In the cutthroat world of big business, even the mightiest companies can stumble—and when they do, the results can be spectacularly costly. These aren’t just minor errors; they’re monumental blunders that incinerate billions of dollars, turning what seemed like brilliant strategies into legendary failures.

In this list, we’ll explore ten of the most staggering examples of companies that set cash on fire. These stories aren’t just about financial losses—they’re about the hubris, miscalculations, and unforeseen challenges that can derail even the best-laid plans. As you read, you’ll see how quickly things can go wrong when billions are on the line and how these colossal mistakes are powerful lessons in the unforgiving arena of global business.

Related: 10 Legitimate Business Industries That Seem Like Scams

10 Gateway’s Rapid Expansion

Gateway Inc., once a household name in the personal computer industry, offers a classic example of how rapid growth can spiral into a costly mistake. Founded in 1985, Gateway quickly captured the market’s attention, with sales skyrocketing to over $1.1 billion by 1992 and revenue peaking at $6.29 billion in 1997. But in its race to grow, Gateway stumbled. The company’s aggressive expansion led to sprawling manufacturing facilities and a bloated executive team, all while quality control took a backseat.

As Gateway continued to push for growth, the cracks became impossible to ignore. Shipping delays, poorly assembled products, and frustrated customers began to tarnish its reputation. Adding to its troubles, Gateway’s misguided attempt to break into the consumer electronics market only stretched its resources thinner, leaving the company vulnerable as rivals like Dell and HP capitalized on the booming laptop market.

In a desperate bid to stay afloat, Gateway acquired eMachines in 2004, but by then, the damage was done. The company was sold to Acer in 2007 for a fraction of its former glory. Gateway’s story is a powerful reminder of how unchecked growth and strategic missteps can turn success into a financial disaster.^[1]

9 Xerox’s Squandered Opportunity

Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) was a cradle of innovation, developing groundbreaking technologies like the graphical user interface (GUI) and the computer mouse. These inventions had the potential to revolutionize the tech industry and could have positioned Xerox as a leader in personal computing. However, despite having a goldmine of ideas, Xerox failed to turn these innovations into commercial successes, effectively letting billions slip away.

The disconnect between PARC and Xerox’s headquarters in New York—roughly 2,500 miles (4,023 kilometers) away—played a significant role in this missed opportunity. While the engineers at PARC were pushing the boundaries of technology, Xerox’s leadership was deeply rooted in their core photocopier business. This gap in focus and vision prevented Xerox from seeing how these innovations could be the future of computing.

In the end, companies like Apple capitalized on the technologies Xerox pioneered. Steve Jobs famously recognized the potential of the GUI and incorporated it into the first Macintosh, a move that helped shape the future of personal computing. Xerox’s failure to execute on its own innovations stands as one of the most significant billion-dollar blunders in tech history—a cautionary tale of how even the best ideas can fall flat without the right strategy and vision.^[2]

8 Iridium: From $5 Billion Blunder to Surprising Salvation

Iridium’s tale is one of colossal ambition, monumental failure, and an unexpected second chance. Launched by Motorola in the 1980s, the $5 billion Iridium satellite network was supposed to revolutionize global communications with its 66 low-Earth-orbit satellites. But by the time it debuted in 1998, the technology was already outdated. The phones were bulky, the call rates sky-high, and the timing couldn’t have been worse. Iridium quickly became a textbook example of a billion-dollar blunder, leading to its bankruptcy in 1999.

Just as Iridium was about to be scrapped, aviation executive Dan Colussy saw an opportunity where others saw only failure. With a little help from the Pentagon, which recognized Iridium’s unique value for military use, Colussy bought the entire system for just $25 million. Instead of letting it crash back to Earth, he repositioned Iridium as a niche service for remote and military communications, turning what was nearly a total loss into a strategic win.

Iridium’s revival is a rare case of a billion-dollar mistake being salvaged and repurposed. What started as an enormous financial misstep ended up becoming a valuable tool for specialized markets, proving that even the biggest blunders can sometimes be saved with the right vision and a bit of luck.^[3]

7 Zynga’s $200 Million Misfire

In 2012, Zynga made a splash by acquiring OMGPOP, the creators of the hit game Draw Something, for $200 million. At the time, Draw Something was the talk of the town, and Zynga saw it as a perfect addition to its gaming portfolio. But the timing couldn’t have been worse. By the time the deal closed, the game’s popularity was already declining, turning what seemed like a brilliant move into a costly misfire.

The acquisition quickly ran into trouble. Cultural clashes between Zynga and OMGPOP created internal friction, and what should have been a smooth integration became a struggle. Less than a year after the acquisition, Zynga shut down OMGPOP, laying off most of the staff and closing the New York office. While Zynga retained some assets and intellectual property, the deal ultimately failed to deliver the expected returns.

Zynga’s experience with OMGPOP is a cautionary tale of how even well-intentioned acquisitions can go wrong if the timing and execution are off. The $200 million gamble didn’t pay off, highlighting the risks involved in chasing the next big thing in the fast-moving tech world.^[4]

6 Microsoft’s $1 Billion Kin Catastrophe

In 2010, Microsoft launched the Kin One and Kin Two, two phones that were supposed to redefine social media for teens. Billed as “the next generation of social phones,” the Kin was meant to capture a new market segment. But just six weeks after hitting the shelves, Microsoft pulled the plug, marking one of the biggest and quickest flops in cell phone history. The Kin ended up costing Microsoft nearly $1 billion, making it a textbook case of setting cash on fire.

The Kin’s downfall was a mix of bad timing, internal power struggles, and strategic missteps. Originally part of “Project Pink,” the Kin phones were supposed to run on a unique operating system. However, after internal conflicts, Microsoft forced a version of the Windows Phone OS onto the devices, leading to delays and a final product that didn’t impress. Add to that a confusing pricing model and lackluster features, and it’s no wonder the Kin failed to find its audience.

Microsoft’s Kin debacle wasn’t just a financial disaster—it also led to the departure of key executives and tarnished the company’s reputation in the mobile market. It’s a stark reminder that even a tech giant can burn through a billion dollars in the blink of an eye if the execution isn’t right.^[5]

5 Groupon’s $6 Billion Blown Deal

In 2010, Groupon had the chance to make tech history by accepting a $6 billion offer from Google. But in a move that left many stunned, founder Andrew Mason turned it down, convinced that Groupon had even greater potential on its own. At the time, the daily deals site was riding high, and Mason’s decision seemed like a bold bet on the future. However, what looked like confidence soon turned into one of the biggest billion-dollar blunders in tech.

