Category:2020

2020 (MMXX) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2020th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 20th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 1st year of the 2020s decade.

2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Geospatial World also called 2020 "the worst year in terms of climate change" in part due to major climate disasters worldwide, including major bushfires in Australia and the western United States, as well as extreme tropical cyclone activity affecting large parts of North America. A United Nations progress report published in December 2020 indicated that none of the international Sustainable Development Goals for 2020 were achieved. The year was also nominated by Time magazine to be one of "the worst years to be alive" in modern history.

2020 was declared the "International Year of Plant Health" by the United Nations and "Year of the Nurse and Midwife" by the World Health Organization.

January

 * January 1 – Croatia begins its term in the presidency of the European Union.
 * January 2 – The Royal Australian Air Force and Navy are deployed to New South Wales and Victoria to assist mass evacuation efforts amidst the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season.
 * January 3 – 2019–2022 Persian Gulf crisis: A United States drone strike at Baghdad International Airport kills Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
 * January 5 – Second Libyan Civil War: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announces the deployment of Turkish troops to Libya on behalf of the United Nations-backed Government of National Accord.
 * January 8
 * 2019–21 Persian Gulf crisis: Iran launches ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. soldiers, injuring multiple personnel.
 * 2019–21 Persian Gulf crisis: Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 is shot down by Iranian forces shortly after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport, killing all 176 people on board.
 * January 9
 * A rare, circumbinary planet called TOI 1338-b is discovered.
 * Islamic State in the Greater Sahara militants assault a Nigerien military base in Chinagodrar, killing at least 89 Nigerien soldiers.
 * January 10 – Haitham bin Tariq succeeds Qaboos bin Said as the Sultan of Oman.
 * January 12 – The Taal Volcano in the Philippines has its first major eruption since 1977.
 * January 16 – The first impeachment trial of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, begins in the U.S. Senate. He is acquitted on February 5.
 * January 18 – Yemeni Civil War: 111 Yemeni soldiers and 5 civilians are killed in a drone and missile attack on a military camp near Maʼrib.
 * January 20 – COVID-19 pandemic: Chinese authorities publicly confirm human-to-human transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
 * January 23 - COVID-19 pandemic: The Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, is quarantined with all scheduled public transport services and intercity flights halted.
 * January 29 – U.S. president Donald Trump signs the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, a North American trade agreement set to replace NAFTA.
 * January 30 – COVID-19 pandemic: The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the outbreak of the disease as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the sixth time that this measure has been invoked since 2009.
 * January 31 – The United Kingdom and Gibraltar formally withdraw from the European Union, beginning an 11-month transition period.

February

 * February 7 – Y̛͇͕̭̻̮̩̗̳̒̀͊̄͆͆͂̆͜ō̰͚̈ú͎̹̼̦̿̍͐'̢̖͖͙͖͕̜̪̮̙̃̾̅̀̿̀̉̊̕͝v̡̫͔̦̻́̉̽̀̋e̢̹̬͍͇̺̼͚̝͍̒̑̒̅̿̉̏̕̕͞ ̮͇͙̀̾͡ḿ̘ă͍dē̜̝̘̳͇̏̃́͌͘͢ ̡̤̳̗͙̫̈́̉̀͂̓͊͟͞ą̲̜̻̮͖̰͙̊̐̔̅͂̒̒͠ ̻̠̞̞̎͛̆͠ǧ͇̣̖̺̲̓̿̈́͘͞ͅṙ͔̣̞͎̹̮̞̌̈̿̾̚͞e̡̮͛̋a͓̲̜̻̝͙͂̊͒͋͘͞ț̨̢̘̰̻̫͖̽̑̍͊̉̏̌̿ m͉͇̃̕i̡̥͖͍̟̐̄͑͝͠s̗͛t͖̯̥͕͕̠̹̒̍̍͐͘͟͠͞͞ă̩̱̩̅͐͜͡k̹̥͎̊̽͡ẽ̩̝̰̦͚̿̾́̊̿͜,̭̯̙̥̇̇̀̇ ̻̦̪̮̪̲̗̽͊̎͛͋̀͝nợ̜̞͎̞͓̺̭̊͋̑͊̿̍͡͡ͅw͕̯̙̥͕̩̝̙̓́̏̄̑̆̚͢͞͠ ̳̱͙͔̣̬͈̪̆̾́͒̑̽̓͡t̜̀h̗̟̰̮͂̇̉͘e̺̳̟͚̓̾̋͞ ̛͔̖̮͐̀͐͜ĕ͖̤̜̰̔̎͘n̝̺̪̘̰͇͚͛̈̎̅̇̂͠d ̬̮̲̹̫̦̦͓͌͌̾͌́͆̊̇h̫̞̥̹̽͌̏̕a̛̙͊͢͢͞s̡̛͚̮͙̜̑̍̅͞ ̢̭̞̝̈́̉͊̈́b̼̠͋̚ē̖̟̆g̯̮̮̯͉̲̐̎́͐̽̑͗͢u̧͇͇͇̺͚͚̠̐̽̇̉̀̋̚͝ń̳!


 * February 11 – COVID-19 pandemic: The World Health Organization (WHO) names the disease COVID-19.
 * February 13 – NASA publishes a detailed study of Arrokoth, the most distant body ever explored by a spacecraft.
 * February 24 – The Pakatan Harapan coalition government of Malaysia collapses and is replaced by the Perikatan Nasional coalition. Muhyiddin Yassin becomes the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia on 1 March.
 * February 27 – 2020 stock market crash: Triggered by fears of the spreading of COVID-19, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) plunges by 1,190.95 points, or 4.4%, to close at 25,766.64, its largest one-day point decline at the time. This follows several days of large falls, marking the worst week for the index since 2008.
 * February 28 – Syrian Civil War: NATO expresses solidarity with Turkey after 34 Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike by pro-Syrian government forces.
 * February 29
 * A conditional peace agreement is signed between the United States and the Taliban. The U.S. begins gradually withdrawing combat troops from Afghanistan on March 10.
 * Barquisimeto shooting: During a demonstration, pro-government colectivos shoot at disputed President and Speaker of the National Assembly Juan Guaidó and his supporters in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, leaving five injured.