Persian Gulf crisis: 56 people are reported killed and over 200 are crushed on by others at the funeral of Qasem Soleimani in the city of Kerman, Iran.[7]
January 8 — A plane bound for Ukrainecrashes just after taking off from Tehran, Iran, killing all 176 on board. It was later announced that Iran accidentally shot down the plane.[9]
January 9 — ISIL militants assault a Nigerien military base at Chinagodrar, killing at least 89 Nigerien soldiers.[10]
February 27 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunges by 1,190.95 points, or 4.4%, to close at 25,766.64, its largest one-day points decline in history. This follows several days of large falls, marking the worst week for the index since 2008, triggered by fears of the spreading coronavirus. This would cause a massive global stock market crash.[27]
March 12 – Global stock markets crash three days after Black Monday due to continued concerns over COVID-19 and the U.S. travel ban on the Schengen Area. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went into free fall, closing at over -2,300 points.[46][47]
March 14 – Spain goes into lockdown after the country is hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic the day before declaring the Alarm Status.[49]
March 15 – New Zealand cancels the mass gathering marking the first anniversary of the 2019 Christchurch Mosque massacre due to 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.
The Iranian government says that "millions" may die from the coronavirus if people keep ignoring health guidelines and continue traveling. Two major shrines were closed on March 16 after fiathful pushed into the courtyards. 90% of the 18,000 coronavirus cases in the Middle East have taken place in Iran; 988 people have died in the country.[52]
European leaders close the EU's external and Schengen borders for at least 30 days, in an effort to slow the COVID-19 pandemic.[53]
2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: 2.6 billion people, a third of the world's population, face some form of movement restrictions as India goes into lockdown for 21 days to curb the spread of COVID-19.[61]
March 25 – American FBI official Robert Levinson was declared dead by his family after being missing for nearly thirteen years while on a CIA mission.[65] It is believed he died while being held captive by the Iranian government.[66]
2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: Global COVID-19 cases reach 500,000, with nearly 23,000 deaths confirmed.[67] The United States surpasses China and Italy in total number of known COVID-19 cases, with at least 81,321 cases and more than 1,000 deaths.[68]
China temporarily suspends entry for foreign nationals with visas or residence permits, effective midnight March 28.[69]
Militants in the Philippines, Syria, Yemen, and Libya agree to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres's call for a cease fire; some accept medical aid for themselves and the noncobatants in their communities. Guterres also asked wealthy countries to provide $2 billion to aid in fighting the virus. Colombia and Venezuela discussed a common response to the globabl pandemic, and the UAE has airlifted aid to Iran.[70]
April 3 – 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: Prime Minister of SingaporeLee Hsien Loong announced a much stricter set of rules called "Circuit Breaker", starting 7 April until at least 4 May. All non-essential workplaces will be closed during this period. Schools will move to home-based learning, and preschools will close.[80][81]
2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: The first case of COVID-19 in a zoo animal is reported; a four-year-old female Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York.[82]
April 7 – 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: Japan declares a state of emergency in response to COVID-19, and passes a stimulus package worth 108 trillion yen ($990 billion), equal to 20% of the country's GDP.[84]
April 8 – 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: China ends the lockdown in Wuhan, with people allowed to leave the city for the first time in 76 days.[85][86]
April 10 – 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: The death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 100,000 globally, a ten-fold increase from March 20.[87]
April 13 – 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: Spain partially stops some lockdown rules, allowing around 300,000 non-essential workers, such as construction and manufacturing industries to return to their jobs.[89]
2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: China fixes the coronavirus death toll upward in Wuhan, where the virus originated, adding 1,290 more fatalities to bring the country's reported deaths from COVID-19 to 4,632.[92][93]
2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: Europe passes the 100,000 deaths mark.[94]
April 20 – Oil prices reach a record low, falling into negative values, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war.[97]
April 24 – 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: Ecuador revises its total confirmed cases to 22,719, doubled from previous day, caused by increased test capacity and presentation of delayed results.[98]
