With 2015 quickly drawing to a close, it’s time to look forward to an exciting New Year ahead! Here are a few fun facts and events coming our way in 2016:

Calendar: 2016 is a leap year and shares the exact same date and day combinations as the 1994 calendar. These same day/month dates will all fall on a Monday this year: 4/4, 6/6, 8/8, 10/10, and 12/12.

Sports: This year marks the Golden anniversary of the Super Bowl. The big game will be played in Santa Clara, California, on February 7th. And in August, the Games of the XXXI Olympiad will be played in Rio de Janeiro. The summer Olympics will host more than 10,500 athletes from 206 nations.

Space: The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter is scheduled to launch its mission to Mars in March 2016, and NASA’s Juno orbiter reaches Jupiter in July. Don’t miss the opportunity to see several of our solar system’s planets “at opposition” this year. On the dates listed, these planets can be seen brighter than at any other time of the year with just a good pair of binoculars: Jupiter 3/8, Mars 5/22, Saturn 6/3, Neptune 9/3 and Uranus 10/15.

Entertainment: This will be another big sci-fi year with the 50th anniversary of Star Trek and the release of Star Trek Beyond coming in July. Other big movie releases this year include Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (filmed in Michigan!) and new releases in a number of well-known movie series such as The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Captain America, X-Men, Ghostbusters, and the Bourne series. In music, the popular music festival Lollapalooza celebrates its 25th anniversary and will celebrate by extending the festival to four days in Chicago this summer.

Politics: The story of the year will surely be the presidential election to be held in November. Leading up to this important election will be state primaries/caucuses, with the Iowa Caucus leading the way in February. The Democratic and Republican National Conventions will be held in Philadelphia and Cleveland, respectively, this summer.

Whether your preference be pop music or politics, science or sports, 2016 has something great in store for you! We at Wright Beamer wish you a joyous and prosperous New Year!