2020s facts for kids

SARS-CoV-2 (center, yellow), the virus that causes COVID-19, became a large pandemic in the year 2020.

The 2020s (pronounced "twenty-twenties") is the current decade that began on January 1, 2020 and will end on December 31, 2029.

Events

• In 2020, the United Kingdom left the European Union (Brexit)
• In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, a pandemic of the COVID-19 disease, is spreading around the world. Over 70 million people have been infected, and 1.6 million have died. Many countries shut down schools and workplaces, to stop the disease from spreading. It also caused the coronavirus recession.

Things supposed to happen

• In 2004, the President of the United States George W. Bush said that people would try to fly to Mars some time in this decade.
• The 2020 Summer Olympics will happen in 2021 instead. They were moved a year later because of the COVID-19 pandemic
• In 2027, the autopsy (study of a dead body to find out how that person died) of Elvis Presley will be published.

Images for kids

• 

  Prime Minister of Sweden Magdalena Andersson and Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin are the female prime ministers in Scandinavia in March 2022

• 

  Charli D'Amelio, the most followed creator on TikTok from 2020 to 2022

• 

  Greek NBA player Giannis Antetokounmpo won Finals MVP during the 2021 championship, playing for the Bucks

• 

  Ram's Cooper Kupp played a key role in Super Bowl LVI, winning Super Bowl MVP

• 

  Decorated cloth face masks. Wearing a face covering in settings such as shops, bars, airports, and on public transport became mandatory in many countries in the early 2020s, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

• 

  The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X was released in 2020, and came pre-installed with the 2020 game Astro's Playroom. The PS5 made use of the more powerful new DualSense controller and the fourth generation Xbox system.

• 

  Popular singer Olivia Rodrigo visited the White House in 2021 in a push to normalize vaccine use for American youth. Pictured above is Rodrigo with President Joe Biden, the two of them putting on Biden's signature aviator sunglasses.

• 

  By the early 2020s, foldable phones became retail available, though they were quite expensive in comparison to standard phones, or the bulkier phone of the 2010s.

• 

  Bright multi-colored clothing became a trend in the early 2020s, as did baggier, looser-fitting clothing (in a rejection to the form-fitting 2010s fashion), as modeled here by Billie Eilish, one of the most popular musicians of the early decade.

• 

  In the 2020s, multiple online food delivery services such as Uber Eats, Postmates, DoorDash and Grubhub became popular. Pictured above is an Uber Eats employee delivering a meal.

• 

  Singer The Weeknd was the first artist of the decade to achieve a Billboard number-one single of the year (for the year 2020) with his hit single "Blinding Lights", which was also performed during the 2021 Superbowl.

• 

  The Netflix show Squid Game became an immediate global success and a phenomenon in the early 2020s. Beyond television, its effects in popular culture were also notable for the increased sales of outfits and shoes featured in the show.

• 

  The use of cryptocurrency became more mainstream in the 2020s. Crypto such as Bitcoin and others were notable. The Staples Center was even renamed Crypto.com Arena in 2021.

• 

  The holding company of Facebook and Instagram changed its name to Meta Platforms in 2021, with intention to put greater focus on building the metaverse, a social network of 3D virtual worlds.

• 

  In the early 2020s, K-pop continued to experience greater growth and success with groups like BTS (pictured) and their song "Dynamite" and Blackpink leading the popularity. Tomorrow X Together, Stray Kids, Twice and others have also been part of the 2020s Korean wave.

• 

  5G was introduced in smartphones during the early part of the decade, with the Samsung Galaxy S20 and iPhone 12 smartphones having 5G capabilities. China, Japan and South Korea became leading electronics industry and technological advances in the Asia-Pacific since the 1990s.

• 

  The early 2020s started with a rise in videoconferencing due to the pandemic, while many educational institutions and workplaces shifted to distance learning and remote work, using Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and other platforms.

• 

  Doja Cat, a fashion icon of the early part of the decade, became one of the most streamed artists on Spotify in 2021, along with musicians like Bad Bunny, Dua Lipa and others.

• 

  COVID-19 vaccines became widely available to the public in some countries starting in 2021, and influenced certain cultures based on the vaccine status of individuals.