The year that was: A global pandemic, racial protests, a president-elect. Oh, and impeachment.
What made 2020 unprecedented wasn't that it was a year of pandemic – there have been pandemics before – or that a president was impeached, or that there were massive marches for racial justice across the country, or that there was a disputed election. What made it unprecedented was this: They all happened in the same year. From the tragic to the confounding and more, here's a look at the year that's ending. At last.
WHAT HAPPENED IN 2020?
Jan. 3: U.S. drone strike kills Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, considered the second-most-powerful person in Iran.
Jan. 7: Earthquake of 6.4 magnitude hits Puerto Rico.
Jan. 9: World Health Organization announces coronavirus-related pneumonia in Wuhan, China.
Jan. 16: Impeachment trial of President Donald Trump opens in the Senate.
Jan. 18: Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan announce they are stepping back as senior members of the British royal family.
Jan. 21: First case of COVID-19 in the U.S. confirmed by CDC.
Jan. 26: Trump establishes White House Coronavirus Task Force.
Trump signs U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
NBA great Kobe Bryant dies in helicopter crash.
Jan. 30: WHO announces global health emergency over coronavirus.
Jan. 31: United Kingdom leaves the European Union in what’s known as Brexit.
Trump imposes travel restrictions for China.
February
Feb. 2: Super Bowl LIV: Kansas City Chiefs defeat San Francisco 49ers.
Feb. 3: Iowa caucuses open presidential contests; after a three-day delay in the count, Pete Buttigieg is declared the winner.
Feb. 4: Trump delivers State of the Union address.
Feb. 5: Senate acquits Trump of two articles of impeachment.
Feb. 11: Bernie Sanders wins opening presidential primary in New Hampshire.
Justice Department recommends a lighter sentence for Trump adviser Roger Stone, prompting prosecutors to withdraw from case.
Feb. 17: Boy Scouts of America files for bankruptcy.
Feb. 20: Dow begins coronavirus crash; the drop over the next 6½ weeks would be the most devastating since 1929.
Feb. 22: Sanders wins Nevada caucuses.
Feb. 23: Ahmaud Arbery shot to death by three white men while jogging in Georgia.
Feb. 24: Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape.
Feb. 29: Death from COVID-19 reported in Washington state, thought to be the first in the U.S.; a death Feb. 6 in California was later identified as the first.
Joe Biden wins South Carolina primary.
U.S. and Taliban officials sign peace deal to pave the way for withdrawal of U.S. forces from America’s longest war.
March
March 2-3: Tornado in Tennessee kills 25 people, part of one of the most deadly tornado seasons in history.
March 3: Super Tuesday presidential primaries solidify Biden's lead.
March 6: Trump signs $8.3 billion COVID-19 relief bill.
March 9: On a day dubbed Black Monday, Dow drops a record 2,013.76 points.
March 11: WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic.
NBA suspends season, beginning a series of lockdowns by sports leagues and other organizations.
March 12: NCAA cancels men’s and women’s basketball tournaments and championships for all spring sports.
Dow drops 2,352.60 points, a new record.
March 13: Breonna Taylor killed by Louisville police in her home.
Trump declares COVID-19 a national emergency.
March 16: Dow falls 2,997.10 points, the largest point drop in a single day in history.
March 18: Trump signs $104 billion economic relief package.
March 27: Trump signs $2 trillion stimulus package, the largest in U.S. history.
April
April 3: CDC recommends all Americans consider wearing face masks.
April 6: Labor Department reports nearly 22 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits in the previous month, the largest number in U.S. history.
April 8: Biden becomes presumptive Democratic presidential nominee as Sanders suspends his campaign.
April 24: Trump signs $484 billion relief bill to help small businesses.
May
May 3: Giant Asian hornets, dubbed “murder hornets,” reported in Washington state.
May 7: Justice Department abandons prosecution of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had withdrawn his guilty plea.
May 25: George Floyd dies while being pinned by police officer in Minneapolis, sparking months of nationwide protests.
May 28: COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. passes 100,000 mark.
May 30: SpaceX rocket launched, carrying two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.
June
June 1: Peaceful protesters forcibly cleared from Lafayette Square as Trump walks to a photo op in front of St. John’s Church.
June 10: Confirmed COVID-19 cases in U.S. hit 2 million.
June 12: Rayshard Brooks shot and killed by police in Atlanta after a struggle at a Wendy’s drive-through.
June 15: Supreme Court rules civil rights law protects gay and transgender employees from workplace discrimination.
June 18: Supreme Court rules Trump administration cannot immediately move to end DACA, the Obama-era program protecting some young immigrants from deportation.
