97 things you forgot happened in 2020 and 2021
This past year felt so long and so short at the same time. So many things happened yet many of us were stuck in the house bored and doing nothing. From freak weather to protests, coups and elections this year was definitely one for the history books. It’s a miracle we survived the zoom fatigue and the time distortion let alone the crazy world events. To reminisce, here’s a list of things that happened this year that you might have forgotten.
Content Warning: mentions of rape and racial violence
January 2020
Starting the year dramatically, Fires in Australia had been burning through the country for four months, and continued through the start of the new year. Millions of people were displaced and countless animals perished in the devastating fires.
Australian wildfires.
Jan. 3 - Remember how we started the year with WWIII trending on twitter? The US had killed a top Iranian General, General Qassem Soleimani, in an airstrike at the Baghdad airport in Iraq.
Qasem Soleimani.
January 7 - The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that Chinese authorities had identified a novel coronavirus in the city of Wuhan when a person was hospitalized for pneumonia.
World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters Flag.
January 11 - China reported the first coronavirus death (The virus was not yet referred to as COVID-19 at this point).
January 16 - The first impeachment trial against President Donald Trump began. The US Senate tried Trump on two articles of impeachment: obstruction of justice and abuse of power.
January 20 - First coronavirus case in the US was documented in Washington State.
SARS-CoV-2
Alissa Eckert, MSMI; Dan Higgins, MAMS / Center for Disease Control and Prevention
January 23 - Wuhan, China went under lockdown.
January 26 - NBA star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant died tragically in a helicopter crash.
Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant.
Maribeth McEwan / Flickr
January 31 - Brexit Day: the U.K. left the European Union
Members debate and vote on the EU-UK withdrawal agreement.
European Parliament / Flickr
February 2020
February 2 - Jennifer Lopez and Shakira made history as the first Latina artists to headline the halftime show at the 54th Super Bowl.
February 3 - TheIowa Caucus, which is the first presidential nominating contest for the 2020 Democratic primary, resulted in a majordebacle when a new,untested smartphone app was used to calculate votes malfunctioned and left the winner unclear. Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg declared victory despite only62% of precincts reporting votes and having a two percentage point lead over Bernie Sanders.
Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg hosts a rally at Lincoln High School in Des Moines, Iowa on the eve of the Iowa caucus.
Phil Roeder / Flickr
February 4 - Nancy Pelosi theatrically tore up Trump’s speech at State of the Union
February 5 - President Trump’s first impeachment trial ended after the senate acquitted him of impeachment charges
President Donald J. Trump shows a newspaper headline during his address Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020 in the East Room of the White House, in response to being acquitted in the U.S. Senate Impeachment Trial.
D. Myles Cullen / Flickr
February 9 - South Korean film Parasite won best picture at the Oscars, the first non-English language film to receive the award.
Scene from “Parasite.”
Cristiano Betta / Flickr
February 11 - WHO named the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
COVID-19 text with marker.
Jernej Freeman / Flickr
February 23 - Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed Black man, was shot and killed by a former policeman and his son while out for a jog in Georgia.
Mural of Ahmaud Arbrey in Brunswick, Georgia, U.S.
Bubba73 / Wikimedia Commons
March 2020
March 10 - Italy became the first country in the world to implement a nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19.
March 11 - Married couple Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson became the first celebrities to publicly announce their coronavirus diagnosis.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson.
Walt Disney Television / Flickr
March 13 - Breonna Taylor, a Black, 26-year-old EMT, was murdered by police officers while sleeping in her own Louisville, Kentucky home. Plainclothes police officers broke into Taylor's home shortly after midnight without identifying themselves as they had a no-knock warrant to search for drugs, however, the warrant was for another address. Taylor was then shot at least eight times and "received no emergency medical aid as she lay dying."
The fatal attack on Taylor took place in between other killings of unarmed Black people, three weeks after the death of Ahmaud Arbrey and 10 weeks before the death of George Floyd. Like Arbrey and Floyd, Taylor's name became a rallying cry during the Black Lives Matter uprising in the Summer of 2020.
March 13 - President Trump declared a national emergency to free up $50 billion in federal aid to combat coronavirus. Trump also claimed “coronavirus is no more dangerous than the common flu, and that it will likely disappear quickly and without a significant impact on American life,” despite disagreements from health officials.
