COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with t ...

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

cover article An article or piece is a written work published in a print or electronic medium. It may be for the purpose of propagating news, research results, academic analysis, or debate. News articles A news article discusses current or recent news of eith ...

Golden Raspberry Awards The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

public health emergency of international concern A public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) is a formal declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) of "an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the internatio ...

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic disease with a stable number of i ...

January 1 January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

presidency of the European Union The official title President of the European Union (or President of Europe) does not exist, but there are a number of presidents of Institutions of the European Union, European Union institutions, including: * the President of the European Coun ...

Flash floods A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing ov ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

2019–20 Australian bushfire season The 201920 Australian bushfire season (Black Summer), was a period of bushfires in many parts of Australia, which, due to its unusual intensity, size, duration, and uncontrollable dimension, is considered a megafire. The Australian National ...

drone strike Drone warfare is a form of aerial warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, India, Pakist ...

Baghdad International Airport Baghdad International Airport , previously Saddam International Airport ( ar, مطار بغداد الدولي, Maṭār Baġdād ad-Dawaliyy) is Iraq's largest international airport, located in a suburb about west of downtown Baghdad in the ...

Qasem Soleimani Qasem Soleimani ( fa, قاسم سلیمانی, ; 11 March 19573January 2020) was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until his assassination in 2020, he was the commander of the Quds F ...

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis Jamal Ja'far Muhammad Ali Al Ibrahim ( ar, جمال جعفر محمد علي آل إبراهيم ', 16 Nov 1954 – 2 January 2020), known by the kunya Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis ( ar, أبو مهدي المهندس, lit=Father of Mahdi, the Engine ...

January 5 Events Pre-1600 *1477 – Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is defeated and killed in a conflict with René II, Duke of Lorraine; Burgundy subsequently becomes part of France. 1601–1900 *1675 – Battle of Colmar: The French army ...

Second Libyan Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Second Libyan Civil War , partof = the Arab Winter, Libyan Crisis, Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, War on terror, and Qatar–Saudi Arabia diplomatic conflict , image ...

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 t ...

deployment Deployment may refer to: Engineering and software Concepts * Blue-green deployment, a method of installing changes to a web, app, or database server by swapping alternating production and staging servers * Continuous deployment, a software e ...

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

Government of National Accord The Government of National Accord ( ar, حكومة الوفاق الوطني) was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015. T ...

2019–20 Croatian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Croatia on 22 December 2019. Social Democratic Party nominee Zoran Milanović narrowly defeated incumbent president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović in a second round of voting. As no candidate received a majority o ...

Zoran Milanović Zoran Milanović (; born 30 October 1966) is a Croatian politician serving as President of Croatia since 19 February 2020. Prior to assuming the presidency, he was prime minister from 2011 to 2016 and president of the Social Democratic Party f ...

Social Democratic Party of Croatia The Social Democratic Party of Croatia ( hr, Socijaldemokratska partija Hrvatske, SDP) is a social-democratic political party in Croatia. The SDP is anti-fascist, progressive, and strongly pro-European. The SDP was formed in 1990 as the succes ...

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-el ...

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (; born 29 April 1968) is a Croatian politician and diplomat who served as President of Croatia from 2015 to 2020. She was the first woman to be elected to the office since the first multi-party elections in 1990 and ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (PS752/AUI752) was a scheduled international civilian passenger flight from Tehran to Kyiv, operated by Ukraine International Airlines. On 8January 2020, the Boeing 737-800 flying the route was shot do ...

Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport Imam Khomeini International Airport is the primary international airport of Tehran, the capital city of Iran, located southwest of Tehran, near the localities of Robat Karim and Eslamshahr and spread over an area of of land. Along with Mehr ...

circumbinary planet A circumbinary planet is a planet that orbits two stars instead of one. The two stars orbit each other in a binary system, while the planet typically orbits farther from the center of the system than either of the two stars. In contrast, circums ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesNigerien soldiers. *

January 10 Events Pre-1600 * 49 BC – Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signalling the start of civil war. * 9 – The Western Han dynasty ends when Wang Mang claims that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the dynasty and the ...

–

Haitham bin Tariq Haitham bin Tariq Al Said ( ar, هيثم بن طارق آل سعيد, Heysem bin Târık Âl Saîd; born 13 October 1954) is the current Sultan of Oman, reigning since January 2020 following the death of his cousin, Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Pri ...

succeeds

Qaboos bin Said Qaboos bin Said Al Said ( ar, قابوس بن سعيد آل سعيد, ; 18 November 1940 – 10 January 2020) was Sultan of Oman from 23 July 1970 until his death in 2020. A fifteenth-generation descendant of the founder of the House of Al Said, ...

as the

Sultan of Oman The sultan of the Sultanate of Oman is the monarchical head of state and head of government of Oman. It is the most powerful position in the country. The sultans of Oman are members of the Busaid dynasty, which has been the ruling family of O ...

. *

January 11 Events Pre-1600 * 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence. * 630 – Conquest of Mecca: The prophet Muham ...

– Presidential and

legislative elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ...

are held in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

.

Incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-el ...

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served a ...

is reelected, and the Democratic Progressive Party wins a majority of 67 out of 113 seats in the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for 4-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel ...

. *

January 12 Events Pre-1600 * 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire. *1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reig ...

– The Taal Volcano in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

has had its first major eruption since 1977. * January 16 – The first impeachment trial of the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

, begins in the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

. He was acquitted on

February 5 Events Pre-1600 *AD 62, 62 – AD 62 Pompeii earthquake, Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy. *1576 – Henry IV of France, Henry of Navarre :wikt:abjure, abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Re ...

. *

January 18 Events Pre-1600 * 474 – Seven-year-old Leo II succeeds his maternal grandfather Leo I as Byzantine emperor. He dies ten months later. * 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople fail. * 1126 – Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chine ...

–

Yemeni Civil War Yemeni Civil War may refer to several historical events which have taken place in Yemen: * Alwaziri coup, February – March 1948 *Yemeni–Adenese clan violence, 1956–60 * North Yemen Civil War, 1962–70 * Aden Emergency, 1963–67 * North Yem ...

: 111 Yemeni soldiers and five civilians are killed in a drone and missile attack on a

military camp A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent military base, for the lodging of an army. Camps are erected when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during training or military operations, operations, and often have t ...

near

Maʼrib Marib ( ar, مَأْرِب, Maʾrib; Old South Arabian: 𐩣𐩧𐩨/𐩣𐩧𐩺𐩨 ''Mryb/Mrb'') is the capital city of Marib Governorate, Yemen. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of ''Sabaʾ'' ( ar, سَبَأ), which some scholars ...

. *

January 20 Events Pre-1600 * 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution. * 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom. *1156 &nda ...

–

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

:

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

authorities publicly confirm

human-to-human transmission Human-to-human transmission (HHT) is an epidemiologic vector, especially in case the disease is borne by individuals known as superspreaders. In these cases, the basic reproduction number of the virus, which is the average number of additional ...

of

severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

. *

January 22 Events Pre-1600 * 613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor ('' Caesar'') by his father Heraclius at Constantinople. * 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw ...

– The Hellenic Parliament elects

Katerina Sakellaropoulou Katerina Sakellaropoulou ( el, Κατερίνα Σακελλαροπούλου, Latn, el, Katerína Sakellaropoúlou, ; born 30 May 1956) is a Greek judge who has been the president of Greece since 13 March 2020. She was elected by the Hellenic ...

as

president of Greece The president of Greece, officially the President of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρόεδρος της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Próedros tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), commonly referred to in Greek as the President of the Rep ...

. *

January 23 Events Pre-1600 * 393 – Roman emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor. * 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao. * 1264 &n ...

–

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

: The

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

city of

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...

, the epicenter of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, is quarantined, with all scheduled public transport services and intercity flights halted. *

January 26 Events Pre-1600 * 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph. *1531 – The 6.4–7.1 Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people. *1564 – The Council of Trent ...

