the eastern seaboard, causing an estimated $70 billion in damages.

Children are escorted out of Sandy Hook Elementary School after a mass shooting occurred at the school in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012. Six adults and 20 children were killed by Adam Lanza, who had earlier killed his mother in their home. The photograph, taken by local journalist Shannon Hicks, made it onto the front pages of newspapers, magazines and websites around the world. "I knew that, coming out of the building — as terrified as they were — those children were safe," Hicks later told Time magazine. "I just felt that it was an important moment."

African migrants in Djibouti raise their phones to try to catch an inexpensive signal from neighboring Somalia in February 2013. Djibouti is a common stop-off point for African migrants seeking a better life in Europe and the Middle East.

Police officers stand over marathon runner Bill Iffrig as a second explosion sounds near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in April 2013. Three people were killed and at least 264 were injured in the terror attack.

Two victims are seen in the rubble after an eight-story building collapsed in Savar, Bangladesh, in April 2013. More than 1,000 people were killed.

A Turkish police officer uses tear gas in May 2013 as people protested the government's plans to demolish Istanbul's Gezi Park. Protests evolved into anti-government dissent across the nation.

Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus perform on stage during the MTV Video Music Awards in August 2013. The provocative performance dominated the headlines and had many people discussing whether it was too risque.

People take cover behind a counter at the Westgate shopping mall after a shootout in Nairobi, Kenya, in September 2013. The Somali terror group Al-Shabaab, an affiliate of al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for a bloody four-day siege at the upscale mall. At least 67 people were killed.

Pope Francis embraces Vinicio Riva, a disfigured man suffering from a non-infectious genetic disease, during a public audience at the Vatican in November 2013. Images of the embrace went viral on social media. Pope Francis was elected in February 2013 after Pope Benedict retired.

Anti-government protesters clash with police in Kiev, Ukraine, in February 2014. Kiev's Independence Square had been the center of anti-government protests since November 2013, when President Viktor Yanukovych reversed a decision on a trade deal with the European Union and instead turned toward Russia. The protests soon led to the ouster of Yanukovych and triggered a chain of events that included Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres takes a moment to orchestrate a selfie with a group of movie stars at the awards show in March 2014. Actor Bradley Cooper, seen in the foreground, was holding the phone at the time. "If only Bradley's arm was longer," DeGeneres tweeted. "Best photo ever." It became the most retweeted post of all time.

In August 2014, a helicopter delivering aid to Yazidi civilians trapped by ISIS militants crashed in the Sinjar Mountains in northern Iraq. In this photo, survivors of the crash are loaded onto a second rescue helicopter bound for Kurdish territory. The pilot killed in the crash lies under the wounded.

Edward Crawford returns a tear-gas canister fired by police who were trying to disperse protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014. Some protests in the city turned into clashes between angry citizens and police after Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a white police officer.

Medical workers in Monrovia, Liberia, carry James Dorbor, an 8-year-old suspected of having the Ebola virus, into a treatment facility in September 2014. West Africa was dealing with the deadliest-ever outbreak of Ebola. The outbreak ended in 2016 after more than 11,000 deaths.

Actor George Clooney, right, and his fiancee, lawyer Amal Alamuddin, arrive in Venice, Italy, in September 2014. The two were married in a private ceremony attended by some of their celebrity friends.

ISIS militants stand near the site of an airstrike near the Turkey-Syria border in October 2014. The United States and several Arab nations were bombing ISIS targets to take out the group's ability to command, train and resupply its fighters.

In this aerial photo, taken in April 2015, a housing development meets the edge of undeveloped desert in Cathedral City, California. California Gov. Jerry Brown imposed mandatory water restrictions on residents, businesses and farms in the drought-ravaged state, ordering cities and towns to reduce their usage by 25%.

Rohingya migrants jump off a boat to collect food supplies dropped by a Thai army helicopter in May 2015. The boat, drifting in Thai waters, was crammed with scores of migrants. More than 740,000 Rohingya have fled into neighboring Bangladesh after Myanmar's military launched a campaign of violence against the ethnic Muslim minority. Myanmar has defended its actions, saying it was targeting terrorists.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with US President Barack Obama near the Bavarian Alps in June 2015. Obama and other world leaders were in Germany for the annual G7 summit.