President Donald J. Trump listens as Ambassador Debbie Birx, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator, addresses her remarks at a news conference where President Trump announced a national emergency to further combat the Coronavirus outbreak on Friday, March 13, 2020, in the Rose Garden of the White House.
Shealah Craighead / Flickr
March 18 - Gal Gadot posted a cringey viral video of a celebrity sing-along to John Lennon’s “Imagine,” resulting in criticism due to insensitivity of wealthy people in a time of crisis.
Gal Gadot speaking at the 2016 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Wonder Woman", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California.
Gage Skidmore / Flickr
March 19 - Harvey Weinstein was sentences to 23 years of maximum security prison in New York after being convicted with rape. This was a huge victory for the #MeToo movement.
Harvey Weinstein at TIME 100 Gala.
David Shankbone / Flickr
March 20 - The docu-series “Tiger King” was released on Netflix and became a quarantine obsession.
March 27 - The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed by the U.S. Senate and in the U.S. House of Representatives. The CARES Act became the largest bailout in U.S. history providing a one-time $1,200 stimulus check per adult (earning under $75,000 annually), $500 per child, unemployment benefits and resources for small businesses.
President Trump signs the CARES Act in the Oval Office.
Shealah Craighead / Flickr
April 2020
April 6 - Quibi app launched. Remember that? Somewhere in between YouTube and Netflix, Quibi offers different episodic series with short episodes between 5 and 10 minutes.
Quibi logo.
Quibi Holdings LLC / Wikimedia Commons
April 8 - Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Presidential race, leaving Vice President Joe Biden as the last candidate in the Democratic primary.
In a statement thanking Sanders for making the difficult decision, Biden acknowledged that Sanders was an inspiring candidate, particularly to young voters, because of his progressive agenda. Sanders was known for his signature policy proposal of Medicare for All, which was particularly relevant at the time of his dropping out when coronavirus had just begun.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, Arizona.
Gage Skidmore / Flickr
April 14 - Trump slowed the delivery of $1200 stimulus checks to US Americans so his name could be printed onto the checks.
April 15 - Rumors spread that leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un had died, which turns out to be false.
Kim Jong-un.
vborodinova / Needpix
April 15 - Trump halted US funding to the WHO during a global pandemic!
April 27 - The Pentagon declassified video footage of unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
May
May 1 - Former Vice President Joe Biden for the first time publicly denied sexual assault allegation from Tara Reade, a former staffer who served in Biden’s Washington Senate office in 1993.
May 20 - Armed Haircut protesters take over Michigan state capitol.
May 25th - George Floyd, a 46 year old man and father of a little girl, was arrested by law enforcement outside of a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota for allegedly using a counterfeit twenty dollar bill. In an attempt to restrain Floyd, two officers assisted officer Derek Chauvin in pinning Floyd to the floor and subsequently sinking his knee into Floyd’s neck, cutting off his airway.
As Floyd’s cries for help were recorded by bystanders, his words “I can’t breathe” echoed shock waves across the nation. The unjust murder of George Floyd became the flame that ignited nationwide and global protests and transparent discourse about the role racism plays in America’s criminal punishment system.
A protester holds a George Floyd sign outside the Hennepin County Courthouse in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Lori Shaull / Flickr
June
The month of June marked a pivotal moment for the Black community in America. As communities of color and allies came together to mourn the recent losses of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbury, and George Floyd, there was an overarching push to turn grief into upward change. Nationwide protests against police brutality against the black community quickly swept the nation, and a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement gained incredible momentum.
June 19 - Juneteenth was celebrated by many in the United States. Also known as Emancipation Day, Black Independence Day and Jubilee Day, Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the South after the Civil War.
June 21 - Gen Zers, TikToks and Kpop stans tanked Trump’s re-election campaign rally in Tulsa Oklahoma. By calling in to ask for free tickets and placing tickets and merch in the online shopping cart but never checking out, these teens fooled the campaign into thinking that there would be a huge turnout. Along with the 19,000 seat stadium, the campaign also planned for a second event outside. Only about 6,000 people actually attended the event. This successful scheme left President Trump and his administration stunned and humiliated.
