50 Fun Facts About 2020 Pop Culture

Which Netflix true-crime docuseries about zookeeper Joe Exotic became a lockdown obsession in March 2020?

Tiger King was watched by 34.3 million people in its first ten days, helped by arriving just as the pandemic kept viewers at home.

Which South Korean thriller became the first non-English-language film to win the Best Picture Oscar, in February 2020?

Parasite had already won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and it was the first film to take both top prizes since Marty more than 60 years earlier.

Which Nintendo game, released in March 2020, let locked-down players hold weddings and graduations on a virtual island?

Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold 11.77 million copies in its first 12 days, and Joe Biden's presidential campaign even released yard signs for players' islands.

A TikTok of a man skateboarding and sipping juice sent which 1977 Fleetwood Mac hit back up the charts in 2020?

Dreams soundtracked Nathan Apodaca's ride to work in Idaho after his truck broke down, and it remains Fleetwood Mac's only US number one.

In which US state did a helicopter crew counting bighorn sheep find a mysterious metal monolith in November 2020?

Utah lost the pillar nine days later, when four residents of Moab took it away, saying they had heard others planned to destroy it.

Which insect landed on Mike Pence's head during the 2020 vice-presidential debate and became an instant meme?

A fly stole the night: it was tweeted about more than 700,000 times in the days that followed, and it turned into a popular Halloween costume.

Which whipped instant-coffee drink, a 2020 lockdown craze, is named after a Korean honeycomb toffee?

Dalgona coffee got its name when South Korean actor Jung Il-woo tried the drink at an eatery in Macau for a TV show in January 2020 and said it tasted like the candy.

Which 2018 game about unmasking impostors on a spaceship became a surprise smash in 2020 thanks to Twitch streamers?

Among Us had drawn little attention for two years; once it took off, studio Innersloth abandoned a planned sequel to rebuild the original instead.

Which Broadway musical's filmed stage performance skipped its planned cinema release and landed on Disney+ in July 2020?

Hamilton had cost Disney $75 million for the rights and was meant to reach cinemas in October 2021, before the pandemic shut Broadway.

Which Hollywood star's COVID-19 diagnosis in March 2020 halted filming of an Elvis Presley biopic in Australia?

Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson both tested positive; a month later he hosted the first Saturday Night Live made remotely from the cast's homes.

Which surprise Taylor Swift album, made in lockdown and released in July 2020, won the Grammy for Album of the Year?

Folklore was made remotely with producers Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff, and its Grammy made Swift the first woman to win Album of the Year three times.

Which Canadian sitcom about a once-rich family stranded in a small town swept all seven major comedy Emmys in 2020?

Schitt's Creek was the first comedy or drama to win all seven, including acting awards for Catherine O'Hara, Annie Murphy and both Eugene and Dan Levy.

Which singer swept all four major Grammy categories in January 2020, the first artist to manage it since 1981?

Billie Eilish was 18, the youngest artist to win the big four in one night, and her brother Finneas went home with even more trophies than she did.

Which ESPN docuseries about Michael Jordan's 1997–98 Chicago Bulls was moved up to April 2020 for sports-starved fans?

The Last Dance had been scheduled for June 2020, but ESPN brought it forward to April 19 because the pandemic had shut down live sport.

Which online game hosted rapper Travis Scott's five virtual 'Astronomical' concerts across three days in April 2020?

Fortnite drew more than 27 million viewers to the shows, whose visuals drew on Scott's Astroworld stage shows.

Which singer co-headlined the Super Bowl halftime show with Jennifer Lopez in Miami in February 2020?

Shakira and Lopez were reportedly chosen to reflect the Latin culture of host city Miami, and their set drew 103 million US viewers, more than the game itself.

Which rapper ran for US president in 2020 under the banner of a newly formed Birthday Party?

Kanye West made the ballot in only 12 states and conceded the morning after the election, his biggest haul of votes coming in Tennessee.

Which Regency romance from producer Shonda Rhimes premiered on Netflix on Christmas Day 2020?

Bridgerton, adapted from Julia Quinn's novels, was Netflix's most-watched series launch until Squid Game overtook it in October 2021.

Which country music legend's $1 million donation helped fund early research on the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in 2020?

Dolly Parton gave the money to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and later marked her own jab by singing a reworded version of Jolene.

Which rapper teamed up with Megan Thee Stallion on 'WAP', the first female rap collaboration to debut atop the Hot 100?

Cardi B earned her fourth US chart-topper with the August 2020 single, which opened with 93 million streams in its first week.

Which singer received zero Grammy nominations in November 2020 despite the huge success of 'Blinding Lights'?

The Weeknd answered the snub by calling the Grammys corrupt on social media; his single had topped the Hot 100 for four weeks that year.

Which BTS single, the group's first recorded fully in English, debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2020?

Dynamite made BTS the first all-South Korean act to top the chart, and brought the first Grammy nomination for a Korean pop act.

Which British singer's album Future Nostalgia was rushed out a week early in March 2020 after leaking online?

Dua Lipa had planned an April release until the whole record leaked; it went on to win the Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album.

Which Houston-born star joined Megan Thee Stallion on a chart-topping 2020 remix of 'Savage' for COVID-19 relief?

Beyoncé's verses carried the song to number one, Megan's first chart-topper, with all proceeds going to a food-relief charity in Houston.

Which singer became the first man to appear solo on the cover of American Vogue, wearing a blue Gucci dress, in 2020?

Harry Styles, who had modelled in Gucci campaigns since 2018, fronted the magazine's December issue.

Which Puerto Rican rapper was Spotify's most-streamed artist of 2020, the year he released the album YHLQMDLG?

