With the New Year arriving tomorrow, a look back at 2020 – one of the most challenging years in recent history for Oregon and the world..

JANUARY

Jan. 1: Australia battles massive wildfires

Jan. 3: American air attack kills Qassem Suleimani, general of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard, in Iraq.

Jan. 4: World Health Organization posts on Twitter about new virus appearing in China.

Jan. 5: Golden Globe Awards

Jan. 7: Travel warning from CDC for Americans to avoid Wuhan.

Jan. 8: Iran shoots down Ukrainian airliner mistaken for military aircraft, killing 176 people on flight

Jan. 8: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce they will remove themselves from most royal duties.

Jan 11: China reports first death from virus.

Jan. 12: China shares genetic sequence of COVID-19, a key to vaccines.

Jan. 13: LSU Tigers defeat Clemson Tigers 42-25 for college football championship in front of 76,885. 

Jan. 14: Democratic presidential debate in Des Moines.

Jan. 15: The U.S. House of Representatives votes to impeach President Trump for obstruction of Congress and misusing the powers of the office, setting up a trial in the U.S. Senate.

Jan. 20: First reported case of new coronavirus infection in the United States.

Jan. 23: Wuhan locked down from rest of China.

Jan. 26: Retired Los Angeles Lakers basketball superstar Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter among nine killed in helicopter crash north of downtown Los Angeles.

Jan. 26: Grammy Awards dominated by singer Billie Eilish.

Jan. 28: First COVID-19 case reported in Oregon, in Washington County.

Jan. 30: COVID-19 declared a health emergency by the World Health Organization.

Jan. 31: “Brexit,” the exit of Britain from the European Union, is approved, with departure set for Dec. 31.

Jan. 31: President Trump announces partial China travel ban.

FEBRUARY

Feb. 2: The Kansas City Chiefs win Super Bowl over the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.

Feb. 3: Peter Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, wins Iowa caucuses.

Feb. 4: Trump delivers State of the Union address to Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tears up her copy of the speech after Trump finishes.

Feb. 5: The Senate acquits President Trump, ending impeachment effort.

Feb. 7: Trump fires European Union ambassador Gordon Sondland and Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who had testified during the impeachment trial.

Feb. 9: “Parasite” wins Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

Feb. 17: The Boy Scouts of America files for bankruptcy amid flood of child abuse claims.

Feb. 22: Bernie Sanders wins the Nevada presidential caucuses.

Feb. 23: Ahmaud Arbery is murdered while jogging in Georgia. Police wait 2 ½ months to arrest a white father and son for killing Arbery, who was Black.

Feb. 25: Republicans walk out of Oregon Legislature to deny a quorum for vote on a carbon cap bill, effectively ending 2020 session

Feb. 29: First reported COVID-19 death in U.S.

MARCH

March 2: Umatilla County resident hospitalized for COVID-19 in Walla Walla, Washington.

March 3: Former Vice President Joe Biden wins the Democratic presidential primary in 10 states on “Super Tuesday.”

March 8: Gov. Kate Brown declares state of emergency over COVID-19 spread.

March 8: Oregon Ducks win Pac-12 womens’ basketball championship, beating Stanford 89-56 in Las Vegas

March 9: Italy ravaged by largest COVID-19 outbreak outside of Asia. Nationwide quarantine.

March 9: Dow Jones industrial average nosedives by over 2,000 points.

March 11: University of Oregon and Portland State announce classes will be online only for rest of semester. Other colleges quickly follow suit.

March 11: WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic, meaning virus has spread to several continents.

March 11: OHA announces first COVID-19 case in Deschutes County, first local case in Umatilla County.

March 11: Movie producer Harvey Weinstein is sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and assault.

March 11: Actor Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, report they have tested positive for COVID-19 while on a movie shoot in Australia.

March 11-12: NBA suspends season, followed the next day by MLB halting spring training, and suspension of seasons by NFL, NHL and MLS. NCAA cancels basketball championship tournament.

March 12: Brown orders all K–12 schools closed.

March 13: Trump declares national emergency over COVID-19.

March 13: Breonna Taylor is killed by police gunfire during Louisville police raid looking for a suspected drug dealer who is not there.

March 14: Multnomah County man, 70, first in Oregon to die of COVID-19.

