Year 2020: Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read presents a mix of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 2020. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, sports facts, computer and Internet history, famous deaths, grocery prices, entertainment trivia, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. President of the United States: Donald Trump (R-Florida)
2. Vice President: Mike Pence (R-Indiana)
3. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: John Roberts (Maryland)
4. Speaker of the House of Representatives: Nancy Pelosi (D-California)
5. Senate Majority Leader: Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky)
6. The 116th U.S. Congress was in session.
7. Inflation rate: 1.23%
8. Consumer price index (CPI): 258.812
9. U.S. unemployment rate: 8.1%
10. $100.00 in 2020 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $128.67 today. The U.S. dollar had “an average inflation rate of 4.29% per year” between 2020 and 2026, “producing a cumulative price increase of 28.67%.” In other words, a U.S. dollar today buys about 77.718% of what it could purchase back in 2020.
11. It’s worth noting that the U.S. dollar has lost 22% of its value since 2020.
12. In January, the Borden Dairy Co., one of America’s oldest and largest dairy companies, filed for bankruptcy.
13. On January 20, the first U.S. coronavirus case was confirmed in a man from Washington state. The virus—which would spark a global pandemic—was first reported in China on December 31, 2019.
14. On January 23, China locked down the city of Wuhan and its nine million people in a “belated but ultimately successful effort to control the city's COVID-19 outbreak.”
15. On January 26, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna Bryant, died in a helicopter crash in foggy conditions in the hills above Calabasas, California.
16. On January 26, at the 62nd Grammy Awards, Billie Eilish won five Grammys, including Album of the Year (When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?), Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album (When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?), Record of the Year (Bad Guy), and Song of the Year (Bad Guy).
17. On February 9, at the 92nd Academy Awards, Parasite won an Oscar for Best Picture.
18. On February 11, the World Health Organization officially named the coronavirus "COVID-19.”
19. On February 13, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that January 2020 was the warmest January in recorded history.
20. On February 24, a memorial service was held for NBA legend Kobe Byrant at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
21. On February 29, ice fisherman Thomas Knight “caught a 40-inch, 37.7-pound lake trout on Big Diamond Pond in West Stewartstown, New Hampshire.” It was “the largest lake trout on record” in New England.
22. On March 9, global oil prices suffered “a historic, single-day crash of over 30%.” This dramatic plunge “was triggered by the sudden collapse of a production-cut agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia, which rapidly escalated into an aggressive price war.”
23. On March 11, in a primetime Oval Office address, President Trump announced “a 30-day travel ban on foreign travel to the U.S. from most European countries as COVID-19 cases surged across the globe.”
24. On March 12, the Broadway theater district in New York City announced that it would go dark “for an unprecedented 32 days.” However, the closure “would end up being extended to the end of May 2021, adding up to billions in tourism losses.”
25. On March 28, President Trump projected that an estimated 250,000 Americans could die from COVID-19, even with restrictions in place.
26. On April 8, the sitcom Modern Family (ABC), created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan and starring Ed O'Neill, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, and Ty Burrell, aired its last episode after a successful eleven-year run.
27. On April 17, Land O'Lakes butter announced that it would remove the American Indian maiden from its butter package—in use since 1928.
28. On April 19, Busch Beer offered a year of free beer to 250 couples “whose weddings were postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.”
29. On May 26, novelist J. K. Rowling began publishing the children's story, The Ickabog, in online installments.
30. In June, Quaker Oats announced that it would retire the Aunt Jemima pancake brand and logo that were long criticized for “perpetuating racial stereotypes.” The brand was “renamed and relaunched” as Pearl Milling Company.
31. On June 20, Dreyer's Ice Cream announced that it would retire the “Eskimo Pie” name and rebrand it as “Edy’s Pie" because it perpetuated racial stereotypes.
32. On September 20, at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, Schitt’s Creek (Pop TV) won an Emmy for Best Comedy Series, and Succession (HBO) won an Emmy for Best Drama Series.
33. On September 23, Mars Inc. renamed the Uncle Ben's brand to Ben's Original and dropped “the controversial logo of the elderly African American man. The redesign was made to address racial inequalities and harmful imagery long associated with the brand, moving to more inclusive packaging.”
34. On October 2, President Trump announced that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19.
35. On November 3, former Vice President Joe Biden (D-Delaware) won the 2020 presidential election by defeating incumbent President Donald Trump (R-Florida). According to Ballotpedia.com, “Biden received 306 electoral votes, and Trump received 232 electoral votes. In the national popular vote, Biden received 81.2 million votes, and Trump received 74.2 million votes.”
36. By the end of 2020, about 17% of America’s restaurants had permanently closed because of coronavirus-related issues. Further, most New Year's Eve celebrations worldwide were cancelled or “drastically scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic.”
37. In 2020, mobile phones accounted for about 50.88% of all global internet traffic, while desktop traffic was around 46.39%.
38. Social media platforms had an estimated 3.81 billion active global users. Facebook was the dominant social network “with over 2.4 billion active users, followed by Facebook Messenger (1.3 billion) and Instagram (1 billion).”
39. The most popular websites were Google, YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, Yahoo!, Reddit, Twitter, Amazon, Instagram, and Netflix.
40. Google processed over 40,000 search queries every second.
41. The average internet user spent over six hours online each day, “allocating roughly one-third of that time to social media.”
42. Most popular TV program: NFL Sunday Night Football
43. Highest-grossing movie: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train
44. Most-watched YouTube video: Pinkfong’s children's educational song Baby Shark Dance
45. Most popular song: Blinding Lights by The Weeknd.
46. Miss America: Camille Schrier, a pharmacy student at Virginia Commonwealth University
47. Popular baby names for the year were Liam, Jackson, Noah, Aiden, Grayson, Sophia, Olivia, Emma, Ava, and Aria.
48. Notable people who died in 2020 included Katherine Johnson (mathematician), Kenny Rogers (country singer), Kobe Bryant (basketball player), Rocky Johnson (wrestler), and Sean Connery (movie actor).
49. In 2020 as well, the words “coronavirus disease 2019,” “COVID-19,” “CV-19,” “doomscroll,” “doomscroller,” “long COVID,” “multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children,” “murder hornet,” “physically distance,” “PMIS,” “post-COVID syndrome,” “stonk,” and “wondering dude” all appeared in print for the first time.
50. Indianapolis 500 winner: Takuma Sato
51. Kentucky Derby winner: Authentic
52. NBA champions: Los Angeles Lakers
53. NFL champs: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
54. Orange Bowl winner: Florida Gators
55. Rose Bowl winner: Oregon Ducks
56. Stanley Cup champs: Tampa Bay Lightning
57. Sugar Bowl winner: Georgia Bulldogs
58. Super Bowl winner: Kansas City Chiefs
59. World Series champions: Los Angeles Dodgers
60. A 12-pack of soda: About $4.68
61. A dozen eggs: Around $1.55
62. A large bag of potato chips: About $3.96
63. A large bottle of orange juice: Around $6.78
64. A loaf of bread: About $1.83
65. A pound of butter: Around $3.49
66. A tub of coffee grounds: About $7.75
67. Bananas: Around $1.16 per bunch
68. One package of chicken breasts: About $8.01
69. One package of chocolate chip cookies: Around $3.01
70. One package of ground beef: About $4.73

References:

1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/05/15/heres-how-a-typical-bag-of-groceries-in-2020-costs-over-50-more-today/
2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/2020
3. https://www.famousbirthdays.com/deceased/2020.html
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_in_the_United_States
5. https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/2020
6. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-2020.html
7. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/2020
8. https://ballotpedia.org/Presidential_election,_2020

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor