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Timeline- 2020 - Was This the Worst Year Ever?
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Apr 30, 2025
The start of a new decade and this year would turn out to be a real dumpster fire. Or more specifically, actual fires, metaphorical wildfires spreading like, well wildfire...2020 was a year of Fauci, UFOs and a basket case named Baskin.
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2020
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Oh, boy. The start of a new decade. And this year would turn out to be a real dumpster fire
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Or more specifically, actual fires and metaphorical wildfires spreading like, well, wildfire
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2020 was a year of Fauci, UFOs, and a basket case named Baskin
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The year was so crazy that we had to make it an instant weird history
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So when your future grandkids ask, what happened in 2020, You can tell them, oh, uh, everything
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Today, we're going to talk about the news, culture, sports and entertainment and all that was weird over the past year
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Oh, too much, too much. This is Timeline. Hang on to your butts, because this one is all about 2020
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Now, make sure you put your mask on, stock up on some toilet paper
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get your sourdough starter and some ocean spray, because we are going back and giving you 20
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This is 2020. Radical left. Will you shut up, man? How bad did 2020 start off
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Well, how about the worst wildfire disasters in modern history? It seems like an eternity ago
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but Australia saw their most horrific wildfire season ever, with fires scorching over 46 million acres
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which affected nearly 3 billion animals across the continent. That's billion with a B
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Of those, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature Australia, 143 million were mammals
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180 million birds, and over 2.5 billion reptiles. The new decade also started off with some international tensions as Iran's top intelligence
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commander, Qasem Soleimani, was taken out by the US military. Soleimani, who was at the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq, was hit by a missile strike
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from a US military drone. Iran responded with a missile strike of their own, hitting an American base in Iraq
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where 50 U.S. service members were injured and were diagnosed with traumatic brain injury
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Showing how bad the year would be for music, Neil Peart, drummer and lyricist of the Canadian power rock trio Rush, died in early January
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With over a dozen platinum albums, Peart helped Rush to a successful career that spanned over five decades
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The Professor, as he was known, influenced just about every great modern drummer
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including Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters to Danny Carey of Tool. Two days later, well, in case you didn't hear about this
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COVID officially crashed on American soil. While we could dedicate this entire episode to the pandemic specifically
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we'll make this brief. Everything shut down, from restaurants, airports, gyms, to movie theaters
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Anywhere fun, really. Sporting events were either delayed or straight up canceled, including March Madness
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Essential items like toilet paper, bottled water, and disinfectant were hoarded like it was, well, a pandemic, where you use the toilet a lot
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Lots of Americans learned how to make bread, and lots of people got angry about having to wear a mask in public
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So anyone harassing me to wear a mask, you guys are violating federal law. Do you get that
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Flatten the curve became a phrase for a few weeks, then a few months, and by midsummer, America began bracing for the second wave
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Although we never really seemed to have gotten out of the first. We're going to get through it. We're a strong, united country
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By late fall, the risk grew that the outbreak was getting out of control
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But with multiple vaccines developed and mass production in the near future, there is hope in the face of millions of cases and as we approach 300,000 U.S. deaths
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Turning to sports, after they were eventually caught in a sign-stealing scandal
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the Houston Astros fired manager A.J. Hinch, as well as general manager Jeff Lunau
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Today, I have made the decision to dismiss A.J. Hinch and Jeff Lunau
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The Astros were also fined $5 million and had their first and second round draft picks taken away
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However, despite being blatant cheats, this is Major League Baseball, where Houston got to keep their 2017 World Series title
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In any other year, this might have been the biggest story. But since this was 2020, it was quickly eclipsed by the shadow of, well, everything
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President Trump's impeachment was initiated in December of 2019 by the Democrat-controlled
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House of Representatives. Article 1 is adopted. And ended in February of 2020 with an acquittal by the Republican-controlled Senate
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Most notably, Trump was accused of pressuring the Ukrainian president by withholding military
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aid to announce an investigation into the Democratic presidential primary candidate Joe Biden and