As competitors crowded into the daily deals space and the initial excitement around Groupon faded, the company struggled to maintain its momentum. The market was saturated with similar services, and Groupon’s growth began to stall. Meanwhile, the $6 billion offer from Google became a what-if scenario that haunted the company as its stock value plummeted and its early promise dwindled.

Rejecting Google’s offer, which could have been a financial windfall, ended up costing Groupon dearly. Instead of capitalizing on the moment, the company’s refusal to sell marked the beginning of its decline. It’s a stark reminder that sometimes the biggest mistake isn’t the deal you make—it’s the one you walk away from.^[6]

4 Webvan’s $800 Million Slip Up

In the late 1990s, Webvan set out to revolutionize grocery shopping with its bold vision of home delivery. Backed by a staggering $800 million in capital, the company was determined to bring groceries straight to your door. But instead of becoming the next big thing, Webvan went down in flames, becoming one of the most infamous disasters of the dot-com bubble. This billion-dollar blunder resulted from a perfect storm of poor decisions and misguided ambition.

Webvan’s first mistake was trying to be everything to everyone. They targeted a mass-market audience with premium services, hoping to outprice competitors like Safeway while offering Whole Foods-level quality. But that strategy attracted price-sensitive customers who weren’t willing to pay for the luxury. Next, Webvan sunk millions into building a complex, high-tech infrastructure from scratch—distribution centers, conveyor belts, delivery algorithms—you name it. It all sounded impressive, but it was a money pit that never paid off.

The final nail in the coffin was Webvan’s rapid, reckless expansion. Before they had even figured out how to make it work in their own backyard, they were rolling out in cities across the country, burning through cash faster than they could make it. By 2001, the dream was dead, and Webvan was bankrupt, its assets being sold for pennies on the dollar. Webvan’s story is a classic example of how to set $800 million on fire—one bad decision at a time.^[7]

3 LeEco’s Billion-Dollar Gamble

LeEco, the Chinese tech giant, once set its sights on outshining Netflix, Tesla, and Apple. Under the ambitious leadership of founder Jia Yueting, the company aggressively expanded into streaming services, smartphones, electric cars, and smart TVs. With billions of dollars at its disposal, LeEco appeared poised to dominate the global market. But instead of building a tech empire, it found itself engulfed in financial chaos, burning through billions in what became a textbook case of overreach.

LeEco’s downfall wasn’t just about overambition—it was a perfect storm of poor planning, increased competition, and regulatory hurdles. The company spread itself too thin, investing heavily in various sectors without securing a solid financial foundation. Despite the bold vision, LeEco’s financial house of cards quickly collapsed. By 2017, the company faced massive layoffs, plummeting stock prices, and creditors demanding payment, leaving its grand dreams in ashes.

LeEco’s billion-dollar blunder serves as a stark reminder that even with deep pockets, unchecked ambition without a clear strategy can lead to spectacular failure.^[8]

2 Daimler-Benz’s $36 Billion Misstep with Chrysler

In 1998, Daimler-Benz made headlines by acquiring Chrysler for a staggering $36 billion, aiming to create an automotive giant that could rival the world’s best. But what was supposed to be a match made in corporate heaven quickly unraveled into one of the most notorious billion-dollar blunders. The two companies were as different as oil and water—Daimler-Benz, a symbol of German luxury, and Chrysler, a scrappy American carmaker known for its affordable vehicles. The cultural and operational chasm between the two was too vast to bridge, leading to a merger that never found its footing.

Instead of realizing the anticipated synergies, the merger became a textbook case of corporate incompatibility. Daimler-Benz was reluctant to integrate its premium components with Chrysler’s more budget-conscious offerings, fearing it would tarnish the Mercedes-Benz brand. Meanwhile, Chrysler struggled with its own issues, including rising costs and declining demand, which only deepened the financial woes of the union.

By 2007, the once-celebrated merger had deteriorated so badly that Daimler was forced to offload Chrysler for less than $5 billion, a fraction of the original purchase price. What was intended to be a bold step towards global domination ended up as a costly lesson in the perils of mismatched corporate marriages.^[9]

1 Microsoft’s High-Stakes AI Investment

In a bold move, Microsoft poured $19 billion into artificial intelligence within just three months, with much of that going toward building and leasing data centers. This massive investment highlights the company’s commitment to leading the AI revolution. However, the financial return on this gamble remains uncertain, and the lack of immediate, significant revenue has some investors questioning the strategy.

Microsoft’s leadership has been upfront about the challenges, emphasizing that AI is a long-term play rather than a quick win. While they remain confident in the transformative potential of AI, the sheer scale of the investment has raised concerns about whether the company can maintain investor confidence in the interim. Despite these concerns, Microsoft’s broader AI strategy, which includes various investments and acquisitions, continues to be a central focus for the tech giant.

Only time will tell if Microsoft’s ambitious AI bet will reshape the industry or serve as a reminder of the risks inherent in such large-scale investments.^[10]

Finding the truth in our history is like trying to solve a crime after arriving at the scene 2,000 years too late. We analyze the evidence left behind, we listen to the witnesses, and we make our best guess—but we rarely know for sure what really happened.

There are few better examples of just how murky the truth can get than the Great Fire of Rome. We have a handful of stories and a few half-melted coins still buried in the ashes of old Rome, and we have to pick through them to find the truth.

It’s difficult to know who started the Great Fire of Rome and what fallout ensued. Every group had an interest in this story, and every version of it comes with a political agenda attached. There are a lot of different versions of the story, and no one knows for sure who was telling the truth.

10 Nero Started The Fire

According to Roman historian Cassius Dio, Nero had always wanted to see Rome burn. He claimed that Nero would say that a king who sees his country and throne destroyed together would be “wonderfully fortunate.”

“He secretly sent out men who pretended to be drunk,” Dio says, “and caused them at first to set fire to one or two or even several buildings.” The fire spread faster than anyone could deal with, and the people broke into a panic. “Here men while assisting their neighbors would learn that their own premises were afire; then others, before reached them that their own houses had caught fire, would be told that they were destroyed.”

Most of the early Roman historians agree with Dio. Pliny the Elder, who experienced the fire firsthand, called it “Emperor Nero’s conflagration,” and an unknown playwright, sometimes thought to be Nero’s advisor Seneca, wrote a play about Nero’s life, which depicts Nero promising that “the city’s buildings must fall to flames set by me.”

Suetonius, another Roman historian, takes it even further. He says that Nero didn’t even bother hiding that he was behind it. Nero just gave the excuse that he didn’t like “the ugliness of the old buildings” and openly burned the city down. He even brought out siege weapons, Suetonius says, and smashed down any buildings that wouldn’t burn.

