2020 was an unprecedented year! One could not imagine the things that we experienced. There were many highs and as many lows. But, we all faced it together and learnt the value of our loved ones and the time that we have on this planet. As 2020 comes to an end, we have jotted down the A to Z of 2020:
A ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Australia fire
2020 had a devastating start with fires in Australia. Around 24 million hectares of land burned in the Australian bushfire season which left 33 people dead. Not only that, a report by WWF revealed that nearly 3 billion animals – mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs – were in the path of the flames.
B (the A to Z of 2020 ) – Black lives matter, Beirut Explosion, Brexit and Billie Ellish
Black Lives Matter movement– brought hidden racial biases within many countries to the forefront. This movement was inspired by a series of incidents.
In February, an African American– Ahmaud Abery– was shot to death by a white man while jogging in Georgia. Then in March, a 26-year-old Black woman– Breonna Taylor– was gunned down in her own home by police executing a warrant for someone else. These cases did provoke local reactions, but it was not until the video of George Floyd went viral. The tape showed Officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee on George Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds that reignited the Black Lives Matter Movement that had first emerged in 2013.
Beirut explosion– In August, a nuclear-like blast shook Lebanon’s Beirut and killed 190 people. It was believed that the explosion was caused by the detonation of thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate, stored for years at the port of Lebanon’s capital. Dazed, wounded, and crying for help, people walked through streets searching for relatives. The explosion was equivalent to 1/20th of the size of atomic bomb used in Hiroshima in 1945.
Brexit- After months of negotiations, the UK left the European Union (EU) on January 31, 2020. The term Brexit was coined by former lawyer Peter Wilding in May 2012. Brexit was originally due to happen on March 29, 2019, two years after then Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50 – the formal process to leave.
Billie Ellish- The 18-year-old made history at the
Grammy Awards. Not only did she become the youngest person to win one of
Grammy’s top awards — record, song and album of the year, and best new artist —
Eilish is the first artist to sweep all four since Christopher Cross did in
1981.She has also been chosen to
perform the new James Bond theme song, becoming the youngest artist to sing and
write the title track in the franchise’s 50-year history.
https://hellotricity.in/james-bond/
C ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Coronavirus, Chadwick Boseman
Coronavirus- Well, I guess no explanation is required on this hot topic. According to Oxford University, the word coronavirus dates back to the 60s and was previously “mainly used by scientific and medical specialists”. But by April this year, it had become one of the most frequently used nouns in the English language, exceeding even the usage of the word ‘time’.
Chadwick Boseman– was one of the much loved actor that passed away this year. The Black Panther star died in August end at his home in Los Angeles with his wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, and family by his side.
D ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Diljit Dosanjh
Diljit Dosanjh and Kangana Ranaut’s Twitter war made it to this list for being so entertaining. It all started when Diljit hit out at Kangana for misidentifying an elderly Sikh woman from the farmers’ protest as Bilkis Bano of Shaheen Bagh. Kangana deleted her tweet and instead of accepting that her information was wrong, she started a personal attack on Diljit. Dosanjh also backlashed at her, winning the fight and many hearts.
E ( the A to Z of 2020 ) -Environment
It is officially time for us to worry as environmental deterioration seems to have accelerated this year. 2020 was the third-warmest year on record, given that the global mean surface temperature for January-October was 1.1 to 1.2°C higher than the pre-industrial baseline (1850-1900). This has been followed by an unusually cold winter. This has been accompanied by oil spills, deforestation, forest fires, cyclones, and what not. Moreover, an iconic Metronome clock in Union Square in New York was repurposed as a ‘Climate Clock’, a 24-metre-wide digital display that keeps track of the remaining time window to take action on the climate crisis. The numbers on the clock show that we have 7 years to take urgent action to significantly change our energy systems and economy.
F ( the A to Z of 2020 ) -Farmers’ protest
A large number of farmers from different parts of India, mainly Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting against the 3 farm bills for a month. They braved the water cannons and lathi charge when they were on their way to Delhi and now, they are braving the chill in the national capital. One of the most peaceful protest, it has garnered support from all over the world. Till now, 6 table talks with the Central Government remain inconclusive.
G- Gangrape, Gitanjali Rao
The ugly side of this year was the Hathras gang-rape and murder that left the whole nation in shock. On September 14, a 20-year-old woman was allegedly raped by four men and murdered in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, triggering a massive outrage across the country. Following the vicious crime, Uttar Pradesh Police denied that the victim was raped and cremated her without the family’s approval.
