Tiger Woods made one of the greatest comebacks in sports when he won the Masters on Sunday.
It’s been more than a decade since the golf legend won his last championship at the 2008 US Open, but those 11 years feel like a lifetime.
Here are some of the ways the world has changed since then.
ISIS declared a caliphate. Now it’s fallen.
In 2014, ISIS captured global attention when it announced the creation of a so-called caliphate – an Islamic state led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi that would span Iraq, Syria and beyond.
The terror group attracted thousands of would-be jihadists from around the world with its social media recruiting tactics. At the height of its power, it reigned over an area the size of Portugal, with nearly 8 million people under its rule.
Last month, ISIS lost its final physical stronghold in Syria, bringing an end to the caliphate – though experts argue the terror group is still a threat.
A black man was elected US president – twice
On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States – the first African-American ever to hold the office.
The #MeToo movement happened
In October 2017, the New York Times published a story detailing numerous accusations of sexual harassment against movie producer Harvey Weinstein. The accounts of the women who came forward kicked off an important conversation about the mistreatment of women. Soon, it had snowballed into a movement spanning industries around the globe.
A major humanitarian crisis unfolded
The Syrian civil war began in 2011, quickly becoming one of the world’s bloodiest conflicts. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed and millions have been displaced from their homes and are now living in refugee camps.
Scientists successfully cloned human stem cells
Ever since Dolly the sheep was cloned from an adult cell in 1996, scientists had been asking whether humans could be cloned in the same way.
In 2013, scientists successfully used the technique to make the first embryonic stem cell lines from human skin cells – which could develop into muscle, nerve, or other cells that make up the body’s tissues.
Julian Assange was arrested after years in exile
In 2012, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He was granted asylum as he attempted to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was facing allegations of sexual assault.
He spent seven years there until he was arrested last week on a US extradition warrant.
Russia illegally annexed Crimea
It’s been five years since Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, a peninsula in Southern Ukraine – a move that was met with worldwide condemnation.
The US and European Union have imposed economic sanctions on Russia but the region remains under Russian occupation.
We started swiping left and right
Yes, there was Match.com and OkCupid in 2008. But after apps like Grindr and Tinder launched, dating was never the same.
Now people have more options than ever before, and “swipe right” and “swipe left” are a part of the lexicon.
Rideshare companies changed the way we get around
Uber and Lyft were founded as startup companies and have since made their way onto smartphones in cities all over the world. The ridesharing apps have forever changed the transit industry and how we get from point A to point B.
‘Game of Thrones’ premiered. Now it’s coming to an end.
The fantasy drama based on the novels by George R.R. Martin became a global phenomenon.
The series first premiered on HBO on April 17, 2011. After eight years, seven seasons and 67 episodes, the eighth and final season of the HBO blockbuster is here.