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It has been a rollercoaster of a year. 2013 has seen heartbreak, joy, triumph and tragedy – and just about every human emotion in between.
The year saw the death of two global leaders: titans who, in their very different ways, had helped to shape the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Margaret Thatcher died in April, at the age of 87; and Nelson Mandela’s long walk to freedom finally came to an end in December, when he passed away following a long illness at the age of 95. The world mourned.
There was triumph for Andy Murray, who ended Britain’s 77- year wait for a men’s singles champion at Wimbledon by beating Noval Djokovic in the final; celebrations when the Queen marked the 60th anniversary of her coronation; and joy at the birth of a new royal baby.
Prince George, the third in line to the throne, was born at St Mary’s Hospital in London in July, weighing a healthy 8Ibs 6oz.
But there was also tragedy aplenty in 2013, as there always is.
Violence flared in Egypt, after embattled president Mohammed Morsi was ousted by the country’s military; there was more violence in Syria, where the country’s civil war ground on; and there was death and destruction in the Philippines, where Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever recorded, tore through the islands, leaving more than 3,500 people dead and millions more homeless.
In Britain, two awful helicopter crashes gave the year both a grim beginning and a grim ending. In January a helicopter went out of control and crashed near Vauxhall Station in London, killing the pilot and one other; in December, a police helicopter crashed into a pub in Glasgow, killing eight people.
In between, there was the dreadful murder of Drummer Lee Rigby, brutally slain as he walked to Woolwich Barracks by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, who claimed to be ‘soldiers of Allah’.
In local news, 2013 began with the birth of a truly Amazing Grace – tiny Grace Loughton, born at York Hospital on New Year’s Day 24 years to the day after the birth of her mum Sarah. During the course of the year, York staged the first ever Yorkshire Marathon, and learned that in 2014 it would be hosting one of the opening stages of the Tour de France.
Meanwhile, a campaign began to get the remains of King Richard III returned to York, the NRM staged a stunning reunion of the recordbreaking Mallard and five of its sister A4 locomotives; and the controversial six-month closure of Lendal Bridge to private traffic began.
In this special supplement we look back, in pictures and words, at the events of 2013 as they unfolded.
Here’s wishing all our readers a happy and prosperous 2014…
Select a month from 2013:
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