25 things that happened in 2020 that you definitely forgot about

22 September 2020, 17:54

By Sophie Thompson

2020 has been the longest year, hasn't it? And the fact is, we can't remember half the things that have gone down at this point. But from Chanel the African Grey to Tiger King, it was one to remember. Here's your official recap.

We're all in agreement that 2020 has been the longest year ever, right? There's been no shortage of what-the-hell-just-happened moments, and collectively, we're not even sure what day it is anymore.

Can you believe that Tiger King only came out in MARCH? Us neither.

And whether you were a Netflix Party fanatic, or took up baking banana bread during lockdown, it's pretty hard to believe that all of these things happened this year. And then was quickly forgotten about when the next dramatic occurrence came along.

So, in memoriam of this tragic time (not that it's anywhere near over yet), we've taken a look back on everything that has happened this year, that feels like it could well have been 10 years ago.

READ MORE: Best TikTok songs 2020: Every viral song from TikTok

JANUARY

1) Trump is almost impeached

Or at least the trial begun to get Trump out of office on counts of abuse of power and obstruction of congress. You'll also know that later in the year he was acquitted, and well, six months on...he's still around.

2) Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were pictured together for the first time in 15 years at the SAG Awards

And the hearts of everyone around the globe beat in sync. Twitter went wild as Hollywood's golden couple reunited for a hug on the red carpet, and of course, in the eyes of fans that meant they were an item again. The couple divorced in 2005. They've since reunited on a charity table read of Fast Times at Ridgemont High - so we're expecting confirmation of that reconciled relationship any day now...hopefully.

3) Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce they’re stepping back from the Royal family

As well as filing lawsuits against news companies for misuse of private information, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shocked the world when they announced they'd be stepping back from royal duties. Let's be real, they had a pretty messy time as part of the royal family. Since then, they've been partaking in charity work, have released a book with all the intimate details we didn't get to see, and even have their own Netflix show coming.

4) World War 3 memes are trending after US strike on Iranian official

World War 3 began trending after Iranian general Qasem Soleimani was killed in a US airstrike near Baghdad airport on the orders of President Donald Trump. The attack was conducted by an armed American drone, according to a US official, and eight others were also killed.

Off the back of the attack, memes about how the world was on the verge of collapse began trending. And boy, we had no idea what the rest of this year had in store for us.

5) Everyone wants to become a cheerleader as Cheer launches on Netflix

Time for a mat talk! Remember that brief period of time when we all convinced ourselves we could become cheerleaders based off a Netflix show? Cheer landed on the streaming platform way back on 8th January. Unfortunately for us, the show hasn't yet been confirmed for a season 2, despite that Daytona win...oh, and two Emmys.

Since then, one of the cast favourites, Jerry (known for his motivational personality), has been arrested on child pornography charges.

The official trailer for Cheer on Netflix

FEBRUARY

6) Everyone went wild for Love Is Blind

Ah, Netflix. You've really done the most this year. And to kick 2020's incredible line up off, we were given Love Is Blind.

That was the dating show you probably put to the back of your mind after you witnessed couples get engaged (and share wine with their dogs), without having ever met each other. Towards the end of the show, they'd meet for the first time and get married. Given the bizarre nature, it's safe to say that none of them lasted.

Watch the trailer for Netflix’s Love Is Blind

7) Parasite won the Oscar for Best Film

What a way to predict how this year would be going, right? However, it was pretty cool as Parasite was the first ever non-English language movie to win the category. It also scooped awards for Best Original Screenplay, Best International Film, and Best Director on the night.

8) Doja Cat sparks TikTok revolution with 'Say So'

Our first proper introduction to Doja Cat (post-Juicy) was when 'Say So' dropped and the dance from the music video to the song went viral on TikTok. It sparked one of the biggest 'challenges' of the year, and its catchy melody was quickly remixed with some of our other favourite artists. It's since propelled Doja to fame as it went straight to number one in the charts, and everyone has been hooked on her since.

9) Charlotte Awbery goes viral after she 'finished the lyrics' to Lady Gaga's Shallow in a subway station

We're struggling to believe this wasn't actually that long ago either. Charlotte Awbery was stopped in a subway station when she was asked to 'finish the lyrics' by a YouTuber who was filming for his own channel.

Within seconds she'd blown away him and fellow commuters with her powerful rendition of 'Shallow' by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper - a cover that would quickly land her a spot on The Ellen Show and an eventual music career of her own. She's since released and official studio-recorded version of the song, and teased that new music is on its way.

Charlotte Awbery singer (Shallow)

MARCH

10) Tom Hanks is the first celebrity to publicly announce they have coronavirus

Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks announced that he and his wife Rita Wilson had contracted coronavirus. In his post, he said he would follow the rules set out by medical officials and have a "one-day-at-a-time approach."

The news came just two days after WHO declared the disease a pandemic, sparking a wave of panic that one of Hollywood's most-loved treasures could be gravely ill. Thankfully, the pair have now recovered.

View this post on Instagram

Hello folks. @ritawilson and I want to thank everyone here Down Under who are taking such good care of us. We have Covid-19 and are in isolation so we do not spread it to anyone else. There are those for whom it could lead to a very serious illness. We are taking it one-day-at-a-time. There are things we can all do to get through this by following the advice of experts and taking care of ourselves and each other, no? Remember, despite all the current events, there is no crying in baseball. Hanx

A post shared by Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) on Mar 12, 2020 at 7:08pm PDT

11) Celebrities singing tone-deaf cover of 'Imagine'

If there's anything we don't need during a global pandemic, it's celebrities preaching down at us from their hillside mansions. And that lesson was quickly learned, after a number of A-Listers released a spectacularly awful cover of John Lennon's 'Imagine' which was met with mockery and backlash from the public.

Gal Gadot led the song, and was joined by the likes of Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Jamie Dornan, Jimmy Fallon and Natalie Portman. It's safe to say that was the last attempt at launching a Hollywood supergroup...

Gal Gadot Leads a Star-Studded Cover of John Lennon's 'Imagine'

12) Britney Spears claimed to run a sub-6 second 100m - shattering Usain Bolt’s 9.58s world record. And I believe her.

There's versatility, and then there's Britney. The pop queen claimed on Instagram back in March that she'd smashed her personal best doing a 100m sprint. The only problem was, she claimed she did it in 5.97 seconds...faster than world record holder Usain Bolt, who did it in 9.58 seconds in 2009.

She later backtracked and said it was a joke but, we fully believe her.

13) Animal Crossing New Horizons took over the world

And everyone went and bought the Nintendo Switch. In fact, demand for the console was so high because of the game's release that a restock wasn't available until the summer, with searches up 300%.

It gave us a well-deserved break from pandemic-related news and dealing with our favourite TV shows being put on hold. But let's be real...has anyone spoken about Animal Crossing since?

14) Netflix introduced us to Tiger King

Off the back of Netflix Party, we were blessed with the ultimate show to watch with our virtual pals: Tiger King. Everyone lost their minds at the documentary, which was dubbed the most bizarre of all time, as we watched Joe Exotic battle it out with his arch nemesis Carole Baskin over some tigers in his back yard.

Not only that, but Joe had three husbands (simultaneously), Carole was alleged to have killed her missing husband, and Joe then got into a bit of trouble for plotting to kill her. And breathe. Anyway, if you were wondering, Joe is now in jail and Carole is on Dancing with the Stars.

Carole Baskin to be on Dancing With The Stars

APRIL

15) Chanel the African Grey goes missing

CHAAAANELLLLL! If there was a soundboard for 2020, it would definitely feature the sound of a Liverpuddlian parrot-mum calling for her African Grey following a great escape from her house.

Also known as Chanel Chanellington, the bird, belonging to Sandra Hannah, supposedly escaped after a neighbour's drill scared her - and Sandra set out on a loud and proud mission to hunt her down while live-streaming, resulting in #FINDCHANEL being the top trend on Twitter. We hope she's home and safe.

16) Grimes and Elon Musk named their baby X Æ A-12

Elon Musk took to Twitter confirm the birth of his baby with girlfriend Grimes, and even posted a sweet snap of the new arrival to mark the occasion.

However, fans were left a little confused by the choice of name. And with 32-year-old Grimes, also known as Claire Boucher, previously stating that "everyone’s gonna make fun of" the name because it was "too avant-garde" - it'll be no surprise that the name they chose was 'X Æ A-12 Musk'. It's pronounced "X Ash A-12" if you're still as confused as us.

