2020 timeline: It’s been one big story after another — after another
If it seems like 2020 is one of the more volatile years in recent memory, that’s because it is. Here’s a look back at newsworthy events in what’s already been a whirlwind six months.
Jan. 1: U.S. troops fire tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, supporters of an Iranian-backed militia, at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. President Trump says Iran will be held accountable. A day earlier, the Chinese government announced it was investigating an “outbreak of respiratory illness in the central city of Wuhan.”
Jan. 3: A U.S. drone strikes Baghdad International Airport and kills Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, sparking tensions between U.S. and Iran. Days later, 56 people are killed in a stampede at Soleimani’s funeral.
Jan. 5: Five are killed and 60 are injured after a bus crashes with multiple semi-trucks on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Jan. 6: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues first travel warnings for Americans visiting China.
Jan. 8: Iran launches missiles at two Iraqi bases with American military personnel. Several are injured. Hours later, Iran’s military shoots down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 shortly after takeoff from Tehran, killing all 176 people on board.
Jan. 8: Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle announce plans to “step back” from duties as members of the British royal family.
Jan. 13: Houston Astros fire GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch over sign-stealing scandal.
Jan. 14: Rapper Jay-Z sues the Mississippi Department of Corrections over the deaths of multiple inmates at the state penitentiary in Parchman.
Jan. 15: The House of Representatives votes to send its impeachment articles against President Trump (abuse of power and obstruction of Congress) to the Senate.
Jan. 16: U.S. begins screening airline passengers arriving from Wuhan.
Jan. 20: The first case of coronavirus, a 35-year-old Washington man who returned from China days earlier, is reported in the U.S.
Jan. 22: Opening arguments in the Senate impeachment trial begin. In Davos, Switzerland, President Trump downplays coronavirus. “We have it under control. It’s going to be just fine,” he tells a reporter during a press conference. China quarantines entire city of Wuhan.
Jan. 24: President Trump writes his first tweet about the pandemic. “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!”
Jan. 26: Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others die in a helicopter crash in California. Billie Eilish wins Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards.
Jan. 29: White House announces creation of coronavirus task force.
Jan. 30: WHO declares the coronavirus outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Jan. 31: President Trump bans travel from China, with some exceptions. Brexit becomes official and the UK begins the process of formally withdrawing from the European Union.
Feb. 2: The Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV in Miami.
Feb. 3: Pete Buttigieg wins the Iowa caucus after securing one more state delegate elector than Bernie Sanders, despite Sanders receiving several thousand more votes.
Feb. 4: President Trump delivers the State of the Union address. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tears up a copy of Trump’s speech. The Diamond Princess cruise ship docks and is quarantined in Yokohama, Japan.
Feb. 5: The Senate acquits President Trump after voting against subpoenaing witnesses, including John Bolton. Republican Mitt Romney is the only Republican to vote for removal.
Feb. 6: NASA astronaut Christina Koch returns to Earth after 328 days in space, a record for a woman.
Feb. 7: President Trump fires EU ambassador Gordon Sondland and National Security Council adviser Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who both testified against the president during the impeachment trial.
Feb. 9: “Parasite” makes history, becoming first film in a language other than English to win the Academy Award for best picture. The South Korean film wins four Oscars overall, including best director and best original screenplay.
Feb. 11: Bernie Sanders wins the New Hampshire primary, Joe Biden finishes fifth behind Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren; the WHO names coronavirus COVID-19.
Feb. 18: President Trump pardons former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich who attempted to sell Barack Obama’s former Senate seat when he was elected president.
Feb. 22: Bernie Sanders cruises to victory in the Nevada caucus after winning huge numbers from members of the Culinary Union, the state’s largest labor group.
Feb. 23: Ahmaud Arbery is shot and killed while jogging in Georgia.
Feb. 24: President Trump tweets, “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA“ and “Stock Market starting to look very good to me!” as Dow Jones falls 1,000 points.
Feb. 26: Five people are killed in a mass shooting at the Molson Coors Beverage Company in Milwaukee. The House of Representatives passes anti-lynching legislation.
Feb. 29: Joe Biden crushes the competition in the South Carolina primary after receiving an endorsement from Rep. Jim Clyburn.