9 It Was An Accident

“It seems unlikely that Nero would have started the great fire,” says historian Eric Varner. After all, “It destroyed his palace.”

The Roman historian Tacitus seems to have agreed. He claims that the fire started in a shop. “It had its beginning in that part of the circus which adjoins the Palatine and Caelian hills, where, amid the shops containing inflammable wares, the conflagration both broke out and instantly became so fierce and so rapid from the wind that it seized in its grasp the entire length of the circus.” From there, the fire got worse, spread on by a poorly designed city.

Some modern historians agree with Tacitus. One, Henry Hurst, claims that “as many as 100 minor fires broke out in Rome every day,” making it no stretch of the imagination to conceive that one of those fires might have gotten out of control.

This theory, though, starts with Tacitus—and he makes it clear that he isn’t fully convinced, himself. Whether the fire was “accidental or treacherously contrived by the emperor,” Hurst concludes, “is uncertain.”

8 Christian Extremists Started The Fire

When the fire was over, Emperor Nero blamed the Christians. Most people believe that he was just using them as a scapegoat, but one historian, Gerhard Baudy, thinks Nero might have been telling the truth.

Before the fire, Baudy claims, Christians were passing around pamphlets promising that Rome would be reduced to ashes. “That is the constant theme: Rome must burn,” Baudy says. “This was the long-desired objective of all people who felt subjugated by Rome.”

Baudy can’t prove that pamphlets promising to burn Rome existed, but he thinks the idea fits the trend. He argues that there are Biblical verses, especially in Revelations, condemning Rome and promising destruction through fire, which show that this was a common theme in early Christian writing. He believes that a forgotten Christian prophet promised that July 19 would be the “day of the Lord,” timed to fit an ancient Egyptian prophecy that Rome would fall when the star Sirius rose into the sky—which happened on the day the fire started.

Baudy believes that the Christians knew the prophecy and started the fire, determined to make sure it came true.

7 It Was A Controlled Fire Meant To Build A New City

Archaeologist Andrea Carandini writes off every attempt to take the blame off Nero as historical revisionism. He says, “This rehabilitation—this process of a small group of historians trying to transform aristocrats into gentlemen—seems quite stupid to me.”

Carandini sides with a rumor that Tacitus mentions was going around Rome at the time: “Nero was aiming at the glory of founding a new city and calling it by his name.” He points to the sheer level of destruction, believing Nero was burning the homes of the wealthy. “All these houses were destroyed, so the aristocracy didn’t have a proper place to live,” Carandini argues. “It’s the end, in a way, of the power of aristocracy in Rome.”

Nero is the one who benefited from it. “How could he build the Domus Aurea without the fire?” Carandini asks. “Whether or not he started the fire, he certainly profited from it.”

6 Nero Played The Lyre While Rome Burned

One of the most popular stories about the fire is that while Rome burned, Nero simply played his lyre and sang. Cassius Dio gives the most detailed version of the story. While the city burned, he says, “Nero ascended to the roof of the palace, from which there was the best general view of the greater part of the conflagration, and assuming the lyre-player’s garb, he sang the ‘Capture of Troy,’ as he styled the song himself, though to the enemies of the spectators it was the Capture of Rome.”

Suetonius backs him up, although he changes a few little details. He puts Nero on a tower on a different hill, and he has him singing the “Sack of Ilium” instead.

Enough modern historians have disputed the lyre story that it tends to show up in articles about historical misconceptions, but the account shows up in every single early version of the story of the fire. That doesn’t necessarily prove it really happened—but it means that a lot of Romans were willing to believe it did.

5 Nero Was Out Of Town And Sent A Relief Party

According to Tacitus, however, Nero couldn’t have played the lyre. He wasn’t even in Rome when the fire happened. He was at Antium, Tacitus claims, and rushed to Rome as soon as he heard. By the time he’d made it, though, his palace—the place where Dio claims he played the lyre—had already been destroyed.

Afterward, Nero set up a relief effort. “To relieve the people, driven out homeless as they were, he threw open to them the Campus Martius and the public buildings of Agrippa, and even his own gardens, and raised temporary structures to receive the destitute multitude,” Tacitus claims. “Supplies of food were brought up from Ostia and the neighboring towns, and the price of corn was reduced to three sesterces a peck.”

All his efforts to help his people, though, didn’t win him anyone’s love. According to Tacitus, the rumor that Nero had been playing the lyre while Rome burned had already spread. By the time he’d arrived, the people had already turned against him.

4 Nero’s Relief Party Just Started More Fires

Cassius Dio doesn’t agree that Nero was so helpful. Nero sent out relief parties, he says, but they didn’t help anybody. They just made the fire worse.

“Many [houses] were set on fire by the same men who came to lend assistance,” Dio claims. Nero’s men, he claims, ran through the town, setting buildings on fire. “The soldiers, including the night watch, having an eye to plunder, instead of putting out fires, kindled new ones.”

Tacitus actually backs up Dio’s claim that people were making the fires worse, but he isn’t as sure that Nero sent them. “No one dared to stop the mischief, because of incessant menaces from a number of persons who forbade the extinguishing of the flames,” he claims. Tacitus isn’t sure who sent them, but these men, he says, “kept shouting that there was one who gave them authority, either seeking to plunder more freely, or obeying orders.”

3 Nero Blamed It On The Christians

When the fire was over, Tacitus claims, Nero needed a scapegoat. Everyone was blaming the fire on him, and to deflect it, “Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace.”

This, Tacitus says, was the beginning of the persecution of Christianity. “An arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty,” he says. “Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.”

Other Romans talk about the persecution of Christians, although they don’t specifically connect it to the fire like Tacitus does. Suetonius praises Nero for torturing them, writing, “Punishment was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition.”

Also, a letter still exists, written by Pliny the Younger to the Roman emperor Trajan, asking how he should deal with Christians. Should he punish every Christian, he asks, “even without offenses” or “only the offenses associated with the name?”

2 Christians Were Never Persecuted By Nero

Some modern historians, though, don’t believe that any of that really happened. One, Gordon Stein, thinks that Tacitus didn’t actually write the part about Christians being used as scapegoats. He believes it was added by later Christian writers.

“The term ‘Christian’ was not in common use in the first century,” Stein claims. The word choice in this passage, Stein believes, is out-of-character for both Tacitus and the time he was alive. “Tacitus does not use the name Jesus, and writes as if the reader would know the name Pontius Pilate, two things which show that Tacitus was not working from official records or writing for non-Christian audiences.”

