20 Things that Happened in 2020
2020 was a rollercoaster of a ride, and there’s no doubt that this year will mark a spot in history books. Here are 20 noteworthy events that happened during the year 2020.
On January 31st, The United Kingdom formally left the European Union after being a member for forty-seven years, and the country immediately entered into an 11-year month transition period. This controversial departure will lead to huge changes in the country in aspects such as trade, justice, and security, as well as UK’s coins and colors.
Source: CBS News
Coronavirus Declared a Pandemic
Four months following the first coronavirus case, the World Health Organization officially declared the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on March 11, seeing how cases had emerged from multiple countries all around the globe. At the time it was announced, 114 countries have reported that 118,000 were affected by Covid-19, and nearly 4,300 people have died.
Source: Stat
Face-to-Face Classes and Work Temporarily Halted
Many schools and establishments all around the world closed its doors shortly after the declaration of Covid-19 as a global pandemic in March. to slow the spread of the aforementioned disease, many students and workers continued to do their required work at home and online, while others suffered from unemployment.
Source: EducationNext
Worldwide Social Distancing
National and local governments across different countries implemented a set of rules and regulations to flatten the curve by strongly encouraging self-isolation through staying at home and wearing masks when going outside. Moreover, such establishments that provide necessities such as fast-food restaurants and gas stations remained open as long as they adhered to certain social distancing protocols.
Source: The New York Times
Major Events Canceled or Postponed
Well-known events worldwide such as the Annual Tony Awards, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and NBA Play-offs are either being canceled or postponed to a later date due to the coronavirus outbreak. Other events that are officially postponed or canceled are the Burning Man festival, Broadway performances, Eurovision Song Contest, Glastonbury 2020, and NHL games.
Source: Business Insider
Stock Market Crash
Stock markets all around the world experienced a massive downturn as investors fear the possible negative effects of coronavirus on businesses. On March 12, the day after the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) had its biggest drop since 1987 by losing 2,352 points.
Source: PVAMU
Kim Jong-un’s Death Rumors
Mistranslations of news reports on the last weeks of April led to heightened suspicions over media about the health conditions of North Korea’s president Kim Jong-un, which stirred up controversial hearsays insinuating that the dictator ruler was in the brink of dying. These rumors were effectively canceled when Kim appeared in a state-issued photo, alive and well, in which he was in the opening of a fertilizer factory outside Pyongyang.
Source: Washington Post
Pentagon released videos of alleged UFOs
In April of this year, The Pentagon officially released three videos showing what is assumed to be unidentified flying objects that were rapidly moving while being recorded by infrared cameras. These videos are said to have been previously been released by a private company in September of last year, and they were released to clear up any allegations regarding several circulating footage concerning UFOs.
Source: CNN
Murder Hornets in the United States
It was revealed in early May that a 2-inch long insect, known as the murder hornet, has been discovered buzzing around in the United States for the first time, according to researchers. The Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia, has been known to kill up to 50 people a year in Japan and has the potential to devastate U.S. bee populations, which are said to be already in decline.
Source: National Geographic
Death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter Movement Resurface
On May 25th, 46-year-old African American George Floyd died after being wrongfully arrested by police outside a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in which he was pinned to the floor by a white police officer Derek Chauvin despite Floyd’s constant expression of his inability to breathe. Days after this incident, protests began from Minneapolis to various places all around the world as the arrest video spread throughout the media in order to promote equal rights for African American communities.
Source: BBC
Class of 2020 Unconventional Graduation Rites
In order to adhere to social distancing protocols, this year’s high school and college graduations are celebrated through unconventional means, ranging from a virtual ceremony through drive-through commencement rights. Despite having missed a lot of major events of their last year such as Senior Trips and Dance Nights, this year’s graduates are still happy that this important milestone in their life is given recognition by their schools.
Source: NBC
Tensions Rise Between China and India
After Chinese soldiers entered Indian-claimed territory without formal authorization on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India, tensions increased between the two Himalayan-bordering countries in late May. It is reported that both countries publicly downplayed the face-off, but it was apparently serious enough for India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise it twice with China’s Leader Xi as Indian media was filled with news reports of Chinese intrusion.
Source: University of Birmingham
Trump’s Empty Tulsa Rally
President Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Juneteenth experienced a low turnout despite the Trump campaign claimed to have received a million ticket requests for the event — with only 6,200 seats occupied even with the venue’s 19,200 capacity. This event is presumably caused by many TikTok users and K-pop stans requesting for seat reservation in the venue with no actual intention of attending the said rally.
Source: Forbes
Confederate Statues Taken Down
In light of recent events revolving around George Floyd’s death, many Confederate statues, that have existed many decades after the Civil War, are being continuously removed both by protesters and government leaders all over the United States. It is argued that these controversial monuments strongly depict a symbol of America’s dark history of Black slavery and White supremacy, and they must be taken down to call for an end to racial discrimination against people of color.
Source: CNN
Twitter Accounts of Celebrities Hacked
The official Twitter accounts of major public figures such as Jeff Bezos, Barack Obama, Kanye West, and Elon Musk were seen to have unusually tweeted on July 15, asking for donations in the cryptocurrency in an apparent Bitcoin scam. After briefing about the said incident, Twitter said that it was a ‘co-ordinated’ attack targeting its employees “with access to internal systems and tools” to take control of prominent accounts.
Source: BBC
And these are 20 of the countless things that happened in 2020, while still having 5 months to go. It is genuinely hoped that things would get better in the days to come. What do you think might happen in the last upcoming months? I’d like to hear your thoughts.
