In plazas and parks and bars and homes across the globe, people gathered to commemorate the end of 2024 and welcome the New Year. Bold swimmers plunged into a frigid lake in Switzerland, joggers in Poland took one last whimsical run of the year and fireworks crackled in cities large and small.

The celebrations heralded the end of a tumultuous year during which more than half of the world’s population went to the polls, shaping the future of democracies in more than 30 countries.

In Syria, a revolution overthrew a brutal, decades-long dictatorship, as wars widened in the Middle East and ground on in Ukraine and Sudan. The year was almost certainly the hottest on record, beating the high set in 2023.

There was triumph, failure and shimmering pageantry at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. And on April 8, millions looked skyward, gazing in awe as a total solar eclipse bathed parts of Mexico, the United States and Canada in darkness.

Here’s how celebrations looked around the world:

Fireworks erupt around the London Eye along the River Thames.

Torches and flaming barrels were carried through the streets during the Allendale Tar Barrel festival in northern England.

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A new study, published Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience, adds to the picture by documenting with M.R.I.s brain changes throughout one woman’s pregnancy. It confirms previous results and adds detail, including that white matter fibers showed greater ability to efficiently transmit signals between brain cells, a change that evaporated once the baby was born.

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