December–January

Forest fires in Australia

The story that the year opened to was one of tragedy as fires raged in Australia, heavily impacting local wildlife populations.

December–January

Trump impeachment

Interest in President Trump’s impeachment continued from the previous month. He was impeached by the House in December of 2019, and his trial was set for the Senate early in 2020.

January 26

RIP Kobe

The world united in mourning after the death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash in California at the end of January.

February 4

Pelosi & state of the union

As is often the case, the internet was divided on Nancy Pelosi after she ripped up President Trump’s speech after his State of the Union address at the beginning of February.

February 5

RIP Kirk Douglas

Another celebrity caused an outpouring of memories at the beginning of February when actor Kirk Douglas passed away.

February 5

Trump acquitted

The day after his speech, Trump was acquitted in the Senate on what was almost a party line vote. Utah Senator Mitt Romney broke ranks with his fellow Republicans to vote to convict President Trump.

March 11

Harvey Weinstein jailed for 23 years

Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of the assault charges against him, and was sentenced to 23 years in jail at the end of February.

March 12

Virtual museums & galleries

Businesses adapted to the new normal, with museums setting up virtual tours when they couldn’t welcome guests.

March 15

Elderly shopping in supermarkets

Supermarkets created space for the elderly and at-risk to be able to shop in a safer way, introducing elderly shopping hours in many locations.

March 16

San Francisco is first US city to enter lockdown

In mid-March, San Francisco became the first US city to go into lockdown, though it was swiftly followed by a number of others.

March 27

You could have had COVID in December

As Covid exploded onto the national news scene, speculation abounded about its origins and whether it had been around longer than we knew.

April 9

Covid recoveries

People looked for hope in the early days of the pandemic, with the Daily Mail reporting on the hundreds of thousands of people who had recovered from the disease.

April 16

Bernie Sanders drops out of US election

In some of the most consequential political news of 2020 to this point, Bernie Sanders dropped out of the presidential race in April, having won a number of the early state primaries. This all but confirmed Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee.

April 16

Trump suggests using disinfectant to kill COVID

In a now infamous press conference, President Trump suggested the internal use of light and disinfectant in an attempt to combat Covid-19.

April 25

Kim Jong-un reportedly dead

In a strange story, speculation ran rife about the health of Kim Jong-un in April, with rumors abounding among social media and some journalists that he may have died.

May 7

Father and son charged for murder of Ahmaud Arbery

The case of Ahmaud Arbery, who was shot and killed while running in Georgia, made headlines in early May when the two men accused were charged with murder.

May 26

George Floyd killed

The death of George Floyd, which sparked a vast movement demanding accountability and justice, was the moment that brought worldwide attention to BLM once more.

May 31

Police kneel in solidarity with protestors

The most engaged article of the year involved police officers kneeling in solidarity with protestors in some cities.

June 5

DC Mayor has ‘Black Lives Matter’ painted on street leading to White House

In response to the Black Lives Matter protests, many cities moved to commemorate the movement, and DC did so by having a BLM mural painted on a street leading to the White House.

June 10

Germany sees largest BLM protest outside US

The protests extended worldwide, with major demonstrations occurring in Germany and the UK.

June 15

Supreme Court rules to protect LGBTQ from job discrimination

SCOTUS also made the news in June, with two landmark rulings. The first was on protections for LGBTQ workers being written into law, while the second ruled that President Trump could not legally shut down the DACA program.

June 17

Aunt Jemima to change name and remove image from packaging

Some brands moved to replace imagery and text that was seen as dated from their branding in response to the movement for racial justice, with Aunt Jemima being one such example.

June 18

SCOTUS DACA ruling

July 4

Kanye West announces presidential campaign

In a political twist, Independence Day in the US saw Kanye West announce his presidential campaign. Ultimately, it never really got off the ground.

July 15

HHS to send hospital data to DC instead of CDC

There was some controversy over Covid-19 data tracking, as the HHS confirmed that the data would now bypass the CDC and be sent directly to the White House, in a move away from the previous practice. 

July 17

Pentagon bans confederate flag from US military

After years of controversy over Confederate flags, they were finally banned from a number of military installations, though President Trump has repeatedly defended military bases named after Confederate generals.

July 18

RIP John Lewis

The death of John Lewis sent shockwaves around the political world, as the civil rights giant was celebrated far and wide for his legacy of “good trouble”. In an op-ed released on the day of his funeral, he encouraged people to keep up the fight for civil rights.

