Turning back the clock: What happened in Yorkshire in 2016?

We are just weeks into a new year and there will, of course, be a new set of trends on social media in the coming months, but 2026 has got under way with users looking back to what happened a decade ago in 2016.

According to TikTok, more than 55 million videos have been created so far this year using the app's "2016" filter, while galleries of pictures featuring the Mannequin Challenge and Pokémon Go to the sound of Beyonce's Lemonade are appearing across Instagram.

But what happened right here in Yorkshire in 2016? Here is a trip down memory lane...

West Yorkshire's Alistair Brownlee retained his Olympic men's triathlon title to win Britain's 20th gold medal of the Rio Olympic games on 18 August 2016, with brother Jonny claiming silver.

Alistair, 28, was the first athlete to win successive Olympic triathlon titles, while Jonny improved on the bronze medal he won at London 2012.

At the ITU Triathlon World Series in September, Alistair helped an exhausted Jonny across the finish line, pushing him over the line for second place.

On 21 November 2024, Alistair announced his retirement from the sport.

The Flying Scotsman's 10-year restoration project was completed in 2016 and it took to the country's railways once more before returning to the National Railway Museum in York.

Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, the Flying Scotsman was built in the Doncaster Works in 1923 and in 1934 it was the first steam locomotive to reach 100mph (161 km/h).

In 2016, the National Railway Museum spent £4.2m restoring the locomotive, which had its first run between London and York on 25 February.

Barnsley were promoted to the Championship on 29 May 2016, beating Millwall in the League One play-off final 3-1.

The South Yorkshire club had been bottom of League One in December 2015, but had a superb run under interim boss Paul Heckingbottom which saw them finish sixth in the table.

The play-off win ended a two-year exile from the Championship.

Ferrybridge Power Station in West Yorkshire closed in March 2016 having produced energy for more than 50 years.

About 180 people worked at the plant, along with an unspecified number of contractors.

The landmark power plant was well known for its five cooling towers, which were visible from the M62 and A1(M).

The last cooling tower was demolished in March 2022.

Sheffield golfer Danny Willett won his first major championship at the 2016 Masters Tournament in April.

Willett won by three shots on five under to become the first British victor in 20 years.

He beat 2015 champion Jordan Spieth with a five-under-par 67 in Augusta.

In 2025, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy took the win.

This year's tournament will take place between 6-12 April.

In March 2016, Bradford's Zayn Malik released his first studio album, a year after leaving One Direction.

It contained 14 tracks in total, including the first single, Pillowtalk, which topped the charts in the UK and the US.

In January 2016, One Direction went on a break after releasing their fifth studio album, Made in the A.M.

Zayn is due to start a week-long residency at the Park MGM Hotel in Las Vegas on January 20, 2026.

In 2016, Dickie Bird stepped down as Yorkshire County Cricket Club president.

The former umpire was voted in as the club's president at the Annual General Meeting in 2014.

Bird played for Yorkshire and Leicestershire from 1956 to 1964, scoring 3,314 runs in 94 matches.

He went on to umpire 66 Test matches before retiring in 1996.

When he died in 2025, aged 92, tributes were laid at a life-size statue of Bird in Barnsley, where he was born.

Victoria Gate, the much anticipated £165m shopping development in Leeds, officially opened in October 2016.

It was built on the site of the former Millgarth Police Station, which closed in 2014, and undeveloped land adjacent to Leeds Kirkgate Market.

Elsewhere in Leeds City Centre, the council announced plans for a multimillion-pound refurbishment of Leeds Town Hall, which is still under way 10 years later.

In 2016, the Yorkshire Dales National Park was expanded to include parts of Cumbria.

The 24% expansion included Orton Fells, Howgill Fells, Wild Boar Fell and Mallerstang, as well as Barbon, Middleton, Casterton and Leck Fells.

The park boundaries grew to within touching distance of the Lake District on the other side of the M6 motorway, creating a band of protected land across the north west of England.

Happy Valley series 2 started airing on BBC One on 9 February 2016, following the success of the first series.

In Sally Wainwright's West Yorkshire-based crime show, Sarah Lancashire played Sgt Catherine Cawood.

Lancashire's character was on a quest for justice against Tommy Lee Royce, played by James Norton.

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.