Instead, Stein claims it was pulled from another source. “It is present almost word-for-word in the Chronicle of Sulpicius Severus (died in 403 A.D.), where it is mixed in with obviously false tales.” Stein thinks that this passage was added hundreds of years after the Great Fire. “Copyists working in the Dark Ages,” he claims, “copied the passage from Sulpicius into the manuscript of Tacitus.”

1 The Truth Is Unknowable

The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote a short history of Nero, but he didn’t even touch on the Great Fire of Rome. “I omit any further discourse about these affairs,” Josephus wrote. The life of Nero, he felt, was too murky to be worth stepping into.

“There have been a great many who have composed the history of Nero,” he wrote, “some of which have departed from the truth of facts out of favour, as having received benefits from him; while others, out of hatred to him, and the great ill-will which they bare him, have so impudently raved against him with their lies.”

The history of Nero, Josephus seems to believe, is so full of bias and lies that it’s impossible to tell the truth, and it’s no longer worth writing about. “These that have no regard for truth,” Josephus says, “they may write as they please.”

2020 is finally coming to an end, and thanks to a plethora of horrible events, the conclusion of this year is something to look forward to. Everything from COVID-19 and contested presidential elections to massive wildfires and the breakout of wars across the globe has made 2020 a year most would like to forget.

That said, the year wasn’t a complete and total mess. While COVID dominated the news, good things continued to happen. This list highlights the ten best parts of an otherwise horrible year and are presented in no particular order.

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10 Multiple COVID-19 Vaccines Were Developed

COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill as countries closed businesses and enforced stay-at-home orders. The virus impacted every aspect of the economy. By December, it killed more than 1.5 million of the 67+ million people infected with the virus.

Thanks to the focus of money, time, and attention to the problem, several pharmaceutical companies managed to create a vaccine. While it won’t go into widespread distribution in 2020, it will make its way around the world in 2021.

As of December, two primary vaccines were developed by Phizer/BioNTech and Moderna, though AstraZeneca, Janssen, and Novavax continue their Phase 3 clinical trials. The vaccine developed by Phizer/BioNTech was found to be 90% effective in preventing COVID-19, while Moderna’s vaccine is 94.1% effective.

On December 8th, Margaret Keenan, a 91-year-old British woman, was vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, making her the first person in the world to receive it following approval. She is only the first of billions of people who will take the injection, but it’s a massive win in the war against the virus.^[1]

9 A Possible Control For Malaria Was Discovered

Malaria is one of the deadliest diseases on the planet, and nearly half the world’s population lives in areas at risk of transmission. In 2016, malaria caused around 216 million clinical episodes, leading to the deaths of 445,000 people.

It’s often the number one killer in the places it runs rampant, and the World Health Organization estimated that 90% of deaths in 2016 resulted from malaria infections in the WHO Africa Region.

Measures to control mosquito populations have run the gamut of scientific advancement. Ongoing efforts to genetically alter mosquitos are underway, and other measures include the use of pesticides and other means to stop the pests from transmitting malaria to humans.

A new discovery in May could finally offer up a means of taking the fight to malaria directly. A team of Kenyan and British scientists discovered Microsporidia MB, a parasitic microbe that blocks mosquitos from carrying malaria.

The discovery of Microsporidia MB may pave the way in controlling the spread of malaria, making it a significant discovery. Research is underway in developing the discovery into a viable means of controlling the spread of the disease.^[2]

8 The #MeToo Movement Scored A Huge Victory

The #MeToo movement began in 2006 on MySpace, but it wasn’t until 2020 that the movement achieved a truly significant victory. That’s when widespread accusations of sexual-abuse that exposed Harvey Weinstein finally came to fruition with a conviction in February. Weinstein’s legal troubles pushed women from all over the entertainment industry to speak out.

Alyssa Milano posted on Twitter, “If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.” The attention she brought to the situation brought the #MeToo movement to the forefront of sexual assault and sexual harassment in and out of the entertainment industry.

It took a few years, but the #MeToo movement achieved a huge success in 2020 when Weinstein was finally convicted for numerous crimes. On March 11th, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison, which is something his victims believed would never happen.

Weinstein’s conviction resulted from a charge of rape that occurred in a New York City hotel in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on another woman in 2006. While the full range of charges and the massive list of victims didn’t result in additional convictions, his imprisonment achieved a victory over a powerful man whose assaults went unchallenged for decades.^[3]

7 Africa Was Declared Free Of Wild Polio

Most people in the west don’t give polio a second thought, thanks to its eradication in many western nations by 1979. Unfortunately, the virus continued in various parts of the world where vaccination became difficult.

In countries like Nigeria, hundreds of people contracted the virus, with 2006 spiking to 1,100 cases, so worldwide eradication was and is ongoing. While wild polio remains a problem in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan, it has finally been eradicated in Africa, which is a monumental achievement following decades of work.

The polio vaccine was developed by Dr. Jonas Salk in 1952, and by ’61, the oral polio vaccine came to market. Vaccination efforts were widespread in developed countries, but several less-developed nations in Asia and Africa remained affected by the poliovirus.

Immunization campaigns were launched by the likes of Nelson Mandela, who helped mobilize the “Kick Polio Out of Africa” campaign in 1996. In that year alone, 75,000 children across the continent were paralyzed by the virus, but it’s finally been defeated. 2020 marks the end of the wild poliovirus, which will no longer infect the children of Africa.^[4]

6 Sudan Finally Achieved Peace

The Republic of Sudan has been embroiled in conflict for decades, resulting from linguistic, cultural, and religious differences as well as divisions in political power. The Sudan Civil War erupted in 1983 and wasn’t settled until 2005, but the conflict didn’t truly end.

Sudan was ruled by a dictatorial government led by Omar al-Bashir between 1989 and 2019 when he was ousted via a successful coup d’état.

Throughout al-Bashir’s rule, Sudan was embroiled in human rights abuses and was a sponsor of global terrorism. Sudan’s role in the War in the Darfur region resulted in between 300,000 and 400,000 casualties. The government operated under Sharia law, but that changed, making it possible to achieve peace.

After the ouster of al-Bashir, Sudan formed a new secular government. By August, several major groups signed a preliminary peace deal. Sudan’s People’s Liberation Movement-North came to the table for the first time alongside two factions from the western region of Darfur and one from the south.

