Biggest top stories in 2020

We all thought 2020 would be an exciting year, it was a cool number “2020,” and it was a new decade. But oh boy, we had no idea what was coming. Let’s look back on the biggest news stories in 2020.

In January, the biggest news story was the tragic helicopter crash that killed NBA star Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people. The crash happened in very foggy conditions.

There was a threat of war between the U.S. and Iran after President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike that killed a top Iranian general. Iran retaliated by launching a barrage of missiles in Iraq where U.S. soldiers were housed.

The first U.S. case of the coronavirus was reported in Washington state on January 19. He was a 35-year-old man who had just returned from visiting family in Wuhan, China. Meanwhile in Wuhan, there was a serious outbreak of the virus.

President Trump’s impeachment trial began in January and in February he was acquitted by the Republican Senate majority.

February was when the coronavirus outbreak really started to take root in the U.S. College programs announced they were shutting down in-person classes, conferences and entertainment events were cancelled, the stock market tanked, and people stayed at home.

In March, Joe Biden showed his strength in Democratic primaries and Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the race.

The coronavirus was declared a “global pandemic” by the World Health Organization.

In April, Bernie Sanders officially ended his presidential campaign, paving the path for Joe Biden to win the Democratic nomination. Biden would later nominate Kamala Harris to be his Vice-President, making her the first Black and Asian female in that position.

On May 25, George Floyd died after being kneeled by a police officer for over 8 minutes in Minneapolis. The video sparked immediate outrage and there were marches and riots. It revived the Black Lives Matter movement and it had an immense impact on Americans and people worldwide’s reckoning on racial inequality and how police officers treat Black people.

NASA and SpaceX successfully collaborated in a rocket launch that sent two astronauts to the International Space Station. It was the first human flight with SpaceX.

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In August, there was a huge explosion in Beirut, Lebanon that killed 204 people and injured thousands of people. It destroyed many areas of the city. The blast came from a large amount of ammonium nitrate that was stored in a warehouse.

Chadwick Boseman, the iconic “Black Panther” actor, unexpectedly passed away from cancer at 43 years of age.

In September, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away from cancer at 87 years of age. President Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell immediately moved to nominate a new justice before the election, Amy Coney Barrett.

President Trump tested positive for the coronavirus in October and was hospitalized for a weekend.

The November 3 election day and night ended with no clear winner, but several days later, Joe Biden was the projected winner after he flipped battleground states like Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Michigan. President Trump refused to concede, alleging election fraud. He and his allies filed multiple lawsuits, but they were rejected at all levels including the Supreme Court.

The FDA granted emergency authorizations to two vaccines for the coronavirus: Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, and vaccinations are rolling out right now among hospital workers and nursing home residents.

So, that’s the top stories we covered in 2020. It’s in the history books. We have lost a lot of people and learned a lot about ourselves. I’ll see you next year and stay with the light!