** The

2020 Peruvian parliamentary election Early parliamentary elections were held in Peru on 26 January 2020.Congress of the Republic of Peru The Congress of the Republic of Peru ( es, Congreso de la República) is the unicameral body that assumes legislative power in Peru. Congress' composition is established by Chapter I of Title IV of the Constitution of Peru. Congress is compos ...

. **

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely ...

dies in a

helicopter crash A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

, alongside his daughter

Gianna Gianna is a female Italian given name, a diminutive form of Giovanna. In English, it is translated as Joann, Joanne or Joanna. These names mean "God is gracious". See also " John" for the origin. Variations *Feminine: Giana, Gia, Giovanna *M ...

and seven others, in

Calabasas, California Calabasas (from Spanish ''calabazas'' "gourds") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, between the foothills of the Santa Monica and Santa Susanna mountains.January 29 Events Pre-1600 * 904 – Sergius III is elected pope, after coming out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed antipope Christopher. * 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu'izz al-Dawla, ru ...

– U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

signs the

United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement The Agreement between the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and Canada (USMCA) Commonly known as the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) in the United States and the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CU ...

, a North American trade agreement set to replace

NAFTA The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...

. *

January 30 Events Pre-1600 *1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen. *1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom. 1601–1900 *1607 – An estimated ...

–

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

: The

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

(WHO) declares the outbreak of

the disease "The Disease" is the 111th episode of the science fiction television series '' Star Trek: Voyager'', the 17th episode of the fifth season. The episode focuses on a plot with Harry Kim (played by Garrett Wang) as ''USS Voyager'' encounters a un ...

a

public health emergency of international concern A public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) is a formal declaration by the World Health Organization (WHO) of "an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the internatio ...

, the sixth time that this measure has been invoked since

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. *

January 31 Events Pre-1600 * 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades. *1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the ...

– The

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and Gibraltar formally withdraw from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

, beginning an 11-month

transition period The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Uni ...

.

February

* February 6 –

Livraga derailment The Livraga derailment is the first and only railway accident to date that ever happened on the Italian high speed rail network. It took place on 6 February 2020 when a high-speed train derailed at Livraga, Lombardy, Italy. Two people died and 31 we ...

: A

Frecciarossa ''Frecciarossa'' is a high-speed train of the Italian national train operator, Trenitalia, and a member of the train category Le Frecce. The name, which, if spelled "Freccia rossa" means "Red arrow" in English, was introduced in 2008 after ...

high-speed train traveling from

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

to

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

derailed in

Livraga Livraga is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lodi in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about southeast of Lodi. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,589 and an area of .All demographics ...

, Lombardy,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Two people were killed, and 31 were injured. *

February 8 Events Pre-1600 * 421 – Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. *1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir. *1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al ...

– The

2020 Irish general election The 2020 Irish general election took place on Saturday 8 February, to elect the 33rd Dáil, the lower house of Ireland's parliament. The election was called following the dissolution of the 32nd Dáil by the president, at the request of the Ta ...

is held to elect 160 members of the 33rd Dáil, the lower house of the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the bicameral parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The two houses of the Oireachtas ( ga, Tithe an Oireachtais): **Dáil Éireann ...

. *

February 11 Events Pre-1600 *660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. * 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...

– The COVID-19 pandemic: The

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

(WHO) names the disease

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

. *

February 13 Events Pre-1600 * 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the '' Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome. *1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th. * 1462 – T ...

–

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

publishes a detailed study of

Arrokoth Arrokoth ( minor-planet designation 486958 Arrokoth; provisional designation ), formerly nicknamed Ultima Thule, is a trans-Neptunian object located in the Kuiper belt. Arrokoth became the farthest and most primitive object in the Solar System ...

, the most distant body ever explored by a spacecraft. *

February 19 Events Pre-1600 * 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies. * 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of ...

–

Hanau shootings The Hanau shootings occurred on 19 February 2020, when eleven people were killed and five others wounded in a terrorist shooting spree by a schizophrenic far-right extremist targeting two shisha bars in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. ...

: Eleven people are killed and five injured in a terrorist shooting spree by a far-right extremist targeting shisha bars in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Germany. *

February 24 Events Pre-1600 * 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene Christianity, Nicene bishops with Arianism, Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica. *1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of ...

– The

Pakatan Harapan The Alliance of Hope ( ms, Pakatan Harapan; abbrev: PH; stylized as HARAPAN) is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the ...

coalition

government of Malaysia The Government of Malaysia, officially the Federal Government of Malaysia ( ms, Kerajaan Persekutuan Malaysia), is based in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya with the exception of the legislative branch, which is located in Kuala Lumpur. Malays ...

collapses and is replaced by the

Perikatan Nasional The National Alliance ( ms, Perikatan Nasional; abbreviation, abbrev: PN) is a political coalition composed of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (GERAKAN). This coa ...

coalition.

Muhyiddin Yassin Tan Sri Dato' Haji Mahiaddin bin Md Yasin (born 15 May 1947), commonly known as Muhyiddin bin Muhammad Yassin ( ms, محيي الدين بن محمد ياسين, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ), is a Malaysian politician who serv ...

becomes the eighth

Prime Minister of Malaysia The prime minister of Malaysia ( ms, Perdana Menteri Malaysia; ms, ڤردان منتري مليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the fede ...

on March 1. * February 27 –

2020 stock market crash On 20 February 2020, stock markets across the world suddenly crashed after growing instability due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It ended on 7 April 2020. Beginning on 13 May 2019, the yield curve on U.S. Treasury securities inverted, and rema ...

: Triggered by

fears Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear in ...

of the spreading of COVID-19, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) plunges by 1,190.95 points, or 4.4%, to close at 25,766.64, its largest one-day point decline at the time. This follows several days of large falls, marking the worst week for the index since the

2008 financial crisis 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

. *

February 28 Events Pre-1600 * 202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty. * 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes. * 1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is execut ...

– Syrian Civil War:

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

expresses solidarity with

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

after 34 Turkish soldiers were killed in an

airstrike An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The off ...

by pro-

Syrian government Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is the union government created by the constitution of Syria where by the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. S ...

forces. *

February 29 February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to leap years. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth's revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in mo ...

**A conditional peace agreement is signed between the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pas ...

. The U.S. begins gradually withdrawing combat troops from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

on March 10. **

Barquisimeto shooting The 2020 Barquisimeto shooting occurred on 29 February 2020, when pro-government Colectivo (Venezuela), colectivos shot at the Speaker of the National Assembly (Venezuela), National Assembly of Venezuela Juan Guaidó and his supporters in Barquisi ...

: During a demonstration, pro-government

colectivos ''Colectivo'' ( English: collective bus) is the name given in Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Paraguay to a type of public transportation vehicle, especially those of Argentina's capital city, Buenos Aires. The name comes from ''vehículos ...

shoot at disputed President and Speaker of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

Juan Guaidó Juan Gerardo Guaidó Márquez (born 28 July 1983) is a Venezuelan politician, a former member of the social-democratic Popular Will party, and federal deputy to the National Assembly representing the state of Vargas. On 23 January 2019, Guaid� ...

and his supporters in

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; guc, Watkisimeeta) is a city in Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial and transportation center of the country, recognized as the fo ...

,

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

, leaving five injured.

March

*

March 2 Events Pre-1600 * 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his '' bucellarii'' are almost cu ...

– The

Yahoo! Time capsule The Yahoo! Time Capsule, a brainchild of Jonathan Harris, is a time capsule project by Yahoo! Inc. where users could contribute to a ''digital legacy'' of how life was in 2006. The Time Capsule was originally intended to be beamed with a laser int ...

, dating from 2006, is opened. *

March 5 Events Pre-1600 * 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death. *1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern j ...

– The

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individua ...

authorizes the Afghanistan War Crimes inquiry to proceed, reportedly allowing for the first time for

U.S. citizens Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constit ...

to be investigated. *

March 9 Events Pre-1600 * 141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China. * 1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg. *1226 &nda ...

**

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

:

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

becomes the first country to implement a nationwide quarantine in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. ** International share prices fall sharply in response to a Russo-Saudi oil price war and the

impact of COVID-19 As of 2022, the COVID‑19 pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV‑2). Its impact has been broad, affecting general society, the gl ...

