25
Feb. 9
Bong Joon Ho’s
biting class satire
Parasite is the first
foreign-language
film to win Best
Picture, at the
2020 Oscars
March 18
The Eurovision Song
Contest is canceled
for the fi rst time in
the international
music competition’s
64-year history, over
coronavirus concerns
April 12
With sports worldwide
on pause because of
the pandemic, Taiwan’s
Chinese Professional
Baseball League is the
fi rst major professional
sports organization to
begin its 2020 season
May 26
Costa Rica
becomes the fi rst
Central American
country to legalize
same-sex marriage
Aug. 25
The World Health
Organization
declares Africa
free of wild polio
for the fi rst time
Nov. 20
Pfi zer is the fi rst
COVID-19 vaccine
maker to seek
FDA authorization,
closely followed
by Moderna and
AstraZeneca
Oct. 26
NASA confi rms
the fi rst
discovery of
water molecules
on the moon’s
surface
June 12
ABC confi rms Matt
James as the first
Black man cast as the
Bachelor, ahead of the
show’s 25th season
April 8
Last day of an 11-week
lockdown in Wuhan,
China, the original
epicenter of the
COVID-19 pandemic
Sept. 16
Japan’s longest-
serving Prime
Minister, Shinzo Abe,
serves his last day
in offi ce, after
resigning on Aug. 28
Dec. 25
The scheduled airdate
for the last Jeopardy!
episode featuring
its 37-season
host Alex Trebek,
who died on Nov. 8
March 9
Prince Harry and
Meghan Markle
attend their last
public engagement
as working members
of the British
royal family
July 10
The last day Istanbul’s
Hagia Sophia is
designated as a
museum—after
85 years—following a
Turkish court’s ruling
that reverts its status
to that of a mosque
Oct. 16
Coca-Cola announces
plans to discontinue
production of Tab,
its fi rst diet soda,
by the end of 2020
Dec. 1
Last day the
streaming service
Quibi is operational,
folding just eight
months after its
much touted launch
Jan. 31
The last day the U.K.
remains a member of
the European Union,
ahead of an 11-month
Brexit transition period
Nov. 16
The day Iota—the
last named storm of the
2020 Atlantic hurricane
season—reaches
Category 5 status (also
the fi rst time 30 named
storms form in the
Atlantic in a single year)
Aug. 14
The Pentagon
announces a task force
to analyze the “nature
and origins” of
UFOs, its fi rst offi cial
acknowledgment
of such active
investigative work
JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER
FIRSTS
LASTS
Firsts & Lasts
2020 THE YEAR IN
SUSSEX: NEWSCOM/SIPA USA; TAB: COCA-COLA; GETTY IMAGES (7)