July
July 2nd - Senator Reed and Senator Whitehouse, Rhode Island state legislators, cosponsored the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. This proposed legislation also called for ceremonies and activities to celebrate and commemorate the historical significance of the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas were informed of the Emancipation Proclamation. Senator Reed explained, "June 19, 1865 is a day that deserves national recognition... [so that] every June 19th we commemorate our enduring struggle for freedom and equality.”
July 13 - The Washington Football team “Redskins” changed their offensive name and mascot amid BLM protests and after years of demands to change the name.
July 17 - Representative and Civil Rights activist John Lewis passed away from cancer.
Rep. John Lewis of United States House of Representatives.
United States House of Representatives / Wikipedia Commons
August
August 23 - Police officers responded to a domestic incident in Kenosha, Wisconsin involving a twenty nine year old black man named Jacob Blake. Blake leaned into his SUV where his three sons were sitting in the back seat when law enforcement officer Sheskey shot him in the back seven times. Blake was critically injured and now suffers from paralysis.
August 28 - Renowned actor Chadwick Boseman passed away at age 43 after fighting a long battle with colon cancer. Boseman was most known for his role as the superhero Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
September
September 4 - Protests in Portland, Oregon Reach 100 days: Three days after George Floyd’s murder, Black Lives Matter activists began protesting in Portland, Oregon. On Sept. 4, the city reached 100 consecutive days of demonstrations.
Black Lives Matter protest outside of the Justice Center in Portland, Oregon, 2020.
Hanin Najjar
September 15 - The entire west coast of the United States was on fire after a mix of drought, unusually high wind speeds, and shortage of firefighting resources. From LA to Portland, the sky eerily turned dark orange as they experienced the worst air quality in the world.
September 18 - Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the feminist Supreme Court icon, died due to complications from metastatic cancer of the pancreas. She was 87.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Steve Petteway / Wikimedia Commons
September 29 - 1st Presidential debate of 2020 between Former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. It was a disaster of a night with Trump not following rules, interrupting Biden and arguing with the moderator. Notable moments - when asked to condemn white supremacy, Trump said the Proud Boys should “Stand back and stand by,” and that something needed to be done about antifa. Trump also claimed that racism training is racist and makes people “hate our country.”
October
October 1st - Just a month ahead of the Nov. 3 election, President Trump revealed both he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19.
October 7 - In the vice presidential debate, a fly took center stage — right on Mike Pence’s head. The bug earned just 2 minutes of glory during the televised event, but scored loads of attention on the internet.
Former Vice President of the United States Mike Pence speaking with attendees at the 2020 Student Action Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Gage Skidmore / Flickr
October 22 - In the 2nd and last presidential debate of 2020 between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the two sparred on hot-button issues, including race. In response to a question about his disparaging comments of Black Lives Matter, Trump claimed to be “the least racist person in this room.”
October 26 - The US Senate confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, ensuring a conservative majority on the court.
Amy Coney Barrett at her swearing in ceremony in Washington DC.
Trump White House Archives / Flickr
November
November 3 - US Election Night: More than 158 million voters voted in the 2020 presidential election, the highest voter turnout of eligible voters since 1900. Despite conservative claims of election fraud through mail-in voting, absentee ballots were crucial for participation in the electoral process.
November 6 - Joe Biden was projected to have won the election after securing Pennsylvania’s electoral votes. Kamala Harris became the first woman and person of color vice president in United States history.
Vice President Kamala Harris at the Inauguration ceremony in Washington DC, January 20, 2021.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff / Flickr
December
December 13 - Alexei Navalny, an opposition activist and critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin, survived a second assassination attempt via poisoning.
December 14 - The first FDA-approved doses of the covid-19 vaccine was given in the U.S. to front line and healthcare workers. Developed in less than a year, the arrival of this vaccine marked a turning point in the global pandemic after a year of great tragedy, bringing a resurgence of hope in the ability to prevent covid-related deaths.
January 2021
January 6 - A right-wing mob of Trump supporters broke into the capitol building in an attempted dissident coup. This organized act of political violence was an expression of white supermacist rage in order to undermine the democratic process of presidential transition.
January 8 - After the failed insurrection on the capitol, Twitter permanently banned Trump in order to prevent him from encouraging further violence through his inflammatory tweets.
@realDonaldTrump’s suspended Twitter account
January 11 - One week after the riot at the capitol, the House moved swiftly to impeach Trump for the second time. Members of the GOP attempted to dismiss the trial as unconstitutional, which the Senate narrowly voted against on January 26.
