What else happened in 2016?

I join in several different podcasts globally, and am a regular on a few. One of those is FinTech Insider, who just recorded an episode that will be released in three parts on December 26, 27 and 29.  The reason is that it is in three parts is that there were seven of us in the room: David Brear, Simon Taylor, Jason Bates and me – the hosts; and three special guests:

• David Birch, Director of Innovation, Consult Hyperion @dgwbirch
• Izabella Kaminska, FT Alphaville blogger @izakaminska
• Ben Brabyn, Chief Executive, Investor, Advisor, Level39 @BenBrabyn

The result is that we talked a lot.  A lot.  But then there was lots to talk about when reflecting on the last year.  So December 26 will review the first six months of 2016:

January

• Oxfam publishes a report stating the world's 62 richest people as wealthy as half the world's population!
• First ever flower grown in space aboard the International Space Station using the NASA Veggie system
• The US holds its 6th debate for republican presidential candidates. Donald Trump is still in the running to many people’s disbelief.
• China's economic growth revealed as lowest for 25 years - 6.9% in 2015

• Sadly on the January 10, 2016 David Bowie died age 69 and notably there were the 'Bowie bonds' - the singer's financial innovation - Link
• Smartphone-based UK bank gets additional £48m backing - Link :)

February

• A global public health emergency is declared over the rapid spread of Zika-linked conditions
• Pope Francis questions US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump's Christianity over his call to build a wall on the Mexican border
• Apple CEO Tim Cook confirms Apple will contest an FBI order to unlock the phone of gunman Syed Rizwan Farook
• AND Computer hackers try to steal 1 billion from Federal Reserve Bank of New York using Bangladesh banking codes - They managed to steal 81 million before a typo alerts authorities
• Pound hits seven-year low after Boris Johnson's Brexit decision – as it happened - Link

March

• EU Migrant Crisis deepens: Macedonia, Croatia and Slovenia close their borders to migrants trying to reach Northern Europe
• Google's DeepMind artificial intelligence wins Go challenge against Lee Se-dol 4-1
• AND Forbes Richest List released, Bill Gates No. 1 with $75 billion, number of world's billionaires shrinks to 1,810. Poor sods.

• Why is Barclays Pulling Out of Africa? - Link

April

• One of my fav artist Prince died aged 57

• First baby born with DNA from 3 parents through mitochondrial transfer in Mexico
• Panama Papers published - 11.5 million confidential documents from offshore law firm Mossack Fonseca, world largest data leak
• Which led to Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson resigning after it showed a conflict of interest -

• Crash of London's $2.7 billion unicorn Powa - Link

May

• Leicester City win the English Premier League title after starting the season at 5,000-1 odd
• Sadiq Khan is elected Mayor of London, - 1st Muslim mayor of a major Western city

• Computers threaten stock pickers’ role - Link

June

• "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child", a play written by Jack Thorne with JK Rowling, premieres in London
• Muhammad Ali died age 74.
• United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union in their "Brexit" referendum
• British Prime Minister David Cameron resigns after the UK votes to leave the EU

• Brexit’s damage to UK economy would be felt until at least 2020 – EIU - Link

December 27’s episode will review the second half of the year:

July

• Pokémon Go, the real-world mobile game by Niantic, is first released
• 130th Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Andy Murray
• Chilcot Report, UK's Iraqi War Inquiry released; concludes Tony Blair overstated case for war and was unprepared
• Jul 25 Verizon announces $4.83 billion purchase of Yahoo
• Theresa May is elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by Conservative Party MPs

• The US government says if you make less than $20 an hour, a robot is probably going to take your job - Link
• German digital bank Fidor acquired by French banking giant - Link

August

• Summer Olympics officially opens in Brazil
• Italian coastguard says 6,500 migrants rescued at sea in 40 separate incidents in 1 day off coast of Sabratha, Libya
• Brazilian Senate votes to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, removing her from office

• Barclays rolls out voice biometrics for phone banking - Link

September

• Russian elections Putin-backed United Russia party wins 54% of Parliamentary seats led by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev
• Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan pledge $3 billion to medical research to "cure, prevent or manage all diseases by the end of the century”

• Wells Fargo seeks to shore up reputation in wake of scandal - Link
• Facebook Messenger now allows payments in its 30,000 chatbots - Link

October

• US White Houses says it is "confident" Russia behind recent email hacking and attempts to influence US election
• South Korean firm Samsung announces it will permanently stop production of Note 7 phones after complaints devices caught fire

•  Blockchain platform developed by banks to be open-source -  Link

November

• Nov 8 Indian government scraps 500 and 1,000 rupees notes effective at midnight

• Donald Trump becomes President-Elect of the United States of America

• Here’s what a Trump presidency means for US fintech – Link

December -

• Donald Trump drop a political bollock and takes a call with Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen, going against US's "One China" policy
• Venezuela issues new higher-value notes after currency falls 60% in 1 months against the US dollar

•  China tops fintech ranking - Link

And the final episode, released on December 29, will give you a view on the big things we each expect to happen in 2017.  Enjoy the holidays and I’ll be back here tomorrow with one final post … a fun one … see you then.