Dashed left edge = started before December 2021 ·
Dashed right edge = ongoing beyond December 2021
Events in December 2021 18
1931 – 2021Desmond Tutu (1931-2021)Died 26 December 2021, aged 90South African archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who led the moral campaign against apartheid and chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
1934 – 2021Joan Didion (1934-2021)Died 23 December 2021, aged 87American essayist and novelist whose Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The Year of Magical Thinking set the standard for the personal essay.
1941 – 2021Anne Rice (1941-2021)Died 11 December 2021, aged 80American novelist whose Interview with the Vampire revived vampire fiction and sold in the tens of millions.
1952 – 2021bell hooks (1952-2021)Died 15 December 2021, aged 69American writer and academic whose work on race, gender and class shaped a generation of feminist thought.
2008 – 2021Academic and Television CareerBecame Professor of Poetry and Creative Writing at Brunel University London in 2008. Also appeared as Jeremiah Jesus in the long-running television series Peaky Blinders.
2013 – 2021HiatusRetreated from public life for nearly a decade after OutRun, releasing no new music. The long silence only added to the mystique of the Kavinsky persona.
20212021: Max VerstappenRed BullDutch driver Verstappen won his first title in one of the most controversial finishes in F1 history, overtaking Hamilton on the final lap of the final race in Abu Dhabi after a disputed Safety Car restart.
2021Cosmic Nature at the New York Botanical GardenHer exhibition Cosmic Nature at the New York Botanical Garden brought her immersive installations outdoors, with giant polka-dotted pumpkins and flowers set among the gardens. The Tate Modern in London also opened a permanent display of two of her Infinity Mirror Rooms.
2021Dr. Brain on Apple TV+Starred in Dr. Brain, Apple TV+'s first Korean-language original series, earning a nomination for Best Performance by an Actor at the International Emmy Awards.
2021InvincibleVoiced Thaedus in the Prime Video animated series Invincible, one of his final roles.
2021Rememberings MemoirPublished her memoir Rememberings, which received broad critical praise for its candour and wit.
2021Second Rock Hall Induction and Tina DocumentaryInducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for the second time as a solo artist. The HBO documentary Tina, a deeply personal portrait of her life, was also released.
2021Breaks Ray Allen's all-time three-pointer recordCurry surpasses Ray Allen's record of 2,973 career three-pointers to become the NBA all-time leader in three-point field goals, doing so in just the third quarter of a home game with a standing ovation from the crowd.
2021Bruce Springsteen sells his catalogue to SonyMusic rightsSells his recordings and songs to Sony.
2021Toyota announces $70 billion EV investmentToyota announces a $70 billion investment in electrification through 2030 in December 2021 — including $35 billion specifically for battery electric vehicles — reversing years of apparent reluctance to commit to BEV development. Toyota targets 30 battery electric vehicle models by 2030 and 3.5 million annual BEV sales. The announcement silences critics who had accused Toyota of opposing electrification. Toyota simultaneously reaffirms its belief in hydrogen fuel cells and plug-in hybrids as complementary technologies.
2021mRNA vaccine technology provenCOVID vaccines transform medicineThe success of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna validated a new platform for vaccine development. mRNA technology can be adapted rapidly to any pathogen and may transform treatment of cancer and other diseases.
2021Spider-Man: No Way Home#1 film of 2021 — $1.90bn worldwideDirected by Jon Watts. Peter Parker asks Doctor Strange for help after his identity is revealed, leading to the multiverse colliding.
2021James Webb Space Telescope launchedMost powerful telescope ever builtThe James Webb Space Telescope was launched on December 25, 2021, the most powerful space telescope ever built. Its first images, released in July 2022, showed the deepest views of the universe ever captured.