2020 will forever be known as the year of COVID-19. Lockdowns, masks, and social distancing became the new normal as the world grappled with the unprecedented challenges posed by the virus.
No matter where you were in the world this year, the news of the coronavirus almost seemed to spread faster than the virus itself!
Amidst the lockdowns, people found themselves in unique situations. From panic-buying toilet paper to becoming master bakers overnight, the year was filled with amusing stories of how individuals coped with the new reality.
With limited options for outdoor activities, people turned to binge-watching TV shows like “The Tiger King” on Netflix.
The world collectively indulged in newfound hobbies, like sharing talents on TikTok, bringing some joy during challenging times.
Continue reading to discover the momentous events, headline-making news, iconic music releases, and notable losses that marked 2020.
Historical Events
Prepare to be enthralled by the fascinating stories behind the significant events that unfolded throughout the year 2020.
January 2020
Jan 11
Diego, a 100-year-old tortoise, was retired from a breeding program after fathering 800+ children.
Diego lived at the San Diego Zoo until 1977, when he was sent to the Galápagos to save his species from extinction. Over the following 43 years, Diego almost single-handedly returned the Galápagos giant turtle population to acceptable levels. Diego has since retired to the island of Española, where he was initially found.
Jan 13
A meteorite that landed in Australia in the 1960s revealed stardust up to 7 billion years old.
That makes it the oldest known solid material on Earth.
Jan 22
One hundred million people were placed in lockdown in Wuhan, China, amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
All forms of transport in and out of the city were suspended from 10:00 local time.
February 2020
Feb 17
$10 billion was pledged to help fight climate change by Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos.
Feb 24
An animal was discovered to not need Oxygen to breathe.
The tiny parasite is called Henneguya salminicola and lives in salmonid fish.
Feb 27
Scientists observed the biggest explosion in the universe, 390 million light-years away.
The explosion occurred in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster.
March 2020
Mar 11
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that the spread of Covid-19 was now at a Pandemic stage.
Mar 20
Tiger King was released on Netflix.
This American true-crime documentary miniseries was about the life of a zookeeper, Joe Exotic.
Mar 25
Charli D’Amelio became the most followed person on TikTok with 64.5 million followers.
On this day, Charli overtook the previous most followed person, Loren Gray.
April 2020
Apr 18
A gunman named Gabriel Wortman rampaged through Nova Scotia, Canada.
He carried out multiple shootings and killed 22 people. He was finally shot and killed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Apr 23
President Donald Trump suggested a dangerous theory that injecting disinfectant could cure the Coronavirus.
In his press conference, he said: "And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning?"
May 2020
May 17
A pair of Michael Jordan’s Air Jordan sneakers sold for a record $560,000 at auction.
The pair of autographed Air Jordan 1s were worn by the famous basketballer during his glory days. They sold for almost four times the estimated auction sale price, beating the previous record by over $100,000.
May 26
A series of worldwide protests began in reaction to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
June 2020
Jun 10
Swedish authorities finally closed a 34-year-old inquiry into the murder of their prime minister.
On February 28, 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme was walking home from the cinema with his family when he was fatally shot in the back. Over the following 34 years, over 10,000 suspects were interviewed. A new team investigated the case in 2017 and concluded that Stig Engström, a now-deceased suspect, was the killer and decided to close the case for good.
Jun 21
The guitar that Kurt Cobain used during Nirvana’s 1993 MTV Unplugged in New York show sold for $6 million.
Jun 24
Pakistan International Airlines grounded 150 of its pilots after discovering their licenses were fake.
An internal investigation into Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) began after a horrific plane crash that claimed 97 lives was found to be caused by pilot error.
July 2020
Jul 7
Tourists in Kazakhstan beat a seal unconscious on a beach so that children could take pictures with it.
A group of men surrounded a seal that had swum close to shore, attacking it with sticks and boulders. Others gathered around to watch, but no one did or said anything to stop the assault.
Jul 10
Turkish President Recep Erdogan decreed that Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia should be reopened as a mosque.
The Hagia Sophia, originally built in the sixth century as a cathedral and later used as a mosque, has a long and tumultuous history. Until 2020, it had spent the previous 80 years as a museum showcasing its Christian and Islamic past.
Jul 24
Taylor Swift released her eighth studio album, “Folklore.”
The album, released as a surprise with little-to-no promotion, was conceived during the early 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
August 2020
Aug 4
2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored at the port of Beirut, Lebanon, exploded.
The blast, ignited by a warehouse fire, resulted in the tragic loss of 218 lives, left 7,000 people injured, and caused over $15 billion in damage. This explosion was one of the most powerful non-nuclear blasts in history.
Aug 19
Apple became the first US company to be valued at $2 trillion.
Apple was also the first to be valued at $1 trillion on August 2, 2018, meaning the company doubled in valuation in just over two years.
Aug 29
Elon Musk unveiled a pig called Gertrude with a coin-sized computer chip in her brain.
On this day, Elon Musk demonstrated his ambitious plans to create a working brain-to-machine interface.
Aug 31
R&B icon Akon ceremoniously laid the first stone for Akon City, a futuristic Wakanda-like city in Senegal.
September 2020
Sep 4
China’s space agency launched a classified spacecraft into orbit atop a Long March 2F rocket.
Not much is known about the specifics of the launch, but from what experts have gathered, the launch's payload was most likely a reusable spaceplane. Whatever it was, it reached an altitude of 217 miles (350 km), deposited an unknown object into orbit, and then returned to what is most likely the Taklamakan Desert in China's northwest.
Sep 25
David Attenborough gained one million followers on Instagram within 4 hours and 45 minutes of his first post.
