100 Fun Facts About 2020s

What was the name of the global pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus that began in 2020?

COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) was caused by SARS-CoV-2 and was declared a global pandemic by the WHO on March 11, 2020.

Which US presidential candidate won the 2020 election?

Joe Biden won the 2020 US presidential election, defeating incumbent Donald Trump with 306 electoral votes to 232.

What short-form video platform became the world's most downloaded app in 2020?

TikTok became the most downloaded app globally in 2020, surpassing 2 billion downloads as people turned to it for entertainment during lockdowns.

Which streaming service released the hit series "Tiger King" in March 2020?

Netflix released "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness" on March 20, 2020, and it became a massive cultural phenomenon during early COVID lockdowns.

Which city hosted the 2020 Summer Olympics, held in 2021 due to the pandemic?

The 2020 Summer Olympics were held in Tokyo, Japan, postponed to July-August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — the first Olympic Games to be postponed.

Which 400-metre container ship ran aground and blocked the Suez Canal in both directions for six days in March 2021?

Ever Given ran aground on March 23, 2021, and blocked one of the world's most important shipping lanes in both directions for six days.

Which COVID-19 vaccine was the first to receive US Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA, on December 11, 2020?

Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine got FDA Emergency Use Authorization on December 11, 2020, after the agency's vaccine advisory committee voted to recommend it.

What movement saw worldwide protests in 2020 following the death of George Floyd?

The Black Lives Matter movement saw massive global protests in summer 2020 after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020.

Which streaming platform launched in November 2019, months before a pandemic-fuelled boom?

Disney+ launched on November 12, 2019, and saw explosive growth during the pandemic, reaching over 100 million subscribers by March 2021.

What was the name of the NASA Mars rover that successfully landed on Mars in February 2021?

NASA's Perseverance rover landed on Mars on February 18, 2021, in Jezero Crater. It carried the Ingenuity helicopter, which made the first powered flight on another planet.

What AI chatbot, launched by OpenAI in November 2022, reached 100 million users in just two months?

ChatGPT launched on November 30, 2022, and reached an estimated 100 million monthly active users by January 2023, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history at that time.

Which two films opened on the same day in July 2023, sparking a viral double-feature craze?

Barbie and Oppenheimer both opened on July 21, 2023; fans turned the clash into a double-feature event, and Barbie opened to $162 million domestically while Oppenheimer took $82 million.

Taylor Swift's record-breaking concert tour that began in March 2023 was called what?

The Eras Tour began on March 17, 2023, and became the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, surpassing $2 billion in revenue.

Which country did Russia invade in February 2022?

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, escalating the conflict that had been ongoing since 2014 in eastern Ukraine.

What was the name of the viral sea shanty that took TikTok by storm in January 2021?

Wellerman (Soon May the Wellerman Come) went viral on TikTok in January 2021 after Scottish postman Nathan Evans posted his rendition, sparking a sea shanty trend.

Which company's stock did Reddit's r/WallStreetBets send soaring in January 2021?

GameStop's stock price surged from around $20 to nearly $500 in January 2021, driven by retail investors on Reddit's r/WallStreetBets in what became known as the GameStop short squeeze.

What event took place at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021?

Supporters of President Trump broke into the Capitol while Congress was certifying the 2020 election; the certification was delayed for hours but ultimately completed.

Which SpaceX mission in September 2021 was the first all-civilian orbital spaceflight?

Inspiration4, launched on September 15, 2021, was the first orbital spaceflight with an entirely civilian crew, commanded by billionaire Jared Isaacman.

Which Queen Elizabeth II milestone was celebrated across the UK in June 2022?

Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee was celebrated June 2-5, 2022, marking 70 years on the throne. She passed away just three months later on September 8, 2022.

What happened at the 2022 Oscars ceremony that became the most talked-about moment of the year?

At the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, 2022, Will Smith walked on stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith.

What term describes the 2021 trend, which spilled into the 'Striketober' strike wave, of workers quitting in record numbers?

The Great Resignation began in spring 2021 and spilled into Striketober that October, when more than 100,000 American workers struck or prepared to.

Which social media platform did Elon Musk acquire in October 2022?

Elon Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on October 27, 2022. He later rebranded the platform to X in July 2023.

