Read full story

Hurricane Irma AP Photo/Carlos Giusti Rescue staff from the Municipal Emergency Management Agency investigate an empty flooded car during the passage of Hurricane Irma through the northeastern part of Puerto Rico.

As 2017 draws to a close, Google is looking back on the top searches of the year.

Google narrowed down the top-trending searches in the US over the past 12 months - terms that had the highest spike in traffic this year compared to 2016.

From Hurricanes Irma and Harvey to the Last Vegas shooting, the year has been rife with tragedy. But 2017 also brought us the solar eclipse and the rise of a toy that captivated the nation.

Here are the top searches of 2017:

Get the latest Google stock price here.

View As: One Page Slides

10. Fidget spinner

10. Fidget spinner

Fidget spinners are small gadgets typically made with metal and ball bearings that you can twirl between your fingers. The toys became a massive hit beginning last spring.

Seemingly overnight, the toys became synonymous with adolescent life across the US. Costing usually a couple of dollars, the toys were originally intended to help ease symptoms of ADHD and anxiety. But spinners quickly gained mainstream popularity and became the top toy on social media, sites like Amazon, and in toy stores throughout the country.

9. Aaron Hernandez

9. Aaron Hernandez

Former NFL tight end Aaron Hernandez was serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd when he committed suicide in his jail cell in April.

In September, his attorney announced that Hernandez's brain was found to be suffering from an advanced stage of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the brain disease that has been linked to concussions.

8. Hurricane Harvey

8. Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Houston, Texas on August 25, 2017. The storm made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of up to 130 mph.

More than one million people were displaced in the aftermath, and the storm shaped up to be one of the costliest disasters in US history, causing more than $1 billion in damage.

7. Solar eclipse

7. Solar eclipse

In August, people in several parts of the US had the chance to view the total solar eclipse, where the moon crosses between the Earth and the sun and temporarily blocks the sun.

It was the first time in 99 years that a solar eclipse crossed the country from coast to coast.

6. Mayweather vs McGregor Fight

6. Mayweather vs McGregor Fight

In August, Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor squared off in the most highly anticipated fight of the year. Mayweather defeated McGregor and extended his perfect career record to 50-0.

After the fight, Mayweather announced that it would be his last time in the boxing ring.

5. Las Vegas shooting

5. Las Vegas shooting

On October 1, a gunman opened fire at a country music festival in Las Vegas, killing 58 people and wounding more than 500.

It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern United States history.

4. Super Bowl

4. Super Bowl

The New England Patriots became Super Bowl champions once again in 2017, beating the Atlanta Falcons, 34-28, in overtime and giving the combination of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady its fifth championship.

The Patriots trailed by 25 points in the second half and went on to pull off the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.

3. Tom Petty

3. Tom Petty

In early October, rock legend Tom Petty died at age 66 after suffering from a cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu, California. He was taken to UCLA Medical Center, but doctors were unable to revive him.

The singer, known for his music with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, had just wrapped a long tour at the end of September.

2. Matt Lauer

2. Matt Lauer

In November, TV journalist Matt Lauer was fired from NBC as a result of "inappropriate sexual behavior."

NBC News' chairman Andy Lack issued a statement saying that he "received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer" and that the network had reason to believe it wasn't an isolated incident. Since Lauer's firing, more reports have surfaced of inappropriate behavior toward his colleagues.

Lauer had been a fixture on NBC since the early 1990s, traveling the world to report on a variety of subjects. He hosted "The Today Show" for two decades.

1. Hurricane Irma

1. Hurricane Irma

Hurricane Irma arrived in early September, hammering Florida and the Caribbean. Irma had a maximum sustained wind speed of 185 mph, making it one of the strongest Atlantic storms ever recorded.

The storm led to the deaths of at least 84 people in its path across the Caribbean and the U.S. mainland.