. The

DJIA The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity indexe ...

plunges more than 2,000 points, the largest fall in its history up to that point.

Oil prices The price of oil, or the oil price, generally refers to the spot price of a barrel () of benchmark crude oil—a reference price for buyers and sellers of crude oil such as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Crude, Dubai Crude, OPEC R ...

also plunged by as much as 30% in early trading, the biggest fall since

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...

. *

March 11 Events Pre-1600 * 222 – Roman emperor Elagabalus is murdered alongside his mother, Julia Soaemias. He is replaced by his 14-year old cousin, Severus Alexander. * 843 – Triumph of Orthodoxy: Empress Theodora II restores the ve ...

–

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

: The

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

declares the COVID-19 outbreak a

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic disease with a stable number of i ...

. *

March 12 Events Pre-1600 * 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius. *1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the C ...

– Global stock markets crashed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

travel ban A travel ban is one of a variety of mobility restrictions imposed by governments. Bans can be universal or selective. The restrictions can be geographic, imposed by either the originating or destination jurisdiction. They can also be based on indiv ...

on the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and ...

. The

DJIA The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity indexe ...

goes into free fall, closing at over −2,300 points, the worst loss for the index since

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

. *

March 13 Events Pre-1600 *624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh. * 1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War. * 1591 – At the Battle of ...

–

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

: The

government of Nepal The Government of Nepal ( ne, नेपाल सरकार) is the federal executive authority of Nepal. Prior to the abolition of the Nepali monarchy in 2006 (became republic in 2008), it was officially known as His Majesty's Government. T ...

announces that

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow ...

will be closed to climbers and the public for the rest of the season due to concerns about the

COVID-19 pandemic in Asia The COVID-19 pandemic began in Asia in Wuhan, Hubei, China, and has spread widely through the continent. As of , at least one case of COVID-19 had been reported in every country in Asia except Turkmenistan. The Asian countries with the highe ...

. *

March 16 Events Pre-1600 * 934 – Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang. *1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York. *1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse ...

– The

DJIA The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Dow Jones, or simply the Dow (), is a stock market index of 30 prominent companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. The DJIA is one of the oldest and most commonly followed equity indexe ...

falls by 2,997.10, the single largest point drop in history and the second-largest percentage drop ever at 12.93%, an even greater crash than

Black Monday (1929) The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

. This follows the

U.S. Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

announcing that it will cut its target interest rate to 0–0.25%. *

March 17 Events Pre-1600 *45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda. * 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age o ...

**

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

: *** The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

's external and

Schengen The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...

borders are closed for at least 30 days in an effort to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. ***The

Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europ ...

and 2020 Copa América

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

tournaments are postponed until the summer of

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

by

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs foo ...

and CONMEBOL, respectively. *

March 18 Events Pre-1600 * 37 – Roman Senate annuls Tiberius' will and proclaims Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ''(aka Caligula = Little Boots)'' emperor.Tacitus, ''Annals'' V.10. *1068 – An earthquake in the Levant and the Ar ...

**

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

: *** The

Eurovision Song Contest 2020 The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was planned to be the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It would have taken place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the with the song "Arcade (song), Arcade" by Duncan La ...

is cancelled due to the spread of COVID-19 in Europe, the first cancellation in the contest's 64-year history. *** The Solidarity Trial, a

WHO Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book ''Horton Hear ...

-sponsored clinical trial dedicated to finding a cure against COVID-19, is announced. *

March 20 Events Pre-1600 * 673 – Emperor Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka. *1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. *1600 – The Link� ...

** COVID-19 pandemic: The worldwide death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 10,000 as the total number of cases reaches a quarter of a million. ** The Bhadla Solar Park is commissioned and becomes the world's largest solar park. * March 24 ** COVID-19 pandemic: ***India and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

go into lockdown to contain COVID-19. The total number of people in the world facing some form of pandemic-related movement restriction now exceeds 2.6 billion, a third of the World population, global population. *** Premier of the People's Republic of China, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang reports that the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, domestically transmitted epidemic is now under control. Two days later, China temporarily suspends entry for foreign nationals with Travel visa, visas or residence permits, effective midnight on March 28. *** The International Olympic Committee and COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, Japan postpone the 2020 Summer Olympics to

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

. On March 30, the Summer Olympics will be rescheduled from July 23 to August 8, 2021. * March 26 ** COVID-19 pandemic: *** Global COVID-19 cases reach 500,000, with nearly 23,000 deaths confirmed. The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, U.S. surpasses China and COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, Italy in the total number of known COVID-19 cases, with at least 81,321 cases and more than 1,000 deaths. ***Militants in the New People's Army, Philippines, Syrian civil war, Syria, Yemeni Civil War (2015–present), Yemen, and Libyan Civil War (2014–present), Libya agree to U.N. secretary-general, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres' call for a ceasefire; some accept medical aid for themselves and civilians in their communities. Colombia and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

discuss a common response to the global pandemic, and the United Arab Emirates, UAE airlifts aid to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

. * March 27 – North Macedonia becomes the 30th country to join

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. * March 30 – 2020 Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war: The price of Brent Crude falls 9% to $23 per barrel, the lowest level since November 2002.

April

* April 1 ** COVID-19 pandemic: ***China reports 130 Asymptomatic carrier, asymptomatic cases of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

, its first reported asymptomatic cases. *** Yemen's Yemeni Civil War (2015–present), internationally recognised Government of Yemen, government releases more than 470 of its prisoners amid concerns of the spread of the virus in Yemen's overcrowded jails. The United Nations Human Rights Council has called for the release of all political prisoners. * April 2 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

passes 1 million worldwide. * April 5 **COVID-19 pandemic: ***The first case of COVID-19 in a zoo animal is reported: a four-year-old female Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City. * April 6 – The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

designates the Russian Imperial Movement as a Terrorism in Russia, terrorist organization and imposes sanctions on its leaders; it is the first White supremacy, white supremacist group the U.S. has Specially Designated Global Terrorist, designated as a terrorist organization. * April 7 – COVID-19 pandemic: Japan declares a state of emergency in response to COVID-19 and finalises a stimulus package worth 108 trillion yen (US$990 billion), equal to 20% of the country's Gross domestic product, GDP. * April 8 – COVID-19 pandemic: The Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen, Saudi–led coalition declares a unilateral ceasefire in its operations against Houthi movement, Houthi forces in Yemen in accordance with

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

-led efforts. * April 10 ** Kivu Ebola epidemic: The Democratic Republic of the Congo reports the first case of Ebola since February 2020. The outbreak has killed more than 2,200 people since August 2018. **The European Space Agency, ESA/JAXA space probe BepiColombo makes its final gravity assist around Earth and begins to depart for Venus, where it will make several gravity assist maneuvers before finally arriving at Mercury (planet), Mercury in 2025. **COVID-19 pandemic: ***The death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 100,000 globally, a ten-fold increase from March 20. *** Economic and Financial Affairs Council, EU finance ministers agree on a €540 billion loan package to alleviate the Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. * April 12 ** COVID-19 pandemic: Pope Francis Live streaming, livestreams the ''Urbi et Orbi'' blessing for Easter; it is the second blessing in a month, with the first taking place on March 27 during a special prayer service for the end of the pandemic. ** OPEC and allies strike a deal to 2020 Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war, cut oil production by 9.7 million barrels per day, the largest such cut agreed upon, starting May 1. * April 14 **COVID-19 pandemic ***The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it expects the world economy to COVID-19 recession, shrink 3%, the worst contraction since the Great Depression of the 1930s. ***President of the United States, U.S. president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

announces that the United States, U.S. will suspend funding towards the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