Which 2022 text-to-image model released its weights publicly so it could run on a consumer GPU?

Stable Diffusion, released by Stability AI in August 2022, published its model weights openly; optimized builds run on consumer graphics cards with only a few gigabytes of VRAM, which is why hobbyists adopted it so fast.

Which country hosted the controversial 2022 FIFA World Cup?

Qatar's tournament was the first World Cup in the Middle East and the first played in November and December rather than June and July; Argentina won it.

Which Meta app, launched on July 5, 2023, gained over 100 million users in its first five days?

Threads hit 100 million users in five days, making it the fastest-growing consumer app in history at the time and beating the record ChatGPT had set months earlier.

Which K-pop group announced a temporary hiatus in 2022 for members to fulfill mandatory military service?

BTS announced in June 2022 that members would focus on solo projects, and Jin became the first member to enlist for South Korea's mandatory military service in December 2022.

Which stablecoin lost its dollar peg and collapsed in May 2022?

TerraUSD (UST) broke its $1 peg in May 2022 and collapsed together with its sister token Luna, wiping out roughly $40 billion; founder Do Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023.

Which 1980s-set Netflix series became its most-watched English-language show in 2022 with its fourth season?

Stranger Things Season 4 premiered in May-July 2022 and became Netflix's most-watched English-language series, accumulating over 1.35 billion hours viewed.

Which workplace term went viral on TikTok in 2022 for doing only what your job requires and setting firm boundaries?

Quiet quitting spread on TikTok in mid-2022 to describe doing only what the job requires and setting boundaries rather than hustling for advancement.

Which observatory, launched on Christmas Day 2021, sent back its first full-color images in July 2022?

The James Webb Space Telescope launched on an Ariane 5 from French Guiana on December 25, 2021; its first deep-field image was unveiled on July 11, 2022, with more images the next day.

Which OceanGate submersible imploded during a deep-sea dive in June 2023?

The Titan submersible, operated by OceanGate, imploded on June 18, 2023, during a dive to the Titanic wreck, killing all five people aboard. The incident sparked worldwide media coverage.

The August 2023 wildfire that destroyed the historic town of Lahaina struck which Hawaiian island?

Lahaina is on Maui; the August 8, 2023 fire killed at least 100 people and destroyed over 2,000 structures, the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century.

Who won their record-extending 8th Ballon d'Or in 2023?

Lionel Messi won his 8th Ballon d'Or in October 2023, following his World Cup triumph with Argentina in December 2022, further cementing his status as one of football's greatest.

What HBO series, based on a video game, became a massive hit in January 2023?

The Last of Us premiered on HBO on January 15, 2023, becoming one of the network's most-watched debuts. The show starred Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.

Which tech company laid off approximately 12,000 employees in January 2023 and pivoted hard toward AI?

Google (Alphabet) laid off about 12,000 employees in January 2023, roughly 6% of its workforce. CEO Sundar Pichai cited the need to refocus resources, particularly toward AI development.

Which Miley Cyrus single from the album Endless Summer Vacation debuted at number one in January 2023?

Flowers debuted at number one in January 2023 and became the fastest song to reach 1 billion Spotify streams at the time.

Bitcoin topped out near what price in November 2021, before the crash?

Bitcoin reached an all-time high of approximately $69,000 on November 10, 2021, before crashing significantly in 2022 during the broader crypto winter.

Which actress played Barbie in the 2023 blockbuster film directed by Greta Gerwig?

Margot Robbie starred as Barbie in Greta Gerwig's Barbie (2023), which grossed over $1.4 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2023.

NASA's DART mission in 2022 deliberately crashed a spacecraft into Dimorphos to test what?

DART tested deflecting an asteroid by kinetic impact: the September 26, 2022 collision shortened Dimorphos's orbit around Didymos by about 32 minutes, far beyond the 73-second success threshold.

In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Tenoch Huerta's Namor rules which hidden underwater kingdom?

Namor rules Talokan, a Mesoamerican-inspired realm that replaces the comics' Atlantis; its people call him the feathered serpent god K'uk'ulkan.

Which country became the first to land a spacecraft near the Moon's south pole in August 2023?

India's Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully landed near the Moon's south pole on August 23, 2023, making India the fourth country to land on the Moon and the first to reach the south polar region.

