These were CNN's top 100 digital stories of 2021

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 12/30/2021, 11:30 a.m.
The past year packed some of the biggest stories of our lifetimes into just 365 days. From the insurrection and …
Ten people died after a dangerous crowd surge at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival in Houston in November. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Originally Published: 30 DEC 21 10:42 ET

By Scottie Andrew, Harmeet Kaur and Radhika Marya, CNN

(CNN) -- The past year packed some of the biggest stories of our lifetimes into just 365 days. From the insurrection and a new administration to viral missing persons cases, with the Covid-19 pandemic looming above it all, readers had a lot to catch up on.

One of the year's most read stories happened during the first week of the year: the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Readers followed that story from its first few minutes to the weeks and months of fallout that followed, as well as coverage of the Georgia runoffs that won Democrats the Senate, former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial, and the lead-up to President Joe Biden's inauguration.

Audiences continued to seek answers about Covid-19 and its Delta and Omicron variants as the pandemic evolved. While Trump's exit and mass shootings in Colorado and Indiana dominated the news during the first half of the year, the second half saw readers focus on the disappearances (and later deaths) of Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie, a case that came to wide attention through TikTok, the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and the deadly crowd crush at the Astroworld music festival.

This year was a challenging one, punctuated by upsetting losses. But it also saw the mass availability of Covid-19 vaccines in the US, a peaceful inauguration after a tumultuous transfer of power and a ship so big it got lodged in the Suez Canal, offering a bizarre alternative to the heavier news of the day.

If the last two years have taught us anything, it's that we can never predict what the future has in store. Revisiting these stories isn't easy, but here's hoping it inspires us to make our world safer and stabler in 2022.

  1. Live story: Congress finalizes Biden's win after riot disrupts Capitol

  2. Live story: Democrats take control of the Senate

  3. US Capitol secured, 4 dead after rioters stormed the halls of Congress to block Biden's win

  4. Interactive: Tracking Covid-19 cases in the US

  5. Live story: House impeaches Trump for role in deadly Capitol riot

  6. Live story: The inauguration of Joe Biden

  7. Live story: Derek Chauvin guilty in death of George Floyd

  8. Live story: Calls grow for Trump's removal after Capitol riot

  9. Human remains found in Wyoming are 'consistent' with description of Gabby Petito, FBI says

  10. New details about Trump-McCarthy shouting match show Trump refused to call off the rioters

  11. Trump's last-minute pardons include Bannon, Lil Wayne and scores of others

  12. After a bad day, Facebook suffers major outage

  13. Trump publicly acknowledges he won't serve a second term a day after inciting mob

  14. Trump to issue around 100 pardons and commutations Tuesday, sources say

  15. Suspected human remains and items belonging to Brian Laundrie found in Florida park, FBI says

  16. Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito were involved in an incident in Wyoming restaurant in late August, witnesses say

  17. Colin Powell, first Black US secretary of state, dies of Covid-19 complications amid cancer battle

  18. Interactive: Steer through the Suez Canal

  19. People at the US Capitol riot are being identified and losing their jobs

  20. Pence and Trump finally speak after post-riot estrangement

  21. Biden says Trump left him a 'very generous letter' before departing White House

  22. First on CNN: Trump's impeachment defense team leaves less than two weeks before trial

  23. Citibank can't get back $500 million it wired by mistake, judge rules

  24. Extremists intensify calls for violence ahead of Inauguration Day

  25. Interactive: You asked, we're answering: Your top questions about Covid-19 and vaccines

  26. Dental records show remains found at Carlton Reserve are those of Brian Laundrie, FBI says

  27. Biden targets Trump's legacy with first-day executive actions

  28. At least 8 dead and many injured after crowd surge at Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival in Houston, officials say

  29. A timeline of 22-year-old Gabby Petito's case

  30. CDC adds 16 destinations to 'very high' Covid-19 travel risk list

  31. Pence informed Trump that he can't block Biden's win

  32. Live story: Donald Trump acquitted in second impeachment trial

  33. Trump explodes at Nixon comparisons as he prepares to leave office

  34. US takes back its assertion that Capitol rioters wanted to 'capture and assassinate' officials

  35. Live story: Hurricane Ida makes landfall in Louisiana

  36. Live story: Fallout intensifies over Trump's response to Capitol riot

  37. After two months in office, Kamala Harris is still living out of suitcases -- and she's getting frustrated with it

  38. Dustin Diamond, 'Saved by the Bell' star, dead at 44

  39. New details emerge about Brian Laundrie's behavior in the days after Petito went missing

  40. Coming this summer: Gas stations running out of gas

  41. Members are quitting 'sad' Mar-a-Lago after Trump loses

  42. Melania Trump and adult Trump children avoid the spotlight after one of nation's darkest days

  43. A California couple vanished after stealing millions in Covid-19 relief funds. They left a goodbye note for their three kids

