We are almost halfway through the decade! These are just some of the events that have happened in the past five years. Many of them are deeply important, while others are fun and interesting.
2020
- The US Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump (52-48 on charges of abuse of power and 53-47 on obstruction of Congress).
- COVID-19 is declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization.
- Summer of equal and human rights protests following the death of George Floyd.
- The first impeachment of Donald Trump.
- The death of civil rights icon John Lewis.
- ‘Ghost Ship’ cargo vessel MV Alta washed up on the Irish coast near Ballycotton by Storm Dennis after drifting across the Atlantic From Bermuda.
- Greenhouse gas emissions dropped 17% worldwide in April of 2020 when the world was in lockdown due to the pandemic (study by Nature Climate Change).
- Egypt tells Elon Musk its pyramids were not built by aliens after Musk tweets in support of the conspiracy that they were.
- Simon Cowell breaks his back riding an electric exercise bike.
- US Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden announces California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate, the first woman of color selected by a major party.
- More than 50 arrested as Portland, Oregon, marks 100 days of protests against racism and police brutality.
- New DNA studies of dogs suggest that they were human’s first domesticated animals (11,000 years ago at the end of the Bronze Age).
- 35th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: Nine Inch Nails; The Notorious B.I.G; T-Rex; Jon Landau; and Ivan Azoff.
- Former Vice President, Joe Biden, wins the presidential election.
- Kamala Harris makes US history as the first woman and first woman of color to be elected vice president (the day the election was called).
2021
- On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in response to Joe Biden winning the presidential election with over 460 people sentenced to prison in January of 2024 and five deaths.
- US Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanded President Trump’s resignation or he would face a second impeachment, and called Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment to remove him due to the January 6 Capital attack.
- President Donald Trump is impeached by the House of Representatives (voting 232-297) for “increment of insurrection” (the first time in US history a President has been impeached twice)
- The World’s oldest known cave painting of an animal, a pig, 45,000 years old, was discovered in the Leang Tedongnge cave in Indonesia.
- President Joe Biden signs 15 executive orders on his first day in office, including the US re-joining the WHO, affirming the Paris Climate Agreement, revoking the Keystone XL Pipeline, mandating masks on federal properties, and halting construction of the southern border wall.
- Prince Philip’s funeral was held under COVID-19 restrictions at Windsor Palace, England.
- Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder, goes into space with an all-civilian crew.
- Harry and Meghan say goodbye to the royal life.
- The deaths of Chadwick Boseman (actor) and Eddie Van Halen (musician).
- A climate clock is installed in New York beginning with 7 years to save ourselves from an unchangeable climate.
- The 20th anniversary of 9/11.
2022
- A baby formula shortage in the United States.
- Russia-Ukraine war begins.
- The overturning of Roe v. Wade.
- Oil prices skyrocket.
- From January to March, Netflix lost 200,000 customers.
- Andy Warhol’s portrait of Marilyn Monroe sold for $195 million- the highest price for an American artwork.
- Navajo-American composer Raven Chacon receives the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his work “Voiceless Mass”.
- Will Smith slaps Chris Rock in the face at the Oscars.
- A man disguised as an elderly woman throws cake at the Mona Lisa.
- Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial.
- An engineer at Google states that the AI system, LaMDA, might have a conscious mind.
- The remnants of an extinct 30,000-year-old baby Wooly Mammoth were found frozen in Canada.
- The Queen of England’s death.
- The death of Taylor Hawkins.
- Researchers discover that Cinderella’s glass slipper is really a witty literary joke by Charles Perrault making fun of French King Louis XIV´s love of shoes.
- Andrew Tate was arrested in Romania after assault allegations.
- ¨Queen“ guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May receives a British knighthood for his music service and charity.
2023
- A study discovered that ancient Roman concrete was not only stronger than modern concrete, but it also self-healing.
- Tanks from Germany and America are sent to Ukraine to help stop Russia.
- World War II era bomb was discovered in England and exploded in an unplanned destination as it was being disarmed.