March 14: Spain announces nationwide lockdown.

March 16: The Dow Jones industrial average drops by 2,997 points, the largest single day points loss in the exchange’s history.

March 19: California issues stay at home order.

March 20: 10,000 have died from COVID-19 around the world.

March 20: Cases of COVID-19 in Oregon top 100

March 23: Brown issues statewide “stay-at-home” order

March 24: 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo are rescheduled to 2021.

March 24: Trump calls for country to reopen by Easter Sunday, shocking health experts.

March 25: Oregon COVID-19 deaths top 10.

March 26: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he has tested positive for COVID-19.

March 26: With 82,000 reported infections, U.S. passes China and Italy as center of COVID-19 crisis. American deaths top 1,000.

March 26: A record 3.28 million Americans file for unemployment benefits in the prior week.

March 27: Congress passes $2.2 trillion CARES Act stimulus package, largest in U.S. history. Trump signs it into law.

March 29: Oregon COVID-19 cases top 500.

March 31: An estimated 70 percent of U.S. population in lockdown.

APRIL

April 1: 1 million cases of COVID-19 reported worldwide.

April 3: CDC recommends wearing face covering or mask in public.

April 4: Oregon COVID-19 deaths top 25.

April 4: Trump suggests taking malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, to ward off COVID-19, despite lack of medical data. “What do you have to lose?” Trump says on national television.

April 5: Oregon COVID-19 cases top 1,000.

April 10: U.S. announces over 2,000 COVID-19 deaths, largest one-day total in the world.

April 13: $1,200 stimulus checks from IRS mailed — with President Trump’s signature on envelope

April 13: Brown announces Western States Pact, in which Oregon, California and Washington agree to coordinate responses and restrictions on COVID-19.

April 14: Trump says U.S. will end funding for World Health Organization.

April 16: White House issues framework for phased reopening of schools and businesses in areas of U.S. where they closed.

April 27: COVID cases in U.S. top 1 million, with 50,000 deaths. U.S. accounts for a third of the 3 million cases worldwide.

April 30: Armed protesters briefly occupy Michigan state capitol in Lansing, calling for end to lockdown.

MAY

May 1: Remdesivir authorized as emergency treatment for COVID-19.

May 3: Giant Asian “murder hornets” reported in Pacific Northwest, which could decimate domestic bee population.

May 7: Justice Department drops charges against former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had twice pled guilty.

May 7: Gregory and Travis McMichael are charged with murder in the shoot death of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.

May 8: U.S. unemployment rate hits 14.7%. More than 33 million jobless claims have been filed nationwide since March.

May 14: OHA announces 31 of Oregon’s 36 counties met requirements to enter the first phase of a three-phase “reopening” of businesses and activities

May 15: Operation Warp Speed, a plan to fast-track a COVID-19 vaccine, announced by Trump.

May 19: U.S. reports 1.5 million COVID-19 cases, with 90,000 deaths. Worldwide deaths top 300,000.

May 25: George Floyd is killed in Minneapolis. Video shows Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck for eight minutes as the Black man lay handcuffed on the pavement. Three other officers stand by as crowd shouts for officers to stop and Floyd is heard saying he can’t breathe. Demonstrations erupt in Minneapolis and spread across the country under “Black Lives Matter” demand.

May 26: Chauvin and three other officers are fired by Minneapolis Police Department.

May 26: Twitter for the first time flags a tweet by Trump as misleading.

May 29: Fired Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin is charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd; the Minnesota attorney general increases the charge to second-degree murder on June 3. Charges against three other fired officers are filed.

May 30: Major demonstrations and some vandalism in Portland and other major cities. Protests spread to smaller cities, including Bend, Eugene, and Klamath Falls.

JUNE

June 1: Attorney General William Barr orders federal law enforcement officers to forcibly clear peaceful protestors from Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. so Trump can have a photo opportunity holding a Bible in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church. Trump threatens to use active duty military to intercede in demonstrations.

June 10:  COVID-19 cases in the U.S. tops two million.

June 15: The U.S. Supreme Court rules sexual orientation is covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

June 19: Pendleton Round-Up is cancelled for first time since World War II.

June 20: President Trump holds first 2020 campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

June 22: MLB votes to restart 2020 season with 60 games and expanded playoffs.

