2020 has had its fair share of ups and downs. Oh, what a roller coaster ride it has been!

What we thought was going to be a phenomenal end to a great decade, quickly turned into our worst nightmare. The year was full of both happy and sad moments, but we don’t want to forget a single one.

Here’s a list of 2020’s unbelievable stories that will leave you all emotional:

2020 Sad Story #1 – Bushfires in Australia

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The year started with the terrible event of the Australian bushfires. The fires that started in September 2019 continued well into 2020, killing 25 people and destroying over 2000 homes.

Experts estimate that the blazing flames have burned more than 15.6 million acres of forests. What’s extremely sad is that 1 billion animals have lost their habitats and have died. After all of this, many people still believe that climate change is a hoax.

Read more here!

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Part Ways with the Royal Family

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One of the 2020s most unbelievable moments was when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced that they were stepping down from their duties as the ‘senior’ royals. The couple said that they wanted to take on a progressive new role and that they would be making their own money.

We’re happy that the beloved couple is getting the chance to do their own thing. What’s inspiring about this move is that it tells us to go for what we believe in. You only get one life, and it’s yours for the living. We wish nothing but good luck to the power couple!

Read more about their life here!

COVID-19 Pandemic

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2020 arrived and so did the pandemic, do we need to say more? It was on January 9th 2020 that the World Health Organization announced that the novel Coronavirus had emerged in Wuhan, China. The virus quickly spread throughout the world and, till today, 64.5 million people have been affected by it.

If you’re planning to take a US trip during Winter Season, read this before leaving!

While 41.5 million people have recovered, 1.49 million have lost their lives. The world has never been in such a devastating position before. Humans can’t interact with each other and many are watching their loved ones suffer and wither away, that too from a distance. We hope these heart-wrenching times of COVID-19 come to an end as quickly as possible.

Kobe Bryant’s Death

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Millions of basketball enthusiasts were devastated and in tears when they heard the news of basketball legend, Kobe Bryant’s helicopter crashing terribly. Bryant couldn’t make it out alive, and it was also revealed that the player’s 13 years old daughter Gianna Bryant had also passed away in the accident.

As soon as the news hit the media, scores of messages and wishes for the family stormed all over the internet. Later, the NBA player and his daughter were given a memorial service at the Staples Center, which was attended by over 20,000 grieving people.

Parasite Won Oscars

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In these tough times, we got a breath of fresh air when a South Korean film, Parasite by Bong Joon Ho, won four prizes at the Academy Awards 2020. The film made history by being the first-ever non-English movie to win the Best Picture award.

If you haven’t watched Parasite yet, we recommend that you do. It’s a Black comedy thriller about a poor family scheming to get employed by a wealthy family. They later infiltrate their house and start to live as highly qualified individuals. It shows the harsh realities of the class system.

Harvey Weinstein’s Conviction

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It was in 2017 that Hollywood Mogul, Harvey Weinstein was exposed as a sexual predator by actresses Ashley Judd and Rose McGowan. This revelation gave birth to the famous #MeToo movement, and since then, many other women have come out with their stories of sexual abuse. Two years later, in 2020, Weinstein was finally convicted on February 24th. He received a sentence of 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault.

The Stock Market Crash

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As all countries went into complete lockdowns, the economies suffered huge losses and it triggered a global recession. The stock market hadn’t experienced this kind of fall in global stocks since the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

Read more here!

While the crash ended in April, it was extremely alarming. The 2020 stock market crash is also known as the Coronavirus crash.

The killing of George Floyd

image credit: The New York Times

The greatest sad story of 2020 has to be George Floyd’s killing. The 46 years old African American man was brutally murdered in police custody outside a shop in Minnesota. Just after the killing happened, videos of the incident flooded the internet. It showed Floyd struggling to stay alive as a policeman heartlessly restrained him with his knee pressed on Floyd’s neck.

Read the unbelievable story of a teen’s anti-racial club for Black Lives Matter!

This brutality, along with similar police killings of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, sparked a wave of peaceful protests in the U.S. The purpose of the demonstrations was to demand the end of racial injustice and police brutality in the country.

The Great Twitter Hack

image credit: The Financial Times

On July 15th, when it was just another day for most of us, Twitter’s Chief Technology Officer, Parag Agrawal was surrounded by chaos. Distress signals were taking over the site’s server and whoever was trying to get into the system was very good at it.

Before the hackers could be locked out of the system, they managed to take hold of several Twitter accounts successfully. These compromised accounts included Bill Gates, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, and Kanye West. At 3 pm, several cryptocurrency accounts tweeted that they were giving back $52 million of bitcoin.

The tweets were accompanied by a link to a website, on which people could send money that was promised to be doubled. It was later revealed that the hackers were a group from Florida headed by a teenager Graham Clark, who is now in police custody.

Beirut Explosion

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On August 4th 2020, a massive explosion in Lebanon’s capital of Beirut left the country in shock. The blast happened at the port and the mushroom cloud could be seen from miles away.

Read more about Beirut’s explosion in this insightful article!

Many buildings were damaged because of the incident, and more than 190 people lost their lives while thousands were injured. Footage of the blast and the aftereffects went viral on the internet. Witnesses claim that they felt shockwaves even when they were miles away from the site of the blast. The sound of the explosion was also quite deafening.

Chadwick Boseman Passed Away

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2020 was a sad year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as it lost one of its precious superheroes, the Black Panther. The U.S actor, Chadwick Boseman, who played Black Panther, was diagnosed with Colon Cancer about four years ago.

The information was not made public until his death, which is why the news of his passing came as a complete shock to his followers. Boseman’s death was announced by his family via social media.

Check out his latest film trailer!

A large number of fans and friends offered their condolences to the family and wrote notes in the memory of the star.

West Coast Wildfires

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Just like the Australian Bushfires, North America also faced devastating wildfires in 2020. The deadly blazes took over millions of acres of neighborhoods in California and Washington. The smoke covered the skies coloring it orange.

The wildfires displaced tens of thousands of people and killed around 31. This incident added a new layer of misery in a world already going through a deadly pandemic.

Trumps Gets COVID-19

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Just a few weeks before the presidential elections, President Donald Trump announced that he and his wife, Lady Melania Trump, had tested positive for COVID-19. Trump was immediately hospitalized at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment. After three days of treatment, he went back to the White House in a helicopter.

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What’s important to learn from it is that COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate. It can happen to anyone and hence, it’s important that everyone diligently follow the SOPs and wear a mask every time they step outside the house. This is the only way this notorious virus can be defeated. It’s no time to be careless.

Joe Biden is Elected as President

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One of the greatest news of 2020 was that Joe Biden won the presidential elections and became the 46th President of the United States of America. In his victory speech after the declaration of his win, Biden said he was truly humbled by the trust the Americas put in him. He further asked the others who didn’t vote for him to give him a chance. ‘This is the time to heal in America,’ said the newly-elected President.

check out why Joe Biden is everyone’s 2020 mood!

Moreover, history was made in this year’s election when Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris became the first female Vice President. She’s not only the first woman to take the seat, but she’s also the first Black person and first South Asian descent to be elected for such an important position in the U.S.