The conflicts that were started by Sudan’s former dictator were brought to an end. After decades of fighting, Sudan finally achieved peace. As a new democracy rose in North Africa, peace became the law of the land.^[5]

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5 Multiple Successes In Israeli-Arab Peace

While U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has been relentlessly attacked by the media, it has achieved significant gains in the realm of Middle-East peace. Trump’s administration worked as the intermediary for two significant treaties that normalized relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

The Middle-East conflict has been ongoing for decades, but there hasn’t been a normalization of relations between Israel and a Middle-East nation since Jordan in 1994. Before that, Egypt signed a deal in 1979, but 26 years passed before another country stepped up.

The United Arab Emirates and Israel signed the historic Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement on August 13th, 2020, making it the third Arab nation to formally normalize its relations with Israel. On September 15th, Bahrain did the same, when both countries officially signed their respective agreements brokered by the United States.

Efforts continue to bring more Arab nations to the negotiating table, as most have yet to recognize and normalize relations with Israel. Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia are among the dozens of nations that have yet to negotiate a similar agreement.^[6]

4 The Falkland Islands Were Declared Landmine-Free

In 1982, the United Kingdom and Argentina engaged in a 10-week-long undeclared war. The conflict resulted from a dispute over two British dependent territories: the Falkland Islands and the South Sandwich Islands. The Falklands War was relatively short, but it was intense, and one of the outcomes was the widespread use of landmines.

Landmines are one of the worst devices employed in warfare due to their wholly indiscriminate and deadly impact on whoever is unlucky enough to trigger one. Minefields from wars fought long ago remain in place for years, and the civilian population often pays the price with the loss of limbs and lives when mines are triggered.

Most countries have since signed treaties limiting or abolishing their use, but many minefields remain. The Falkland Islands became the home of some 30,000 landmines from the war, and it wasn’t until 1998 that a ratified treaty required their removal. Dangerous demining operations were carried out by hand and continued until October 2020.

The government finally declared the Falkland Islands to be mine-free, with the last site, Gypsy Cove, finalizing its last detonation. The beaches of Gypsy Cove had been off-limits since 1982, but they were finally free of the deadly devices, 38 years after they were first placed.^[7]

3 Dog Adoptions Soared, Thanks To COVID

It’s difficult to find anything good in the COVID-19 pandemic, and while the virus has impacted everyone’s lives negatively, some good has come of it. Shelter adoptions are on the rise, thanks to the void many people feel from being trapped in their homes for the bulk of the year.

The adoption of dogs has significantly increased throughout the United States, as locked-in folks find that they have the time and energy to bring a pet into their lives. The pandemic has created a nice boom for breeders, but it’s also increased pet adoptions from shelters, saving those animals from being destroyed.

Some shelters have seen a doubling of the number of adoptions they usually get in a single day. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles saw between ten and 13 adoptions a day in late June.

For the first time in a long time, the “inventory” of shelter animals is running out, and people are being placed on waiting lists to get their hands on a puppy or adult dog. Every animal rescued from a kill shelter is a life saved, so it seems that a little good has come from our exile.^[8]

2 We Found Ways To Adapt And Overcome

COVID-19 may have come along and completely upended our lives, but people have learned to adapt and overcome for the most part. That’s not to say we’ve defeated the virus, but when people found themselves locked inside their homes for months at a time, we found ways to make it work.

Working from home went from being impossible in most businesses to being the norm, and that’s unlikely to change even after the pandemic ends. Things like drive-in movie theaters returned, and drive-in concerts joined in on the fun to become a thing.

People and companies with the know-how to do so changed their production efforts and began making masks for people all over the world, and many continue to do so on a regular basis. Liquor companies began making hand sanitizer to make up the shortfalls, and people from all over the world did what they could to help one another from afar.

While the pandemic may have been entirely negative, at least we found a way to adapt and overcome some of the virus’ impacts on our lives. It hasn’t been easy, but that hasn’t stopped hundreds of thousands of people from doing whatever they could to help others.^[9]

1 The Second-Largest Ebola Outbreak Ended

Because of COVID-19, it’s easy for most folks to overlook a smaller pandemic, and one ran rampant through half the year. The second-largest Ebola outbreak began in August 2018, and the Democratic Republic of Congo fought against it well into 2020.

Ebola is far deadlier than COVID-19, but it is possible to stop its spread, as it is, fortunately, not an airborne virus. Still, it’s incredibly contagious. Whenever it arises in Africa, it often kills a large number of people before it dies out. The Kivu outbreak that lasted two years infected 3,453 people, killing 2,280 of them.

The World Health Organization and volunteers from various agencies descended upon the DRC to fight the outbreak. By February 2020, the cases dwindled down to zero. Unfortunately, three cases emerged 52 days later, and the fight continued well into June.

On June 25th, the pandemic was declared “over,” bringing a two-year nightmare to an end. The largest Ebola outbreak occurred in West Africa between 2014 and 2016. That outbreak resulted in more than 11,000 deaths. Since that outbreak, the development of the rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine has helped to limit the spread to more vulnerable populations.

The vaccine is 97.5% effective at preventing transmission of Ebola, but distribution efforts have been hampered, making widespread vaccination difficult in the region.^[10]

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Estimates suggest that up to a billion animals perished. The human lives lost are steadily climbing to 30. Millions of hectares. Countless homes. All consumed by one of the worst disasters in living memory.

It’s difficult to believe that anything great emerged from the horrifying Australian 2019-2020 fire season. But with the last decade marred by moral failure, global conflict, and petty division, the things pulled from the fire showed that humanity can still respond with great compassion and heroism.

See Also: 10 Terrifying Tales From The World’s Most Apocalyptic Fires

10 A Dachshund Survived The NSW Fires

Wilbur was unaware of the fame gathering around him. While news channels flashed his photo and appealed to the public to be on the lookout for him, the dog was trying to survive in the wild. The odds were against him. Wilbur was a small dachshund lost in the lethal fires of New South Wales.

It’s unclear when he became separated from his owner but he was found early in December. Firefighters battling the blaze near Termeil noticed a small creature wandering alone between the flames. They rescued the dog and kept him overnight with their team. Thankfully, Wilbur’s owner quickly responded when the firefighters made it known that they had found a sausage dog.

The traumatized dachshund was delighted to see his owner. For the man, called Paul, the moment was bitter-sweet. He was still looking for his other dog and asked the firefighters to keep an eye out for a beagle called Olly. Incredibly, just a few hours later, Olly was also found. Both dogs were unhurt and happy to be back with their owner.

9 Versace Drops The Use Of Kangaroo Leather

Two years ago, Versace announced that real fur was meh. The Italian fashion house guaranteed that none of their accessories or clothes would ever again contain the pelt pulled off an animal. However, they continued to use real leather. Moreover, kangaroo leather.