April 25 – 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: The death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 200,000 globally.[99] The U.K. becomes the fifth country to report 20,000 deaths.[100]
2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: The number of cases in Iran passes 90,000.[101]
2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: Spain further partially eases its lockdown rules, allowing children up to 14 to go outside their home for at most one hour.[102]
April 27 – 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 3 million worldwide, while the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States passes 1 million.[103][104]
2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: The total number of recovered COVID-19 patient reached 1 million worldwide, according data from Johns Hopkins University.[109]
May 2 – 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: Spain further eases the nationwide lockdown, allowing adults to go outside their homes from 6 to 10am and 8 to 11pm.[110]
May 4 – COVID-19 pandemic: Italy begins slowing down some of its lockdown measures. Italians can now exercise outside of their home, visit relatives at the same regions, be part of a funeral with a 15 attendees minimum, and visit bike and scooter shops. Schools, cinemas, and most shops remain closed.[112]
May 5 – 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: The UK death toll from COVID-19 becomes the highest in Europe at 32,313 after exceeding the death toll of 29,029 in Italy.[113]
2019–20 coronavirus pandemic: New evidence indicates that an Algerian-born French fishmonger who had not traveled to China and did not have contact with any Chinese nationals was treated for pneumonia from an unknown source, now identified as COVID-19, on December 27, 2019.[114][115]
Several Chinese and Indian soldiers are injured in a cross-border clash at the Nathu La crossing. About 150 troops participated in the face-off, which involved fistfights and stone-throwing.[117]
COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 4 million worldwide.[118]
COVID-19 pandemic: Wuhan, the original epicenter of the pandemic, reports its first coronavirus cases in more than a month. A 89-year-old man was confirmed positive, but his wife and several member of the community were recorded as asymptomatic cases.[119]
Gunmen storm a maternity hospital and kill 24 people, including two newborn babies in a majority-Shia neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan.[120][121][122]
May 21 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 5 million worldwide, with 106,000 new cases recorded over the past 24hours, the highest single-day figure so far.[127]
COVID-19 pandemic: Brazil overtakes Russia to become the country with the second highest number of COVID-19 cases, with over 330,000 reported. President Jair Bolsonaro continues to dismiss the threat of the virus.[129]
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says that Hong Kong is "no longer autonomous",[132] as China backs a new security law that would make it a crime to undermine Beijing's authority in the territory.[133]
COVID-19 pandemic: The U.S. death toll passes 100,000 – more Americans then were killed in the Vietnam and Korean wars combined, and approaching that of the First World War, when 116,000 Americans died in combat.[134] The total number of cases continues to rise, although the rate is slowing.[135]
COVID-19 pandemic: The annual Tiananmen Square memorial in Hong Kong is banned for the first time since 1990 because of health concerns due to COVID-19.[140]
June 2 – A US$5 billion lawsuit is filed against Alphabet Inc. and Google, saying that the company violates users' right to privacy by tracking them in Chrome's private browsing Incognito mode.[143]
Severe Cyclonic Storm Nisarga makes landfall south of Mumbai as a Category 1 hurricane. This is the first time a tropical cyclone has targeted the megacity since 1891. About 100,000 people have been evacuated.[145]
June 4 – The interim government of Libya says they are in full control of the capital, Tripoli, after army forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar retreat from the territory after months of intense fighting in the city.[148]
June 7 – COVID-19 pandemic: The global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 400,000.[149]
June 9 – COVID-19 pandemic: A Harvard University study suggests that COVID-19 may have been spreading in China as early as August 2019, based on hospital car park usage and web search trends.[152]
June 15 – At least 20 Indian soldiers and over 40 Chinese forces are killed or injured in skirmishes, the largest escalation along the Sino-Indian border in five decades.[153]
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 10 million worldwide.[166] The U.S. continues to have the highest number of any country as it reaches 2.5 million, a quarter of all cases globally.[167]
The global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 500,000.[168]
July 1 – Russian voters support a constitutional amendment that would allow Vladimir Putin to seek two further six-year terms when his current term ends in 2024, potentially allowing him to remain in power until 2036.[170]
COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 12 million worldwide.[175]
At least 180 bodies are found in mass graves in Burkina Faso, where soldiers are fighting jihadists. It is suspected that the government forces were involved in mass executions.[176]
The Turkish government orders the Hagia Sophia to be turned back into a mosque following a supreme court annulment of a 1934 presidential decree that made it a museum.[178]
COVID-19 pandemic: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held an emergency meeting after a suspected case of COVID-19 detected on North Korean town of Kaesong. Then the city was put on lockdown.[190]
August 4 – Multiple explosions caused by unsafely stored ammonium nitrate kill over 220 people, injure thousands, and severely damage the port of Beirut, Lebanon. Damage is said to be worth at $10–15 billion, and at least 300,000 people are left homeless.[196][197]
It is reported that Britain's gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 20.4% in the second quarter of 2020, the biggest quarterly decline since records began in 1955, and the worst economic figure of any G7 nation.[206][207]
August 30– COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 25 million worldwide. India continues to record the highest daily increase of cases.[219]
The skeletons of 200 mammoths and 30 other animals are unearthed at a construction site for the Mexico City Santa Lucía Airport. It is the largest find of mammoth bones to date.[222]
The La Línea highway tunnel, the longest road tunnel in South America at a length of 8.65kilometres (5.37mi), is opened in Colombia after 14 years of construction and several delays.[224]
Kosovo and Serbia announce that they will normalize economic relations. The two countries will also move their Israeli embassies to Jerusalem, becoming the third and fourth countries to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.[225][226]
September 10– COVID-19 pandemic: The worldwide death toll from COVID-19 passes 900,000.[227]
September 20– A collection of 2,657 documents are released describing over 200,000 suspicious transactions valued at over US$2 trillion that occurred from 1999 to 2017 across multiple global financial institutions.[235]
October 1– The EU launches legal action against the UK, accusing it of breaking international law by overriding sections of the Brexit withdrawal agreement.[240]
October 20 – NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft briefly touches down on Bennu, becoming the agency's first probe to retrieve samples from an asteroid, with its cargo due for return to Earth in 2023.[249]
Typhoon Goni makes landfall in the Philippines as a category 5 super typhoon and became the strongest landfalling tropical cyclone on record with winds reaching up to 315km/h (195mph).[258]
COVID-19 pandemic: The first successful phase III trial of a COVID-19 vaccine is announced by drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech, able to prevent 90% of infections.[270]
COVID-19 pandemic: Moderna's mRNA vaccine is proven to be 94.5% effective against COVID-19 based on interim results, including severe illnesses. The vaccine is easier to distribute as no ultra-cold storage is required.[287]
November 17 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 55 million worldwide, with around a million cases recorded every two days on average.[288]
COVID-19 pandemic: Pfizer and BioNTech have completed trials on their COVID-19 vaccine, with an overall effectiveness rate of 95% without adverse events.[289]
November 23– COVID-19 pandemic: AstraZeneca's AZD1222 vaccine, developed in partnership with Oxford University, is shown to be 70% effective in protecting against COVID-19. The efficacy can be raised to 90% if an initial half dose is followed by a full dose a month later, based on interim data.[295][296]
COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 65 million worldwide, with the global death toll passing 1.5 million.[310] Over 10,000 people worldwide have died on average every day, with one death every nine seconds. According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 had caused more deaths in 2020 than tuberculosis in 2019, as well as four times the number of deaths than malaria.[311]
Somali Civil War: The United States announces its withdrawal from the conflict over the next month.[312]
COVID-19 pandemic: The United States and Saudi Arabia approve Tozinameran for emergency use, while Argentina approves Sputnik V.[323][324][325]
Israel and Morocco normalise diplomatic relations and the United States supports recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara and announces plans to build a consulate there.[326]
The United States places sanctions on Turkey in retaliation for their purchase of a missile system from Russia, making the first time they have sanctioned a NATO ally.[336]
A total solar eclipse is visible from parts of the South Pacific Ocean, southern South America, and the South Atlantic Ocean.[337]
COVID-19 pandemic: 36 cases are reported in Antarctica, marking the first infections in the last continent to report infections.[345]
A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623.[346]