Every new year is a new opportunity for the "worst year ever."

If calendar years were in competition for the “Worst Year Ever” crown, 2016 would certainly be a contender—at least according to the Internet. We’ve seen terrorist attacks and mass shootings, the deaths of famous singers and actors, rising nationalism, political upheaval and horrific deaths in the Syrian conflict. But decrying the most recent year as the worst of all is hardly a new tradition.
 It’s practically built into our DNA, thanks to our innate negativity bias. The constant barrage of news media only further skews our perception. Yet even the dark side of news is nothing new.
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