(WHO) pending an investigation of its National responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its China and the United Nations, relationship with China. * April 15 **COVID-19 pandemic: ***The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 2 million worldwide. ***The 2020 Tour de France is delayed until August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ***The 2020 South Korean legislative election is held to elect all 300 members of the National Assembly (South Korea), National Assembly of South Korea and the Democratic Party (South Korea, 2015), Democratic Party of Korea-Platform Party alliance wins 180 out of 300 seats. * April 17 ** The China Securities Regulatory Commission approves a transaction in which Switzerland's Credit Suisse will take a majority interest in a China securities firm, making Credit Suisse the first foreign bank to own a majority of such a company since the easing of foreign ownership rules in 2018. **COVID-19 pandemic: ***China revises the COVID-19 death toll in Wuhan upward, adding 1,290 more fatalities to bring COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, the country's reported COVID-19 deaths to 4,632. *** COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, Europe surpasses 100,000 COVID-19-related deaths. ***The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, U.N. Human Rights Office accuses Myanmar of carrying out daily airstrikes in the Rakhine State, Rakhine and Chin State, Chin states and that at least 32 civilians have been killed since March 23. The separatist Arakan Army (Kachin State), Arakan Army unilaterally declared a month-long ceasefire to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar, pandemic, but the military rejected the ceasefire claiming a previous ceasefire had been reneged by the insurgents. * April 18 – 44 suspected Boko Haram members are found dead, apparently due to poisoning, inside a prison in N'Djamena, Chad. * April 19 **COVID-19 pandemic: Unrest breaks out in Paris, Berlin and Vladikavkaz as opposition to COVID-19 lockdowns continue. * April 20 **Oil prices reach a record low, with West Texas Intermediate falling into negative values. **The Industrial Bank of Korea agrees to pay U.S. dollar, US$86 million and will enter a two-year Deferred prosecution, deferred prosecution agreement to settle lawsuits with the United States Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice and New York (state), the state of New York over a 2011 scheme to help transfer US$1 billion to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

. ** Prime Minister of Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White (political alliance), Blue and White Alliance leader Benny Gantz agree on a deal to form a Thirty-fifth government of Israel, unity government, thus ending more than a year of 2019–2021 Israeli political crisis, political deadlock. As part of the deal, Netanyahu will hold onto his position for 18 more months, with Gantz replacing him afterwards. * April 21 – Mozambique Defence Armed Forces, Mozambique police say 52 male villagers were killed by Islamist militants earlier this month in Muidumbe District, Cabo Delgado Province, after they refused to join their ranks. * April 22 – Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps deploys the country's first Noor (satellite), military satellite, using a new satellite carrier called "Qased (rocket), Ghased" ("Messenger"). * April 23 ** Syrian Civil War: Two former high-ranking members of the Syrian Army go on trial in Koblenz, Germany, for alleged war crimes committed during the civil war. It is the first time that Syrian military officials are prosecuted for their roles in the conflict. **COVID-19 pandemic: Facebook removes "pseudoscience" and "conspiracy theory" as options for Targeted advertising, targeted ads as criticism mounts against social media for its role in spreading Misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation about COVID-19. * April 25 **

Yemeni Civil War Yemeni Civil War may refer to several historical events which have taken place in Yemen: * Alwaziri coup, February – March 1948 *Yemeni–Adenese clan violence, 1956–60 * North Yemen Civil War, 1962–70 * Aden Emergency, 1963–67 * North Yem ...

: The Southern Transitional Council (STC) announces the establishment of a self-rule administration in southern Yemen and deploys forces in Aden. Governors of multiple southern Governorates of Yemen, Yemeni Governorates and Socotra Governorate, Socotra island reject the STC's claim to self-rule and declare their loyalty to President of Yemen, President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. Months later on July 19, the STC accepts a Saudi-brokered peace deal and abandons its self-rule aspirations. **COVID-19 pandemic: The global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 200,000. The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, UK becomes the fifth country to report 20,000 deaths. * April 26 – King of Saudi Arabia, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Salman issues a royal decree, declaring that people will no longer be executed in Legal system of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia for crimes they were convicted of when they were minors. * April 27 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases passes 3 million worldwide, while the number of confirmed cases in the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, U.S. passes 1 million. * April 28 **A fast radio burst is detected from the Magnetar SGR 1935+2154, the first ever detected inside the Milky Way, and the first to be linked to a known source. ** Colombia formalizes its membership with the OECD, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), becoming the 37th nation of the organization. **The Ministry of External Affairs (India), Indian Ministry of External Affairs condemns the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom after its annual report recommends placing India on the "countries of particular concern" blacklist over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, Citizenship Amendment Act, the Revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status, and controversial comments made by Minister of Home Affairs (India), Home Minister Amit Shah, among others. * April 29 – (52768) 1998 OR2, a Near-Earth object, near-Earth asteroid that is 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) wide, makes a close approach of 0.042 Astronomical unit, AU (6.3 million Kilometre, km; 16 Lunar distance (astronomy), LD) to Earth. It will not approach closer than this until 2070s, 2079. * April 30 **

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

officially selects SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Dynetics to build its next-generation lunar lander to Artemis program, carry American astronauts to the Moon by 2024. ** Bulgaria applies for European Exchange Rate Mechanism, ERM II (the "waiting room" for the Eurozone), due to join along with

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

in July 2020.

May

*May 1 **COVID-19 pandemic: The total number of recovered COVID-19 patients reaches 1 million worldwide, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, The Johns Hopkins University. **Guanare prison riot: A riot and attempted escape attempt leaves 47 dead and 75 injured in the ''Centro Penitenciario de los Llanos'' in Guanare,

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

. *May 2 – The

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

publishes a report stating that Russia's indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Syria constitutes a war crime. *May 3–May 4, 4 – Venezuelan dissidents and a North American-based private military company, Silvercorp USA, unsuccessfully attempt to Operation Gideon (2020), infiltrate Venezuela and forcibly remove President Nicolás Maduro from office. *May 4 – A team of United Kingdom, British and Kenyan scientists announce the discovery of Microsporidia MB, a Parasite, parasitic microbe in the Microsporidia fungi group that blocks mosquitos from carrying malaria, potentially paving the way for the control of malaria. *May 5 – COVID-19 pandemic: COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, The U.K. death toll from COVID-19 becomes the highest in Europe at 32,313 after exceeding the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, death toll of 29,029 in Italy. *May 6 **Astronomers announce the discovery of the first black hole located in HR 6819, a star system visible to the naked eye. **COVID-19 pandemic: New evidence indicates that an Algerian-born French citizen, French fishmonger, who had not traveled to China and did not have contact with any China, Chinese nationals, was treated for pneumonia from an unknown source on December 27, 2019, now identified as

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

. *May 8 – The Aurangabad railway accident occurred in India. 17 migrants were sleeping on the trains when a freight train collided and killed 16 people and injured 1. *May 9 – Several People's Liberation Army, Chinese and Indian Armed Forces, Indian soldiers are injured in a 2020–2022 China–India skirmishes, cross-border clash at the Nathu La crossing. About 150 troops participated in the face-off, which involved fistfights and stone-throwing. *May 10 **The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, Iranian Navy frigate ''Iranian frigate Jamaran, Jamaran'' Konarak vessel incident, accidentally strikes the Iranian support vessel ''Iranian support vessel Konarak, Konarak'' with a missile, killing nineteen sailors. This is the first List of friendly fire incidents, friendly fire incident since February 2019, when an Indian Mil Mi-17 helicopter was mistakenly shot down by Indian Air Force, Indian air defense forces. **COVID-19 pandemic:

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city a ...

reports its first coronavirus cases in more than a month. An 89-year-old man is confirmed positive, but his wife and several members of the community are recorded as asymptomatic cases. *May 11 – The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology publishes the result of Radiocarbon dating, radiocarbon and DNA analysis from the fossils that has been found in the Bacho Kiro cave, Bulgaria. The result, showing that the fossils belong to ''Homo sapiens'' instead of Neanderthal, indicates that modern humans may have arrived in Europe thousands of years earlier than previously thought. *May 12 – Gunmen May 2020 Afghanistan attacks#12 May 2020 attacks, storm a maternity hospital and kill 24 people, including two newborn babies, in Dashte Barchi, a majority-Shia Islam, Shia neighborhood of Kabul,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

. In a separate incident in Kuz Kunar District, Kuz Kunar, 32 people are killed at a funeral by a suicide bomber. *May 14 **COVID-19 pandemic: ***The global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 300,000. ***The United Nations, UN warns of a global mental health crisis caused by isolation, fear, uncertainty and economic turmoil. **