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his son Hunter regarding alleged past foreign business dealings that occurred while Biden
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was vice president in the Obama administration. This was the first fully partisan impeachment in the history of the United States, proceeding
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without the support of the accused president's own party in the House. As only the third president to be impeached by the House, Trump joined the odd company
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of Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, who were both also acquitted by the Senate
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Strange bedfellows. Turning to some positive news, we go to Philadelphia. In late January, LeBron James passed fellow Laker Kobe Bryant for third place on the NBA's all-time scoring list
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And there it is. He just became the third leading scorer in NBA history
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Bron's layup gave him 33,644 career points, with only Carl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ahead of the King on the scoring list
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Kobe Bryant congratulated James on Twitter for the milestone. But sadly, that would be the last we would hear from Bryant
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as tragedy would strike the very next day when Kobe, along with six other passengers, including his 13-year-old daughter
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would perish in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. The five-time champion was on his way to his daughter's basketball game
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when the helicopter they were in struck a hillside due to low visibility Bryant only retired from the NBA almost four years prior to his death playing his last game on April 13 2016
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where the Mamba scored 60 points in his career finale. Mamba out
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England's Parliament ratified a withdrawal from the EU. The Brexit transition was set to end on December 31, 2020
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while the EU and the UK continue to negotiate their future business relationship
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At the top of February, we go south. To Miami, where the Kansas City Chiefs downed the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 to win Super Bowl 54
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This was the first win for coach and human walrus Andy Reid
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as well as quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who can throw a pigskin over a quarter mile
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That doesn't seem natural. Mahomes was also named Super Bowl MVP. Look at all those people in those stands packed together
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Why does that make me anxious? We turn to the heavens where American astronaut Christina Koch landed back on Earth in Kazakhstan on February 6th
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Koch set a new record for the longest continuous stay in space by a woman spending 328 consecutive days at the International Space Station
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shattering the old record of NASA's Peggy Whitson of 192 days. In movie award news, Bong Joon-ho, the South Korean director, struck Academy gold when he walked away with Oscars for his film Parasite
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Winning awards for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature, and the coveted Best Picture
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His Best Picture Oscar made Parasite the first foreign language film to win that Academy Award
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I'm ready to drink tonight. On February 23rd, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old unarmed black man, was stalked, shot, and killed while jogging
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Three residents of Brunswick, Georgia, Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael, and William Roddy Bryan followed Arbery through the neighborhood
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After a scuffle, Arbery was shot and killed. This story would initially be lost among the ongoing coverage of the pandemic, but would surface a few months later
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In late February, the cold wind of justice blew in to chill Harvey Weinstein, one of the most powerful and influential Hollywood producers
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Weinstein, who was responsible for such films as Lord of the Rings, Pulp Fiction, and Gangs of New
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York, was found guilty in Manhattan on two counts of first-degree criminal assault, as well as two
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counts of rape in the third degree. On February 29th, after nearly 20 years of war, the United
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States signed a deal with the Taliban, creating a timetable for U.S. troops to withdraw from
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Afghanistan. Signed in Doha, Qatar, the agreement was seen as a first step toward a larger agreement
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that would eventually end the Taliban insurgency. Coming back to America, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old medical worker
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was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment during a botched police raid
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Three Louisville Metro Police Department plainclothes officers, Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankinson, and Miles Cosgrove
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breached her apartment in connection with an investigation of drug dealing. Upon the forced entry, Taylor's boyfriend grabbed a gun and fired a shot
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The officers responded with a hail of bullets. The Innocent Taylor was shot six times
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The music world took another hit in 2020 when Bill Withers, the singer-songwriter behind hits such as Ain't No Sunshine
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Lovely Day, and Lean on Me, passed away on March 30th. Withers, who detested the music industry
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turned away from the spotlight in 1985. But his 2009 documentary, Still Bill
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became a rare treat for fans of the artist. We go to the Pacific Northwest, where in early May
