2020: A Year Remembered

January started off with the continuance of the Australian bushfires, in which Australia enlisted help from other countries, including the United States. The fires continued to rage on until early March. On January 8, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they were stepping down from the senior royal duties, shocking people worldwide. They later moved to the United States. People ...

The start of February brought a win for the Kansas City Chiefs over the San Francisco 49ers during Super Bowl LIV on February 2. The halftime performance by Jennifer Lopez and Shakira caused many viewers to sing along and dance with the artists. Just three days after, President Donald was acquitted by the Senate on impeachment charges. The decision came more than four months after the imp...

Throughout the month of March, the fastest fall in global stock markets since the Great Depression occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the most devastating crash since the Wall Street Crash of 1929 that triggered the Great Depression. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) named the COVID-19 outbreaks across the world as a pandemic, causing many countries throughout the...

With so many people throughout the world social distancing and staying at home in order to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and limit the impact on hospitals, not a lot of events happened during April. Spring break plans were cancelled, and many events were postponed or cancelled, including events that many seniors looked forward to all year. North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un did...

Much like in April, there were not many moments that defined the month. Many schools finished the 2019-2020 school year online, which many did not anticipate to occur. Many high school seniors graduated virtually, including at Oakmont. Many families continued to stay at home as much as possible in order to lower the risk of contracting COVID-19. On May 25, 2020, a 46-year-old black man, Geor...

Throughout June, protests about the racial injustices continued as a result of George Floyd’s death. This caused multiple cities throughout the United States to limit the length of protests and limit the amount of riots that occurred. On August 18, former Vice President Joe Biden officially became the Democratic presidential nominee after the first national party roll-call vote. He accep...

On July 1, the 23rd anniversary of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, protests within Hong Kong started. The Hong Kong national security law went into effect on June 30, which was viewed as a way of curbing opposition against the Chinese Communist Party. The protests resulted in the arrests of 370 people, and they continued until October. British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on July 2, 2020 in connect...

The month started off badly with a large explosion of ammonium nitrate in the Lebanon port city of Beirut on August 4. The explosion resulted in at least 204 deaths, 6,500 injuries, and left about 300,000 people homeless. The explosion sparked many protests in Lebanon against the Lebanese government due to their failure to prevent the disaster’s occurrence. On August 11, Kamala Harris...

On September 16, the 55th Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards were held in Nashville, Tennessee. The awards show occurred five months after it was originally scheduled. The event was the first major in-person event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a historic night for country music, as Miranda Lambert continued her record of being awarded the most ACM awards ever by winning her...

After much debate on whether President Donald Trump should be allowed to put in a new Supreme Court Justice, Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed by the Senate to be a Supreme Court Justice on October 26. She replaced former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. During her confirmation hearing, she forgot the right to protest as a freedom granted by the first amendment, sparking many memes and...

The 2020 General Election occurred on November 3. After multiple days that felt long for many Americans, Joe Biden was announced as the president-elect on November 7, with Kamala Harris becoming the first woman to be vice president-elect. The next day, on November 8, many people who enjoy game shows were saddened to find out that “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek died after an over 18 mon...

The 2020 General Election occurred on November 3. After multiple days that felt long for many Americans, Joe Biden was announced as the president-elect on November 7, with Kamala Harris becoming the first woman to be vice president-elect. With 2020 coming to an end, many around the world are hoping that 2021 is not nearly as grim as 2020 was. In a year that many expected would be good, n...