Gitanjali Rao- A 15-year-old inventor and scientist, became Time magazine’s first Kid of the Year.
Click here to Read the interview
https://time.com/5916772/kid-of-the-year-2020/
H ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Harvey Weinstein
In February, former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was convicted of sexual assault by a New York jury. Once one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers, 67-year-old Weinstein, was convicted of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping Jessica Mann, a onetime aspiring actress, in 2013.
The #MeToo movement was founded by Tarana Burke but began as a social phenomenon in October 2017 as a hashtag started by American actress Alyssa Milano who shared her story of sexual assault against Harvey Weinstein.
I ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Irrfan Khan, Iran-US tension
A gem of Indian cinema, Irrfan Khan passed away in April at a hospital in Mumbai, where he was admitted for colon infection. The 53-year-old actor had been battling cancer since 2018. The actor will be seen one last time on the silver screen in 2021. The actor’s last film titled The Song of Scorpions will release in theatres next year. The movie revolves around a young tribal woman who tries to overcome a brutal betrayal in order to find her voice.
This year also began with the tensions between the Iran and US, following the killing of Gen Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, in an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport on January 3. Minutes after reports of Gen Qassem Soleimani’s death had trickled in, Trump had tweeted to post an image of the US flag, triggering further speculation that the airstrike is indeed an attack by his administration.
J ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Joe Biden
Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States and offered himself to the nation as a leader who “seeks not to divide, but to unify” a country gripped by a historic pandemic and a confluence of economic and social turmoil.
K ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Kobe, Kamala Harris, Karen
Kobe- On January 26, basketball legend Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles along with his 13-year-old daughter and seven others on board. For 20 years, Bryant played for the Los Angeles Lakers – 18 of them as an all-star – winning five NBA championships.
Kamala Harris- Breaking all the barriers, Kamala Harris became the first woman as well as the first African-American and South Asian to become the Vice-President of the United States of America. Harris was born to two immigrant parents: a black father and an Indian mother. Harris grew up embracing her Indian culture but lived a proud African-American life. She began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. She became the top prosecutor for San Francisco in 2003, before being elected the first woman and the first black person to serve as California’s attorney general in 2010.
Karen- If you are active on social media, you would have definitely enjoyed the ‘Karen’ memes. “Karen” has, in recent years, become a widespread meme referencing a specific type of middle-class white woman, who exhibits behaviours that stem from privilege. To give some examples, “Karen” is associated with the kind of person who demands to “speak to the manager” in order to belittle service industry workers, is anti-vaccination, and carries out racist micro-aggressions, such as asking to touch black people’s hair.
L ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Lockdown, locusts
The fight against Covid began when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a “Janta Curfew”, followed by a nationwide lockdown in March. It was a ‘never-seen-before’ moment: the trains had stopped, markets closed, empty roads, as if the Earth stood still. An upside of this lockdown was that he air got cleaner, no noise pollution, sightings of wild animals on the roads, population of endangered olive ridley turtles rose high.
Locusts- Right in the middle of the pandemic, India saw a massive invasion of these crop-attacking creatures. Large swarms of locusts invaded several parts of India as well as some of the neighbouring countries.
M ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Maradona, migrant exodus and mask
Among the many tragedies 2020 brought to us was Diego Maradona’s untimely death. The legendary football player passed away on November 25 at the age of 60 from a heart attack at his home in Argentina.
https://hellotricity.in/napoli-to-rename-san-paolo-stadium-after-maradona/
Migrant exodus- When the nationwide lockdown kicked in 25 March, lakhs of migrant labourers found themselves without any means for sustenance. Hence, they started the journey to their homes, covering miles and miles on foot. The total number of internal migrants in India, as per the 2011 census, is 45.36 crore or 37% of the country’s population.
Mask- Who thought that a mask would become an integral part of our lives and fashion!
N ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – NASA
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) carried out many important missions this year, such as:
Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s private company SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station. This was NASA’s first full-fledged mission involving sending crew into orbit through a privately-owned spacecraft.
https://hellotricity.in/elon-musks-spacex-dragon-reaches-orbit-in-milestone/a
Water was discovered on moon- https://hellotricity.in/nasas-sofia-discovers-water-on-moon/
NASA is also planning to land the first woman on moon by 2024: https://hellotricity.in/nasa-announces-mission-to-land-first-woman-on-moon-in-2024/
O ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – OTT and online everything
Over-the-top (OTT) was our lifeline this year. From Netflix to Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, ZEE5, Voot Select — viewers in India subscribed to these platforms to watch content online. According to the BCG-CII report on the media and entertainment (M&E) industry, subscription based video-on-demand (SVoD) platforms registered a 55-60% growth in 2020. https://hellotricity.in/1st-ever-filmfare-ott-awards-dont-miss/
Online everything– How many classes, calls, meetings, conferences, etc, have you attended online this year? Though it was the need of the hour, it got a bit mundane.
P ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Pandemic, Parasite
According to Oxford Dictionaries, use of the word ‘pandemic’ has increased by more than 57,000% this year. *period*
Parasite– became the first non-English language film to win the Best Picture Oscar.
Q ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Quarantine
Cambridge
Dictionary has named ‘quarantine’ as Word of the Year 2020.
https://hellotricity.in/oxford-university-word-of-the-year-expands/
R ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Rishi Kapoor, remote working and royal status
Legendary actor Rishi Kapoor breathed his last on April 30, just a day after Irrfan Khan’s death. The sudden news of the two most loved and talented actors left their fans across the globe in shock. Rishi Kapoor passed away in Mumbai after a two-year battle with cancer.
Remote working- Pandemic changed business overnight. Though it was tough in the beginning, as people had to manage their family, pets and their work… it slowly got better. Some companies like Amazon have provided work from home option till June.
Royal status of Meghan and Prince Harry- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle agreed to stop using their HRH (Her/His Royal Highness) titles after they stepped down as senior royals. The couple no longer formally represents the Queen and have to repay £2.4m of taxpayer money for the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage, which will remain their UK family home.
S ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Sonu Sood, Sushant Singh Rajput
It is must to mention in the A to Z of 2020 story. The messiah of the downtrodden, Sonu Sood made headlines for helping the migrants and his other philanthropic works this year. He was also awarded by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Sushant Singh Rajput- The top mystery case of the year, investigation is still on in SSR’s death case. The actor was found dead at his apartment in Mumbai’s Bandra on June 14. The case was handed over to the CBI and many people have been found connected to it.
There was also the death of gems: SB Balasubrahmanyam, Saroj Khan and Sean Connery.
T ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Tech hearing
In a historic moment this year, leaders behind the tech giants testified before Congress virtually as Democrats and Republicans confronted the executives for wielding their market power to crush competitors and amass data, customers and sky-high profits. Cicilline, chairman of antitrust panel, opened a congressional investigation of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google last year, aiming to explore whether the tech industry’s most influential quartet of companies had attained their status through potentially anti-competitive means. In response, the four chief executives — Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai — took the witness stand to defend their businesses.
U ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – UK Strain and Uttar Pradesh
UK Covid-19 strain- AfterCovid-19, its mutated strain discovered in UK has become a cause of worry. Preliminary analysis in the UK suggests that it is 70%.
https://hellotricity.in/covid-19-new-mutation-discovered-in-the-uk/
Uttar Pradesh- Uttar Pradesh has also made headlines
this year. First for the gangrape case, which raised the question of security
of women. Later, it passed the Love Jihad Law and banned caste stickers on the
vehicles.
https://hellotricity.in/vehicles-with-caste-stickers-to-be-seized/
V ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Vaccine
At the threshold of a New Year, hopes are flickering as vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have been authorised for use in many countries.
A worldwide endeavour is on to create a safe Covid-19 vaccine. Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine getting approved for use in the UK was a “big step forward” for India as it is being developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII).
W ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Wuhan
The place where the tale of Covid-19 began, where the first case of this virus was discovered. Read its story here:
X ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – X Æ A-12
If you are thinking of this as some mathematical equation, you are wrong. This is the name given by Elon Musk and singer Grimes to their son. During a podcast with American comedian Joe Rogan, Musk explained the way to pronounce his son’s name. He said, “First of all, my partner’s the one that mostly came up with the name. I mean it’s just X, the letter X, and the ‘Æ’ is pronounced, ‘Ash,’ and then, A-12 is my contribution. ‘A-12’ stands for Archangel 12, the precursor to the SR-71, coolest plane ever.”
Y ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Yemen
Yemen is experiencing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. UN had verified the deaths of at least 7,700 civilians by March 2020, with most caused by Saudi-led coalition air strikes. Yemen, one of the Arab world’s poorest countries, has also been devastated by a civil war.
Z ( the A to Z of 2020 ) – Zoom
While Teams and Google Meet both had break out usage, 2020 was clearly the year of Zoom. From just 10 million daily participants in meetings in December 2019, Zoom’s daily participant numbers had jumped to 200 million by March 2020, and to 300 million by April 2020.