June 25: Reopenings across the U.S. lead to spike in cases, as nation hits all-time one day high of 40,000 new cases.

June 30: Mississippi becomes last state to remove Confederate symbol from state flag.

JULY

July 1: Face masks required in indoor public places in Oregon.

July 8: The U.S. Supreme Court rejects Trump claim of presidential immunity and rules he must release financial records to New York prosecutors.

July 10: The Pac-12 announces it will play only conference games in the fall.

July 10: Trump commutes 40-month sentence of Roger Stone, the Trump adviser involved in alleged contacts with Russia.

July 14: Trump orders hospitals nationwide to send COVID-19 information to administration-run database instead of semi-independent CDC.

July 17: Pentagon bans display of Confederate and other flags on military bases.

July 18: Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum files suit alleging federal agents illegally detained protestors in Portland.

July 22: Trump says he plans to send federal forces to Democratic-run cities to supersede local officials as he had in Portland.

July 23: Major League Baseball’s 60-game season begins in empty stadiums. Early cases of COVID-19 lead to postponed games.

July 30: Trump suggests the 2020 presidential election be delayed, claiming vote-by-mail will lead to fraud.

July 30: NBA season restarts with all teams in quarantined “bubble” in Orlando, Florida

AUGUST

Aug. 7: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota draws 400,000 people from around the nation, with almost no mask wearing and social distancing. Event is later traced as source of major spike in COVID-19 cases.

Aug. 11: Biden picks U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-California as his vice-presidential running mate. With a Black and South Asian background, Harris is the first woman of color on a major party presidential ticket.

Aug. 11: Pac-12 announces the cancellation all fall sports. 

Aug. 13: U.S. Postal Service confirms plans to remove hundreds of high-volume mail-processing machines from facilities just as vote-by-mail becomes a key part of election during COVID-19 crisis.

Aug. 16: Death Valley records 130 degree temperature, the highest on Earth in almost 100 years.

Aug. 17-20: Biden and Harris are formally nominated at mostly-virtual Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee.

Aug. 19: Apple becomes first U.S. company to be valued at more than $2 trillion.

Aug. 20: Former Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon is charged with fraud in raising private funds to support Trump’s effort to build a border wall with Mexico.

Aug. 23: Demonstrations erupt in Kenosha, Wisconsin after police shoot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man.

Aug. 24-27: Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are formally nominated at Republican National Convention held in Charlotte and Washington, D.C. 

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 7: High winds ignite wildfires across Oregon that will eventually burn more than 1 million acres, kill 10 people, and destroy more than 4,000 homes. 

Sept. 7: Sisters in Deschutes County reports the worst air quality in the world due to smoke from wildfires. 

Sept. 18: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87.

Sept. 20: Emmy Awards held virtually, with “Schitt’s Creek,” “Succession,“ and “Watchmen” major winners.

Sept. 22: COVID-19 death toll in U.S. tops 200,000.

Sept. 23: Trump refuses to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses re-election bid.

Sept. 23: A Kentucky grand jury brings no charges against Louisville police in the killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville.

Sept. 24: The Pac-12 Conference announces it will play short season beginning Nov. 6.

Sept. 26: Trump nominates conservative U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court caused by the death of Ginsburg. A nomination ceremony at the White House leads to several positive cases of COVID-19 among largely unmasked attendees.

Sept. 27: A New York Times investigation reports that Trump used questionable deductions to pay just $750 in federal taxes in 2016 and 2017.

Sept. 29: Trump tries to dominate debate with Biden with frequent interruptions and insults. Biden at one point tells Trump to shut up.

Sept. 30: NFL announces first game postponement due to COVID-19.

OCTOBER

Oct.1: Trump tweets that he has tested positive for COVID-19 amid an outbreak at the White House.

Oct. 2: Trump is flown by helicopter from White House to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as his COVID-19 symptoms worsen.

Oct. 2: California reports wildfires burned nearly 4 million acres, twice the previous record, killing 31 and burning 8,200 homes and other structures.

Oct. 5: Trump leaves Walter Reed hospital after just three days, having received rare treatment of experimental drugs. Upon return to White House, Trump goes to balcony and takes off his mask for photo op.

Oct. 6: Rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen, 65, dies of cancer.