Which AI chatbot did Alphabet open to early access on March 21, 2023, before renaming it in 2024?

Bard was announced in February 2023 to preempt Microsoft's Bing AI launch, opened to early access on March 21, 2023, and was rebranded as Gemini in February 2024.

In what year did the global population officially reach 8 billion people?

2022's Day of Eight Billion fell on 15 November, with India projected to overtake China as the most populous country the following year.

Which country lost more than 50,000 people in a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in February 2023?

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck southeastern Turkey (and northwestern Syria) on February 6, 2023, killing over 50,000 people in Turkey alone and causing widespread destruction.

Which AI company, founded by former OpenAI researchers, launched Claude?

Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI VP of Research Dario Amodei and his sister Daniela, created the Claude family of AI assistants focused on AI safety.

Which film won Best Picture at the 2024 Academy Awards (for films released in 2023)?

Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan, won Best Picture at the 96th Academy Awards in March 2024, along with six other Oscars including Best Director and Best Actor for Cillian Murphy.

Which slang word was Oxford Word of the Year for 2023?

Rizz, a clipping of 'charisma' in the same pattern as 'fridge' from 'refrigerator', was Oxford Word of the Year for 2023, beating finalists Swiftie, prompt and situationship.

Which country officially became the 31st member of NATO in April 2023?

Finland officially joined NATO on April 4, 2023, doubling the alliance's border with Russia. Sweden followed as the 32nd member in March 2024.

Which country's military seized power in a February 2021 coup, detaining Aung San Suu Kyi?

Myanmar's military seized power on February 1, 2021, detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint hours before the newly elected parliament was due to convene.

Which major tech company rebranded itself as Meta in October 2021?

Facebook's parent company rebranded to Meta Platforms on October 28, 2021, reflecting CEO Mark Zuckerberg's vision of building the metaverse, a virtual reality-based internet.

Which 2021 Korean survival drama became its streaming service's most-watched show ever?

Squid Game drew an estimated 142 million member households in its first 28 days, Netflix's biggest launch ever, and went on to win six Primetime Emmys in 2022.

Which film was the first non-English-language movie to win Best Picture, in 2020?

Parasite, Bong Joon-ho's thriller, won Best Picture at the February 2020 Oscars after taking the 2019 Palme d'Or at Cannes; it also won Director, Original Screenplay and International Feature.

The August 2020 Beirut port explosion was caused by a stockpile of which chemical?

Some 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate had sat in a port warehouse since 2014 after being offloaded from the impounded cargo ship Rhosus; the blast on August 4, 2020 killed over 200 people.

Kobe Bryant died in a January 2020 helicopter crash near which California city?

The Sikorsky S-76B crashed into a hillside in Calabasas on January 26, 2020, while flying from John Wayne Airport to Camarillo with nine people aboard, including Bryant's 13-year-old daughter Gianna.

Which country elected libertarian economist Javier Milei as president in November 2023?

Argentina elected Javier Milei in the November 19, 2023 runoff, where he beat Economy Minister Sergio Massa with about 56% of the vote.

Where was Charles III crowned on 6 May 2023?

Charles III was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023, the 40th coronation held there since William the Conqueror's on Christmas Day 1066.

Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022 at which residence?

Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire on 8 September 2022; two days earlier she had received Boris Johnson and Liz Truss there rather than at Buckingham Palace.

Shinzo Abe was assassinated in July 2022 while campaigning in which Japanese city?

Abe was shot on 8 July 2022 while speaking outside Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara, a campaign stop added to his schedule only the day before.

The Taliban's offensive ended with the fall of Afghanistan's capital on which date?

Kabul fell on 15 August 2021, barely three months after the offensive began in May; Taliban leaders first ordered fighters to halt at the city gates, then entered as the government collapsed.

Which airline's Boeing 737 MAX 9 lost a door plug in flight in January 2024?

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 lost a fuselage door plug at about 16,000 feet shortly after leaving Portland on January 5, 2024; the FAA then grounded 737 MAX 9s for inspection.

Who became the first Asian winner of the Best Actress Oscar, in 2023?

Michelle Yeoh won Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once at the March 2023 Oscars, also becoming the first Malaysian to win any Academy Award.