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Secretary General of NATO, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the military alliance is "ready to support" the United Nations, UN-recognized

Government of National Accord The Government of National Accord ( ar, حكومة الوفاق الوطني) was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015. T ...

while Greece, a member state of NATO, strongly criticizes Stoltenberg's remarks, saying his recognition of the "Muslim Brotherhood government" does not reflect the positions of the military alliance. *May 15 – Researchers announce a 2.5 cm millipede fossil belonging to the ''Kampecaris'' genus, discovered on the island of Kerrera in the Scotland, Scottish Inner Hebrides, is the world's oldest-known land animal, which lived 425 million years ago in the Silurian period. *May 16 – Félicien Kabuga, a Rwandan businessman responsible for supporting the Rwandan genocide, is arrested in Asnières-sur-Seine, France, after 26 years as a fugitive. *May 18 **The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announces that 2020 East Africa floods, nearly 1 million people are affected and at least 24 people have died in flash floods that have hit Beledweyne and Jowhar, Somalia. **In a historic move, the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

holds its annual World Health Assembly using Video-conferencing, video conferencing instead of in-person meetings. *May 19 – State of Palestine, Palestinian President of the State of Palestine, President Mahmoud Abbas announces the termination of all agreements, including security ones, with Israel and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in response to Israel's plans to Annexation of the Jordan Valley, annex the Jordan Valley. *May 21 **Cyclone Amphan makes landfall in East India, eastern India and Bangladesh, killing over 100 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 4 million others. It causes over US$13 billion in damage, making it the costliest cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean tropical cyclone, North Indian Ocean, shattering the record previously held by Cyclone Nargis, Nargis. **The United States, U.S. announces it will withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies, Open Skies Treaty within six months, alleging continuous violations by Russia. **COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 5 million worldwide, with 106,000 new cases recorded over the past 24 hours, the highest single-day figure so far. *May 22 **Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303, Flight PK8303, a Pakistan International Airlines passenger aircraft, crashes in a residential area near Karachi, in Pakistan, killing 97 of the 99 total people on board and injuring dozens on the ground. **COVID-19 pandemic: COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, Brazil overtakes COVID-19 pandemic in Russia, Russia to become the country with the second highest number of COVID-19 cases, with over 330,000 reported. Jair Bolsonaro, President Jair Bolsonaro continues to dismiss the threat of the virus. * May 23 – COVID-19 pandemic: COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, China reports no new cases for the first time since the pandemic began, according to the National Health Commission. * May 24 **Mining corporation Rio Tinto (corporation), Rio Tinto admits to blowing up the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge caves in the Pilbara area of Western Australia. The firm later issues an apology to the two Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples who are the traditional owners of the site. ** President of Egypt, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pardons 3,157 prisoners to celebrate Eid al-Fitr and, two days later, President of Zambia Edgar Lungu pardons nearly 3,000 inmates to commemorate Africa Day, Africa Freedom Day. *May 25 **The 2020 Surinamese general election is held to elect all 51 members of the National Assembly (Suriname), National Assembly of Suriname. **Euroleague Basketball, announced that it cancelled the 2019-20 EuroLeague, Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and EuroCup Basketball, 7DAYS EuroCup seasons due to COVID-19 pandemic. * May 26 **George Floyd protests, Protests caused by the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...

break out across List of George Floyd protests in the United States, hundreds of cities in the U.S. and List of George Floyd protests outside the United States, around the world. These are followed by further protests and rallies on June 6 against racism and police brutality List of George Floyd protests outside the United States, around the world. ** Costa Rica becomes the first Central American country to legalise Same-sex marriage in Costa Rica, same-sex marriage. ** LATAM Airlines Group, LATAM Airlines, the largest air carrier in Latin America, files for Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code, Chapter 11 bankruptcy. *May 27 **The National People's Congress, Chinese National People's Congress votes in favour of National People's Congress Decision on Hong Kong national security legislation, national security legislation that criminalizes "Hong Kong independence, secession", "subversion", "terrorism" and foreign interference in Hong Kong; the legislation grants sweeping powers to the Chinese central government to suppress the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, Hong Kong democracy movement, including banning activist groups and curtailing civil liberties. The U.S. government responds by declaring Hong Kong is "no longer autonomous" under the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act. **COVID-19 pandemic: The U.S. death toll passes 100,000 – more Americans than were killed in the Vietnam War and Korean War combined, and approaching that of the World War I, First World War, where 116,000 Americans died in combat. The total number of cases continues to rise, although the rate is slowing. *May 30 – The Crew Dragon Demo-2, first crewed flight of the SpaceX Dragon 2 (initially scheduled for May 27 but delayed due to weather) is launched from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39, Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first crewed spacecraft to take off from U.S. soil since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in STS-135, 2011.

June

* June 1 – Kivu Ebola epidemic: The

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

reports six new cases of Ebola, and UNICEF reports five deaths, in a renewed outbreak of the disease in Mbandaka, Province of Équateur, Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. * June 2 – A United States dollar, US$5 billion class action lawsuit is filed against Alphabet Inc. and Google, alleging the company violates users' right to privacy by tracking them in Google Chrome, Chrome's Private browsing, incognito mode. * June 3 ** Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the United Kingdom, UK will change United Kingdom immigration law, immigration laws to offer a pathway to UK citizenship for all Hong Kong citizens who are eligible for British National (Overseas), BN(O) status if the government of China imposes National People's Congress Decision on Hong Kong national security legislation, new security laws on the territory. ** SpaceX successfully launches and deploys 60 Starlink satellites into a low Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, bringing the total number of Starlink satellites in orbit to 482. ** President of Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin declares a state of emergency after 20,000 tons of oil leaked into the Ambarnaya River near the Siberian city of Norilsk within the Arctic Circle on May 26, 2020. The World Wildlife Fund said the accident is believed to be the Environmental issues in Russia, second-largest in modern Russian history. * June 4 ** Libya's

Government of National Accord The Government of National Accord ( ar, حكومة الوفاق الوطني) was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015. T ...

(GNA) says they are in full control of the capital, Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli, after forces of the Libyan National Army (LNA) retreat from the territory following 2019–2020 Western Libya campaign, months of intense fighting in the city. ** Hong Kong legislative council passed the controversial National Anthem Ordinance. *June 5 – The 2020 Saint Kitts and Nevis general election is held to elect all 15 members of the National Assembly (Saint Kitts and Nevis), National Assembly of Saint Kitts and Nevis. * June 7 – COVID-19 pandemic: The global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 400,000. * June 8 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 7 million worldwide. * June 9 – COVID-19 pandemic: A Harvard University study suggests that COVID-19 may have been spreading in China as early as 2019#August, August 2019, based on hospital car park usage and web search trends. * June 15 **At least 20 Indian soldiers and over 40 Chinese forces are killed or injured in 2020 China–India skirmishes#Galwan Valley clash, skirmishes in the disputed Galwan River, Galwan Valley, the largest escalation along the Sino-Indian border dispute, Sino-Indian border in five decades. ** Turkish Armed Forces, Turkish and Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iranian forces commence Operation Claw-Eagle (2020), air and artillery strikes against Kurdistan Workers' Party forces in Iraqi Kurdistan. Turkey launches a Operation Claw-Tiger, land operation in the region on June 17. * June 16 **COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 8 million worldwide. ** North Korea demolishes the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in Kaesong, established in 2018 to improve relations. * June 21 ** An Solar eclipse of June 21, 2020, annular solar eclipse occurs. ** The 2020 Serbian parliamentary election is held to elect all 250 members of the National Assembly (Serbia), National Assembly of Serbia and the ruling Together We Can Do Everything, For Our Children coalition won 188 out of 250 seats. * June 22 ** COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 9 million worldwide. ** The 2020 Kiribati presidential election is held and

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-el ...

President of Kiribati, president Taneti Maamau is reelected. ** The 2020 Malawian presidential election is held and Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party is elected President of Malawi, president. *June 24 – The 2020 Mongolian legislative election is held to elect the State Great Khural and the ruling Mongolian People's Party wins 62 out of 76 seats. *June 27 **Micheál Martin succeeds Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach of Ireland, with Varadkar becoming Tánaiste in a historic three-party coalition government. **The 2020 Icelandic presidential election is held and

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-el ...