The White House is lit up in rainbow colors to commemorate the Supreme Court's ruling to legalize same-sex marriage in June 2015.

Caitlyn Jenner accepts the Arthur Ashe Courage Award during the ESPY Awards in July 2015. In her first speech since identifying as transgender, Jenner said she wants to "reshape the landscape of how trans issues are viewed." Jenner, formerly known as Bruce, won the Olympic decathlon in 1976 and became a popular television personality.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter is showered by dollar bills during a news conference in Zurich, Switzerland, in July 2015. The money was thrown at Blatter by British comedian Simon Brodkin, who was then ushered away from the stage. Blatter had led soccer's governing body since 1998, but he decided to stand down as FIFA battled corruption scandals.

Officers in Bodrum, Turkey, stand near the lifeless body of Alan Kurdi, a Syrian refugee who washed up on shore in September 2015. The 2-year-old was one of 12 refugees who drowned that day during a failed attempt to sail to the Greek island of Kos. This photo went viral around the world, often with a Turkish hashtag that means "Flotsam of Humanity."

Baynazar Mohammad Nazar lies dead on an operating table inside a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. The hospital was "accidentally struck" by US bombs after Afghan forces called for air support in October 2015, said Gen. John Campbell, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan.

Drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is escorted by soldiers at a federal hangar in Mexico City in January 2016. Members of Mexico's navy caught Guzman in an early morning raid in the coastal city of Los Mochis, a senior law enforcement official told CNN. Mexico extradited Guzman to the United States, where he was convicted on all of the federal charges against him.

Jose Wesley, a baby born with microcephaly, cries in Bonito, Brazil, in January 2016. Microcephaly is a neurological disorder that results in newborns with small heads and abnormal brain development. An outbreak of the Zika virus was linked to a surge of babies with the birth defect.

Two wounded women sit in the airport in Brussels, Belgium, after two explosions rocked the facility in March 2016. A subway station in the city was also targeted in terrorist attacks that killed 32 people and injured hundreds more. ISIS claimed responsibility for both attacks.

Former Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius walks without his prosthetic legs during his sentencing hearing in Pretoria, South Africa, in June 2015. His attorney was arguing that he was a vulnerable figure who should receive a lesser sentence for the 2014 murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. A judge sentenced Pistorius to six years in prison, but that sentence was later increased to 13 years and five months in 2017.

Activist Ieshia Evans stands in the street in July 2016 as two police officers move in to arrest her near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Louisiana. She was one of hundreds of protesters who blocked a Baton Rouge roadway to decry police brutality. Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was shot and killed by one of two white police officers who confronted him outside a Baton Rouge convenience store. Cell phone video showed Sterling pinned to the ground by the officers before he was shot; police said Sterling was shot because he was reaching for a gun.

South African swimmer Chad Le Clos glances at US swimmer Michael Phelps during the Olympic final of the 200-meter butterfly in August 2016. Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, won the race for his 20th career gold medal. He avenged one of the few losses of his Olympic career — a second-place finish to Le Clos in 2012. Le Clos finished fourth.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt looks back at his Olympic competitors during a 100-meter semifinal in August 2016. Bolt won the final a short time later, becoming the first man in history to win the 100 meters at three straight Olympic Games. His legendary career includes eight Olympic gold medals and world records in the 100 and 200 meters.

This still image, taken from a video posted by the Aleppo Media Center, shows a young boy in an ambulance after an airstrike in Aleppo, Syria, in August 2016. It took nearly an hour to dig the boy, identified as Omran Daqneesh, out from the rubble, an activist told CNN. The airstrike destroyed his home where he lived with his parents and two siblings. The Syrian civil war started in April 2011 and is still ongoing.

The Chicago Cubs celebrate after winning Game 7 of the World Series in November 2016. The Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians in 10 innings to end the longest championship drought in major US sports. The Cubs hadn't won the World Series since 1908.

Katie Stubblefield poses for a portrait in November 2016. Stubblefield was at the Cleveland Clinic to receive a face transplant. She shot herself in 2014 when she was 18. Now, she hopes to use her historic surgery to raise awareness about the lasting harms of suicide and the precious value of life.

