This new 12 months will probably be full of milestones, together with America’s 250th birthday, the world’s best sports activities competitions and a mission to the moon.
Right here’s a take a look at among the landmark occasions to come back this 12 months.
Milan Cortina Video games
Seize your skis, snowboard and skates — it’s virtually time for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
The Video games will unfold in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, from Feb. 6 to 22, when the worldwide stars of winter sports activities will compete for Olympic gold and glory.
The opening ceremony, which is able to be hosted by “TODAY” present anchor Savannah Guthrie and NBC Sports activities’ Terry Gannon, will probably be held on the San Siro soccer stadium in Milan. The celebration will function the parade of delegations, the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, a efficiency by Mariah Carey and an act by Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino.
Some Crew USA favorites returning this 12 months are cross-country skier Jessie Diggins, para snowboarder Noah Elliot, freestyle skier Alex Corridor and snowboarder Chloe Kim — all gold medalists.
The closing ceremony is about for Feb. 22. Each ceremonies will air on NBC and be obtainable to stream on Peacock.
The Paralympic Video games will happen March 6 to 14, additionally in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, that includes six sports activities: para Alpine snowboarding, para biathlon, para cross-country snowboarding, para ice hockey, para snowboard and wheelchair curling.
Artemis II launch
2026 is the 12 months NASA lastly returns to the moon — form of.
The Artemis II mission, the subsequent step in NASA’s return-to-the-moon program, is predicted to launch someday from February to April. The flight will probably be a key take a look at of NASA’s House Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The mission will ship 4 astronauts on a roughly 10-day journey across the moon to guage how the Orion spacecraft’s varied methods and {hardware} operate in a deep house setting.
The mission would be the first crewed flight of the Artemis program, and it’ll take the astronauts to the closest level people have come to the moon in additional than 50 years, for the reason that finish of the Apollo program.
It is going to be carefully watched, notably because the Trump administration has repeatedly talked about the necessity to return to the moon earlier than China lands its astronauts on the lunar floor. A lot of that imaginative and prescient hinges on the result of the Artemis II mission.
If it succeeds, the flight will pave the best way for the Artemis III mission, which is predicted to land astronauts close to the moon’s south pole. In a latest government order, President Donald Trump directed NASA to return astronauts to the moon by 2028 “to say American management in house, lay the foundations for lunar financial growth, put together for the journey to Mars, and encourage the subsequent technology of American explorers.”
FIFA World Cup 2026
¡Viva el fútbol!
The FIFA World Cup, the world’s premier worldwide soccer competitors, returns for its twenty third match this summer time. This 12 months, a report 48 groups will battle for glory throughout three host nations — the U.S., Canada and Mexico, a primary.
The spectacle will kick off with the opening match June 11 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico Metropolis. The finale is about for July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Over the month, 104 matches will unfold, seeing the most effective of every nation go face to face.
The 16 host cities are Toronto and Vancouver in Canada; Guadalajara, Mexico Metropolis and Monterrey in Mexico; and Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas Metropolis, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-New Jersey, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Space and Seattle within the U.S.
This 12 months options 16 extra groups than the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Returning this 12 months are defending champions Argentina (three-time World Cup winners), the soccer legends of Brazil (report five-time winners), England (which gained when it hosted the cup in 1966), Germany (a four-time winner), France (two-time winners, together with as lately as 2018), Spain (2010 champions), Uruguay (two-time winners) and the U.S. — which has but to assert the coveted title.
Nations making their World Cup debuts are Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan.
As of December, 42 groups have certified, together with Mexico, Canada, Australia, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Ghana, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
The remaining six will probably be decided by March, with 4 groups coming from the European playoffs and the 2 others from the World Cup playoff match, based on FIFA.
America 250
This 12 months, the U.S. will rejoice its 250th birthday, commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
That day marked the inspiration of the US as a sovereign nation, severing from British colonial rule and enshrining America’s enduring creeds of equality and “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Occasions and initiatives to commemorate the anniversary are already underway, with many scheduled all year long.
On New Yr’s Day, America250, the nonpartisan effort that Congress established in 2016 to plan for the anniversary, may have a float within the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif. Its theme is “Hovering Onward Collectively for 250 Years.”
In January 2025, Trump issued an government order to plan occasions to mark the anniversary. He later introduced Freedom 250, a nonpartisan initiative launched at his route to plan further celebratory occasions. These occasions kicked off on New Yr’s Eve with the Washington Monument being reworked into the “world’s tallest birthday candle” by projections being displayed nightly by Jan. 5.
A “Nice American State Honest” will happen on the Nationwide Mall, that includes pavilions from all 50 states, from June 25 to July 10, based on Freedom 250.
“Frankly, you’ll by no means see something prefer it, and also you’ll by no means see something prefer it once more,” Trump mentioned in a video tackle on Dec. 18.
The festivities will probably be capped with a “unifying nationwide celebration on the Nationwide Mall” on Independence Day, together with a flyover by the navy, an tackle by Trump and a fireworks show.
The group additionally introduced the primary “Patriot Video games” — a four-day athletic competitors that includes high highschool athletes, one younger man and one younger lady, from every state and territory.
As well as, there will probably be a parade for Memorial Day and a UFC occasion on the White Home on Flag Day, June 14, which can be Trump’s birthday.
Trump additionally mentioned he plans to construct a “triumphal arc,” just like Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, within the nation’s capital.
Midterm elections
The battle for management of Congress, in addition to key governor’s races and downballot elections throughout the nation, will dominate the 2026 political calendar.
Republicans are defending a slender majority within the Home — Democrats must web simply three seats to take again management (a activity that may very well be difficult by the continued redistricting wildfire that has swept state legislatures throughout the nation). The GOP’s protection of its Senate majority is prone to be simpler, as Democrats must web 4 extra seats there, and most of that battlefield runs by states Trump gained in 2024.
There will even be main governor’s races in key swing states like Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin; legislative races that might decide management of legislatures throughout the nation; and mayoral races in cities like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