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the Asian giant hornet, better known to us as the murder hornet, arrived in the state of Washington
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The hornet, which enjoys feasting on bee carcasses, subdues its prey by gleefully popping the bees' heads off
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one by one. Even for a hornet, that is not nice. The murder hornet can grow up to two inches long
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and their venom is powerful, being responsible for almost 50 deaths a year in Japan
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No 2020 story was more of a social catalyst than the killing of George Floyd on May 25
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Arresting officer Derek Chauvin faces second-degree murder and manslaughter charges when he was seen on video kneeling on Floyd's neck for almost eight minutes
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Outraged by the video, massive protests would break out across the United States on May 30th, where on the very same day, in stark contrast to the civil unrest
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Elon Musk's SpaceX became the first U.S. commercial space program to launch humans into space
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The Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft and two astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, reached orbit in about 12 minutes
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Bob and Doug docked at the International Space Station the next day. We'll hear more about these two in a few months
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Going into June, on the 18th, the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's attempt to end protection from deportation
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for those covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, or DACA as it is commonly known
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DACA is the program that prevents the deportation of any of the 650,000 undocumented immigrants
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who were brought to America as children. The 5-4 decision was written by Chief Justice John Roberts
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The very next day, on June 19th, Sir Ian Holm, noted British actor, winner of multiple BAFTA
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awards, the 1967 Tony Award, and an Academy Award nominee, passed away at a hospital in London
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With a lengthy and storied career, he is most widely known for his roles as Ash in the original Alien and Bilbo Baggins in both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films
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Home was 88. Ten days later, the comedy world lost a titan
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Carl Reiner, the writer, director, and performer, died of natural causes at 98 years old
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Reiner's contribution to comedy cannot be overstated. from his performances in such films as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad
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Mad World, Ocean's Eleven, and The Russians Are Coming, to his writing and directing efforts
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like The Comic The Jerk and Dead Men Don Wear Plaid Ah here a positive story for 2020 If we can spin child trafficking into a positive story Ghislaine Maxwell recruiter groomer and abuser for the elite and who was
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also the girlfriend of late creep Jeffrey Epstein, was found and arrested on July 2nd
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Maxwell had been on the lam, using fake names and hiding in various homes. But the sly Ghislaine
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was caught by the FBI in Bradford, New Hampshire, where she had been hiding on a 156-acre estate
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Maxwell faces multiple criminal charges, including abuse, trafficking, and perjury. In mid-July, noted civil rights leader and House of Representatives Congressman John Lewis passed away after a six-month battle with cancer
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He was 80 years old. John Lewis was renowned for his work during the civil rights movement
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We must say, wake up, America, wake up, for we cannot stop, and we will not and cannot be patient
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In addition to his accomplishments as a congressman, in 2013, Lewis became the first
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member of Congress to adapt his life story into a graphic novel, receiving a co-writing credit for
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the March trilogy. The trilogy went on to chart on the New York Times bestsellers list
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On August 2nd, the Pentagon officially released three short videos of unidentified aerial
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phenomena taken by U.S. Navy pilots in 2004 and 2015. These videos had previously been leaked onto the internet, most recently in September of 2019
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but many had questioned their validity. A spokesman for the Pentagon confirmed that they
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were indeed real and not part of any logistics or experimental flight program known to exist
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saying that the aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as unidentified
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After spending a little over two months in space, astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley
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returned to Earth aboard the SpaceX Dragon Crew capsule, landing in the Gulf of Mexico
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Upon the return, they heard from Mission Control, Welcome back to planet Earth, and thanks for flying SpaceX
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With 2020 feeling downright apocalyptic at times, one item that maybe felt like the world was ending
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was in Northern California during the Loyalton Fire, where on August 15th, a fire tornado, or firenado, broke out
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Rising updrafts and wind shear created the storms where flaming gusts blew up to 135 miles per hour
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California also recorded a record-setting fire season, where more than 4 million acres were blazed across the Golden State