Mevlut Mert Altintas gestures after assassinating Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at a photo exhibition in Ankara, Turkey, in December 2016. Altintas, an off-duty Turkish police officer, was then fatally shot during a shootout. In a video that circulated on social media, Altintas was heard shouting, "Allahu akbar (God is greatest). Do not forget Aleppo! Do not forget Syria! Do not forget Aleppo! Do not forget Syria!" Russia is an ally of the Syrian regime and has carried out airstrikes to prop up embattled leader Bashar al-Assad. Karlov, 62, had served in Ankara since 2013.

From left, San Francisco 49ers Eli Harold, Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid kneel during the National Anthem in December 2016. All season, Kaepernick refused to stand during the National Anthem because he did not want to "show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color." An increasing number of NFL players joined him and began to kneel or raise their fists during the anthem, but critics perceived the protests as unpatriotic and disrespectful of the American flag and US military.

US President-elect Donald Trump arrives at his inauguration ceremony in January 2017. The real estate magnate and former reality star defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election. His inaugural address centered on the themes that animated his stunning outsider campaign, which shattered political conventions and gave voice to heartland voters who felt badly let down by more established politicians.

US President Donald Trump has a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, one of several world leaders he talked to after taking office in January 2017. Joining Trump in the Oval Office, from left, are Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Vice President Mike Pence, senior adviser Steve Bannon, press secretary Sean Spicer and national security adviser Michael Flynn. Priebus, Bannon, Spicer and Flynn are no longer part of the administration.

"La La Land" producer Jordan Horowitz holds up a card at the 2017 Academy Awards, proving that there was a mistake and that "Moonlight" had actually won the Oscar for best picture. "La La Land" was initially announced as the winner, but presenter Warren Beatty explained to the crowd that he was given the wrong envelope. See how the scene unfolded

This April 2017 photo, provided by the activist Idlib Media Center, shows dead children after a suspected chemical attack in the rebel-held city of Khan Sheikhoun, Syria. Dozens of people were killed, according to multiple activist groups. The United States responded a few days later by launching between 50-60 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian government airbase. US officials said the base was home to warplanes that carried out the chemical attack. Syria repeatedly denied it had anything to do with the attack.

Residents view the first iceberg of the season as it passes the South Shore, also known as Canada's "Iceberg Alley," near Ferryland, Newfoundland and Labrador, in April 2017.

A demonstrator catches on fire during anti-government protests in Caracas, Venezuela, in May 2017. It happened as protesters clashed with police and the gas tank of a police motorbike exploded. Other photos from the scene showed the man being attended to with burns on his body.

Sincere Smith, a 2-year-old from Flint, Michigan, suffers from a full-body rash that his mother blamed on municipal water he bathed in. Cost-cutting measures in Flint led to tainted water that contained lead and other toxins.

Pope Francis stands with US President Donald Trump and his family during a private audience at the Vatican in May 2017. Joining the President were his wife, Melania, and his daughter Ivanka.

Former FBI Director James Comey is photographed before testifying to the Senate Intelligence Committee, one month after US President Donald Trump fired him in May 2017. Comey discussed the FBI's Russia investigation, his private interactions with Trump and how he handled the Hillary Clinton email probe.

Firefighters remove an American flag as a wildfire closes in on a home in Oroville, California, in July 2017. Raging wildfires forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes across the western United States. Scientists point to a number of conditions that have led to deadlier wildfires in recent years, all related to climate change.

White nationalists chant at counterprotesters after marching through the University of Virginia's Charlottesville campus in August 2017. Chanting "blood and soil" and "you will not replace us," the group rallied around a statue of Thomas Jefferson before clashing with the counterprotesters, CNN affiliate WWBT reported. Charlottesville became the latest Southern battleground over the contested removal of Confederate monuments. In February 2017, the city council voted to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The council also voted to rename two city parks that had been named for Confederate generals.

A car plows into a group of counterprotesters who were marching against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old woman from Charlottesville, was killed and 19 others were injured. A 20-year-old man, James Alex Fields, was accused of ramming his car into the crowd. He was convicted of first-degree murder and nine other charges in 2018, and he was sentenced to life in prison.

An elderly patient waits to be rescued from Hurricane Harvey floodwaters in Port Arthur, Texas. Harvey flooded the city of Houston and flattened many homes along the state's Gulf Coast in August 2017. Climate scientists have said that warming oceans are making storms stronger and more damaging.