The kangaroo is viewed by many as the symbol of Australia and the number of wild animals being culled every year for leather doesn’t sit well with animal activists. Campaign groups have been asking fashion houses for a long time to boycott kangaroo products and finally, in 2020, Versace agreed.

The decision to remove kangaroo leather from its designs weren’t directly caused by the Australian fires. The pressure from activists had been ongoing for a while and Versace already withdrew any related products from its 2019 collection. However, the announcement was made this year and was seen as a welcome gesture at a time when the future of kangaroos is grappling with an unprecedented threat.

8 Six Koalas Saved By Firefighters

The koala is one of Australia’s icons. The 2019-2020 fire season didn’t help their fight against extinction. The numbers are heartbreaking. Tens of thousands of koalas have been burned alive. Hundreds were euthanazed and hundreds more are fighting for their lives in clinics. Stories abound of civilians and firefighters plucking the scorched koalas from trees, homes and off the roads.

One story concerned firefighters who came across a group of koalas at Cudlee Creek. They were fighting fires that would ultimately destroy over 100 buildings and homes and kill one man. During the dramatic hours that followed, the koalas were collected and taken to safety. Many praised the firefighters for their humanity. Battling the fast-moving fire meant that they were pressed for each second but the firefighters decided to stop and help the defenseless marsupials.

A photo of the koalas has since gone viral. The image shows the creatures, relatively unharmed, huddling together in a hallway. One even hugged the wall like a favorite eucalyptus tree. Koalas are cursed with cute looks in the sense that their portly bodies cannot escape a quick blaze. If it weren’t for these firefighters, and Koala Rescue taking them in, they would’ve joined the disaster’s terrible statistics.

7An Unknown Fish Trap

In 2019, UNESCO declared an aquaculture system in Australia as a World Heritage Site. The Gunditjmara people used the structure to harvest eels 6,600 years ago. Just to put that into perspective—the site is older than the Egyptian pyramids. The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape is located in south-west Victoria and includes an intricate system of stone-lined pools, channels, and homes.

The fires arrived a few days before Christmas. A lightning strike boosted the flames and despite a gigantic firefighting effort, the blaze dragged across 7000 hectares (17,297 acres) of land. Including the brand-new UNESCO ruins.

Traditional owners of the site weren’t too concerned that the fire would damage the ruins directly. The stones were almost heat-resistant. The real danger came from falling trees. Some grew inside the aquaculture buildings. If the fire toppled any, chances were that the structure could be weakened by roots being unearthed or smashed by a toppling trunk. When the blaze passed, a group visited to see if any trees had crashed onto the structure. Luckily, none did. Even more surprisingly, the blaze had cleared vegetation to reveal an unknown section of the trapping complex.

Located near Lake Condah, the section was a smaller system with a channel running 25 meters (27 yards) along the ground. Until the fire, this part of the traps went undetected despite sitting 20 meters (22 yards) from a track leading to the main site. In this case, at least, something valuable wasn’t destroyed by the blaze but instead emerged more complete than it was before.

6Millions Were Raised

As the world watched Australia burn, those with deep purses weren’t idle. Celeste Barber is an Australian comedian whose fundraiser attracted huge donations and pledges from celebrities. All told, the sum totaled A$22 million. Stars like Pink, Kylie Minogue, and Nicole Kidman were among those who joined the call to support Barber’s Facebook fundraiser. Incredibly, the eye-watering amount took less than 48 hours to accumulate.

Perhaps more noteworthy are the people without personal fortunes who found creative ways to support Australia. One was a woman named Kaylen Ward. The 20-year-old sex worker took to Instagram and promised a personal nude photograph to anyone who donated $10 or more to her designated fire relief charities. Four days later, she raised $700,000. None of the money reached her. Ward insisted that her admirers must pay the charities directly and send her the receipt to get their nude pictures. For her efforts she earned the name “The Naked Philanthropist” and Instagram deleted her account.

5 The Koala Dogs

Narcotics dogs. Sure. Bomb-sniffing canines, okay. But koala dogs? As weird as it sounds, they do exist. When a handler barks, “Koala, find!” the four-footed detectives jump into action and start searching for fur and droppings. Their job is to keep track of the eucalyptus-munchers during good times and bad.

These are undoubtedly bad times and the dogs track under dangerous circumstances. Nearly all of them wear mittens to protect their paws from burns and sharp debris. Thus far, they’ve saved dozens of koalas. Two of the highly-trained canines are Taylor and Bear. Taylor is a four-year-old with eight koalas under her belt and Bear has such a prolific streak that Tom Hanks quipped he was going to make a movie about him.

Every koala saved is a treasure, but there simply aren’t enough dogs to help the thousands of marsupials that are still in trouble. Despite this, these service canines diligently perform their duties against an insurmountable tragedy, using their noses to find the bodies, the injured and the hiding koalas their handlers might miss.

4 Sheepdog Snoots 220 Sheep To Safety

Stephen Hill gave no thought of enjoying New Year’s Eve. That night he was facing a terrible loss. The fires were closing in on the small town of Corryong, in Victoria. He looked around his cousin’s farm where he worked and realized the sheep were in danger. Worse, it was a dark night, the flock was being difficult and he needed help.

He turned to Patsy. He found the shepherd mix on the property and loaded her on a four-wheeler before setting off to the field where the sheep were in trouble. Despite the heat, bleating and fire-related smells the dog never faltered. She followed Hill’s commands and herded the frightened animals to a safe barn. It wasn’t an easy task, not with a large number of sheep involved nor the proximity of the massive blaze. Indeed, the flames claimed six sheep. But in the end, Patsy nudged more than 220 animals to safety.

Hill gave the dog sole credit for the flock’s survival, an act that meant the world to him. He’s one of the countless people still badly affected by the genocidal losses suffered among domestic and wild animals alike.

3 Request For Shelters Triggered A Global Response

The inferno left hundreds of animals orphaned or without a home. A large portion of the destitute babies are marsupials that need warmth and a mother’s pouch to survive. This season’s tide of orphans sparked one of the disaster’s most unusual and cozy rescue efforts.

Animal Rescue Craft Guild is based in Australia. Long before the fires came, the organization whipped up shelters, including nests and slings, for young wildlife. The babies would then snuggle in their new homes made from knitted, crocheted and cloth items. When the crisis hit, the animals came pouring into shelters and the Guild appealed to their Facebook members to help sew and knit the items. The response was overwhelming.

From all over the world, thousands of knitters and crafters united. They made koala mittens for burned paws, kangaroo pouches for joeys, blankets for animals to sleep on and interestingly, something called bat wraps. These are exactly what they sound like. You take a baby bat and you wrap the kid up nice and comfy. Possums, sugar gliders and wombats also received their crafted goodies.

