From tragedy to triumph: Five newsmaker personalities who defined 2024

New Delhi, India

The year 2024 has been nothing short of eventful. From wars and disasters to amazing stories of resilience, this year had everything. 

Here are five people who left their marks on history in 2024: 

Gisèle Pelicot: "It's not us who should feel shame, but them"

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In 2024, Gisèle Pelicot became a hero and feminist icon for women everywhere. The 72-year-old French woman was at the centre of a mass rape trial in France. The horrific case had Gisele's ex-husband Dominique Pelicot as the perpetrator.

Waiving off her default right to anonymity, Gisele asked for the trial to be open to the public to raise awareness of sexual violence against women and drug-induced rape. 

Also read | France mass rape: 'You’ll die alone like a dog,' daughter Caroline tells convicted rapist Dominique Pélicot

For almost a decade starting in 2011, Dominique drugged his wife and recruited dozens of men online to have sex with her while unconscious.

On December 19, 2024, Dominique was handed the maximum term of 20 years in jail. Alongside him, 50 other men accused of raping Gisele were also convicted and handed terms of between three and 15 years.

Donald Trump: "Fight, fight, fight"

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2024 was the year Donald Trump made his comeback. The former president, on July 13, survived an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Escaping the attack relatively unscathed, he became the subject of an iconic image.

The photo from the incident shows Trump with blood streaking across his face as he pumped his fist in the air, appearing to mouth the words "Fight! Fight! Fight!". 

Come November, Trump created history by becoming the only convicted felon to be elected president of the United States. He also became the second president in US history to win non-consecutive terms.

Also read | Donald Trump does not have presidential immunity in hush money case, rules judge

Alexei Navalny

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A vociferous critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin, 47-year-old Alexei Navalny died on February 16, 2024 in a desolate penal colony above the Arctic Circle. He had been serving sentences totalling more than 30 years on charges he said were rigged to silence his criticism of the Russian president.

Opposition leader Navalny, known as Putin's most vocal critic "felt bad after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness," as per Russia's federal penitentiary service.

They added that while medical staff arrived immediately and an ambulance team was called, resuscitation measures "did not yield positive results."

However, his wife Yulia Navalnaya insists that Navalny was murdered.

Also read | 'Brutal murder': World reacts to reports of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's death

Yulia Navalnaya

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Following her husband Alexei Navalny's death, Yulia Navalnaya emerged as a strong Kremlin critic. Now blacklisted as a "terrorist and extremist" in Russia, 48-year-old Navalnaya, a trained economist, has vowed to continue her late husband's work.

Also read | Reigns lost, majorities gained: Major elections that shaped the world in 2024

"My political opponent is Vladimir Putin...I will do everything to make his regime fall as soon as possible," she said in October. 

She has vowed to stand for the Russian president once Putin is gone and has even lobbied against him internationally.

Taylor Swift

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2024 was Taylor Swift's year. The popular American singer-songwriter made her mark this year with her record-breaking Eras Tour.

The music tour garnered over $2 billion, making it the highest-grossing tour of all time—this is almost double the gross ticket sales of any other concert tour in history.

Swift also re-released her 1989 album, solidifying herself as a music industry powerhouse.