The moon covers the sun during a total solar eclipse seen near Redmond, Oregon, in August 2017. It was the first total solar eclipse to cross the United States since 1918.

San Juan, Puerto Rico, is seen during a blackout after Hurricane Maria made landfall in September 2017. Maria was the strongest storm to make landfall in Puerto Rico in 85 years. It came ashore with sustained winds of 155 mph, knocking out power to the entire island. Trees were uprooted, homes were destroyed, and there was also widespread flooding.

Concertgoers dive over a fence to take cover from gunfire after shots rang out at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in October 2017. Fifty-eight people were killed and hundreds were injured when a gunman opened fire on the crowd. Police said the gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, fired from the Mandalay Bay hotel, several hundred feet southwest of the concert grounds. He was found dead in his hotel room, and authorities said he killed himself. It is the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and his wife, Louise Linton, hold up a sheet of new $1 bills in November 2017. The notes were the first to feature Mnuchin's signature. Linton was widely criticized earlier in the year when she posted a photo on Instagram that showed her stepping off a government plane, flaunting her designer wardrobe by tagging the designers. The photo kicked off an investigation into Mnuchin's use of government planes. The Treasury Department's inspector general ultimately found no evidence of wrongdoing but said the Trump administration had cut corners during the approval process for Mnuchin's trips.

Randall Margraves, left, lunges at Larry Nassar, bottom right, during Nassar's third and final sentencing hearing in February 2018. Nassar, a former team doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, pleaded guilty to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct and admitted to sexually assaulting and abusing young girls under the guise of providing medical treatment. Margraves, whose three daughters say they were abused by Nassar, tried to attack Nassar before being tackled and detained by security. Margraves was brought back into the court in handcuffs during a lunch break, and he apologized to the court.

Students evacuate Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after a shooting at the school killed 17 people in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018. Former student Nikolas Cruz is facing 34 counts of premeditated and attempted murder. His defense team has offered a guilty plea in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of parole, but only if prosecutors take the death penalty off the table. Prosecutors have rejected the plea.

Joseph Wachira comforts Sudan, a northern white rhino, moments before the animal died at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya in March 2018. Sudan was 45 years old and in poor health. The life he lived: Photos of the last male northern white rhino

Emma Gonzalez, a survivor of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, becomes emotional as she speaks during March for Our Lives, a March 2018 protest that called for stricter gun-control legislation. She stood on a stage in Washington for what was the length of the gunman's shooting spree. "Six minutes and about 20 seconds," she said. "In a little over six minutes, 17 of our friends were taken from us, 15 were injured and everyone in the Douglas community was forever altered."

Palestinian protesters shout during clashes with Israeli troops near the Israel-Gaza border in April 2018. Israeli troops fired live rounds against Palestinians attempting to break through the border fence, the Israeli military said, a week after violence led to the bloodiest day in Gaza since 2014. On that day, Israeli officials estimated, tens of thousands of Palestinian protesters marched toward the border fence during protests called the March of Return. The goal of those protests, Palestinians say, is to cross the border fence and return to their lands, which became part of Israel seven decades ago.

Singer Beyonce performs at the Coachella festival in April 2018. She is the first woman of color to headline the event in Indio, California.

Former US President George H.W. Bush, front center, joins other former Presidents and first ladies at the funeral ceremony for his wife, Barbara, in April 2018. Behind Bush, from left, are Laura Bush, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and current first lady Melania Trump. The story behind the photo

History was made in April 2018 when Kim Jong Un, left, became the first North Korean leader to cross into South Korean territory since 1953. South Korean President Moon Jae-in was waiting to greet him at the military demarcation line that has long divided the two Koreas. The two leaders shook hands at the line, and then, in a symbolic move, Moon joined Kim on the northern side of the line before they crossed into the southern side together. Their summit culminated with a declaration that the two countries — who have been technically at war for almost 70 years now — would later sign a peace treaty.

People play golf on Hawaii's Big Island as an ash plume from the Kilauea volcano rises in the distance. The volcano erupted in May 2018, sending a smoldering flow of lava into residential areas.

Britain's Prince Harry and his new wife, Meghan, kiss on the steps of St. George's Chapel shortly after being married in Windsor, England, in May 2018.

Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul whose alleged sexual assaults sparked the international #MeToo movement, turns himself in to the New York Police Department in May 2018. He was charged with rape and sex abuse in cases involving three women. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

In this June 2018 photo provided by the German Government Press Office, German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with US President Donald Trump, seated, as they are surrounded by other leaders at the G7 summit in Charlevoix, Quebec. According to two senior diplomatic sources, the photo was taken when there was a difficult conversation taking place regarding the G7's communique and several issues the United States had leading up to it. Analysis: The iconic G7 photo is a Trump Rorschach test

A 2-year-old Honduran girl cries as her mother is searched and detained in McAllen, Texas, near the US-Mexico border in June 2018. They had rafted across the Rio Grande and were stopped by US Border Patrol agents, according to Getty Images photographer John Moore.

Immigrant children who had been separated from their families walk between tents at a temporary shelter in Tornillo, Texas, in June 2018. Two days later, after facing intense pressure from across the political spectrum, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to stop families from being separated at the border. Related story: A look inside the places where child migrants are held

Josepha, a migrant from Cameroon, is rescued from a wrecked boat in the Mediterranean Sea in July 2018. Migrants from Africa and the Middle East, many of them seeking refuge from war-torn areas, have arrived in Europe over the last decade.

Llamas are tied to a lifeguard stand as the Woolsey Fire comes down a hill in Malibu, California, in November 2018. In pictures: Wildfires tear across California

Tennis star Naomi Osaka is comforted by Serena Williams as boos rain down during the US Open trophy ceremony in September 2018. Osaka defeated Williams in the final to become the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam singles title. But some in the crowd were unhappy of how the match unfolded, with fan favorite Williams being docked a game after clashing with chair umpire Carlos Ramos.

Christine Blasey Ford, who accused US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, is sworn in before testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2018. She and Kavanaugh both gave emotional statements to the committee and took questions from its members. Ford said the incident took place in the 1980s, when the two were at a party during their high-school years. Kavanaugh repeatedly denied the allegation and said he was facing a politically motivated "smear campaign." He was sworn in a month later after being confirmed by a vote of 50-48.

Employees from the Sotheby's auction house pose with Banksy's "Love is in the Bin" in October 2018. The art was created a week earlier when Banksy's "Girl with Balloon" painting, which had just sold for $1.4 million, was damaged by a paper shredder hidden inside the frame. After it was clear that this was the artist's intention, the buyer decided to keep it.

Amal Hussain, a 7-year-old suffering from malnutrition, lies in a bed at a mobile UNICEF clinic in Aslam, Yemen, in October 2018. She died days after The New York Times published a story about her and the famine crisis in Yemen.

Migrant Maria Meza and her 5-year-old twin daughters, Saira Mejia Meza and Cheili Mejia Meza, run from tear gas that was deployed by US Border Patrol agents near the fence between Mexico and the United States. The tear gas was fired after some migrants on the Mexican side of the border overran police and tried to cross the border in November 2018. The incident marked an escalation of tensions that had been mounting since groups of Central American migrants began arriving in the Mexican border city of Tijuana, drawing threats from US President Donald Trump to close the border.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence clap during President Donald Trump's State of the Union address in February 2019. Because of a record-long government shutdown, Trump's speech came a week later than originally planned.

Researchers at the National Science Foundation announced in April 2019 that this is the first-ever picture of a black hole. The black hole is in the center of M87, a massive galaxy near the Virgo galaxy cluster 55 million light-years from Earth. It has a mass that is 6.5 billion times that of our sun.

Smoke and flames rise from the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in April 2019. A catastrophic fire engulfed the 850-year-old structure, destroying its iconic spire and roof.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II looks at her new great-grandchild, Archie, in May 2019. Archie is the first child of Prince Harry, second from left, and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. Prince Philip is on the far left. Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, is next to her at right.

Sled dogs travel through melted ice water in northwest Greenland in June 2019. Greenland's melt season typically begins around the end of May. This year, it began at the start. Greenland is often considered by scientists to be ground zero of the Earth's climate change. The massive island is mostly in the Arctic, which is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet. Melting ice from Greenland's ice sheet is the largest contributor of all land sources to the rising sea levels that could become catastrophic for coastal cities around the world.