Which 2021 film was the first released by a streaming service to win Best Picture?

CODA, released by Apple TV+, won Best Picture at the March 2022 Oscars, the first streaming release to do so and the first Sundance premiere to take the top prize.

Who became the second woman ever to win the Best Director Oscar, for Nomadland?

Chloé Zhao won Best Director for Nomadland at the April 2021 Oscars, following Kathryn Bigelow in 2010; she was the first woman nominated in four categories in a single year.

Who scored the only goal of the 2023 Women's World Cup final for Spain?

Olga Carmona struck in the 29th minute from Mariona Caldentey's pass, giving Spain a 1-0 win over England before 75,784 fans at Stadium Australia in Sydney.

The 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony paraded athletes by boat along which river?

Athletes sailed about six kilometres down the Seine on July 26, 2024, past giant screens lining the banks, with the formal protocols held at the Jardins du Trocadero.

Which city became the first to host both a Summer and a Winter Olympics, in 2022?

Beijing had staged the Summer Games in 2008, fourteen years before hosting the 2022 Winter Games, making it the first city to do both.

How many Premier League goals did Erling Haaland score in 2022-23, then a single-season record?

Haaland scored 36 Premier League goals in 2022-23, beating the 38-game record of 32, and hit 52 across all competitions, the most by a Premier League player in one season.

Emma Raducanu won the 2021 US Open as the first major champion to come through what?

Raducanu came through three qualifying rounds and, aged 18, beat Leylah Fernandez in the final without dropping a set, on only her second main-draw appearance at a major.

NASA's uncrewed Artemis I mission launched toward the Moon in which month?

Artemis I lifted off in November 2022, on the 16th, the first flight of the Space Launch System; the uncrewed Orion capsule splashed down on December 11 after looping the Moon.

Which rocket's first fully integrated test flight ended in a mid-air explosion in April 2023?

SpaceX's Starship lifted off from Boca Chica, Texas on April 20, 2023 on its first integrated flight; stage separation failed and the rocket was destroyed about four minutes in.

Which country's undersea volcano caused 2022's record-setting atmospheric explosion?

Tonga's Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupted on January 15, 2022, sending tsunami waves as far as Peru; it was the largest eruption since Pinatubo in 1991.

Which bank's failure on March 10, 2023 was then the largest in the US since 2008?

Silicon Valley Bank was seized by regulators on March 10, 2023 after a deposit run; employees received annual bonuses hours before the takeover, and First Republic's May failure later proved larger.

Which city did Wagner Group forces seize first during their 2023 mutiny in Russia?

Wagner took Rostov-on-Don and its Southern Military District headquarters on June 24, 2023, before Prigozhin's column turned back short of Moscow under a deal brokered by Belarus's Alexander Lukashenko.

Who became Britain's shortest-serving prime minister, resigning on her 50th day in 2022?

Liz Truss left office on 25 October 2022 after 49 full days, displacing George Canning, whose 1827 tenure ended with his death after 119 days.

Who became the first British Asian prime minister, in October 2022?

Rishi Sunak was appointed by Charles III on 25 October 2022, the king's second prime minister in under two months and the first British Asian to hold the office.

Who became the first woman to serve as Italian prime minister, in 2022?

Giorgia Meloni took office on 22 October 2022 after her Brothers of Italy party won a plurality of seats in the September election, becoming Italy's first female prime minister.

Pope Leo XIV, elected in 2025, is the first pope born in which country?

Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost in Chicago in 1955, is the first pope from the United States; he also holds Peruvian citizenship from his years as a missionary and bishop there.

Mahsa Amini's 2022 death in Iran followed her arrest for allegedly breaking which law?

Amini was detained by the Guidance Patrol in Tehran on 13 September 2022 for allegedly wearing her mandatory hijab improperly, while visiting from her hometown of Saqqez; she died three days later.

By what vote did the US Supreme Court decide Dobbs, overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022?

Only five justices joined the opinion overturning the precedent; Chief Justice Roberts concurred in the judgment alone.

What was the highest-grossing film of 2021 worldwide?

Spider-Man: No Way Home grossed about $1.9 billion worldwide, becoming Sony's biggest release ever and outgrossing every earlier Spider-Man film.

Whose 2021 debut single made her the youngest artist to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100?