2The Government Airdropped Food For Wallabies

The Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby is an endangered species in New South Wales, one of the worst-hit areas. The fires connected with their vulnerability like a baseball bat. The blaze undoubtedly killed many and left the survivors in a barren landscape without food. Large-scale starvation set in. Before the fire season, the animals had also been struggling against Australia’s ongoing drought.

The government of NSW decided to help. Operation Rock Wallaby collected tons of vegetables, mostly carrots, and nutritious sweet potatoes. The planes first took off early in January and dropped the food over a dozen wallaby colonies. The project will continue until the marsupials can support themselves with renewed natural food resources and water.

The image of one of the wallabies was shared with the public, showing both the devastation and the success of the aid program. Like many others, the creature leaped at the chance to gorge on the veggies and this particular one was photographed enjoying a carrot.

1 A Secret Mission

When a park ranger found a tree in 1994, it sent shock waves through the botanical world. The Wollemi Pine existed before many dinosaurs and was thought to be extinct. Before the Jurassic wonder’s rediscovery, the tree was known only from 200-million-year-old fossils. The pine found in 1994 was not alone. A grove of the rare, so-called “Dinosaur Trees” stood nearby.

The grove is located in a gorge in the Blue Mountains. But the precise spot remains a closely guarded secret. Visitors and poachers would exterminate the living fossils. Botanical gardens around the world propagate the species but the Australian batch, numbering less than 200, is the last wild Wollemi Pines in the world.

When the blaze came, the prehistoric treasure was directly in its path. While keeping the location’s hidden status in mind, conservationists organized a secret mission to save the trees. Despite the drama of extinction edging closer to the grove and that the mission itself was unprecedented in the history of environmental protection, the rescuers kept everything low key. Publicity could’ve led unwanted guests straight to the grove.

Air tankers circled the pines and drew a ring of fire retardant around them. Specialist firefighters were airlifted to the gorge. Once on the ground, they rigged an irrigation system to keep the trees moist. But at one point, the team had to retreat. The fire had arrived. After a few days filled with thick smoke, everyone waited for the haze to clear to see if their plan had worked.

Incredibly, the pines were safe. A little charred, but relatively unscathed. The mission had been a phenomenal success.

Every year has something that makes it terrible for a large group of people, but it seems that 2020 wanted to up the game by making everyone’s lives miserable from beginning to end.

This year has been, in a word, difficult. A worldwide pandemic, wildfires, contested elections, and just about everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, making 2020 one of the worst years of all our lives.

This list highlights ten of the things that made this year one everyone should forget. More bad things happened, but for a large population of folks, these ten things were more than enough.

Except for #10, these aren’t presented in any particular order because they all suck.

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10 Coronavirus

Getting the most obvious out of the way, COVID-19 arose in 2019. The virus spent the following year traveling around the globe, infecting millions of people. Shortly after it was identified, it became clear that the novel coronavirus originating in Wuhan, China was far more dangerous than the annual flu, and it wasn’t long before it exploded into a worldwide pandemic.

Pandemics aren’t as uncommon as most people think, but they tend to be locked into a regional area. The Ebola outbreak that arose in 2014 was terrible, but its spread was far less pervasive. Most pandemics come and go without taking down the entire planet, but COVID-19 managed to do something that hadn’t been seen since the 1918 Spanish Flu.

That virus infected some 500 million people across the world, leading to 50 million deaths.^[1] Fortunately, COVID-19 isn’t as deadly, but by December, more than 67 million people had been infected, resulting in more than 1.5 million deaths.

COVID-19 didn’t just infect and kill people; it changed the way we live our lives. Businesses were restructured to have their employees work from home. Others shut down entirely without making up lost revenue, and many lost their jobs. COVID-19 won’t disappear on January 1st, but with any luck, it won’t dominate the planet like it did in 2020.^[2]

9 The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election

Because the United States is such an influential and wealthy nation, the whole world tends to sit up and notice what’s going on when a Presidential election rears its ugly head. Elections in the States tend to be somewhat chaotic, and they begin long before anyone has an opportunity to cast a vote.

The 2020 Presidential election was problematic before it ever occurred. President Trump and his allies spoke out against mail-in ballots, which they said would be used to “steal the election” and make a mess of things. This went on for months, and when the election finally came, Trump lost, and Joe Biden won.^[3]

Unfortunately, that wasn’t entirely clear to everyone, up to and including President Trump. He declared victory on the evening of the vote despite the fact that millions of ballots had yet to be counted. Over the course of the week, he launched lawsuits, challenging the results, and by December, little had changed.^[4]

At this point, the nation and its people are exhausted by Presidential politics. Most elections come and go, and the citizens of the United States are typically happy to see them come to an end. Still, the 2020 Presidential election continues and will likely continue until Joe Biden is inaugurated on January 20th, 2021.

8 The Unexpected Deaths Of Many Celebrated People

Celebrities die every year, and like any death, it’s always sad and often unexpected. Each year, we look back and see that someone who meant something to us has passed away. It’s something that happens, and people learn to deal with the loss for the most part.

That being said, 2020 hit the world with several unexpected deaths of celebrities that came out of nowhere. Granted, COVID-19 killed a lot of people, but the unexpected deaths that hit the hardest were the ones that had nothing to do with the virus, making 2020 another crappy year that took away the people we collectively celebrate.

Kobe Bryant died alongside his 13-year-old daughter and seven others when his helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California in January, and that was just the beginning.^[5] Chadwick Boseman died at 43 from colon cancer, which seemed to come out of nowhere.

Other notable celebrities we lost this year include Alex Trebek, King Von, Eddie Van Halen, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Little Richard, Sean Connery, John Lewis, Regis Philbin, Naya Rivera, Grant Imahara, Kelly Preston, Ian Holm, Nikita Pearl Waligwa, and many more.^[6]

7 China’s Crackdown On Hong Kong

In 1997, Hong Kong was transferred from British control to the People’s Republic of China, which adopted a “one country, two systems” policy regarding its governance. For 99 years under British rule, Hong Kong enjoyed its own economic and administrative systems. China promised that this would continue once the country took over.^[7]

China’s influence over Hong Kong’s governance began almost immediately. In the 23 years since the PRC took over, Chinese loyalists have taken up positions of power in Hong Kong’s government. This helped bridge the gap between Chinese socialism and Hong Kong democracy such that in 2020, It started to look like the “one country, two systems” policy was out.

