--- title: 2020: The Year in Review description: A TIME video captures the events—and the impact—of the year just ending canonical: https://time.com/5919837/2020-year-in-review/ author: Jeffrey Kluger article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-12-11T21:35:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T09:31:08.770Z article:section: History og:title: 2020: Watch The Year in Review og:description: A time that tested us like no other og:url: https://time.com/5919837/2020-year-in-review/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d43753a910309f1/698a1526011682535d9801e8/COVID-pic.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1920 og:image:height: 1080 og:image:alt: COVID pic og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 2020: Watch The Year in Review twitter:description: A time that tested us like no other twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d43753a910309f1/698a1526011682535d9801e8/COVID-pic.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # 2020: Watch The Year in Review > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: 2020: A Year in Review [Watch (HLS stream): 2020: A Year in Review](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OysfOjTJ.m3u8) (2:22)  _Published 2020-12-17. What 2020 became was a series of rolling disasters. But in the midst of the tragedies there was courage, there was grace, there was sacrifice, there was hope—there were people faced with the very worst rising up to be their very best._ Dec 11, 2020 9:35 PM UTC  by [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/)  ## Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large Dec 11, 2020 9:35 PM UTC There was no way of knowing at [the end of 2019](https://time.com/5754155/global-advances-2019/) what the [onrushing train of 2020](https://time.com/5917394/2020-in-review/) would bring. Yes, there were some signs: systemic racism and the death of too many Black men at the hands of white police officers was already a scourge. Wildfires in the West, hurricanes around the world, and an increasingly volatile climate were already a menace as the overheated Earth continued to run a fever. An unconventional President facing a restive public and a re-election campaign portended partisan rancor and possible electoral upheaval. And then there was the cluster of cases of a deadly flu-like disease in [Wuhan, China](https://time.com/5885262/wuhan-pandemic-covid19-coronavirus-recovery/) that seemed—to Americans at least—to be somebody else’s problem. What 2020 became was a series of rolling disasters—the killing of George Floyd, the burning of California, an acrimonious political campaign marred by baseless allegations of fraud and illegal voting, and the worst pandemic the world has seen in more than a century. But in the midst of the tragedies there was courage, there was grace, there was sacrifice, there was hope—there were people faced with the very worst rising up to be their very best. Few will recall the year just ending with anything close to fondness. 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