People march in the streets of Hong Kong to protest a controversial extradition bill in June 2019. Critics feared the bill would allow citizens to be sent across the border into mainland China. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam withdrew the bill on September 4, but she refused to give ground on protesters' four other demands, which include greater democracy for the city and an independent commission into police conduct.

The bodies of Salvadoran migrant Oscar Alberto Martínez and his nearly 2-year-old daughter, Angie Valeria, lie on the bank of the Rio Grande near Matamoros, Mexico, in June 2019. They drowned trying to cross the river to Brownsville, Texas. The shocking image was a grim reminder of the dangerous journey migrants take to get to the United States.

US soccer player Megan Rapinoe celebrates her first of two goals in the World Cup quarterfinal win over France in June 2019. Rapinoe scored a tournament-high six goals as the Americans won their second straight World Cup title.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2019. A day earlier, the White House released a transcript of a conversation that Trump and Zelensky had in July. According to the transcript, Trump repeatedly pushed for Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, a former vice president and potential 2020 political rival. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Biden. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she would be opening a formal impeachment inquiry on Trump. Trump has insisted he did nothing wrong in his phone call with Zelensky, saying there was "no pressure whatsoever."

Brandt Jean hugs Amber Guyger, the woman who fatally shot his younger brother, after she was sentenced to 10 years in prison in October 2019. He said he forgave Guyger, a former Dallas police officer, for shooting his brother, Botham, in 2018.

American Simone Biles competes on the floor exercise at the World Gymnastics Championships in October 2019. Biles won yet another gold in the individual all-around. It was her 25th career medal at the World Championships. During this year's competition, Biles also nailed two moves that will be named after her.

100 photos that defined the decade

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70. Beth Chapman, ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’ star, has died

71. YouTuber James Charles has lost nearly 3 million subscribers since his feud with Tati Westbrook

72. A huge, strange-looking fish washed up on a California beach. Scientists say it’s a first

73. 49 killed in mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand

74. Analysis: A grave charge and a momentous turn in the Trump impeachment inquiry

75. He was a Yale graduate, Wall Street banker and entrepreneur. Today he’s homeless in Los Angeles

76. He was bullied for his homemade University of Tennessee T-shirt. The school just made it an official design

77. Mueller indicts Roger Stone, says he was coordinating with Trump officials about WikiLeaks’ stolen emails

78. Alec Baldwin suggests Trump’s latest attack on ‘SNL’ could be ‘a threat to my safety’

79. Analysis: The hugely inappropriate weekend of Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

80. Her son died. And then anti-vaxers attacked her

81. New York meteorologist fired after using racial slur on air

82. Live Story: The latest on the Trump impeachment inquiry

83. Growing divide between Trump and McConnell over impeachment trial

84. Dayton shooter had an obsession with violence and mass shootings, police say

85. A nurse is accused of impregnating a woman in a vegetative state who later gave birth

86. ‘Bomb cyclone’ blasts Colorado and leaves hundreds stranded in cars

87. McConnell will move to acquit Trump if he’s impeached, not merely dismiss charges, 2 Republican senators say

88. Analysis: Donald Trump falls for Nancy Pelosi’s trap

89. US intercepts Russian bombers, fighter jets off the coast of Alaska

90. Fatima Ali, ‘Top Chef’ fan favorite, dies at 29

91. Cops say a would-be kidnapper chased a woman – into a karate studio. That was a bad move.

92. Trump on Meghan Markle: ‘I didn’t know that she was nasty’

93. A ‘no-brainer Nobel Prize’: Hungarian scientists may have found a fifth force of nature

94. Delta passenger who carried firearm through TSA screening returned from Japan to US on the same day

95. An African American security guard asked a student to not call him the n-word. That request got him fired

96. Tesla reveals Cybertruck, but breaks its ‘unbreakable’ windows during unveiling

97. Laurent Simons, 9-year-old prodigy, leaves university without graduating

98. Luke Perry, star of ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ and ‘Riverdale,’ dead at 52

99. Analysis: You’ll never believe what Donald Trump just said about 9/11

100. Woman whose sister-in-law was killed in massacre near the US-Mexico border says cartels have targeted them before

*For data and analytics fans: Every one of these stories got at least 2 million visits according to our internal data, with the top story about the Notre Dame fire getting more than 17 million visits.