Stranger Things season 5: Everything that happened the year season one came out in 2016

It's not long until we get to see the epic final series of Stranger Things - a show that has been a pop culture fixture for almost a decade.

That's right, it has taken nine years from when the first season was first filmed from November 2015 and became a global sensation to season five being wrapped in December 2024.

Season one was released on July 16 2016, and you could say it was a different world back then.

Here is everything that happened in 2016, the year the first season of Stranger Things came out.

Barack Obama was still president

We were still in the days of the Obama administration when season one dropped. It was in the November when Donald Trump won the presidential election to defeat Hillary Clinton.

From them to now, there have been four administrations - Obama, Trump's first term in office, Joe Biden, and Trump's second term in office.

Times flies...

Music legends David Bowie and Prince had recently died

(L-R) The late David Bowie and PrincePhoto by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images, and Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images

In the same year as Stranger Things season one, two of the biggest musical legends passed away.

David Bowied died on January 2016 at the age of 69, and a few months later Prince died on April 21 at the age of 57.

Leicester City's surprise Premier League title win

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images

This was also the year Leicester City surprised everyone and sensationally won the 2015-2016 Premier League, under manager Claudio Ranieri.

The Rio Olympics

Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

The Olympics were hosted in Rio, Brazil, where record-breaker Usain Bolt ran in his last Olympics, becoming the only sprinter to win Olympic 100 m and 200 m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2016).

The year of Brexit

Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

2016 was a big year for politics, as it was the year of the Brexit referendum (and the big red bus) - with Brits voting on June 23 to leave the European Union.

Beyoncé released her 'Lemonade' album

A big cultural moment of the year was Beyoncé releasing her sixth studio album, Lemonade, on April 23. It was critically acclaimed. In 2025, Rolling Stone named Beyoncé's 'Lemonade' the greatest album of the 21st century so far.

Elsewhere from Indy100, 'It's so over': Stranger Things fans reckon they figured out the 'biggest' plot twist of final season, and Netflix just dropped Stranger Things season 5's first major spoiler.

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