"marked the year" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
It could be used in any sentence describing an event that happened in a particular year, or something that happened in a certain year to recognize or celebrate a milestone. For example, "The 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing marked the year 1969."
It was a sad, terrible moment for all of us and one that marked the year.
Marching bands and pageants kept thousands on their toes in central Dublin as they marked the year of The Gathering - Ireland's 12 months of homecoming celebrations.
While academics and the media have long noted mining's electricity usage, 2018 marked the year environmental and progressive publications started sounding the alarm.
By chance the 1977 silver jubilee marked the year that Britain was more equal in how income was shared than at any time in history.
Aside from training as a Cordon Bleu saucier, flogging ribs out of the back of her mobile food van and hosting a TV cookery show, 2014 marked the year in which Kelis released her sixth album, tellingly titled Food.
It marked the year King Louis-Philippe won permission from the British to resurrect France's lost leader, sending his son to bring Bonaparte back to France for reburial under the gigantic golden dome of Les Invalides.
It may also mark the year the world gives up on that future.
CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS, marking the year of the horse, are planned tomorrow at two branches of the Queens Borough Public Library.
The Big Wedding weekend was designed to mark the year in which same-sex marriage became legal.
Documentary marking the year pop music and popular culture ripped up the rule book.
2015 will mark the year that the Internet naming protocol moves beyond the world of.com,.net and.org.org
