The Marriage Equality Act of 2013 legalizing same-sex marriage was signed into law on March 13 by Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie after it was approved by the House and Senate despite strong opposition local citizens displayed for the past two weeks.

The Oni-Con Hawaii anime convention lit up the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu from Nov. 1 to 3. The convention featured outrageous costumes, Japanese concerts, and voice-actor panels.

Deadly shots were fired Nov. 1 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), as 23-year-old Paul Cianca, an unemployed motorcycle mechanic, reportedly killed 39-year-old Transportation Security Agent, Gerard I. Hernandez, and wounded three others including two other TSA officers.

The Marriage Equality vs. Religious Freedom discussion took place on Oct. 24, and featured panelists William Duncan, director of the Marriage Law Foundation, and James Hochberg, president of Hawaii Family Advocates.

Terror struck in Nevada as a 12-year-old boy opened fire with a semi-automatic handgun at his middle school on Oct. 21. The boy wounded two students and shot and killed a teacher before taking his own life.

Ragu Dogaru, one of the seven Romanian thieves who robbed the Dutch Kunsthal museum of $24 million worth of art in October 2012, is suing the museum for making the robbery “too easy.”

Smartphone provider Apple, Inc. sold more than 9 million phones in just the first weekend the iPhone 5c and the iPhone 5s were released simultaneously on Sept. 23. This was the first time the company released two phone models at the same time. Both phones came out to the public featuring the new operating system iOS 7. Statistic Brain’s Website reports Apple has sold 89 million iPhone 5s since it was first released in September 2012.

Vegetarians celebrated Vegetarian Awareness Month in October to inform the public of the importance of a vegetarian diet. They are also seeing to prove to society that vegetarian diets have health benefits, can save animals’ lives, and can help in preserving the earth. Matthew Leung, a sophomore in exercise sports science from Hong Kong, said he wasn’t fully aware of the meaning of the word “vegetarian,” but after a brief explanation, he said, “I think it’s interesting. I am not a vegetarian cause I do like meat sometimes. I think they’re just like a different culture or different lifestyle.”

The Sam Adams Associates for Integrity presented in October former NSA employee and intelligence leaker Edward Snowden with the Integrity Award in Intelligence. The presentation of the award and a speech by Snowden were both recorded in Moscow, Russia. The footage was the first video taken of Snowden since he fled to Russia for political asylum. However, AP reports Snowden’s request for clemency made in early November to the U.S. government has been denied.