Oct. 8: FBI charges 13 men who oppose COVID-19 restrictions with plot to kidnap and possibly kill Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Oct. 11: Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Miami Heat to win NBA championship.

Oct. 16: United States tops eight million COVID-19 cases.

Oct. 26: U.S. Senate confirms Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on party-line 52 to 48 vote.

Oct. 27: Los Angeles Dodgers win World Series over Tampa Bay Rays played at neutral site in Arlington, Texas.

Oct. 30: A Stanford University study links more than 30,000 COVID-19 cases and 700 deaths to Trump’s campaign rallies.

NOVEMBER

Nov. 3: Election Day. After midnight, Trump says he has won election and demands vote counting stop. When all ballots are counted, Biden defeats Trump by seven million votes. Trump begins effort to challenge results.

Nov 3: In Oregon, Democrat Shemia Fagan wins Secretary of State race, the last statewide office held by a Republican. Democrats lose two seats in House, but retain supermajority. Senate remains an 18-12 supermajority for Democrats.

Nov. 4: United States is first nation to top 100,000 cases of COVID-19 in a single day.

Nov. 7: Major news organizations declare Biden has won enough Electoral College votes to win election. Trump refuses to concede and most Republicans decline to call Biden “president-elect.”

Nov. 8: “Jeopardy” host Alex Trebek, 80, dies from pancreatic cancer.

Nov. 9: Pfizer announces it’s COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective at preventing infection. It later ups figure to 95 percent

Nov. 9: Trump fires Defense Secretary Mark Esper, beginning a purge of officials demeaned by Trump as disloyal.

Nov. 16: Moderna announces its COVID-19 vaccine is likely 95% effective.

Nov. 19: Trump pushes for state lawmakers and judges to overturn votes in several states won by Biden.

Nov. 20: Despite pressure from Trump and others, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, certifies Biden as winner of state’s election and Electoral College votes.

Nov. 23: After more than two weeks of delay, the General Services Administration allows Biden access to transition resources, the first crack in Trump’s attempt to stonewall any moves to recognize Biden’s win by federal agencies.

Nov. 25: Trump pardons Michael Flynn, his first national security advisor.

Nov. 26: Trump says he will leave the White House if Biden is declared winner of Electoral College by final confirmation of Congress. He presses Republicans in House and Senate to challenge vote, usually a pro-forma event.

Nov. 27: Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi, Iran’s leading expert on nuclear weapons, is assassinated near Tehran.

DECEMBER

Dec. 1: U.S. Attorney General William Barr says there is no evidence of systematic voter fraud in 2020 election.

Dec. 8: Britain becomes first Western country to begin inoculations for COVID-19.

Dec. 11: Pfizer vaccine is authorized for emergency use by FDA.

Dec. 11: U.S. Supreme Court rejects a highly unlikely lawsuit filed by Texas asking justices to overturn election results in four states won by Biden: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia.

Dec. 14: COVID-19 vaccinations start in the United States with initial doses going to health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. Congregate care facilities have accounted for nearly half of all COVID-19 deaths in U.S.

Dec. 14: Electoral College votes cast, confirming Biden’s victory in presidential race.

Dec. 18: Moderna vaccine is approved for use by FDA.

Dec. 23: Brown announces plan to re-open schools by Feb. 15.

Dec. 27: Trump signs $900 million coronavirus aid bill, but calls $600 direct payments favored by Republicans as too little. He wanted $2,000, a figure backed by most Democrats.

Dec. 29: Final Risk Level ratings of 2020 for counties has most of Oregon under “Extreme Risk” rating with tightest restrictions. 24 counties in the Extreme Risk level, 5 at High Risk, zero at Moderate Risk, and 7 at Lower Risk. 

Dec. 30: U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, says he will challenge the results of the Electoral College, ensuring a debate over results on Jan. 6, but unlikely to change the outcome.

Dec. 31: Oregon has reported 113,909 cases of COVID-19 in 2020, with 1,477 deaths. Nearly 20 million Americans have been infected by COVID-19 in 2020, with over 344,030 deaths. Worldwide, there have been more than 83.1 million infections and more than 1.8 million deaths. 

Sources: EO Media Group, Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, State of Oregon, National Interagency Fire Center.