50 Fun Facts About 2020

Which film won Best Picture in February 2020, the first non-English-language winner?

Bong Joon-ho's thriller also took Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature that night.

Joaquin Phoenix won the 2020 Best Actor Oscar for which film?

He and Heath Ledger became only the second pair of actors to win Oscars for playing the same character in different films.

Which Netflix true-crime series about Joe Exotic arrived on March 20, 2020?

Its first season landed a week into most US lockdowns and became the defining binge of spring 2020.

Which Switch game released on March 20, 2020 became the lockdown escape of choice?

It went on to sell more than 50 million copies and set the record for most digital console sales in a single month.

Among Us exploded in 2020, but in which year was it first released?

It drew little attention until Twitch streamers and YouTubers picked it up during the pandemic.

Which Taylor Swift album was surprise-released on July 24, 2020?

It went on to win Album of the Year at the Grammys, making Swift the first woman to take that award three times.

Swift recorded her July 2020 album remotely with Jack Antonoff and which other producer?

Dessner, of the National, worked from his Hudson Valley studio while Swift sang in her Los Angeles home.

Which comedy swept all seven major comedy awards at the 2020 Emmys?

Its final season earned 15 nominations, a record for a comedy's last year, and won all four acting categories.

Who played chess prodigy Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit?

Within four weeks it was Netflix's most-watched scripted miniseries and the top show in 63 countries.

Quibi launched in April 2020; roughly how many months later did it shut down?

Its library was sold to Roku for under $100 million a month later.

Chadwick Boseman died in August 2020 after a private battle with which illness?

He had been diagnosed in 2016 and filmed his later Marvel appearances while undergoing treatment.

Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash near which California city?

The Sikorsky S-76 had departed John Wayne Airport in Orange County on the morning of January 26.

Alex Trebek died in November 2020 after 20 months with which disease?

He kept taping Jeopardy! almost to the end; his final episodes aired in January 2021.

The Last Dance centred on which Chicago Bulls season?

ESPN moved the ten-part series up to April 2020 when live sport vanished, and Netflix carried it internationally.

What made BTS's chart-topping 2020 single "Dynamite" a first for the group?

It debuted at number one on the Hot 100, making BTS the first all-South Korean act to top the chart.

How old was Billie Eilish when she swept the four major Grammys in January 2020?

She was the first person born in the 21st century to win a Grammy; her brother Finneas took Producer of the Year at 22.

Who wrote and directed Tenet, the 2020 blockbuster that tried to reopen cinemas?

Delayed repeatedly by the pandemic, it opened in the UK on August 26 and the US on September 3.

On which day did Bridgerton debut on Netflix in 2020?

It was Shondaland's first scripted series for Netflix, adapted from Julia Quinn's Regency romances.

In Cyberpunk 2077, Keanu Reeves plays which character?

Silverhand is a rockstar-turned-terrorist whose engram lives on a biochip inside the player's head.

Where did the NBA build its 2020 bubble to finish the season?

The $190 million bubble near Orlando recouped an estimated $1.5 billion in revenue.

Which team did the Los Angeles Lakers beat in the 2020 NBA Finals?

LeBron James became the only player ever named Finals MVP with three different franchises.

The entire 2020 World Series was played at which ballpark?

It was the first World Series at a neutral site and the first since 1944 held in a single ballpark.

Who did the Kansas City Chiefs beat 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV in February 2020?

Patrick Mahomes was named Super Bowl MVP for the first time at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

Which two artists co-headlined the Super Bowl LIV halftime show?

Bad Bunny, J Balvin and Lopez's daughter Emme made guest appearances in a show built around Miami's Latin culture.

Eddie Van Halen died in October 2020 of what cause?

He had been treated for tongue cancer since 2000 and died at 65 in Santa Monica.

Sean Connery died on October 31, 2020; how many James Bond films had he starred in?

He died in his sleep at 90 at his home in Nassau in the Bahamas.

Lewis Hamilton's 2020 Formula One title equalled whose record of seven championships?

He also passed Schumacher's all-time win record at the Portuguese Grand Prix that season.

Pixar's Soul follows Joe Gardner, a teacher chasing a big break as what kind of musician?

It was the first Pixar film with a Black lead, and Jon Batiste's playing sessions were used as animation reference.

Wonder Woman 1984 opened in cinemas and on which streaming service on the same day in 2020?

It became the platform's top streaming film of 2020, though the day-and-date release hurt its box office.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in September 2020, was which woman on the Supreme Court?

She was also the first Jewish woman on the Court, following Sandra Day O'Connor's 1981 appointment.

Cardi B's August 2020 hit "WAP" featured which rapper?

Cardi had shelved a 2019 demo and revisited it during lockdown, adding verses and turning it into a duet.

Which song gave Harry Styles his first US number one in 2020?

Taken from Fine Line, it went on to win the Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance.

Dolly Parton's $1 million gift to Vanderbilt helped fund which COVID-19 vaccine?

She was vaccinated with it herself at Vanderbilt in March 2021.

Where did Harry and Meghan post their January 2020 announcement that they were stepping back?

The January 8 post said they would split time between the UK and North America and become financially independent.

What made the Tokyo 2020 Olympics decision of March 24, 2020 unique in Olympic history?

Previous Games had been cancelled outright in 1916, 1940 and 1944, but none had ever been rescheduled.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm premiered in October 2020 on which service?

Maria Bakalova's turn as Borat's daughter Tutar earned her an Oscar nomination.

Gillian Anderson joined The Crown's fourth season in 2020 as which figure?

The season covers 1979 to 1990 and introduced Emma Corrin as Lady Diana Spencer.

Ted Lasso premiered in August 2020 on which streaming service?

Jason Sudeikis first played the clueless American coach in NBC Sports promos for the Premier League.

The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" comes from which 2020 album?

The song spent 90 weeks on the Hot 100 and was later named the chart's best-performing song of all time.

How many Grammy nominations did the Weeknd receive in November 2020?

The snub prompted him to boycott the Grammys, and the Recording Academy later scrapped its secret nominating committees.

A US drone strike killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in January 2020 at which airport?

Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was among the ten people killed.

The August 2020 Beirut port explosion was caused by a stockpile of what?

At least 218 people died and thousands were injured in one of the largest non-nuclear blasts in history.

Which country was first to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, on December 2, 2020?

Mass vaccination began there six days later, with the US and Canada following on December 14.

How old was Margaret Keenan, first person to get the approved Pfizer vaccine?

She received it in Coventry on December 8, 2020, a week before her 91st birthday.

On what date did the WHO formally assess COVID-19 to be a pandemic?

It had declared a public health emergency of international concern on January 30.

SpaceX's first crewed Dragon flight in May 2020 ended a US launch gap dating from which year?

It was the first crewed spacecraft to lift off from American soil since the Space Shuttle retired.

The 2020 Eurovision cancellation was the first in the contest's history of how many years?

Rotterdam kept the hosting rights and finally staged the contest in 2021.

Which Gulf state agreed to normalise relations with Israel on August 13, 2020?

Bahrain followed in September, then Sudan and Morocco, in what became the Abraham Accords.

Which was the last continent to report COVID-19 infections, in December 2020?

The 36 cases were at a Chilean base, Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme.

Time magazine closed 2020 by putting what over the year on its cover?

It was only the sixth X cover in the magazine's history; earlier ones marked the deaths of Hitler and bin Laden.