  44. Live story: Multiple dead in shooting at Colorado supermarket

  45. Biden signs orders to get checks and food aid to low-income Americans -- plus a federal pay raise

  46. Already shunned from polite society, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner face new cold post-insurrection reality

  47. Police ID gunman who killed 8 people at an Indianapolis FedEx facility as 19-year-old former employee

  48. Warnock wins Georgia runoff, CNN projects, as control of Senate comes down to Perdue-Ossoff race

  49. Live story: At least 13 US service members killed in Kabul airport attack

  50. The face mask that could end the pandemic

  51. Live story: House pushes for Trump's removal after deadly Capitol riot

  52. CNN suspends Chris Cuomo indefinitely

  53. With Trump a no-show, Mar-a-Lago guests left to party maskless with Rudy Giuliani and Vanilla Ice

  54. Plans for $400-billion new city in the American desert unveiled

  55. Live story: Kyle Rittenhouse found not guilty on all charges

  56. Derek Chauvin's body camera video shows his reaction just after George Floyd left in an ambulance

  57. Massacre in the mountains: They thought they'd be safe at a church. Then the soldiers arrived

  58. Pence has not ruled out 25th Amendment, source says

  59. Melania Trump disengaged from her husband's second impeachment trial and bitter over Jill Biden's publicity

  60. Live story: Partial building collapse near Miami

  61. Live story: Harry and Meghan interview fallout

  62. Bitter, Trump skips chance to say splashy, high-profile farewell

  63. Autopsy confirms remains found in Wyoming are Gabby Petito's, FBI says

  64. A middle schooler was insecure about his haircut. So his principal fixed it himself instead of disciplining the boy for wearing a hat

  65. Live story: August 16, 2021, Afghanistan-Taliban news

  66. 'There's no way I can pay for this:' One of America's largest hospital chains has been suing thousands of patients during the pandemic

  67. The search for Gabby Petito's fiancé Brian Laundrie continues. Here's why it's been so hard to find him

  68. 6 Dr. Seuss books won't be published anymore because they portray people in 'hurtful and wrong' ways

  69. Angry Republican leaders float removing Trump from office

  70. Suspect in Colorado grocery store shooting faces 10 counts of murder, police say

  71. Democrats promise quick move to impeachment if 25th Amendment push fails

  72. Denmark debuts new children's TV show about a man with a huge and uncontrollable penis

  73. White House goes into damage control mode after reports of dysfunction in Kamala Harris' office

  74. CNN fires Chris Cuomo

  75. The countries welcoming US tourists now -- and some resources for your visit

  76. How much will your stimulus check be?

  77. Supreme Court dismisses emoluments case against Trump

  78. Trump talked out of pardoning kids and Republican lawmakers

  79. France is sending a second Statue of Liberty to the US

  80. Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted on all charges. Here's what we know about the 3 men he shot

  81. Here's what we know about the Boulder, Colorado, mass shooting suspect

  82. Ohio officials release more body cam video of fatal police shooting of Black teen and urge community to await the facts

  83. Parents of Michigan school shooting suspect held on $500,000 bond each after manhunt

  84. Former Trump communications director says President lied about 2020 election and should consider resigning

  85. Now it's sinking in: Wednesday's Capitol Hill riot was even more violent than it first appeared

  86. Twitter bans President Trump permanently

  87. Exasperation and dysfunction: Inside Kamala Harris' frustrating start as vice president

  88. Director of photography killed, movie director injured after Alec Baldwin discharged prop firearm on movie set

  89. Senate bill will narrow income eligibility for $1,400 stimulus checks

  90. Silent Melania Trump plods toward end of her husband's tumultuous term

  91. Interactive: Tracking Covid-19 vaccines in the US

  92. Brian Laundrie left home without phone or wallet and his parents were concerned he might hurt himself, source says

  93. As riot raged at Capitol, Trump tried to call senators to overturn election

  94. They stormed the Capitol to overturn the results of an election they didn't vote in

  95. The 'headache' Trump left behind for Biden on the White House lawn

  96. Trump, estranged from Presidents Club, excluded from predecessors' PSA

  97. Trump's 11th-hour pardons keep with tradition, even if those pardoned do not

  98. Chicago police say bodycam footage shows less than a second passes from when 13-year-old is seen holding a handgun and is shot by officer

  99. Trump attacks No. 2 Senate Republican as the President turns on allies in his final days in office

  100. Costco is offering a new perk to club members