President of Iceland, president Guðni Th. Jóhannesson is reelected. * June 28 **COVID-19 pandemic: ***The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 10 million worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, U.S. continues to report the highest number of any country as it reaches 2.5 million, a quarter of all cases globally. ***The global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 500,000. ***The first round of voting of the 2020 Polish presidential election is held. * June 30 – China passes the controversial 2020 Hong Kong national security law, Hong Kong national security law, allowing China to crack down on opposition to Beijing at home or abroad.

July

* July 1 – Russian voters back a 2020 Russian constitutional referendum, constitutional amendment that, among other things, enables Vladimir Putin to seek two further six-year terms when his current term ends in 2024, potentially allowing him to remain in power until 2036. * July 5 ** The 2020 Croatian parliamentary election is held to elect all 151 members of the Croatian Parliament. ** 2020 Dominican Republic general election: Modern Revolutionary Party candidate Luis Abinader is elected president of the Dominican Republic, the Modern Revolutionary Party wins 17 out of 32 seats in the Senate of the Dominican Republic, Senate and 86 out of 190 seats in the Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic, Chamber of Deputies. * July 7 ** 2020–2021 Bulgarian protests, Protests begin throughout Bulgaria with the goal of removing Third Borisov Government, Borisov's cabinet and Office of the General Prosecutor of Bulgaria, Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev from office. ** COVID-19 pandemic: 2018–2020 Serbian protests, Thousands of people rally outside the House of the National Assembly of Serbia in Belgrade in response to stricter lockdown measures proposed by Aleksandar Vučić, President Aleksandar Vučić following an increase of COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia, cases in the city. * July 8 – At least 180 bodies are found in mass graves in Djibo, Burkina Faso, where Burkina Faso Armed Forces, soldiers are fighting jihadists. It is suspected that Government of Burkina Faso, government forces were involved in mass extrajudicial executions. * July 10 ** The European Central Bank, ECB accepts Bulgaria and the euro, Bulgaria and Croatia and the euro, Croatia into European Exchange Rate Mechanism, ERM II, a mandatory stage for countries wishing to adopt the euro. This is the Eurozone, currency union's first Enlargement of the eurozone, major expansion in half a decade. ** Turkey's President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 t ...

orders the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to be Conversion of non-Islamic places of worship into mosques, reverted to a mosque following a Council of State (Turkey), supreme court annulment of a 1934 presidential decree that made it into a museum. ** The 2020 Singaporean general election is held to elect all 93 members of the Parliament of Singapore and the People's Action Party, led by Prime Minister of Singapore, prime minister Lee Hsien Loong wins 83 out of 93 seats. *July 12 – The second round of voting for the 2020 Polish presidential election is held and

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-el ...

President of Poland, president Andrzej Duda is reelected. * July 15 – The Twitter accounts of prominent political figures, CEOs, and celebrities are 2020 Twitter bitcoin scam, hacked to promote a bitcoin scam. * July 19 – Flooding of the Brahmaputra River kills 189 and leaves 4 million homeless in India and Nepal. * July 21 – COVID-19 pandemic: European leaders agree to create a €750 billion (US$858 billion) recovery fund to rebuild Economy of the European Union, EU economies impacted by the Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, pandemic. * July 22 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 15 million worldwide. * July 25 – COVID-19 pandemic: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un convenes an emergency meeting, declares a state of emergency, and orders the lockdown of Kaesong after a person suspected of having COVID-19 returned from COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, South Korea. If confirmed, it would be the first case to be officially COVID-19 pandemic in North Korea, acknowledged by North Korea. * 28 July – Former Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak is found guilty of all seven charges in the first of five trials on the 1MDB scandal, being jailed 12 years and fined Malaysian ringgit, RM210 million as a result. * July 30 –

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

successfully launches its Mars 2020 rover mission to search for signs of Life on Mars, ancient life and collect samples for return to Earth. The mission includes technology demonstrations to prepare for Colonization of Mars, future human missions.

August

* August 1 – The Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates, UAE becomes operational following delays since 2017. It is the first commercial nuclear power station in the Arab world. * August 2 – COVID-19 pandemic: In rare talks, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (United Arab Emirates), Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Iran), Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hold a video call to discuss various regional issues, including combating COVID-19 pandemic in Asia, COVID-19 in their respective countries. * August 4 – 2020 Beirut explosion, An explosion caused by unsafely stored ammonium nitrate kills at least 218 people, injures thousands, and severely damages Port of Beirut, the port in Beirut, Lebanon. Damage is estimated at $10–15 billion, and an estimated 300,000 people are left homeless. The following day, the Lebanese government declares a two-week state of emergency. * August 5 – United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar travels to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

, the highest Taiwan–United States relations, U.S. official visit to the country in 40 years. The China, PRC condemns the visit. * August 7 – Air India Express Flight 1344 crashes after overrunning the runway at Calicut International Airport in Kerala, India, killing 19 of the 191 people on board. * August 9 – A 2020 Belarusian presidential election, presidential election in Belarus which led to incumbent Alexander Lukashenko's reelection sparks 2020–21 Belarusian protests, protests throughout the country after major opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya rejected the results. Seven days later, the largest political march in History of Belarus, Belarusian history takes place, with an estimated 300,000 people in Minsk and 200,000 in other List of cities and largest towns in Belarus, Belarusian cities and towns. * August 10 **An intense August 2020 Midwest derecho, derecho kills 4 and brings widespread damaging wind to much of the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States in what becomes the costliest thunderstorm event in US history. **COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 20 million worldwide. **The 2020 Trinidad and Tobago general election is held to elect all 41 members of the House of Representatives (Trinidad and Tobago), House of Representatives of Trinidad and Tobago, the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago and the People's National Movement party, led by List of prime ministers of Trinidad and Tobago, prime minister Keith Rowley won 22 out of 41 seats. * August 11 – COVID-19 pandemic: Russian President Vladimir Putin announces that COVID-19 pandemic in Russia, Russia has approved the Gam-COVID-Vac, world's first COVID-19 vaccine. * August 13 – Israel and the United Arab Emirates, UAE agree to Israel–United Arab Emirates peace agreement, normalise relations, marking the third Israeli–Palestinian peace process, Israel–Arab peace deal. * August 15 – The Japanese bulk carrier ''Wakashio'', which stranded on a reef in Mauritius last month, breaks in half. Approximately 1,000 tonnes of oil are MV Wakashio oil spill, spilled into the ocean, becoming the largest environmental disaster in the history of Mauritius. * August 18 – A mutiny in a military base by soldiers of the Malian Armed Forces develops into 2020 Malian coup d'état, a coup d'état. President of Mali, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and Prime Minister of Mali, Prime Minister Boubou Cissé, among other senior governmental and military officers, are arrested. The next day, Keïta announces his resignation on state television. * August 19 – The Special Tribunal for Lebanon convicts ''Trial in absentia, in absentia'' Salim Ayyash, a senior member of Hezbollah, for the 2005 Assassination of Rafic Hariri, assassination of former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. * August 22 – COVID-19 pandemic: The worldwide death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 800,000. *August 23 – FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich wins the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League by beating Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain in the 2020 UEFA Champions League Final, final 1–0. * August 25 – Africa is declared free of wild polio, the second virus to be eradicated from the continent since Eradication of smallpox, smallpox 40 years previously. * August 26 – Amazon (company), Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos becomes the first person in history to have a net worth exceeding US$200 billion, according to ''Forbes''. *August 27 – Hurricane Laura makes landfall in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Lake Charles, Louisiana with winds of 150 mph, making it the strongest hurricane to ever strike the state in terms of windspeed, tied with the 1856 Last Island hurricane, 1856 Last Island Hurricane. * August 28 – Prime Minister of Japan, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the List of prime ministers of Japan, longest-serving prime minister in the history of Japan, announces his resignation from office, citing ill health. * August 30 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 25 million worldwide. India continues to record COVID-19 pandemic in India, the highest daily increase of cases.