January 20 - The inauguration of 46th President Biden and Vice President Harris featured several celebrity performances to break up the mundanity of the ritual transferal of power, but Amanda Gorman, the nation’s first youth poet laureate, was the star of the day. She delivered her powerful poem “The Hill We Climb”.
Poet Amanda Gorman recites her poem at the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 20, 2021.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff / Flickr
January 30th - Farmers’ protests in India: For months there had been ongoing strikes by farm workers and farmer unions in India, with up to 250 MILLION laborers taking to the streets in protest of three new farming and deregulation laws imposed by the Indian government. Farmers were concerned that these laws would make them vulnerable to exploitation by corporations, lead to decreased wages, and contribute to widespread unemployment and debt.
Ongoing protests were met with increasing paramilitary violence. When protestors mobilized a massive march to Delhi, the Indian government suspended all internet services on January 30th, resulting in a city-wide media blackout in order to dilute the protests, but this failed to de-escalate the situation.
A few days later, Rihanna tweeted about the Farmers’ protests which garnered global attention, to the disapproval of the Indian government.
Tweet by @rihanna which reads “why aren’t we talking about this?! #FarmersProtest” with a link to a CNN article titled “India cuts internet around New Delhi as protesting farmers clash with police.”
February
February 1 - A viral video shows the unfolding of the military coup in Myanmar. Democratically elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other government officials were detained, with the military appointing power to the commander in chief in a released statement declaring a year-long state of emergency. On February 4, the military blocked access to Facebook in Myanmar, which is one of the main media sources citizens use to seek out news. In opposition to the coup, protests broke out on February 6, demanding the release of their leaders. The military junta responded with brutal violence and killing protestors, and the issuance of a widespread internet & media blackout.
February 9 - Trump’s second impeachment trial began.
February 13 - Trump was aquitted for the second time after less than two-thirds of the Senate voted guilty.
February 13-17 Winter Snow storms swept across North America, impacting the west coast, deep south and eastern coast, and parts of northern Mexico. Amidst widespread power outages in his state, Texas senator Ted Cruz and his family fled to Cancun, leaving behind millions of constituents in extreme temperatures.
March
March 14 - The 2021 Grammys shattered the glass ceiling and broke records. Beyonce broke the record of most grammys awards won by a female artist. Beyonce and Megan Thee Stallion broke the record of being the first female artists to win best rap performance. Finally, all the way from South Korea, BTS made history as the first Kpop group to be nominated for a Grammy and the first Kpop group to have a solo performance at the Grammys.
March 16 - Eight people were killed in shootings at an Atlanta massage parlors. Six of those murdered were Asian American women. This tragedy brought attention to the history of xenophobia in the United States that was accelerated by the covid-19 pandemic, and sparked protests against anti-asian racism.
Stop Asian Hate rally in San Francisco, CA, 2021.
Jason Leung / Unsplash
March 30 - As of the end of March, 574.25 million doses of the COVID‑19 vaccine have been administered worldwide, based on official reports from national health agencies collated by Our World in Data.
April
April 9 - Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth, died at the age of 99.
April 20 - In a highly publicized trial, the police officer who killed George Floyd was finally convicted of murder.
April 23 - SpaceX launched two astronauts into space. SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk in pursuit of colonizing Mars.
May
May 1 - India experienced a world record of over 400,000 new COVID-19 cases in one day.
May 10 - Violence rapidly escalated amid a worsening Palestinian-Israeli crisis on the Gaza strip.
May 20 - After 11 devastating days, the IDF and Hamas declared a ceasefire.
May 28 - 250 mass unmarked graves of First Nation children were found buried near Canadian government residential “boarding school.” This sent rippling effects throughout the country as more and more unmarked graves were discovered buried near other boarding school sites.
June
June 14 - The International Criminal Court (ICC) opened an investigation regarding the human rights abuses, targeted arrests and murders in the Philippines under the Duterte regime. Having assumed power in 2016, Rodrigo Duterte launched a “War on Drugs,” modeled after the global war waged by the U.S., in which substance misuse and addiction is treated as a criminal offense rather than a health issue. Duterte has declared “I don’t care about human rights” and has justified his reign of terror which has resulted in over 8000 reported casualties.
