By Zachary Burd ’19, News Editor

It’s been a momentous past few months. Regimes have been toppled and icons have passed on. Today, we remember the people and things that “died” this summer.

1. Adam West

Legend has it that West was cast as Batman after producers saw him in a Nestlé commercial in the early 60’s. He went on to define the Caped Crusader for decades to come with his melodramatic tights-wearing performance on the hit ABC TV show. He later brought the masked vigilante to the big screen for the first time in 1966 in Batman: The Movie, accompanied as always by his trusty sidekick Robin in his fight against the Joker and the Penguin.

As iconic as he was as the Dark Knight, West was also known for his role as a fictionalized version of himself as mayor of Quahog, Rhode Island in Family Guy. Moreover, he turned down the role of James Bond in Diamonds are Forever, claiming that only a Brit could do justice to the role.

After West lost his brief battle with leukemia this June at the age of 88, thousands gathered outside Los Angeles’ City Hall to watch as his bat-signal was projected into the night sky one last time.

2. The Seven Sailors of the USS Fitzgerald

At 1:30 AM on June 17 off the coast of Japan, the destroyer USS Fitzgerald crashed into the Philippine cargo ship MV ACX Crystal. Most of the Fitzgerald’s crew of about 300 were asleep at the time.

Two berthing spaces and the captain’s cabin were crushed and flooded, leaving seven sailors dead by the following morning. The captain, in critical condition, was flown to mainland Japan by helicopter for treatment.

A joint American and Japanese investigation into the incident concluded that it was mainly due to human error, and several officers were relieved of duty in the wake of the uproar. The Navy has instituted protocols that will hopefully prevent similar tragedies from happening again in the future.

3. West Coast Trees

After a brutal drought last year, many in the West hoped that 2017’s snowy winter would reduce the number of wildfires this summer.

No such luck.

At any given time, there were up to 100 fires burning in Western states. A combination of fast-growing grass and low humidity created a natural tinderbox more potent than any in the last decade.

Government agencies spent over 2 billion dollars this summer fighting fires, on track for the most expensive year ever.

9 firefighters died and 35 were injured in the effort.

As wildfire damages spiral upwards, even as summer draws to a close, many wonder whether there will even be any trees left to be burned down the following summer.

4. Jerry Lewis

The comedian, actor, filmmaker, singer, and humanitarian Jerry Lewis passed away on August 20, leaving a legacy of slapstick humor that redefined post-World War Two entertainment.

After dropping out of nearby Irvington High School, he shot to fame as part of a comedy duo with then-unknown nightclub singer Dean Martin. Their partnership lasted 10 years to the day, starting at the 500 Club in Atlantic City and climaxing in a string of appearances at the Copacabana.

After going solo, Lewis had several songs topping the Billboard charts as well as many successful movies, most notably The Nutty Professor in 1963. He also became a notable spokesman for and contributor to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

After years of battling an addiction to painkillers, Lewis succumbed to a host of illnesses in his Las Vegas home at the ripe old age of 91.

5. Obama’s Cuba Policy

In an early June speech at the historic Manuel Artime Theater in Miami’s Little Havana, President Trump has reversed some of his predecessor’s policy of rapprochement with Cuba.

The new system makes it more difficult for individuals to travel to the communist island, and bans American companies from doing business with entities linked to its military. Trump cites the increasing number of human rights offenses as justification for the change.

Trump is fulfilling his campaign promise to the Cuban-American community, whom he believes won him the crucial state of Florida in the election.

However, most of the current policies will remain in place: the American embassy in Havana will stay open, flights to and from the island will remain uninterrupted, and remittances (US-based money transfers to family members in Cuba) will continue.

6. Helmut Kohl

The architect of German reunification, Helmut Kohl, passed away in June. The longest-serving German Chancellor since Otto von Bismarck in the 1800s, he was a steadfast ally of the United States, particularly supporting Ronald Reagan’s more aggressive policy towards the Soviet Union.

He led the dominant Christian Democratic Union party for 25 years, eventually handing over power to his protégée and current German premier Angela Merkel. Along with his French counterpart Francois Mitterrand, Kohl championed the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, which established the European Union and its currency, the euro. Kohl also played an instrumental role in ending the Bosnian War.

Former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton both declared Kohl “the greatest European leader of the second half of the 20th century”. Although he was later embroiled by a campaign donation scandal, his legacy of peace and unity in the aftermath of the Cold War lives on.

7. ISIS Presence in Mosul

Dressed in full military uniform, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider-al-Abadi strode through the rubble-strewn streets of Mosul on July 9, congratulating soldiers for finally seizing control of the city from the Islamic State.

His arrival marked the formal conclusion of a bloody, nearly year-long campaign by Iraqi armed forces and Kurdish fighters (known as Peshmerga) to retake the city, after unsuccessful attempts in 2015 and 2016.

In terms of personnel, the Battle for Mosul was the world’s largest military operation in nearly 15 years. It is a turning point in the fight against the Islamic State, who have lost their largest city and must now retreat to their insurgent roots.

However, there’s more work to be done. Coalition forces will be sweeping the city for suicide bombers and booby traps for many months to come, and repairs to the city will cost in the tens of billions of dollars.

8. TV Ads

Data released this summer shows that American companies, for the first time, spend more on digital advertisements than traditional television ones.

According to the Kiplinger Letter, advertisers now spend $86 billion a year on internet ads—approximately 40% of the industry in dollar terms—versus $71 billion for TV and $33 billion for print newspaper and magazines combined.

This trend will compound further in the next four years, with digital ad growth projected at 35%, TV at a mere 5%, and all other sectors remaining flat.

Nearly all of the projected rise in digital ad spending over the next few years will go to mobile phone ads, and two-thirds will be either Facebook and Google.

9. Venezuelan Economy

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has a solution to his nation’s economic woes: let them eat rabbits.

The so-called “Plan Rabbit” is a desperate strategy for people to grow rabbits as food in their backyards. This plan is in the backdrop of approaching hyperinflation and constant shortages of food and basic medicines in the socialist South American country.

In the past few years, American sanctions and lower oil prices—Venezuela’s lifeblood—have contributed to declines of 18% and 12% in GDP in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Maduro is now turning to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a source of funding to keep his government afloat.

10. Steven Bannon’s Tenure

Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon, the embodiment of the Alt-Right constituency within the Republican Party, left the White House on August 18 after a turbulent run. Over the previous months, he had clashed with other members of the administration and the president had begun to suspect him of leaking information to the media.

Bannon was seen as the driving force behind many of the Trump’s nationalist campaign promises. His departure comes seven months into the new presidency, and for many, seems to alter its trajectory completely.

Cheers erupted on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange when the news of Bannon’s ouster was announced.