PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

Pittsburgh welcomed back Andrew McCutchen to the Pirates roster. The popular outfielder spent the first nine years of his career with the Buccos, followed by stints with the San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers. Upon returning to the ‘Burgh, he recorded his 2,000th hit, on June 11, and reached 299 home runs before a season-ending injury. On Dec. 20, the Pirates announced they had signed McCutchen to a one-year, $5 million contract for the 2024 season.

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

More than four years after a gunman killed 11 congregants at a synagogue in Squirrel Hill, a jury found Robert Bowers guilty of all 63 counts against him and sentenced him to death. The Oct. 27, 2018 massacre is considered the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in United States history.

CLOSE-UP OF AN ADULT SPOTTED LANTERNFLY | PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK

Summer brought an invasion of almost Biblical proportions, as spotted lanternflies spread throughout the region.

PHOTOS BY EMMA MALINAK

Pittsburgh became “Swiftsburgh” on June 16-17 when Taylor Swift performed The Eras Tour at Acrisure Stadium. The sold-out shows drew record crowds of about 145,000 — more than 80% of whom lived outside Allegheny County — and ultimately generated a whopping $46 million in direct spending in Pittsburgh.

Embed from Getty Images

The Pittsburgh Penguins failed to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 17 seasons, although the Pitt Panthers men’s basketball team returned to March Madness for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

(L-R) JOAN T.A. GABEL | PHOTO BY AIMEE OBIDZINSKI/UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AND SARA INNAMORATO | PHOTO BY SHANE DUNLAP, TRIBLIVE

Women advance: Joan T.A. Gabel began her tenure July 17 as the first woman chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, and Sara Innamorato won the general election as the first female Allegheny County Executive; she will begin her four-year term in January.

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

Six weeks after being sworn into the U.S. Senate, John Fetterman checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for clinical depression, drawing praise from many Americans for openly seeking mental health treatment. He was released six weeks later with his depression in remission.

PHOTO COURTESY ROW HOUSE CINEMA

The team behind Lawrenceville’s Row House Cinema announced plans to reopen the Hollywood Theater in Dormont and to facilitate the reopening of the Denis Theatre in Mt. Lebanon — breathing new life into two historical neighborhood movie houses.

(LEFT): POLAR BEARS ARRIVED AT THE ZOO FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 1937 | RIGHT): TWO TRAINS OF COASTER CARS DESCEND A HILL OF THE RACER ROLLERCOASTER IN 1926

Kennywood Amusement Park and the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium each celebrated their 125th anniversaries.

(L-R) STAN SAVARAN | PHOTO: AT&T SPORTSNET PITTSBURGH, JOSEPH HARDY III | PHOTO COURTESY 84 LUMBER AND DR. RICHARD MORIARTY | PHOTO COURTESY CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Rest in Peace: Notable deaths included legendary sports broadcaster Stan Savran, 84 Lumber founder Joe Hardy on his 100th birthday, and Dr. Richard Moriarty, the pediatrician who helped found the Pittsburgh Poison Center and created the Mr. Yuk sticker.