The famed British naturalist broke the record for the fastest time to reach a million followers on the social media platform. The previous record-holder was Jennifer Aniston, with a time of 5 hours and 16 minutes.
October 2020
Oct 11
LeBron James became the first basketball player to win MVP for three different teams.
LeBron had previously won MVP twice while playing for Miami Heat and once with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The third MVP win came while playing for the LA Lakers.
Oct 14
Post Malone won Artist of the Year and eight other awards at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards.
Oct 26
Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide announced that Japan will be carbon neutral by 2050.
November 2020
Nov 10
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev established November 10th as Victory Day.
Victory Day celebrates the taking of Nagorno-Karabakh, a region Azerbaijan and Armenia have long disputed. Azerbaijan claimed the territory after a bloody 45-day conflict. A ceasefire was only agreed upon with the assistance of Russian peacekeeping forces.
Nov 29
Joe Biden slipped while playing with his dog, Major, and was left with hairline fractures in his foot.
December 2020
Dec 2
The United Kingdom became the first country to legalize the use of the Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine.
Pfizer announced earlier in November that their vaccine had been proven to be 90% effective, making it the first fully tested and functional vaccine for COVID-19. At first, the vaccine was only approved for emergency use in the UK, with several countries following in their footsteps soon afterward.
Dec 7
Coca-Cola was named the world’s largest plastic polluter by the charity “Break Free From Plastic.”
Famous Deaths
See who passed away in 2020 and left behind a lasting legacy.
1978 — 2020
Kobe Bryant
American Basketball Player Kobe Bryant was born on August 23, 1978. He died on January 26, 2020, at age 41 in California, USA.
1987 — 2020
Naya Rivera
American Actress Naya Rivera was born on January 12, 1987. She died on July 8, 2020, at age 33 in California, USA.
1930 — 2020
Sean Connery
Scottish Actor Sean Connery was born on August 25, 1930. He died on October 31, 2020, at age 90 in Lyford Cay, Bahamas.
Quotes
Here's a collection of notable quotes that emerged in 2020.
Jan 22
“We have [COVID-19] totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. It’s going to be just fine.”
Donald Trump
(American Politician)
May 21
“Marriage is a choice you make every day. It can be hard work, but when two people commit to seeing that work through, the rewards are as sweet as they come.”
Michelle Obama
(American First Lady)
2020 in Music
2020 was a year filled with sensational tunes that had us singing along without a care in the world!
From the addictive beats of “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa to the heart-wrenching lyrics of “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi, these songs struck a chord with our emotions and had us singing along with every word.
Here are the music highlights from 2020 that absolutely deserve recognition!
Album of the Year
Billie Eilish’s hauntingly beautiful and alternative album “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” swept the Grammy Awards in 2020, mesmerizing audiences with her unique sound.
Song of the Year
Billie Eilish really rocked the music scene in 2020 and also took home the Grammy Award for Song of the Year with her chart-topping hit “Bad Guy.”
Best New Artist
2020 was a good year for Billie Eilish! Her thought-provoking lyrics won her the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2020, solidifying her as a groundbreaking figure in pop music.
Eurovision Song Contest Winner
2020 was supposed to mark the 65th Eurovision Song Contest, however, due to the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was canceled.
The cancellation marked the first and only time in the contest’s 64-year history that it could not proceed. Duncan Laurence’s “Arcade” from 2019 remained the reigning champion until the contest resumed in 2021.
2020 In Numbers
In terms of numbers, 2020 was rather special, as the first two digits of the year match the second two. The next time this happens will be 2121. It was also the last year of the second decade of the 21st century.
2020 is written as MMXX in Roman numerals and as 11111100100 in binary.
Leap Year
The year 2020 was a leap year, featuring an additional day in February. This leap day compensates for the fact that a year is not exactly 365 days long, ensuring our calendars stay in sync with the Earth’s orbit around the sun.
Harshad Number
2020 is a Harshad number, which is a number that can be evenly divided by the sum of its digits. It’s like a special math rule for some numbers.
To explain in more detail, we add up the digits (2 + 0 + 2 + 0), which equals 4. And now we see if 2020 can be divided evenly by 4, which it can! 2020 ÷ 4 = 505. So this makes 2020 a Harshad number.
Abundant Number
Also, 2020 is known as an abundant number. An abundant number is a number where, if you add up all the smaller numbers that can divide evenly into it, the total sum is greater than the number itself.
So, when you add up all the smaller numbers that can divide evenly into 2020 (1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 101, 202, 404, 505, 1010), they add up to 2264, which is greater than 2020.
Chinese Zodiac 2020
According to the Chinese zodiac system, 2020 marked The Year of the Rat, a cycle that repeats itself once every twelve years.
However, there are also five elements in the Chinese zodiac. These elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. So 2020 was actually the Year of the Metal Rat, which only occurs every sixty years!
Did you know that the Chinese zodiac operates on a lunar calendar? That means the Year of the Metal Rat actually kicked off on January 25th, and lasted until February 11, 2021.
People born in the Year of the Rat are resourceful, adaptable, and intelligent. They possess a sharp wit and are excellent problem solvers, making them natural leaders and quick thinkers.
Notable names like Dwayne Johnson and Eminem are associated with the Year of the Rat, reflecting the remarkable accomplishments of individuals born under this sign!
2004 Trivia
Did you know that Zoom’s stocks were one of the fastest-growing stocks in 2020?
Zoom Video Communications LLC’s stock sold for $67 apiece at the beginning of 2020 and finished the year at $337, rising in value by more than 500 percent – much to Microsoft’s envy!
Whether you love it or hate it, Zoom certainly made meetings much easier.