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As if the year couldn't get any weirder, five days later on August 20th, astronomers announced the possibility of an asteroid striking Earth a day before the 2020 presidential election
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But thankfully, even with a 1 in 240 chance of hitting the Earth, the asteroid, better known as 2018 VP1, was less than 8 feet in diameter and would be too small to do any significant damage
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Another sad loss in 2020 went on August 28th after Chadwick Boseman died after a prolonged
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battle with cancer. Boseman starred in films 42, Marshall, and was propelled into superstardom with his role
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as T'Challa in Black Panther. Boseman was only 43 years old when he passed
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Wakanda forever! September started off, well, normal for 2020 at this point, when in the City of Angels
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Multiple commercial pilots flying into Los Angeles International Airport relayed to flight controllers that they spotted a man in a jetpack
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flying at an altitude of 3,000 feet near LAX. Reported 300 yards south of the LA final at about 3,000 feet
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It was 20-30, we're hurting. You're definitely looking. The flight controllers reply
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Only in LA. Near mid-September, believe it or not, we might have finally unearthed evidence that we are not alone in the universe
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When examining the atmosphere of Venus, astronomers have detected what might be signs of alien life
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Scientists think they have discovered the chemical phosphine in the planetary atmosphere
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Currently, scientists debate the interpretation of the data and if phosphine exists, how much there is
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However, the presence of phosphine is a tantalizing possibility, as it is believed to be a chemical marker of life
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The data has renewed interest in missions to Venus, whose surface is a balmy 900 degrees Fahrenheit
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Pack your swim trunks. Five days later, the United States saw the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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who died due to complications stemming from pancreatic cancer. Nominated by Bill Clinton, Ginsburg was the second woman and the first Jewish woman to
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serve on the court. She was considered a moderate addition upon her appointment
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but was considered more progressive as her tenure advanced. RBG served on the Supreme Court from August 10, 1993, until her death on September 18, 2020
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We go to Yokohama, Japan, where on September 21st, a giant Gundam robot was revealed based on the anime Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
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Believe it or not, the 60-foot-high, 24-ton robot can actually move. The one-to-one size anime accurate robot was built by the Gundam factory Yokohama
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The attraction features cafes, shops, and educational exhibits directly adjacent to it
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Consider it one small step towards eventually having real, fully functioning, space-faring Gundams protecting the planet from hostile forces
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This rate, not a bad idea. I feel like we're going to need it soon. Most people missed this, but hockey came back, and the NHL played the Stanley Cup Finals in an ice bubble in Edmonton
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with the Tampa Bay Lightning beating the Dallas Stars four games to two. Captain and defenseman Victor Hedman was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy, hockey's version of the MVP trophy
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Oh, hey, look, it's a positive story in 2020. TikToker420Dogface208 went viral when he was skateboarding to Fleetwood Mac's dreams
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while chugging some cran-ransberry ocean spray. Nathan Apodaca, Dogface's real name, gained over 5 million followers
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was gifted a new truck, and even had a strain of weed named after him
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Now that's making it. The viral fame also put Fleetwood Mac rumors back on the Billboard Top 100 almost 42 years after the album release Just 32 days before the election President Trump who was not a fan of wearing a mask
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contracted COVID-19 on October 1st. The president was taken to Walter Reed Hospital, where he stayed for only three days
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beating the virus with the help of a cocktail of experimental drugs and steroids
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I want to get for you what I got. Regeneron. Rock music took another hit in early October when famed guitarist Eddie Van Halen died in Santa Monica
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Van Halen, the band, is the 19th best-selling band of all time, selling over 56 million albums over their career
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Eddie Van Halen, known for his guitar tapping technique used most notably in his song Eruption
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was also the lesser-known guitar soloist in Michael Jackson's Beat It. Eddie was 65
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We go now to Orlando, Florida, where after nearly three months of playing The Bubble
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the NBA crowned a new champion as LeBron James and Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers
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knocked out the Miami Heat four games to two. This was the fourth championship ring for James
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as well as his fourth finals MVP trophy. The city of Los Angeles would continue their
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championship streak as a little over two weeks later, the LA Dodgers would beat the Tampa Bay
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Devil Rays four games to two. Third baseman Justin Turner tested positive for COVID and was pulled