Feb. 29: The first coronavirus death reported in the U.S., though earlier deaths will be reported later.
Feb. 29: The U.S. and Taliban reach a conditional peace agreement.
March 1: Pete Buttigieg drops out of presidential race, endorses Joe Biden.
March 2: MSNBC host Chris Matthews resigns abruptly after criticism of sexist comments and comparing Bernie Sanders’ campaign to the Nazi invasion of France. Amy Klobuchar drops out of presidential race and endorses Biden.
March 3: Biden shocks his presidential primary rivals with stunning victories in 10 states on Super Tuesday, putting him in the driver’s seat for the Democrat presidential nomination. At least 25 people are killed after 13 tornadoes strike Nashville area.
March 4: Michael Bloomberg drops out of presidential race, endorses Biden.
March 5: Elizabeth Warren drops out of presidential race, does not endorse Biden or Sanders.
March 9: Italy places itself on a nationwide quarantine to slow the spread of coronavirus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunges more than 2,000 points.
March 11: The WHO declares coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. The NBA suspends its season after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tests positive for coronavirus. E3 2020 video game conference is canceled. Harvey Weinstein is sentenced to 23 years in prison. Tom Hanks announces he and wife Rita Wilson tested positive for coronavirus.
March 12: The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls more than 2,300 point after the U.S. bans travel from the Schengen Area in Europe. Major League Baseball suspends spring training and announces season will be delayed because of coronavirus. The NHL and Major League Soccer suspend seasons. PGA and LPGA tours cancel several upcoming events. Broadway shows are suspended.
March 13: President Trump declares coronavirus a national emergency. Breonna Taylor is shot and killed by police in Louisville. Mount Everest and the Louvre are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Boston Marathon is postponed.
March 14: Spain goes into nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
March 15: New York orders public schools closed. Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden have one-on-one debate without audience.
March 16: The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 2,997.10, the largest single-day point drop ever, amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Actor Idris Elba announces he tested positive for coronavirus. Bars and restaurants in New York are ordered closed.
March 17: NCAA cancels men’s and women’s college basketball championship tournament. Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant tests positive for coronavirus.
March 20: Worldwide coronavirus death toll passes 10,000. Tom Brady signs contract with Tampa Bay Buccaneers after 20 seasons with New England Patriots. IRS announces Tax Day is postponed until July 15. Gov. Andrew Cuomo issues stay-at-home order for New York.
March 22: Sen. Rand Paul and Harvey Weinstein test positive for coronavirus.
March 24: The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo are suspended until 2021. India and United Kingdom go into lockdown. Trump tweets that the “cure” cannot be “worse than the problem itself” and calls for country to reopen on Easter Sunday. FBI agents shoot dead man suspected of plotting attack on Missouri hospital treating coronavirus patients. New York passes 20,000 coronavirus cases.
March 26: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson diagnosed with coronavirus. Global cases pass 500,000. The U.S. passes China and Italy in number of cases and passes 1,000 deaths.
March 27: House and Senate pass coronavirus relief and stimulus bill which includes expanded unemployment benefits and cash payments to those eligible. One person is killed in a fire in a subway car in Harlem.
March 30: Hospital ship USNS Comfort arrives in New York.
March 31: New York passes 75,000 total coronavirus cases. U.S. Navy Captain Brett Crozier asks for help from the Pentagon after a coronavirus outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt after the ship docks in Guam. U.S. passes China in number of coronavirus deaths.
April 2: Number of coronavirus cases worldwide passes 1 million. More than 6.6 million workers file for unemployment in the U.S.
April 4: President Trump says “What do you have to lose?” in regards to taking hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus.
April 5: White House recommends people wear masks while in public.
April 6: Boris Johnson hospitalized because of coronavirus.
April 8: Bernie Sanders drops out of presidential race, clearing the way for Biden to win the Democratic nomination.
April 10: The U.S. becomes the first country to report 2,000 coronavirus deaths in a single day.
April 13: IRS begins sending stimulus checks to Americans.
April 14: President Trump announced U.S. will not fund WHO.
