War broke out in the Middle East and continued in Ukraine, Sir Elton John played his last ever UK show, and extreme weather stunned the world in the hottest year on record - 2023 was another historic year.
Throughout the year, photographers managed to capture dazzling, stunning and shocking images everywhere, from the frontlines to pitch-side.
This is the year in pictures:
Image:January 2: Riot police officers in Bolivia clash with demonstrators protesting the arrest of Santa Cruz governor and right-wing opposition leader Luis Fernando Camacho over an alleged coup in 2019 REUTERS/Agustin Marcarianh
Image:January 29: Anastasia, 4, stands next to an artwork of the famous street artist Tvboy in the town centre, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Bucha, outside Kyiv, Ukraine. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Image:January 30: A woman runs past burning shacks during a fire at a migrant camp - home to over 400 people - before an eviction by police officers in Almeria, Spain. Pic: AP
Image:February 21: Buildings collapsed in Antalya, Turkey, after the earthquakes on 6 and 7 February which killed 59,259. Pic: CTK via AP Images
Image:February 22: A US Air Force U-2 pilot looks down at a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon as it hovers over the United States. Pic: AP
Image:February 28: A piece of the boat and a piece of clothing from the deadly migrant shipwreck are seen in Steccato di Cutro near Crotone, Italy. REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Image:March 12: Lady Gaga looks on as a photographer falls on the champagne-colored red carpet during the Oscars arrivals at the 95th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Pic: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Image:March 16: An aerial view of people guarding their belongings on top of a building is pictured in the aftermath of a landslide triggered by Cyclone Yaku, in Pachamac, Peru. Pic: REUTERS/Sebastian Castaneda
Image:March 19: A U.S Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter transports a M777 howitzer during a joint military drill between South Korea and the United States at Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, South Korea. Pic: AP
Image:March 20: View of the Sau reservoir - which saw water levels drop to 9% of total capacity amid a spring drought - about 100 km (62 miles) north of Barcelona. Spain. Pic: AP
Image:March 25: Gendarmerie run during a demonstration called by "Bassines Non Merci" against the "basins" on the construction site of new water storage infrastructure for agricultural irrigation in western France, in Sainte-Soline. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Image:March 25: An aerial view of the town of Rolling Fork after thunderstorms spawning high straight-line winds and tornadoes ripped across the state in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, US. Pic: REUTERS/Cheney Orr
Image:March 29: Water fills the Tulare Lake bed after floodwaters inundate residents following days of heavy rain in Corcoran, California, US. Pic: REUTERS/David Swanson
Image:April 20: SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft, atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket, explodes after its launch from the company's Boca Chica launchpad on a brief uncrewed test flight near Brownsville, Texas, US. Pic: REUTERS/Joe Skipper
Image:May 6: King Charles III wearing St Edward's Crown and holding The Sovereign's Sceptre with the Dove in his left hand and The Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross in his right during his coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey. Pic: AP
Image:May 10: Migrants stand near the US- Mexico border wall during a sandstorm to turn themselves in to Border Patrol agents, as the country prepared to lift Title 42 restrictions which blocked them from seeking asylum since 2020, in El Paso, Texas. Pic:
Image:May 28: Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates with champange on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix. Pic: REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
Image:June 7: A view shows a flooded area after the Nova Kakhovka dam breached, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kherson, Ukraine. Pic: REUTERS/Vladyslav Smilianets
Image:June 7: The Duke of Sussex arriving at the Rolls Buildings in central London to give evidence in the phone hacking trial against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). Pic: PA
Image:June 24: A Wagner mercenary group military column drives along M-4 highway, which links the capital Moscow with Russia's southern cities, with smoke from a burning fuel tank at an oil depot seen in the background, near Voronezh. Pic REUTERS/Stringer
Image:June 25: Elton John performs during Glastonbury Festival in Worthy Farm, Somerset - his last ever UK show. Pic: AP
Image:June 28: England's Jonny Bairstow removes a Just Stop Oil protester from the pitch during day one of the second Ashes Test match at Lord's, London. Pic: PA
Image:July 18: A person cools off at the Piazza del Popolo, during a heatwave in Rome, Italy. Pic: REUTERS/Remo Casilli
Image:July 19: A riot policeman reloads a teargas grenade launcher during clashes with protesters demonstrating against high costs of living and tax hikes in the Kibera area of Nairobi, Kenya. Pic: AP
Image:July 22: Forest fires rage on the vacation island of Rhodes, near Greece, after record temperatures up to 46.4C scorched the Mediterranean. Pic: AP
Image:August 11: The shells of burned houses and buildings are left after wildfires driven by high winds burned across most of the town in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, US. Pic: Hawai'i Department of Land and Natural Resources/Handout via REUTERS
Image:August 16: England's Alessia Russo scores her team's third goal during the Women's World Cup semi-final victory against Australia. Pic: AP
Image:August 19: A Ukrainian serviceman of the 53rd brigade fires an RPG-9 toward Russian positions on the frontline close to Donetsk, Ukraine. Pic: AP
Image:August 30: A full moon, known as the 'Blue Moon,' rises behind the Temple of Poseidon, in Cape Sounion, near Athens, Greece. Pic: REUTERS/Stelios Misinas
Image:September 7: Aerial view of cars stuck on a bridge surrounded by flood waters, as Storm Daniel hits central Greece, in the village of Flamouli, near Trikala. Pic: REUTERS/Stergios Spiropoulos
Image:September 9: Police in the Chiswick area in west London as the hunt for terror suspect Daniel Khalife entered its fourth day. Pic
Image:September 28: People look at the tree at Sycamore Gap, next to Hadrian's Wall, in Northumberland which came down after being "deliberately felled". Pic: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/PA ImagesRead l
Image:October 9: Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, as seen from the city of Ashkelon, Israel. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Image:November 16: Ethnic Rohingya disembark from their boat in Ulee Madon, North Aceh, Indonesia, where around 240 Rohingya Muslims were rejected after two attempts to land. Pic: AP
Image:November 24: A man carrying his bicycle crosses through a flooded Muuoni River in Makueni county, Kenya's Eastern region. Deaths from autumn heavy rains and flash floods in the country reached 174, with tens of thousands displaced. Pic: AP
Image:December 1: Long streams of red-hot lava flow down Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano, as seen from Piazzale Funivia dell'Etna, Italy. Pic: REUTERS/Etna Walk, Giuseppe Distefano
Image:December 19: A close up shot from a helicopter of an active segment of the original fissure of an active volcano in Grindavik on Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula. Pic: Department of Civil Protection