- According to FBI Director Christopher Way, COVID-19 likely originated from a lab accident in Wuhan, China.
- TikTok announces a 60-minute daily limit for users under 18.
- Vinyl records outsell CDs.
- The live-action The Little Mermaid swims into theaters and faces heavy discrimination and racism.
- The OceanGate submarine vessel set to explore the remnants of RMS Titanic implodes, killing five occupants.
- Andrew Tate was indicted on charges of human trafficking and forming a gang to abuse women in Romania. He’s currently under house arrest.
- The hottest global temperature ever recorded as of July 3, 2023.
- The world bleeds pink after Barbie is released, which causes a pink shortage.
- Aerosmith kicks off their farewell tour and cancels it within several months due to front-man Steven Tyler´s health, leaving fans with a not-so-sweet emotion.
- A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hits central Morocco, killing around 3,000 people.
- A stolen Vincent van Gogh painting, “The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring,” was returned to an art detective in an Ikea bag.
- Record 23 weather disasters in the United States in the last nine months, costing over $1 billion in repairs.
- Overdose deaths rise from fentanyl-laced stimulants.
- Las Vegas builds the MSG Sphere.
- The heaviest pumpkin world record is set in Minnesota, with the pumpkin weighing 2,740 pounds.
- Climate activist Greta Thunburg is arrested outside an oil conference in London.
- Pro-Palestinian march in London, holding over 300,000 attendants, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
- A four-day ceasefire begins in Gaza, with Hamas releasing 24 hostages and Israel releasing 39 Palestinian prisoners.
- Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled Donald Trump is ineligible to run for President after participating in an insurrection under Section 4 of the 14th Amendment.
2024
- The Baltimore Bridge collapses.
- Amelia Earhart’s plane washes up on shore.
- The New York climate clock has four years to save ourselves from an unchangeable climate.
- Elmo posts, “Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” on X (Twitter) and receives thousands of brutally honest replies, and becomes concerned about our mental health.
- Haiti experiences extreme violence as armed gangs attempt to control the main international airport. A 72-hour state of emergency was called after the gangs freed thousands of prisoners from jails.
- US House of Representatives votes to force TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the social media platform or face a ban in the US.
- Sean ¨Diddy” Combs is arrested and his house searched by federal authorities due to allegations of sex trafficking and assault.
- Social security numbers leaked and are no longer secure.
- US President Joe Biden abandons his re-election campaign and endorses Vice President Kamala Harris.
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr admits to dumping a dead bear cub in the middle of Central Park 10 years ago.
- The teen smoking rate in the US has fallen to its lowest level in 25 years.
- E. coli cases in the US linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, affecting 90 people and hospitalization of 27.
- The death of One Direction member Liam Payne.
- Word of the year by Collins Dictionary was ¨brat¨
- Donald Trump was re-elected as president.
- Germany’s government collapsed on November 8, 2024, due to the country’s weak economy shrinking over the past two years.
- Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul.
- The Notre Dame Cathedral is reopened following a devastating fire in 2019.
- Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Jay Gaber publicly launched the app Bluesky, causing people to move to Bluesky.
- Alleged plans of New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont seceding from America and joining Canada, with Oregon, Washington, and California possibly joining.
- Over 1 million households in Ukraine are left without power after a widespread Russian missile strike targets the country’s energy infrastructure.
- Australia becomes the first country to ban social media use for children under 16.
- Mass protests against the Georgian government’s (the country) delay on signing into the European Union.
- South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law. Citizens flooded the streets in protest, forming a human wall around the national assembly, shoving soldiers away, and helping parliament members climb over the walls to vote on lifting the law. Several hours later, South Korean soldiers apologized to the public for following martial law.
- Israel launched a missile into southern Lebanon, killing at least nine people.
- Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was killed in New York before a meeting.
- The French government collapsed after Prime Minister Michel Barnier was ousted in a no-confidence vote.
- Northern California had a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, and a tsunami warning was sent to California and Oregon.
- Dictator Bashir al-Assad fled to Russia after Syria’s government collapsed and Israel invaded.