2020 was a rollercoaster year of ups and downs and twists and turns. Great things happened — then horrible events followed. It taught us a lot about our strength and unity as a nation. This article will outline the twelve months of 2020 in the United States.
January, 2020 began with the Golden Globe awards on the fifth, where Renée Zellweger and Jaoquin Phoenix took home Best Actress and Best Actor respectively. Ken Jennings emerged victorious from Jeopardy's Greatest of All Time Tournament on the fourteenth.
On January 16th, the Senate began Donald Trump's impeachment trial. Disaster struck on January 26th when basketball star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, as well as 8 others in a helicopter crash. On the same day, Billie Eilish took home 5 Grammys, including Song of the Year and Best New Artist of the Year.
February, 2020 opened with Donald Trump being found not guilty on both abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. On February 8th, not only did Trump fire Alexander Vindman (who testified against him in court), but the first American died of COVID-19 while in Wuhan, China. Finally, on February 26th, a Molson Coors employee in Milwaukee shot and killed five people.
March 10th to 13th, 2020 was a spree of cancelling due to COVID: 16 universities closed on March 10th, Coachella was cancelled on March 11th, schools were shut down for a few weeks on the 12th, and Trump announced that the country was in a state of emergency on March 13th. Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her home on March 13th in Louisville, Kentucky, after police officers forced entry into her home. New York City shut down bars and restaurants on March 16th and on March 17th, almost all public locations have been closed due to the spread of COVID-19. The FDA approved a 15-minute Coronavirus test on March 28th to end off the COVID-centered month.
April began with much COVID lockdown defiance. The United States became the first country to record 2,108 deaths due to COVID in one day on April 11th. We were on track to surpass Italy's death toll and become the country with the most deaths because of the virus, which we did on April 12th. The month of May didn't start off much better; "murder hornets" were discovered in America on May 4th. More cancellations ensued when Broadway musicals were postponed until September 6th and some Californian universities announced they would not be coming back in the fall on May 12th and 13th. George Floyd was murdered by a police officer on May 25th, spurring nationwide action with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Protests on May 26th at the place in Minneapolis where Floyd was suffocated formed, gathering hundreds of people.
In June, BLM protests continued, at some times even leading to violence when protesters clashed with police. 6 Atlanta officers were charged with using excessive force on June 1st and protesters grew angrier when they learned that Jake Gardner would not be charged with murder after he shot and killed a protester in Omaha, Nebraska. On June 6th, Joe Biden was officially announced as Trump's opponent in the upcoming presidential election. COVID cases continued to rise and many countries reinforced travel restrictions. The total number of cases in America passed 2.5 million.
By July 4th, 21 states required people to wear masks when outside. Shootings in Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington DC left many people critically injured or dead over that weekend, many being children under 16. Disney World reopened in Florida, even with the rising cases in that state. Naya Rivera drowned on July 8th on a swimming outing with her son. School districts continue to debate how to approach the fall, though many seem to be opting for a hybrid of online and in-school learning. Donald Trump fights Fauci's urging to make masks mandatory, announcing on July 18th that he refuses to make mask-wearing involuntary. Protests became increasingly dangerous in late July with violence on both sides of the riots.
MLB games were suspended on August 1st due to COVID-19 cases amongst players and staffers. On August 4th, the 2020 Christmas show with the Rockettes was cancelled. The University of Connecticut became the first top-division school to cancel their 2020 football season on August 5th. Joe Biden announced his Vice Presidential running mate to be Kamala Harris on August 12th. August 16th marked the 79th consecutive BLM protest, which began on the night of Georgel Floyd's death. On August 21st, the Kentucky Derby declared it would take place without live spectators. Chadwick Boseman, primarily known for his leading role in Marvel's Black Panther, died of cancer on August 28th at the age of 43. Finally, on August 31st, the United States came close to 6 million Coronavirus deaths.
On September 9th, LA County stated that trick-or-treating is not recommended in the hopes that people will not take part in the tradition or wear a mask when doing so. Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on September 18th at age 87 due to cancer. A decision Breonna Taylor's death on September 24th that demanded all officers involved in the shooting but one step down from their position. It was released on September 25th that Trump plans to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barret to fill Ginsburg's slot in the Supreme Court. Finally, on September 29th, Joe Biden and Donald Trump have their first debate. On October 2nd, Trump and his wife tested positive for COVID-19 and were taken to the hospital, where both recovered and returned to the White House on October 6th. On October 19th, almost 70,000 new cases were reported in 24 hours, setting a new record for the U.S. and leaving Missouri and Vermont the only states not seeing increasing case numbers. On October 30th, a new record was set with 94,000 new Coronavirus cases in 24 hours.
November began quietly, with the first major news announced on November 16th was when Moderna said that their Coronavirus vaccine was 95% effective. The United States surpassed 12 million cases on November 20th. On November 30th, after winning state by state, Joe Biden was elected president. The Trump Administration was demanded to reinstate DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), which protected undocumented children from being deported on December 4th. On the same day, Donald Trump promoted an anti-doping bill from bill to law that would make it legal to sue anyone caught doping at international events. The Pfizer vaccine was approved by the FDA to be employed on December 11th. Joe Biden was maintained as the presidential election winner by the electoral college on December 14th.The first dose of the vaccine was given to a nurse on December 15th. The FDA approved the Moderna vaccine as an emergency backup to Pfizer's on December 17th. Finally, 15 people were pardoned by Trump as his presidency drew to a close on December 22nd.
Many look back on 2020 as a year of disaster that we should wipe off of our history books. But I say that 2020 is a year that should never be forgotten. We learned so much about ourselves, our strength as a country, and that we can face hardship and come out a better place because of it. The world is yet to return to normal, but with our people by our side we will stand tall until everything is alright again.
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