In April 2019, Hong Kong proposed an extradition bill, which was pushed by PRC loyalists. The bill would make it easy for China to extradite people from Hong Kong it deemed suspicious. Thus began the 2019-2020 Hong Kong protest movement, which ultimately saw a further degradation of Hong Kong’s limited sovereignty.

In mid-2020, China further eroded Hong Kong’s limited government by directly legislating actions, making it easier to completely take over. Protests erupted across Hong Kong, and many nations saw the “one China, two systems” policy erode into little more than “one China,” and a longstanding democracy crumbled.^[8]

6 Renewed Fighting In Nagorno-Karabakh

Before 2020, most people in the west had likely never heard of Nagorno-Karabakh, and because of COVID, that remains mostly true. Regardless, Nagorno-Karabakh was brought into the news when fighting broke out in the latest conflict to plague the contested territory.

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but it is primarily governed by the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh. Representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been participating in peace talks regarding the region’s disputed status since 1992, but every once in a while, the conflict heats up.

On September 27th, clashes once more broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia’s armed forces over the territory, resulting in the outbreak of war between the two nations. Armenia and Artsakh instituted martial law in the region, and the conflict escalated to involve Turkey, which provided military support to Azerbaijan.

The outbreak of war in Nagorno-Karabakh threatened the entire region, and Turkey’s involvement brought a NATO nation into the conflict. Fortunately, things quieted down after six weeks, thanks to a Moscow-brokered ceasefire. Unfortunately, the matter remains unsettled. Thanks to the capture and transfer of territory within Nagorno-Karabakh, fighting is likely to eventually resume.^[9]

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5 Thai Prime Minister Refused To Step Down

The government in Thailand has been in turmoil since 2016 when King Bhumibol Adulyadej passed away after 70 years of rule. His successor, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, lives in Germany, and for the first time in generations, the people of Thailand are criticizing their monarch.

A law in the country hands out a prison sentence of between three and 15 years for defaming the King, the Queen, the heir-apparent, or the regent, but that isn’t stopping the people from taking to the streets. To make matters worse, the current Prime Minister, Prayuth Chan-Ocha, rose to power via a bloodless coup, and after the election in 2019, the people began demanding he step down.

The Asian Network for Free Elections criticized the election, as have the people who demanded his resignation. By October, things escalated. The Queen’s motorcade was allegedly harassed by protesters, which led the PM to declare a state of emergency, banning gatherings.^[10]

Protesters reacted with more protests, and the gatherings have continued to demand the PM resign. Rumors of an attempted coup or military intervention have been spreading while demands for a new government, new constitution, and a reformation of the monarchy run rampant in the streets.^[11]

4 Belarus’ Election Sparked Massive Protests

On August 9th, Belarus held a presidential election, which saw the incumbent leader, Alexander Lukashenko, retain his position for a sixth term. The election results saw 80% of the vote go for the President, but the results were immediately contested.

Opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya claimed she won with a decisive victory of 60-70% of the vote, which led her campaign to call for negotiations to resolve the matter through a peaceful transition of power. That didn’t happen, and every member of the council she created for that purpose was arrested or has gone into exile.

Accusations of widespread election fraud have led to protests across the nation, and several other countries have refused to accept the results. The European Union imposed sanctions on Belarusian officials it deemed responsible for “violence, repression, and election fraud.”^[12]

Lukashenko ordered the police to crack down on protesters, and violence erupted across the nation. As of December, the election’s results remain contested, and protests continue as the United Nations called for an end to ongoing human rights violations in the country.

“In the last month, hundreds of people continued to be arrested each week during the demonstrations — with reportedly around 1,000 people on November 8th and 700 on November 15th….Senior citizens have reportedly also been arrested during the pensioners’ peaceful weekly marches.”^[13]

3 Increased Tensions Between Iran And The United States

Shortly after President Donald Trump took office, he pulled the United States out of the Iran Nuclear Deal. Subsequently, he hit Iran with sanctions to weaken the nation, and tensions began to degrade. By 2020, things were looking to reach a boiling point, and rumors of Trump’s interest in attacking Iran began making the rounds.

Hostilities between the two nations escalated when Trump authorized the killing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander Qassem Soleimani. The killing of the commander of the Quds Force all but sent the two nations to war, and shortly after the killing, Iran fired missiles at American bases in Iraq, wounding several American Soldiers.

As tensions continued to rise, Iran “unintentionally” shot down a Ukrainian jetliner, killing 176 people.^[14] It seemed as if the two nations would engage in an all-out shooting-war, but Trump responded diplomatically with more sanctions, ultimately cooling tensions for the time being.^[15]

If a full-blown war were to break out between the U.S. and Iran, its impact would be felt worldwide. Iran sits on the Strait of Hormuz, which is the gateway for oil exports from the Persian Gulf. Any conflict would threaten commerce worldwide, which would impact everything from agriculture and transportation to medicine and vaccine distribution.

2 The Australian Brushfires

It may seem like it happened eons ago, but the year began with the 2019-2020 Australian brushfire season, and it was intense. The fires started in June 2019 and carried on until May 2020, but because of COVID-19, a worldwide concern became something of an afterthought despite being one of the worst wildfire seasons ever recorded.

The fires burned tens of millions of acres, which caused entire cities to evacuate. Thirty-four people were killed as a result of the fires, and while any human death is a tragedy, various ecosystems across Australia were so severely damaged, some may never recover.

Several species that were already threatened may have been driven to extinction, while other species that were ‘of concern’ have been moved closer to being completely destroyed. It has been estimated that as many as three billion animals were killed or displaced by the fires.^[16]

Up to one-third of the koala population was killed by the fires. Between 5,000 and 10,000 individuals died, and conservationists want the species declared endangered on an emergency basis.^[17] The damage caused by the 2019-2020 Australian brushfire season was widespread, and its effects are still being measured.

1 George Floyd’s Death

Gorge Floyd was an African-American man who was killed by former police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.^[18]

As a result, Floyd died, and the whole thing was caught on video. African-Americans who were already angry about the widespread violence and police brutality many in their community have suffered under the boots of police oppression took to the streets in protest.

They weren’t alone, as people from all walks of life came out to protest police violence, as they demanded that Black Lives Matter.

Floyd’s murder was the tipping point that pushed hundreds of thousands to take to the streets, and it didn’t go well. Many police responses came down on protesters with more violence brought by rubber bullets, tear gas, and beatings.

The BLM movement may have begun in the United States years before Floyd’s death, but it wasn’t long before people across the world took to the streets to protest similar forms of oppressive violence. Statues were pulled down, people got hurt, and while the movement may have brought the problem to more people’s attention, it has yet to result in widespread reform.^[19]

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