Top 10 MAJOR Moments of the 2020s So Far

Top 10 Most Significant Moments of the 2020s (So Far)

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were counting down our picks for the moments from 2020 to 2025 that made the world stand still.

Everything has to come to an end eventually even the reigns of monarchs we mightve expected to just go on forever. Thats exactly what happened on September 8, 2022, when the incumbent Queen Elizabeth died at the impressive age of 96. She had held the throne from February of 1952, making her the longest reigning British monarch in history, and the second-longest of any sovereign state. Beloved around the world for her poise and class, the queen proved more popular than the monarchy itself, with her reign cited as the reason that commonwealths like Australia chose not to become independent republics. In fact, her state funeral was one of the most-watched television events in British history, with over 26 million viewers.

From the time of the bloodless Corrective Movement, the dynastic Assad family ruled the West Asian country of Syria with an iron fist. Hafez al-Assad oversaw a highly oppressive regime until his 2000 death, at which point he was replaced by his son Bashar. The younger al-Assad cultivated a personalist dictatorship around himself, and commanded one of the most repressive totalitarian regimes in history. Responsible for numerous human rights violations, as well as countless civilian deaths, al-Assads reign came to a sudden and anticlimactic end in December of 2024, when he was overthrown by opposition forces led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, a paramilitary group.

50-year-old Thompson, the CEO of American health insurance giant UnitedHealthcare, was shot to death just outside of the New York Hilton Midtown, shortly before 7am on December 4th, 2024. Following an overwhelmingly publicized manhunt, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione was arrested five days later in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and charged with Thompsons murder. In turn, Mangione has been hailed as a kind of modern-day folk hero, praised on social media for taking a stand against what many feel is the predatory nature of the American healthcare system. Mangione faces federal charges, in addition to separate charges in New York and Pennsylvania.

Maybe this one is a bit of a cheat, considering its not limited to a single moment. But regardless, its undeniable that we are living through an extraordinary time of technological, and thus societal, change. No, youre not imagining it: we went from not talking about artificial intelligence at all, to it becoming an integral part of our daily lives. Focus has been increasingly drawn to the ubiquitous use of large language models and generative AI, which has rapidly overhauled the global workforce in its image. Scientists and researchers are constantly finding new ways to implement AI into various domains, like health, art, and business. Yes, AI will be a force for change but its important to consider what kind of change itll force.

In a political movement largely seen as being without precedent in American history, U.S. president Donald Trump refused to concede the 2020 election to his opponent, Democratic candidate and former vice president Joe Biden. Baselessly accusing the Democratic Party of rigging the election in Bidens favor, Trump encouraged his supporters to storm the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., in order to prevent the certification of election votes in a joint session of Congress. The attempted insurrection was a failure, and Biden was sworn into office just a few weeks later. Ultimately, nine people died as a result of the attack, 174 police officers were injured, and rioters caused an estimated $2.7 million in damages.

The 2020 murder of unarmed Black man George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota ignited what was perhaps the biggest American protest movement of the 21st century thus far. Police officer Derek Chauvin was filmed with his knee on Floyds neck as a means of restraining him, supposedly in retaliation for Floyds alleged use of a counterfeit bill at a nearby establishment. Chauvin was condemned globally for his use of excessive force, and following a mass wave of protests in support of Black Lives Matter, was sentenced to 22-and-a-half years in prison. Worldwide demonstrations that called for Chauvin to face justice for his actions occurred in several countries around the world, sparking conversations about police brutality and accountability.

In case you needed further proof that were living through unprecedented times, the ongoing financial nightmare has been estimated to be even more damaging than the Great Depression. Perhaps the most obvious contributor was the COVID-19 pandemic (more on that later), which abruptly upended global supply chains and caused a devastating but mercifully short lived stock market crash. An inflation surge in mid-2021 proved that the global economy was far from out of the woods, attributed to housing shortages and government budget deficits. While that surge has technically ended, top economists have made the troubling suggestion that consumer prices are unlikely to decrease to their pre-pandemic levels.

It probably goes without saying that the situation in the Middle East is more than a little complicated and has been for thousands of years. However, simmering tensions boiled over in a massive way on October 7, 2023, when the extremist militant group Hamas initiated a surprise attack on Israel, describing it as retribution for its colonial occupation of Palestinian territory. The attack resulted in nearly 1200 total deaths, and the Israeli government responded by invading the Gaza Strip and launching a bombing campaign that has resulted in over 77,000 Palestinian deaths. Several ceasefire attempts have proven unsuccessful, and the conflict has extended to other parts of the region, particularly Lebanon and Iran.

To be totally clear, its worth noting that 2022 didnt mark the beginning of Russias attempt to annex neighboring Ukraine. That began in 2014, kicking off an ongoing war effort. Having said that, 2022 marked a significant escalation in the conflict. On February 24, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of a special military operation, which was largely interpreted by the international community as a euphemism for an all-out invasion. Amidst hundreds of thousands of civilian and military deaths, the Russo-Ukrainian War has stoked global fears of what could happen if Putin achieves his goals.

Regardless of whether you thought COVID was a legitimate global health emergency or a deep-state conspiracy to control the population, its inarguable that the pandemic was a frightening, uncertain, and deeply challenging time. Even if you werent personally affected by the coronavirus itself, you were undoubtedly hit by one of its side effects. Those included a disruption of the global economy, supply chain shortages, and a moratorium on in-person encounters. Most of the fear stemmed from the confusion around the virus, as well as the heavy volume of social media disinformation about it. The World Health Organization still considers COVID to be an active pandemic, and its likely that well be feeling its effects for years, possibly even generations, to come.

Which 2020s moment had the biggest impact on you? Are there any we missed? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!