By Louis Wertheimer Y11
2020 was not the best year for many. Here is a very short recap to refresh your memory.
January:
After celebrating a new year, the new decade was finally upon us. Everyone was joyful and ready to enjoy a new adventure in 2020. The first major news story of the year were the australian wildfires, which killed over 1 billion animals and burned more than 17 million hectares. Later on in the month, Kobe Briant, a NBA superstar, died in a helicopter crash during a routine flight in Los Angeles. January was also when the first reports of a mysteriou virus appeared on the news, with President Trump getting daily briefings on a novel coronavirus since the 31st of december. Covid-19 was declared an epidemic on the 31st of January.
February:
February was for most around the world a calm month, with COVID-19 getting attention but not shutting anything down (except Wuhan in China). In the United States, February was a hectic month, with the first primaries of the 2020 presidential election taking place, and President Trump being Impeached, and acquitted.
March:
March was chaos. Countries went into lockdown, schools were shut, and the economy was placed on pause. Schools were set to reopen on the third of April.
April:
With most of the world in lockdown, humanity came to a standstill. The 2020 Euro and olympic games are now postponed.
May:
Mid-may was when most of the world exited from 2 months of lockdown. And most schools opened back up. On the final week of may, NASA and SpaceX launched the first crewed dragon 9 rocket to the International Space Station.
June:
June was a month of civil unrest around the world as the death of George Floyd caused mass protests around the world. “Black Lives Matter” became the main news story of June.
July:
After a rough year for students, summer vacation had finally arrived, and the medical world was finally announcing an ETA for the vaccine. With european COVID-19 cases in very low levels, most people relaxed the precautionary measures as the virus started to surge again.
August:
In August, the US presidential election was ready to go ahead, the two candidates were picked. Biden/Harris v Trump/Pence. In the middle east, a huge explosion in Beirut destroyed ⅕ of the city.
September:
The world was slowly going back to normal in September and students were back in classrooms learning. Surprisingly covid was not coming back for a second wave and people were optimistic for a mask-free Christmas. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a big women’s rights advocate on the US supreme court passed away during the month of September, giving Trump the power to nominate another judge to the court.
October:
For Covid in Europe, October was hell. Cases spiked, and most countries were forced to send their population back into lockdown. It was also the first time Trump and Biden debated before the election, with the second debate being canceled due to the fact that Trump contracted the virus.
November:
With most countries back into a lockdown, November was a slow month for the world, except for in the US where the presidential elections were held. Joe Biden was declared the winner and would become the 46th president of the United States.
December:
The holiday season this year was, for most, bizarre and slightly lonely. New variants of Covid were also discovered in the UK and China. And finally, the rollout of the vaccine finally began.
Anyway, 2020 wasn’t the best but we need to stay optimistic and keep going.