April 15: Armed demonstrators protest Michigan’s coronavirus lockdown measures.
April 18: At least 23 people are killed in several shootings and fires set by a man impersonating a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer in Nova Scotia.
April 20: Mayor de Blasio announces parades scheduled for June are canceled.
April 23: The Cincinnati Bengals select LSU quarterback Joe Burrow first overall in the NFL Draft, which is held remotely.
April 24: U.S. passes 50,000 total coronavirus deaths.
April 27: U.S. passes 1,000,000 total coronavirus cases as worldwide total passes 3,000,000.
May 3: Insurgents, including several Americans, attempt to infiltrate Venezuela and start an armed uprising but are quickly captured.
May 5: Video showing Ahmaud Arbery’s killing is leaked.
May 7: Gregory and Travis McMichael and charged with murder in Arbery case. Department of Justice drops case against Michael Flynn who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during an investigation conducted by Robert Mueller.
May 11: Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he will reopen a California factory in defiance of a local shutdown order. U.S. passes 80,000 coronavirus deaths.
May 8: U.S. unemployment hits 14.7%.
May 15: Worldwide coronavirus deaths pass 300,000.
May 21: William Bryan, the man who filmed Abery’s death, is also charged with murder.
May 25: George Floyd is killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, sparking protests against police brutality and racial injustice. Protests, rioting and looting follow.
May 28: Coronavirus cases in the U.S. pass 100,000. Minneapolis Police Department abandons Third Precinct, which is burned down by rioters.
May 29: CNN Center in Atlanta is damaged during protests over killing of George Floyd. Former police officer Derek Chauvin is charged with murder and manslaughter. Twitter places content warnings on posts made by President Trump encouraging violence against protesters.
May 30: SpaceX launches two U.S. astronauts to International Space Station. A federal law enforcement agent is killed by a man suspected to be connected to the “Boogaloo” movement.
May 31: President Trump announces plan to designate “Antifa” a domestic terrorist group.
June 1: Protesters are cleared from Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., with pepper spray and rubber bullets prior to Trump walking from the White House to a nearby church for a photo op.
June 3: Three fired Minneapolis police officers are charged with aiding and abetting murder for their role in George Floyd’s death.
June 4: Two Buffalo police officers are suspended and later charged with assault after shoving a 75-year-old protester to the ground, leading to the man’s hospitalization with a head injury.
June 5: Joe Biden reaches minimum delegate amount to secure Democratic nomination for President.
June 7: Demonstrators pull down the statue of 17th-century slaver Edward Colston in England and throw it into a nearby harbor.
June 9: “Cops” is canceled after 31 years on the air.
June 10: The U.S. becomes the first country to reach 2 million coronavirus cases. NASCAR bans display of Confederate flag.
June 12: Rayshard Brooks is shot and killed by police in a Wendy’s parking lot in Atlanta. The restaurant is burned down the next day. The shooter is later charged with murder and his partner charged with aggrieved assault.
June 15: Supreme Court rules employers cannot discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
June 16: North Korea cuts off communication with South Korea after destroying the Inter-Korean Liaison Office.
June 18: The Supreme Court rules in favor of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
June 20: President Trump holds sparsely attended rally in Tulsa after the event was moved to no longer occur on Juneteenth. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, who was investigating Rudy Giuliani, is fired.
June 21: A garage pull handle fashioned as a noose is found in the garage of Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s only Black driver, at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. The FBI later declares it was not a hate crime.
June 23: Former national security adviser John Bolton publishes “The Room Where It Happened,” a memoir about his time in the Trump White House which includes allegations of misconduct by the president. New York holds primary elections. Ron Jeremy is charged with raping three women and sexually assaulting another.
June 26: Whole Foods workers are sent home for wearing Black Lives Matter face masks.
June 28: Coronavirus cases pass 10 million worldwide.
July 2: Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite accused of plying Jeffrey Epstein with underage sex trafficking victims, is been arrested in New Hampshire.
July 3: Two police officers in Aurora, Colo., are fired after one resigns. The three had taken and shared photos reenacting a chokehold used in the death of Elijah McClain.
July 4: Bars reopen in England as lockdown restrictions are eased.