Olivia Rodrigo's 'drivers license' debuted at No. 1 in January 2021 when she was 17; it led her album Sour, which had originally been planned as an EP.

At the 2023 Grammys, Beyoncé broke whose record for the most career wins?

Her Best Dance/Electronic Album win for Renaissance took her to 32 trophies, one more than conductor Georg Solti's 31.

Which fantasy author provided the worldbuilding for the 2022 game Elden Ring?

George R. R. Martin wrote the mythos of the Lands Between; director Hidetaka Miyazaki conceived Elden Ring as an open-world evolution of Dark Souls, and it won over 300 Game of the Year awards.

About how much did Microsoft pay for Activision Blizzard in a deal closed in 2023?

The $68.7 billion all-cash deal, about $95 per share, closed on October 13, 2023, the day UK regulators approved its revised terms.

Apple's Vision Pro headset went on sale in the US on which date?

Vision Pro went on sale in the US on February 2, 2024, eight months after its unveiling at WWDC in June 2023, priced from $3,499.

Who beat England on penalties in the Euro 2020 final, played in 2021?

Italy won the shoot-out 3-2 at Wembley on 11 July 2021 after England, 2-1 up, saw Rashford, Sancho and Saka all miss; Donnarumma saved the last.

William Shatner became the oldest person to reach space in October 2021 at what age?

Shatner was 90 when he flew on Blue Origin's New Shepard on October 13, 2021 as a guest of the company, beating Wally Funk's mark of 82 set three months earlier.

Which song by Kalush Orchestra won the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest?

Stefania, Kalush Orchestra's tribute to the singer's mother, won in Turin in May 2022 with 631 points, including a record 439 from the public televote.

Who became the first Black woman to serve on the US Supreme Court in 2022?

Ketanji Brown Jackson took her seat on June 30, 2022, succeeding Stephen Breyer; she was also the first former federal public defender on the court.

Donald Trump survived a July 2024 shooting at a rally near which Pennsylvania town?

The rally was at the Butler Farm Show grounds on July 13, 2024; the gunman fired eight rounds from a nearby roof before a Secret Service counter-sniper killed him.

Which container ship toppled Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March 2024?

The Singapore-registered Dali lost power and struck a pier of the Key Bridge on March 26, 2024; six road-repair workers on the span were killed.

A faulty CrowdStrike update crashed millions of computers in July 2024 running which OS?

The bad Channel File 291 update caused an out-of-bounds memory read in CrowdStrike's Falcon sensor, blue-screening some 8.5 million Windows machines on July 19, 2024.

Japan's Hayabusa2 probe returned samples in December 2020 from which asteroid?

Hayabusa2 surveyed the carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu for about a year and a half before departing in November 2019; its capsule landed at Woomera, Australia on December 6, 2020.

Chang'e 5's 2020 haul was the first lunar sample return since which mission?

Luna 24's August 1976 haul was the last lunar sample return before Chang'e 5, a 44-year gap; the new samples yielded a mineral named Changesite-(Y).

China's Zhurong rover landed in May 2021 on which Martian plain?

Zhurong touched down in Utopia Planitia on May 15, 2021, making China the second country after the US to operate a working rover on Mars.

Simone Biles withdrew from most of the 2020 Olympic finals citing what condition?

The twisties, a temporary loss of mid-air spatial awareness during twisting elements, led Biles to withdraw from the team final and four individual finals in Tokyo; she returned to win beam bronze.

Whose overall NCAA Division I scoring record did Caitlin Clark break in March 2024?

Pete Maravich scored 3,667 points for LSU in just three seasons; Clark passed that mark on March 3, 2024, in her final regular-season game for Iowa.

Who ended Novak Djokovic's four-year reign at Wimbledon in the 2023 final?

Carlos Alcaraz won in five sets after dropping the opener 1-6, ending a run of four straight Wimbledon titles for Djokovic.

Prince Philip, Britain's longest-serving royal consort, died in April 2021 aged what?

The death knell was tolled once a minute for 99 minutes, one for each year of his life.

The Assad family's rule over Syria ended with the fall of Damascus in which month?

Damascus fell to rebels in December 2024, on the 8th, and Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, ending a dynasty begun when his father Hafez seized power in a November 1970 coup.