July 28

Trump’s new COVID doctor

A doctor who President Trump had signal boosted for promoting hydroxychloroquine as a Covid cure was found to have some odd views.

July 30

Trump calls for delay to US Election

Towards the end of July, President Trump floated what appeared to be a trial balloon about delaying the US election, which was reported by the BBC.

August 1

Trump to ban TikTok

Chinese social media app TikTok became a center of controversy in August. President Trump said it needed to be sold to a US company or risk being banned.

August 11

Kamala Harris selected as Biden running mate

History was made as Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris as his running mate for the election, making her the first woman of color to run for VP.

August 11

Explosion in Beirut

The tragic explosion in Lebanon saw grief from around the world, and UNICEF called to aid the country and explained some of the actions they were taking.

August 29

RIP Chadwick Boseman

Actor Chadwick Boseman was another loss this year, passing away after a years-long battle with colon cancer. His life was celebrated and many have called for him to receive a posthumous award for his performance in the movie version of ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’.

September 2

Trump encourages North Carolina to vote twice in election

Vote by mail became a controversy as the election approached, with President Trump repeatedly complaining about the practice, and encouraging his supporters to vote twice in North Carolina.

September 3

Trump calls Americans who died during war “losers” and “suckers”

Alleged comments by President Trump on veterans caused a stir this month, though he repeatedly denied the reporting.

September 5

Peaceful protests

TIME ran a piece talking about the BLM protests being largely peaceful, after there had been a focus in some quarters on the few protests that did not remain peaceful.

September 8

Trump nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

President Trump was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by a right-wing Norwegian parliamentarian, in the first of several nominations. He ultimately did not win, with the World Food Program winning.

September 8

RIP RBG

The biggest story of the month by far was the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away aged 87.

September 26

Amy Coney Barrett elected to Supreme Court

Amy Coney Barrett was ultimately nominated by President Trump to replace Bader Ginsburg.

September 27

Trump’s taxes shows losses and tax avoidance

The New York Times’s landmark investigation of President Trump’s taxes saw an unprecedented level of engagement on a single story for the publication, garnering more than 5 million engagements.

October 3

Trump gets COVID-19

President Trump’s Covid diagnosis was the major event of October.

October 5

#ProudBoys reclaimed by gay men

The Proud Boys became a topic of conversation as they were mentioned in the presidential debates, with a campaign to take back the concept of being a ‘proud boy’ occurring on Twitter.

October 6

RIP Eddie Van Halen

The deaths of Eddie Van Halen and Sean Connery both occurred in October, and were responsible for millions of engagements as people recognized their respective artistic contributions.

October 26

Senate vote on Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation

Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed by the Senate to the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September.

October 31

RIP Sean Connery

November 4

AOC re-elected in US election

Election narratives dominated November. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s easy victory in NY-14 was some early news that went viral while the world awaited the final election results.

November 7

Biden wins election

Joe Biden was ultimately declared the victor, winning a record number of votes in an American election.

November 7

Harris becomes the first female, first Black, and first South Asian vice president-elect

This victory marked a number of historic firsts for Kamala Harris, who simultaneously became the first female, first Black, and first South Asian vice president-elect.

November 8

RIP Alex Trebek

In non-election news, thousands mourned the death of Alex Trebek, the popular host of Jeopardy! who passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

November 15

COVID-19: the third surge

Meanwhile Covid-19, though the public’s interest in reporting about the disease had faded somewhat, reached an all-time level of deadliness in the US, with the third wave putting unprecedented strain on healthcare workers.

December 4

Congress passes bill to decriminalise cannabis

In the final month of 2020, Congress took up a bill to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level.

December 11

RIP Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister

Actor Tommy Lister passed away in December. The ‘Friday’ star was 62 years old.

December 12

Supreme court rejects Texas and Trump’s bid to overturn election

In a highly publicized and anticipated case, the Supreme Court rejected attempts to overturn the results of the election in key swing states.

December 17

36-page report released alleging election fraud

In December, Peter Navarro claimed to have evidence of election fraud that would swing the election to Trump, though none of what was released has been proven.

December 24

Jupiter and Saturn align for first time in 800 years

In a story that captured wide public interest, Jupiter and Saturn aligned for the first time in centuries to form what was colloquially called a ‘Christmas Star’.