June 28: Confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide pass 10 million; global death toll exceeds 500,000.
June 29: Joseph DeAngelo, known as California’s Golden State Killer, pleads guilty to a rape and killing spree in the 1970s and 80s.
July
July 7: Confirmed coronavirus cases in U.S. hit 3 million; U.S. begins withdrawal from WHO.
July 9: Supreme Court rules Trump must release financial records to New York prosecutors.
July 10: Trump commutes prison sentence of adviser Roger Stone.
July 17: Georgia Rep. John Lewis, civil rights icon, dies of pancreatic cancer.
July 25: Hurricane Hanna makes U.S. mainland landfall near Padre Island, Texas, the first hurricane in what would become a record-setting year of storms.
August
Aug. 6: New York State attorney general files civil lawsuit against the National Rifle Association, accusing it of fraud and financial misconduct.
Aug. 10-11: Powerful "derecho" storm system sweeps through Midwest, spawning 25 tornadoes, killing four and causing an estimated $7.5 billion in damage.
Aug. 11: Biden announces Kamala Harris as his running mate, the first woman of color on a national ticket.
Aug. 13: Trump announces Israel and the United Arab Emirates will establish full diplomatic relations.
Aug. 16: August Complex Wildfire starts in California; it will become the largest wildfire in the state's history.
Aug. 17-20: Delayed Democratic National Convention held virtually; Biden and Harris are formally nominated.
Aug. 21: Baby panda Xiao Qi Ji born at National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
Aug. 23: Jacob Blake shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Aug. 25: Counterprotester Kyle Rittenhouse shoots three at Kenosha march, killing two.
Aug. 28: Senate Intelligence Committee releases final volume of bipartisan report reaffirming intelligence findings that Russia meddled in the 2016 election.
Aug. 24-27: Republican National Convention held in Charlotte, North Carolina, and virtually from the White House; Trump and vice president Mike Pence are renominated.
September
Sept. 11: Trump announces Israel and Bahrain will establish full diplomatic relations.
Sept. 18: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies.
Sept. 26: Trump announces he will nominate Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court during a Rose Garden event that becomes a superspreader event for the coronavirus.
Sept. 28: Global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 1 million.
Sept. 29: First presidential debate in Cleveland.
October
Oct. 2: Trump reveals he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus. Within hours, he is admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Oct. 7: Vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City.
Oct. 8: Second presidential debate canceled after Trump refuses to participate in virtual format.
FBI charges 13 suspects in plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Oct. 22: Final presidential debate in Nashville.
Oct. 23: Trump announces Israel and Sudan will establish full diplomatic relations.
Oct. 26: Senate confirms Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
NASA confirms existence of molecular water on the moon.
Oct. 30: Actress Lori Loughlin of TV’s “Full House” reports to federal prison for her role in college admission bribery scheme.
November
Nov. 3: Election Day.
Nov. 7: Biden clinches Electoral College victory with win in Pennsylvania.
Nov. 9: Trump team files lawsuit challenging Michigan vote count, followed in short order by lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Wisconsin. None will gain legal traction.
Trump fires Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
Nov. 17: Trump fires Christopher Krebs, elections security chief at Homeland Security Department, after Krebs says the election wasn’t rigged.
Nov. 23: Biden names foreign policy team, including Antony Blinken as secretary of state.
Nov. 24: General Services Administration designates Biden apparent winner of the presidential election, launching formal transition process.
Nov. 25: Trump grants pardon to Michael Flynn.
Nov. 26: Trump says he will leave the White House if Biden wins the Electoral College, but he refuses to concede election.
December
Dec. 1: Attorney General William Barr says the Justice Department has found no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Biden names economic team, including Janet Yellen as treasury secretary.
Dec. 2: Britain authorizes Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19.
Dec. 11: FDA authorizes Pfizer vaccine in U.S.; first shots given Dec. 14.
Dec. 13: The Trump administration acknowledges that hackers, almost certainly Russian, had broken into key U.S. government networks.
Dec. 14: Electoral College electors, meeting in state capitals, elect Biden president and Harris vice president.
Dec. 21: Congress passes a bipartisan $900 billion package to provide pandemic relief and a $1.4 trillion spending bill to fund the government.
Dec. 22: Trump issues 20 politically charged pardons and commutations.
Trump threatens to veto the spending bill.
Dec. 23: Trump vetoes crucial military spending bill.
Trump issues 26 more politically charged pardons and commutations.
Attorney General William Barr steps down.
Dec. 27: Trump signs the spending bill, averting a government shutdown and releasing COVID aid.
PHOTOS AP, Getty images
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2020 in review: Trump, Biden, COVID, deaths, race issues, unemployment