September

*September 3 **Prime Minister of Sudan, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Abdelaziz al-Hilu, the leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM–N), sign an agreement to transition Sudan, the country into a secular state. The agreement comes three days after the signing of a Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, peace deal between 2019–2022 Sudanese transition to democracy, Sudan's transitional government and the Sudan Revolutionary Front, which the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, SPLM–N opted out of. Weeks later on October 3, the transitional government signed a peace deal with the main rebel groups, including the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, SPLM–N, which had refused to engage in previous talks. **The skeletons of 200 mammoths and 30 other animals are unearthed at a construction site for the Mexico City Santa Lucía Airport. It is the largest find of mammoth bones to date, surpassing The Mammoth Site in the U.S. which had 61 skeletons. *September 4 **Pope Benedict XVI becomes the longest-lived pope at 93 years, 4 months, and 16 days, surpassing Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903. **The La Línea (Road Pass), La Línea highway tunnel, the longest road tunnel in South America at a length of 8.65 kilometres (5.37 mi), is opened in Colombia after 14 years of construction and several delays. **Kosovo–Serbia relations, Kosovo and Serbia announce that they will 2020 Kosovo–Serbia agreement, normalize economic relations. The two countries will also move their Foreign relations of Israel, Israeli embassies to Jerusalem, becoming List of positions on Jerusalem, the third and fourth countries to Status of Jerusalem, recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. **Bahrain and Israel agree to Bahrain–Israel normalization agreement, normalise relations, marking the fourth Israeli–Palestinian peace process, Israel–Arab peace deal. *September 6 – Typhoon Haishen (2020), Typhoon Haishen makes landfall on Japan and then South Korea as a strong category 2-equivalent typhoon. It later makes landfall on North Korea where widespread flooding occurs. *September 14 **Former

Prime Minister of Malaysia The prime minister of Malaysia ( ms, Perdana Menteri Malaysia; ms, ڤردان منتري مليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the fede ...

Najib Razak is listed on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) online database of corruption offenders convicted locally. His name at the top of the first page of the MACC Corruption Offenders Database. **The Royal Astronomical Society announces the detection of phosphine in Venus' atmosphere, which is known to be a strong predictor for the presence of microbial life. **The first discovery of the perfectly preserved remains of a cave bear, believed to be 22,000 to 39,500 years old (Late Pleistocene), is made in Lyakhovsky Islands, Siberia in the thawing permafrost. *September 16 **A United Nations Human Rights Council fact-finding mission formally accuses the Government of Venezuela, Venezuelan government of crimes against humanity, including cases of killings, torture, violence against political opposition and disappearances since 2014. President Nicolás Maduro and other senior Venezuelan officials are among those implicated in the charges. **Yoshihide Suga becomes the new Prime Minister of Japan, replacing Shinzo Abe. **Hurricane Sally makes landfall on the Alabama coast as a high-end Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, Category 2 hurricane, causing over $8 billion in damages and killing 8 people. *September 17 **France, Germany, and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

issue a joint ''Diplomatic correspondence, note verbale'' to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

rejecting Territorial disputes in the South China Sea, China's claims to the South China Sea, and supporting the ruling in ''Philippines v. China'' that said the historic rights per the nine-dash line ran counter to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. However, the statement says that on "territorial sovereignty" they "take no position". **COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 30 million worldwide. *September 19 – A 1634 edition of ''The Two Noble Kinsmen'', the last Shakespeare's plays, play by English playwright William Shakespeare, is discovered at the Royal Scots College's library in Salamanca, Spain. It is believed to be the oldest copy of any of his works in the country. *September 20 – ''BuzzFeed News'' and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) release the FinCEN Files, a collection of 2,657 documents relating to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network describing over 200,000 suspicious transactions valued at over trillion that occurred from 1999 to 2017 across multiple global financial institutions. *September 21 – Microsoft agrees to buy video game holding company ZeniMax Media, including Bethesda Softworks and their following subsidiaries for US$7.5 billion, in what was the biggest and most expensive takeover in the history of the video game industry. *September 27 – Beginning of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War: deadly clashes erupt in Nagorno-Karabakh between Armed Forces of Armenia, Armenian and Azerbaijani Armed Forces, Azerbaijani forces. Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Republic of Artsakh introduce martial law and Mobilization, mobilize forces. *September 29 ** COVID-19 pandemic: The worldwide death toll from COVID-19 exceeds one million. ** The Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Sheikh Sabah Al-Sabah dies at the age of 91. Crown Prince Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is named his successor.

October

* October 1 – The EU began legal proceedings against the UK after it ignored their deadline to drop controversial sections from its United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, internal market Bill. * October 5 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 35 million worldwide. The news coincides with the World Health Organization estimating that total worldwide cases may be around 760 million; roughly a tenth of the global population. * October 6 – 2020 Central Vietnam floods, Serious floods affected in Central Vietnam, lasted nearly 3 months and killed at least 249 people. * October 15 **2020 Thai protests: The Government of Thailand declares a "severe" state of emergency banning gatherings of five or more people, initiating a crackdown on demonstrations and imposing media censorship. **President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigns from office after weeks of 2020 Kyrgyzstan protests, massive protests in the wake of the October 2020 Kyrgyz parliamentary election, October 2020 parliamentary election; opposition leader Sadyr Japarov assumes office as both the acting president and Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan. * October 17 – 2020 New Zealand general election: Jacinda Ardern's New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party wins a landslide second term in office, defeating the New Zealand National Party, National Party led by Judith Collins and gaining the country's first New Zealand Parliament, parliamentary majority since the introduction of the Mixed-member proportional representation, MMP voting system. * October 19 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 40 million worldwide. * October 20 – NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft briefly touches down on 101955 Bennu, Bennu, becoming the agency's first probe to retrieve samples from an asteroid, with its cargo due for Sample-return mission, return to Earth in 2023. * October 21 – Heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm Linfa, tropical storm Linfa caused landslides at the Rao Trang 3 hydroelectric plant in Thua Thien Hue, Vietnam, killing 17 construction workers and 13 soldiers who were on a rescue mission. * October 22 – The Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women's Health and Strengthening the Family is signed by government representatives from 34 countries. * October 23 **At the end of an 11-year demining process, the Falkland Islands are declared Land mines in the Falkland Islands, free of land mines, 38 years after the end of the Falklands War, 1982 war. **Israel and Sudan agree to Israel–Sudan normalization agreement, normalise relations, marking the fifth Israeli–Palestinian peace process, Israel–Arab peace deal. * October 26 – NASA confirms the existence of Lunar water, molecular water on the sunlit side of the Moon, near Clavius (crater), Clavius crater, at concentrations of up to 412 parts per million. * October 29 – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) confirms the death of at least 140 migrants who drowned off the coast of Senegal on a vessel bound for the Spanish Canary Islands, making it the deadliest shipwreck of 2020. *October 30 **2020 Aegean Sea earthquake: A magnitude 7.0 earthquake hits Turkey and Greece, killing 119 people and injuring over 1,000. **COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 45 million worldwide. * October 31 – Typhoon Goni (2020), Typhoon Goni makes landfall in the Philippines, becoming the strongest landfalling tropical cyclone in history, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and killing dozens of people in the region.

