In January, people from around the world descended on Washington, DC for the Women's March.
The Women's March didn't just lead to a increase in visits to government buildings in DC, as Foursquare found. It also led to a huge jump in sales of office supplies — they were up by as much as 42% versus last year during the same period. In total, $6 million was spent on a mix of poster and foam boards, paint markers, flip charts, fabric paint, staplers, and specialty iron-ons in just one week.
And there were some real political effects, too. Republican John Carman, who sat on the nine-member Atlantic County Board of Chosen Freeholders in New Jersey, was defeated in November by Democrat Ashley Bennett, who ran because he mocked the Women's March.
Americans got more into self-care this year.
There's some evidence suggesting that meditation changes the brain for the better: A growing body of research suggests that even a few minutes of a daily mindfulness practice is linked to lower stress levels, more positivity, better focus, and creativity.
Various successful people including Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin all reportedly meditate.
People made it to the theaters for the live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast."
"Beauty and the Beast" director Bill Condon said that Josh Gad's character LeFou, the sidekick to antagonist Gaston (Luke Evans), was Disney's first-ever openly LGBTQ character.
A drive-in movie theater in Alabama announced that it would not be showing the movie because of that.
Then came the instagrammable Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino.
Starbucks later come out with the limited edition Zombie Frappuccino. Business Insider thought it was "an overly sweet mess manufactured for Instagram."
Visits to New York's Storm King jumped after characters on Aziz Ansari's "Master of None" went there.
Aziz Ansari later said that having more money than he "ever imagined" has changed the way he looks at his work.
In an interview with GQ, he told Mark Anthony Green:
"Everyone just buys into this, like, Oh, I need to keep making stuff, I need to go make more money. I don't need to make more stuff. I've made a lot of stuff! I'm financially okay. I'm not gonna make stuff just for the sake of making stuff. I want to make stuff 'cause I'm inspired. Right now I don't really feel inspired."
People really got into Negroni week.
Renowned mixologist Tony Conigliaro showed Business Insider how to make the perfect Negroni. Take a look, if you want to spice up your holiday cocktails.
Less people hit the gym in before summer.
Sometimes, getting to the gym is just a mental hurdle. Business Insider's Libby Kane shared nine ways she tricks herself into going to the gym.
Basically everyone watched the eclipse.
The solar eclipse cost an estimated $694 million in lost productivity. It also caused a 10% drop in Netflix viewing as everyone headed outside.
Chipotle finally added queso to the menu — but most people hated it.
Business Insider's Kate Taylor and Hollis Johnson found Chipotle's queso, "grainy and soupy, more akin to a broccoli-cheddar soup from Panera than to a cheese dip."
Luckily, the chain updated the recipe, and the quality has somewhat improved.
Maple flavor may outpace pumpkin spice.
Meanwhile, Starbucks quietly raised prices on brewed coffee and cookies at a number of locations on Pumpkin Spice Latte launch day.
Fans in Houston piled into local bars to watch the World Series.
The average ticket to Game 7 of the World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros this year cost nearly $1,500 less than last year. But the average ticket cost was still high at $2,534.
And overall, people have started to get way more into fine dining this year.
Most people blow 70% of their money on just three things — housing, transportation, and food — and cutting back a bit might be the key to retiring earlier.
In fact, eating out accounts for 43% of the annual food expenditures for families on average — an obvious area to save some cash.