June 17 - On this day, the Biden administration signed into law a bill proposed last year that officially recognizes Juneteenth as a federal holiday celebrating emancipation. Although this legislation was a performative action, this holiday is now widely recognized as a commemoration of the day that enslaved people in Texas were told of their emancipation, more than two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
June 23 - Britney Spears testified in front of a judge, advocating for an end to her conservatorship. Spears revealed the abuse she’s endured, including that she had been forced to wear an IUD as birth control involuntarily.
July
July 11 - A spontaneous anti-government protest of 3,000 broke out in Cuba. Many factors led to this eruption, much of it spurred by discontentment against an economic crisis that has been exacerbated by U.S.-imposed economic sanctions.
July 20 - In competition with another billionaire, Jeff Bezos launched himself into space with an all-civilian crew for 11 minutes. Sadly, he returned back to Earth after 10 blissful minutes.
July 23 - The delayed 2020 Summer Olympics kicked off in Tokyo, Japan.
July 27 - Simone Biles withdrew from competing in the Olympics to focus on prioritizing care for her mental health.
Via wikipedia
August
August 14 - A devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, just slightly higher than the natural disaster that struck Haiti in 2010. Consequences were tragic, yet this barely made a blip in global news.
August 15 - The Taliban entered the capital city of Kabul, Afghanistan by force, resulting in the collapse of the existing government as the Afghan president flees the country and the U.S. evacuates its diplomats.
August 29 - Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana, exactly 16 years since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
August 30 - The U.S. military fully withdrew from Afghanistan after 20 years of occupation, leaving Afghan citizens and refugees vulnerable to the aftermath of the U.S.-orchestrated government collapse.
September
September 1 - The Texas Abortion Ban came into effect.
September 7 - Texas governor signed into law a bill that restricts voting.
September 9 - Summer 2021 was declared the hottest summer in the U.S., with reports that ensuing summers will continue to have record-hot temperatures.
September 11 - Twentieth anniversary of 9/11 is commemorated.
September 19-27 - The U.S. began deporting thousands of Haitian refugees and asylum-seekers.
September 27 - R. Kelly was convicted of sex trafficking.
October
October 4 - Global outage of social media apps Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp affected millions of international users.
October 7 - The U.S. Senate voted to raise the debt ceiling through December after Republicans and Democrats voted 50-48 to end the debt limit deal filibuster.
October 8 - Journalist Maria Ressa, CEO and co-founder of Rappler, a news publication, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her commitment to safeguarding freedom of the press in the Philippines. This came after facing years of targeted censorship and imprisonment by the Filipino government, who has claimed the media publication is spreading “fake news” for speaking out against the abuses by the Duterte regime. Ressa officially received the Nobel Peace Prize on December 11th, 2021.
Photo by AFP via @inquirerdotnet | Twitter
November
November 19 - Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges after shooting 3 men, killing two of them and injuring the third, during a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
November 26 - President Biden restricts travel from South Africa and 7 other countries due to a new varient of the coronavirus: Omicron. The other seven countries are Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique.
December
December 7th - Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, accepted President Biden’s invitation to attend the Summit for Democracy, in which state leaders are expected to announce specific actions and commitments to “strengthen democracy.” Filipino grassroots organizations and human rights advocates called on Biden to withdraw this invitation, given the Duterte regime’s ongoing human rights violations against activists and organizers, which is the subject of the ICC’s investigation.
Also on December 7th, The Supreme Court of the Philippines voted on the constitutionality of the Anti-Terror Law. This law is the subject of 37 petitions before the Philippine Supreme Court which demand the law be junked due to violations of constitutional freedoms, including but not limited to freedom of speech and expression, freedom of the press, and rights against torture and incommunicado detention.
December 9th-10th - The Biden administration hosted a virtual Summit for Democracy which included leaders of states, NGOs and private sectors with three main goals: addressing and fighting corruption; defending against authoritarianism; promoting respect for human rights. Many political writers, activists and analysts have voiced criticism of this summit, given the hypocrisy of U.S. imperialism as an ongoing agent in undermining democratic rights both domestically and abroad.
By Katelin Ling Cooper, Olivia Deally, Jade Harris and Hanin Najjar
Header: Graphic by Kesha Peterson
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