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during the middle of game six. After the Dodgers clinched their victory, Turner did what most responsible Americans would do
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He partied, mask off with his teammates, hugging and kissing really anyone he could find
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And since it is Major League Baseball, no punishment was handed out to Turner. About the worst Halloween treat ever
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Sean Connery, the first and perhaps best James Bond, died on October 31st at the age of 90
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Bond. James Bond. Connery, who had received knighthood in 2000, played Bond in seven 007 movies
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On screen, Connery was unforgettable, as was his Russian accent as Soviet sub-captain Ramius
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in The Hunt for Red October. Give me a ping, Vasily. One ping only, please
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Going into November, we go to the port city of Rotterdam, Holland, where we find that art really does save lives
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This is where on November 2nd, a train was stopped by a sculpture of a whale's tail
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It happened when the front car of the metro train crashed through the railway
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The only thing stopping the train's 30-foot plunge was a sculpture of a whale
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Martin Struhe, the sculpture's designer and architect, said the train looked rather poetic
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nestled atop the whale's tail. Former Vice President Joe Biden became President-elect Biden when he defeated incumbent Donald Trump
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in the presidential election of 2020. It was a record-breaking U.S. presidential contest
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It was the most expensive election in history. with $6.6 billion spent on the presidential race of the nearly $14 billion spent on all races
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The 2020 election saw the greatest number of votes ever cast. Both Trump and Biden received more popular votes than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history
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winner or loser, with Biden topping the list with just over $80 million
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Biden surpassed the necessary 270 electoral college votes with 306, exceeding Trump's 2016 tally of 304
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The win is also a first for America, electing Kamala Harris, who will be the first woman to serve as vice president
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Kamala is also the first black and the first Asian to serve in that office, with heritage from her father, born in Jamaica, and mother, born in India
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This election also broke a record in the number of ballots cast early by mail, largely due to the ongoing pandemic
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Recounts in mail-in vote counting caused delays in tabulating definitive results, something we're not accustomed to in modern elections
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Trump continued to fight as the counts continued, challenging the results in at least six battleground states through formal legal proceedings
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and, more informally, through colorful claims. We won in those swing states and there was terrible things that went on
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so we're going to have to see who the next administration is. While the majority of his claims were found to have little legal merit
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those that did had no material impact on the results. On November 23rd, the Trump administration began the formal transition process to the Biden team
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Alex Trebek, the legendary host of Jeopardy, died after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer
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While Jeopardy had several early runs in the 60s and 70s, the game show hit its stride on September 10, 1984
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when Alex Trebek began serving as host of its daily syndicated version
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Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of all of us, welcome to America's favorite answer-and-question game, Jeopardy
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In his run, Trebek won six Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host
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a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
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and he holds a Guinness World Records record for most game show episodes hosted by the same
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presenter with well over 8,000 episodes in the can. More sad news in the world of sports with
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a Hand of God touched legendary footballer, Hand of God goal scorer Diego Maradona
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who died on November 25th in Buenos Aires. The former Argentinian midfielder, who was already
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recovering from a brain clot and was being treated for alcoholism, had a heart attack in his home
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Maradona helped lead Argentina to a World Cup in 1986. Diego was only 60. In late November
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at the age of 54, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson came out of retirement for an exhibition
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fight with the former light heavyweight champ Roy Jones Jr. Iron Mike fought Jones to a draw
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after eight rounds. 2020 contained a lot of drama, and its closing is no exception. In December
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the Earth's sky will be the stage for what some call the Christmas star, when the two largest
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planets in our solar system, Saturn and Jupiter, will have their closest alignment since the year
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1226, nearly 800 years ago. This great conjunction will occur on December 21st and provide a rare
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and spectacular show until the 24th. And that was 2020. Boy, that felt cathartic
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