November

*November 1 – 2020 Moldovan presidential election: Former Prime Minister of Moldova, Prime Minister and Ministry of Education, Culture and Research (Moldova), Minister of Education Maia Sandu is elected as the 6th President of Moldova, becoming the first woman to ever hold the post. *November 3 – November 4, 4 **2020 United States presidential election: The election of Joe Biden as the 46th

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

is called by many news media organizations after remaining vote counts (November 7) come in from key states delayed by an influx of mail-in ballots caused by the pandemic, defeating incumbent President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

. **2020 United States Senate elections take place, ending in an overall success for the Democratic party. **The United States formally United States withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, exits the Paris Agreement on

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. ** Beginning of the Tigray War: Ethiopia launches an offensive in Tigray Region, Tigray following an Northern Command attacks (Ethiopia), attack on Ethiopian military bases by the Tigray People's Liberation Front. *November 7 – Hurricane Eta makes landfall in Nicaragua, killing over 100 people in Central America as a category 4. *November 8 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 50 million worldwide. *November 9 **Second Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia sign a 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, ceasefire agreement, formally ending the war. **COVID-19 pandemic: The first successful Phases of clinical research, phase III trial of a COVID-19 vaccine is announced by drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech, which is 90% effective according to interim results. *November 10 – Apple Inc., Apple releases the first Macintosh, Mac computers (a new MacBook Air (Apple silicon), MacBook Air, Mac Mini, Mac mini and MacBook Pro) powered by Apple silicon chips. *November 11 – COVID-19 pandemic: The Sputnik V vaccine is proven to be 92% effective against COVID-19 according to interim results. *November 12 – November 13, 13 **Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers resign en masse, in response to four lawmakers' disqualification made by the government. **Typhoon Vamco (2020), Typhoon Vamco makes landfall in Vietnam, after crossing the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and killing at least 69 people. The storm causes the worst floods in the region since Typhoon Ketsana in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. **Western Sahara conflict: Western Saharan clashes (2020–present), fighting erupts between Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic when Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, Moroccan forces launch a military operation to capture the town of Guerguerat, located in a United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, UN-monitored buffer zone. *November 15 **The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is signed by 15 Asia-Pacific countries to form the world's largest free-trade bloc, covering a third of the world's population. **

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

and SpaceX launch the SpaceX Crew-1 mission from Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A, Launch Complex 39A to the International Space Station, ISS, the first operational flight of the Crew Dragon capsule. **Lewis Hamilton wins his seventh List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, Formula One World Drivers' Championship at the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix, equalling the record set by Michael Schumacher in 2004 Formula One World Championship, 2004. *November 16 **COVID-19 pandemic: The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is proven to be 94.5% effective against COVID-19 based on interim results, including severe illnesses. The vaccine has been cited as being among those that are easier to distribute as no ultra-cold storage is required. **Hurricane Iota makes landfall in Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane just two weeks after Hurricane Eta made landfall, devastating the same areas. *November 17 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 55 million worldwide, with around a million cases recorded every two days on average. *November 18 – COVID-19 pandemic: Pfizer and BioNTech complete trials on their COVID-19 vaccine, with an overall effectiveness rate of 95% without adverse events. *November 19 **The Brereton Report into Australian war crimes during the War in Afghanistan (2001–present), War in Afghanistan is released. **''Shuggie Bain'' by Douglas Stuart (writer), Douglas Stuart wins the 2020 Booker Prize. **The PlayStation 5 is released worldwide.' *November 22 – The United States withdraws from the Treaty on Open Skies. *November 23 – COVID-19 pandemic: AstraZeneca's AZD1222 vaccine, developed in collaboration with Oxford University, is shown to be 70% effective in protecting against COVID-19. The efficacy can be raised to 90% if an initial half dose is followed by a full dose a month later, based on interim data. *November 25 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 60 million worldwide. *November 27 – Iran's top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, is assassinated near Tehran. *November 28 – Koshobe massacre: Boko Haram terrorists attack a village in Borno State, Borno, Nigeria, killing 110 people and wounding 6 people. * November 30 **A November 2020 lunar eclipse, penumbral lunar eclipse occurs; the last of four lunar eclipses in 2020. **Protein folding, one of the biggest mysteries in biology, is solved by AlphaFold, an artificial intelligence algorithm developed by DeepMind. **COVID-19 pandemic: Moderna files an application for Emergency Use Authorization in the United States after its vaccine achieved an efficacy of 94.1% from full trials without safety concerns. It also plans to do the same in EU soon.

December

* December 1 ** COVID-19 pandemic: Pfizer and BioNTech announced an Emergency Use Authorization application to the European Medicines Agency. ** The Arecibo Telescope of the Arecibo Observatory collapses, just weeks after the announcement of its planned demolition. * December 2 ** COVID-19 pandemic: The United Kingdom approves Pfizer-BioNTech's Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, BNT162b2 vaccine, being the first country in the world to do so. ** Three activists in Hong Kong were jailed for their roles in the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, with Joshua Wong getting the heaviest at 13.5 months. **The

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Commission on Narcotic Drugs votes to remove Cannabis (drug), cannabis from the Removal of cannabis and cannabis resin from Schedule IV of the Single Convention on narcotic drugs, 1961, treaty list of dangerous drugs in recognition of its medical value, although some controls will remain. * December 4 ** COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 65 million worldwide, with the global death toll exceeding 1.5 million. Figures reflect that, in the last week, over 10,000 people worldwide have died on average every day, with one death every nine seconds. According to the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

,

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

had caused more deaths in 2020 than tuberculosis in 2019, as well as four times the number of deaths than malaria. ** Somali Civil War (2009-present), Somali Civil War: The United States announces its withdrawal from the conflict over the next month. * December 5 – COVID-19 pandemic: Russia begins mass vaccination against COVID-19 with the Gam-COVID-Vac, Sputnik V candidate. * December 6 – The 2020 Venezuelan parliamentary election takes place. * December 8 ** COVID-19 pandemic: The United Kingdom becomes the first nation to begin a mass inoculation campaign using a clinically authorised, fully tested vaccine, Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Margaret Keenan, 90, becomes the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer vaccine after trials. ** Nepal and China officially agree on

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow ...

's actual height, which is 8,848.86m. *December 10 **COVID-19 pandemic: The United States and Saudi Arabia approve the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, while Argentina approves Sputnik V. **Western Sahara conflict, Arab–Israeli conflict: Israel and Morocco normalise diplomatic relations. Simultaneously, the United States reaffirms its previous recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara and announces plans to build a consulate there. **The Nicolas Sarkozy corruption trial concludes in France. * December 11 – The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

agrees to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% over the next decade. * December 12 ** COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 70 million worldwide. ** Bhutan and Israel normalise diplomatic relations. * December 14 **COVID-19 pandemic: The United States and Canada begin mass vaccination with the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, Singapore approves the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, with other companies to provide vaccines progressively. **Sudan–United States relations: The United States removes Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. **Turkey–United States relations: The United States places sanctions on

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in retaliation for their purchase of a S-400 missile system from Russia, marking the first time they have sanctioned a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

ally. **A Solar eclipse of December 14, 2020, total solar eclipse is visible from parts of the South Pacific Ocean, southern South America, and the South Atlantic Ocean. * December 18 **Media outlets report that astronomers have detected a radio signal, BLC1, apparently from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun. Astronomers have stated that this and other, yet unpublished, signals, are thought to likely be "interference that we cannot fully explain" and that it appears to be among the two strongest candidates for a radio signal humanity received from extraterrestrial intelligence so far. **COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 75 million worldwide. **COVID-19 pandemic: The United States approves Moderna's vaccine for emergency use, the second brand available there. * December 20 – COVID-19 pandemic: Variant of Concern 202012/01, A highly infectious new strain of SARS-CoV-2 spreading in Europe and Australia provokes international border closures. * December 21 ** COVID-19 pandemic: 36 cases are reported on the Base General Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme in the Chilean Antarctic Territory, marking the first infections in Antarctica, the last continent to report infections. ** A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623. * December 24 **The

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

agree to a comprehensive UK - EU Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, free trade agreement prior to the end of the

transition period The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Uni ...

. **COVID-19 pandemic: Sinovac's CoronaVac, vaccine reached a rate of 91.25% efficacy in trials in Turkey. * December 27 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 80 million worldwide. *December 29 – The 2020 Petrinja earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 strikes Croatia, killing seven and injuring more than 20. * December 30 – COVID-19 pandemic: The United Kingdom approves AstraZeneca-Oxford's AZD1222, vaccine, the second one available. The vaccine is easier to store as it only requires normal fridge temperatures, making distribution easier. * December 31 – The Brexit withdrawal agreement#Transition_period, transition period following Brexit, the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union on January 31, 2020, expires.

Births and deaths

Nobel Prizes

* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna * Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Economics – Paul Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson * Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Louise Glück * Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – World Food Programme * Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea M. Ghez * Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Physiology or Medicine – Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton (virologist), Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice

References

External links

{{2020s in political history 2020, Leap years in the Gregorian calendar