2020 - The Year We'd Like to Forget! Quiz

Answer: Harry and Meghan

In January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced that they were taking a step back from their duties as senior U.K. royals and would work on becoming financially independent. The couple were quite vocal about the pressures of being a royal and being in public life and the toll it takes emotionally. The couple planned to spend their time between the UK and North America.

Answer: 24

On January 26, 2020 Kobe Bryant got into a helicopter with his daughter, the helicopter pilot and six family friends, to attend a basketball game. There was an accident, the helicopter went down and everyone on board died. Tributes poured in for the man considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time, with five NBA championships, he was a named an All-Star eighteen times, the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player, and a two-time NBA Finals MVP.

He also led the NBA in scoring twice.

Answer: George Floyd

In May 2020 in Minneapolis, George Floyd was stopped by police for allegedly trying to use a counterfeit twenty dollar bill. During the arrest, a police officer knelt on the back of his neck to subdue him, for more than eight minutes. Tragically, George Floyd died during this interaction and his death set off a series of protests in the USA and internationally.

After his death there were memorial services, scholarships at universities announced in his name, street art depicting his likeness and a petition signed by one million people from Amnesty International demanding justice.

Answer: Murder hornet

The Asian giant hornet is the world's largest hornet and is native to Asia. In late 2019 and early 2020 it made its way to the Pacific northwest of North America where there were concerns it would become an invasive species. This hornet is very large, has a large stinger and is very predatory - going after bees, other hornets and praying mantises.

Despite the obvious pain a sting would bring and the risk for people who are allergic to stings, unless you are stung multiple times, the hornet is not deadly to humans, just terrifying!

Answer: Australia

Between September 2019 and March 2020 devastatingly destructive bushfires raged throughout the state of New South Wales. By the beginning of March, fires had burnt an estimated 18.6 million hectares. destroyed over 5,900 buildings and killed at least 34 people. Reinforcements were brought in from all over Australia and around the world to help put out the fires which also had a devastating environmental impact. On New Year's Day a blanket of smoke had drifted across the Tasman Sea and covered the entire South Island of New Zealand; and the smoke then travelled as far as South America.

Answer: Who is Alex Trebek?

Sudbury, Ontario born Alex Trebek is the extremely popular host of the television game show "Jeopardy!" who announced in March 2019 that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He continued on as host of the TV show until his death in November 2020.

In addition to being a TV personality he was a long-time philanthropist, supporting World Vision and United Service Organizations for years. He was also the host of the National Geographic Bee for twenty-five years. In an interview with CTV host Lisa Laflamme in 2019 Trebek told her "I'm not afraid of dying" and "I've lived a good life." And that is very true.

Answer: Parasite

The 2019 South Korean film "Parasite", directed by Bong-Joon-ho, is a black comedy/thriller that highlights class differences and attitudes. It won four main awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film.

It was the first film non-English language film to win Best Picture and the first South Korean film to be nominated for any Academy Awards.

Answer: Jared Leto

In March 2020, just as the COVID pandemic was having a major impact on the entire world, actor and musician Jared Leto was emerging from a twelve-day silent retreat where he had no contact at all with the outside world. When he emerged, as one does, he immediately took to Twitter to announce to the world that he was unaware of the pandemic. To be fair, twelve days is a very short amount of time for absolutely everything to change and that was the point of his social media message.

Answer: Bolivia

In lesser known news, a Bolivian pan flute orchestra travelled to Germany in March 2020 to play at a music festival and found themselves quarantined just outside of Berlin at the Rheinsberg Palace, an allegedly haunted castle, complete with moat and surrounded by wolves.

The group kept themselves occupied by, you guessed it, playing music and practicing and locals donated food and clothing items for them. They were hoping to leave by June 2020 but had failed.

Answer: The Pentagon

In August 2020 The Pentagon formed a new task force to seriously investigate unidentified flying objects after US military aircraft observed. In 2020 The US military released video evidence of rapidly moving unidentified flying objects and while there was a bit of a reaction on the Internet for a short time, not nearly as much as something like this warranted. With all the mind-boggling news coming at us fast in 2020, actual UFO footage released by the US military was but a blip.