Bad Bunny also had the service's most-streamed album that year, and he took the top-artist title four times between 2020 and 2025.

Which singer had a son with Elon Musk in May 2020, giving the baby a name that broke California naming rules?

Grimes and Musk first chose X Æ A-12, then changed it to X Æ A-Xii because the original would have violated state regulations.

Which Euphoria star became, at 24, the youngest winner of the Emmy for lead actress in a drama in 2020?

Zendaya won for playing the drug-addicted teenager Rue Bennett, and later took the same award a second time for the role.

Which real name for The Mandalorian's 'Baby Yoda' was finally revealed in a November 2020 episode?

Grogu had officially been called only 'the Child' until 'Chapter 13: The Jedi', which also revealed he was raised at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

Which Apple TV+ comedy, launched in August 2020, grew out of Jason Sudeikis's promos for NBC's Premier League coverage?

Ted Lasso sends an American college football coach to manage an English soccer club, and it won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2021.

Which actor hosted the feel-good YouTube show Some Good News from home in spring 2020, then sold it to ViacomCBS?

John Krasinski made eight episodes and a live-streamed prom from his Brooklyn home, and the sale followed a bidding war.

Which Christopher Nolan spy film was the first Hollywood blockbuster to open in cinemas during the 2020 pandemic?

Tenet finished as the fifth-biggest film of 2020 worldwide, yet with a budget of around $200 million it still failed to break even.

Which short-video streaming service raised $1.75 billion, launched in April 2020 and shut down before the year was out?

Quibi was founded by Hollywood veteran Jeffrey Katzenberg and run by Meg Whitman, and it closed after falling short of its subscriber projections.

Which video game mascot's film was delayed to February 2020 for a redesign after fans recoiled at the first trailer?

Sonic first appeared looking like a real hedgehog, so Paramount pushed the release back three months to make him resemble his game self.

Which Keanu Reeves video game was pulled from the PlayStation Store in December 2020 after a bug-ridden launch?

Cyberpunk 2077 stayed off Sony's store until June 2021 while developer CD Projekt fixed it; Reeves plays the rock star Johnny Silverhand.

Which insect, found in the Pacific Northwest, did 2020 headlines give a nickname containing the word 'murder'?

Asian giant hornet stayed the name in scientific use until 2022, when US entomologists adopted 'northern giant hornet' instead.

Which actress won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for playing Margaret Thatcher in The Crown's 2020 fourth season?

Gillian Anderson, born in Chicago and raised partly in north London, played the prime minister opposite Olivia Colman's Queen Elizabeth II.

The pallbearers in 2020's viral coffin meme, set to the EDM track 'Astronomia', work in which African country?

Ghana is home to the troupe, which Benjamin Aidoo started as a regular pallbearing service in 2003 in the coastal town of Prampram.

Which internet aesthetic of puff sleeves and prairie dresses, named on Tumblr in 2018, boomed in 2020's lockdowns?

Cottagecore celebrates slow, rural living, and Tumblr saw posts about it rise 150% between March and May 2020.

Which webcast series began in March 2020 as an Instagram Live producer battle between Timbaland and Swizz Beatz?

Verzuz grew out of an idea the two producers first had in 2017, and its Brandy against Monica battle drew more than 1.2 million viewers at once on Instagram.

Which viral TikTok routine did teenager Jalaiah Harmon create, earning a solo spot at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game?

Renegade was set to K Camp's song 'Lottery', and Harmon only got wide credit after a New York Times feature named her as its creator.

Which Japanese anime film outgrossed every Hollywood release to top the worldwide box office for 2020?

Demon Slayer: Mugen Train grossed over $512 million and took Spirited Away's title as the highest-grossing Japanese film in Japan.

Which animated sequel's digital rental release in April 2020 led AMC Theatres to announce a ban on Universal films?

Trolls World Tour set off a feud that ended that July, when AMC accepted a 17-day cinema window in return for a share of rental sales.

Which tennis legend narrates Mindy Kaling's Netflix teen comedy Never Have I Ever, which premiered in April 2020?

John McEnroe got the job after Kaling approached him at a Vanity Fair Oscar party; in the story he is the idol of the heroine's late father.

Which rapper's 'The Box', famous for a squeaky ad-lib that inspired memes, spent eleven weeks atop the Hot 100 in 2020?

Roddy Ricch saw the album track race up the Hot 100 before it was even released as a single, and it also topped the charts in Canada and New Zealand.

Which PlayStation game won Game of the Year and six other prizes at The Game Awards 2020?

The Last of Us Part II earned eleven nominations at a ceremony streamed from near-empty soundstages in Los Angeles, London and Tokyo.

Which Hunger Games character is the teenage hero of Suzanne Collins's 2020 prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes?

Coriolanus Snow is a penniless student from a once-powerful family, assigned to mentor District 12's Lucy Gray Baird in the 10th Hunger Games.

Which coffee chain added a drink called 'The Charli', the go-to order of TikTok star Charli D'Amelio, in September 2020?

Dunkin' sold the drink for a limited time, and that November D'Amelio became the first TikTok user to pass 100 million followers.

Which January action-comedy sequel ended 2020 as the highest-grossing film of the year in the United States?

Bad Boys for Life, the third film in the buddy-cop series, took $426.5 million worldwide, one of the biggest totals ever for a January release.

Which Disney live-action remake skipped US cinemas in September 2020 and reached Disney+ subscribers for a premium fee?

Mulan was sold through an add-on called Premier Access, a plan Disney announced a month earlier when it cancelled the US cinema release.