17) Drake's questionable interior design goes viral

Uber-rich rapper Drake did an Architectural Digest tour of his Toronto home. Aside from the fact he already owns an entire Hermes Birkin collection for his future wife and boasts a recording studio and basketball court inside the property, there was one thing in particular that caught fans' eyes. His divisive taste in interior design. While most loved it, others called it 'tacky' due to its pops of colour and 'cold' due to its size. Well...we wouldn't say no.

18) Big Baby

Gavin, a three year old from the Midwest of the United States went viral, after his mum posted TikTok videos of him playing - and the internet dubbed him the world's most enormous baby.

Naturally, the tot has quickly became the latest and greatest meme, in particular, after one clip of him in a diaper jumping on his dad.

MAY

19) K-pop fans flood police 'snitch' app with fancams in support of protesters

Dallas Police Department urged residents to send in videos of "illegal activity from the protests" that were taking place in the city to their iWatch Dallas app. Given that this was off the back of Black Lives Matter protests around the country and seen as a spying opportunity, the most unlikely of allies came out to deter the cops.

K-Pop fans. The fans flooded the app with fancams of their favourite idols which soon resulted in the app breaking. The police department then tweeted that the app was 'temporarily down' and there's only one group of people to thank.

JUNE

20) SpongeBob was confirmed as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community

In a tweet, Nickelodeon wrote: "Celebrating #Pride with the LGBTQ+ community and their allies this month and every month," alongside a picture of SpongeBob.

While most people were surprised about SpongeBob's LGBTQ+ identity, many fans pointed out that SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg previously revealed to Wall Street Journal in 2002 that he intended the characters on the show to be asexual.

And in 2005, he doubled down in an interview with Reuters after a conservative group said the show was promoting a "gay agenda", saying: "We never intended them to be gay. I consider them to be almost asexual."

21) Shane Dawson comes under fire for racism and paedophilia jokes

A video of Shane Dawson joking about the death of black teenager Trayvon Martin resurfaced following allegations of predatory behaviour. Despite releasing an apology video in response to the footage, many brands that Shane previously worked with has severed ties with him and business partner Jeffree Star. Following his apology, he lost over 600,000 subscribers and has yet to return YouTube.

Shane Dawson apologises for making racist YouTube videos

JULY

22) Kanye West announces he’s running for president

Former Donald Trump supporter, Kanye West, announced in July that he would be running to be president of the United States of America. After all the "WTF?" moments were over, it was soon discovered that he hadn't filed paperwork in time that would allow him to be a candidate in a number of states. He won the support of close friends Elon Musk but didn't have fans convinced. We'd like to see Kim Kardashian as First Lady, anyway.

23) TikTokers come under fire for coronavirus house parties

There's been so many jokes made about coronavirus not existing to the rich and famous. And it appears that could be true, as a number of TikTok influencers and YouTubers including Tana Mongeau, Larray, Nikita Dragun and Jake Paul have come under fire for hosting and attending huge house parties during lockdown.

In fact, Sway House members Bryce Hall and Blake Gray could even be facing jail for their part in the plans, with emergency service vehicle access blocked and loud music disturbing residents.

Hundreds of guests reportedly attended the parties which were regularly documented on social media, and Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, has accused the pair of "hijacking the quality of life of neighbourhood nearby.”

Tana Mongeau shares video from inside Jake Paul's pandemic house party

AUGUST

24) Selling Sunset season 3 convinces us to become real estate agents

Despite having two seasons previously (the second coming just two months before), season three of Selling Sunset was when we truly fell in love with The Oppenheim Group.

From the drama, to the extravagant houses, and the even more extravagant commission, Jason Oppenheim told PopBuzz that people were even quitting their jobs to try and follow their Netflix dreams.

Season 4 hasn't yet resumed filming, but we're already poised and ready for our next instalment.

Selling Sunset’s Christine Quinn calls out Amanza Smith over drama with Mary Fitzgerald

Well that was a mouthful wasn't it? And somehow, we're only half way there. Happy 2020!

QUIZ: Rate these 2020 songs and we’ll guess your age

QUIZ: How popular are your 2020 Netflix opinions?

QUIZ: Can you pass this expert level 2020 music test?