2020 Snapshot
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The Vibe
Pop Culture
Lockdown Life
Slang
"Vibe Check"
Price Check
Gas: $2.17
Notable Deaths
Kobe Bryant, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Chadwick Boseman
Music & Style
Disco Revival
World Affairs
Biden Election
Nagorno-Karabakh
Year's Summary
- Global Events: The COVID-19 pandemic brings the world to a standstill, leading to global lockdowns and the 'Great Resignation.' The death of George Floyd sparks worldwide 'Black Lives Matter' protests. The UK officially leaves the EU.
- Culture & Mood: A year of profound isolation and digital reliance. 'Zoom' becomes a verb. Tiger King and Animal Crossing become the unexpected cultural anchors of the lockdown era.
- Fashion & Slang: Face masks as fashion; 'Hard pants' (jeans) are abandoned for sweatpants. 'The New Normal' and 'Social Distancing.'
- Fun Fact: 2020 saw the 'Great Toilet Paper Shortage' and the rise of the 'Sourdough Starter' craze as millions of people took up baking while stuck at home!
- 31 Jan 2020: United Kingdom Officially Withdraws from the European Union – Following three and a half years of intense political debate and negotiations after the 2016 referendum, the United Kingdom formally left the European Union at 23:00 GMT, entering an eleven-month transition period to negotiate future economic and security arrangements.
- 11 Mar 2020: WHO Formally Declares COVID-19 Outbreak a Global Pandemic – World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus officially designated the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus outbreak as a global pandemic, prompting unprecedented national lockdowns, travel bans, and international public health emergency measures worldwide.
- 25 May 2020: Murder of George Floyd Triggers Global Civil Rights Movement – The killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer was captured on video, sparking massive civil rights demonstrations, protests against systemic racism and police brutality across all fifty United States, and international solidarity marches worldwide.
- 4 Aug 2020: Catastrophic Ammonium Nitrate Explosion Port of Beirut – A massive stockpile of improperly stored ammonium nitrate explosive material detonated in a warehouse at the Port of Beirut, Lebanon, causing over 200 fatalities, 7,000 injuries, and catastrophic structural destruction across central Beirut.
- 3 Nov 2020: Joe Biden Elected 46th President of the United States – Democratic nominee Joe Biden won the United States presidential election over Republican incumbent Donald Trump, securing 306 electoral votes. Kamala Harris made history as the first woman, first African American, and first South Asian American elected Vice President.
- 8 Dec 2020: First Fully Approved COVID-19 Vaccine Administered in the UK – The United Kingdom launched its national COVID-19 vaccination campaign after granting emergency approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, marking the beginning of the global mass immunization effort against the pandemic.