Category Archive: 2020

The Chinese called it the Year of the Rat. The United Nations dubbed 2020 the International Year of Plant Health. It was the year that the Kent State Massacre and Earth Day turned 50. The Band-Aid turned 100 years old in 2020 which also marked the 100^th anniversary of:

• the 4^th (final) wave of the Spanish Flu pandemic

• America’s Prohibition ^{(making manufacture, transportation or sale of alcohol illegal)}

• America’s 19^th amendment ^{(America women are given the constitutional right to vote)}

• The Ocoee Massacre ^{(white mobs kill 35 African-Americans on U.S. election day)}

• the founding of the American Civil Liberties Union

• the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

• the National Football League

• the 1^st commercial radio station ^{(KDKA in Pittsburgh)}

• the 1^st tri-colour traffic light ^{(Detroit, Michigan introduces the yellow light)}

• the 1^st Jungle Gym playground structure

• the pogo stick

• the Eddie Bauer clothing brand

• the Rubbermaid Container and Storage Company

• the Baby Ruth candy Bar

• the Good Humour ice cream bar

• Agatha Christie’s 1^st novel^{(& Hercule Poirot in The Mysterious Affair at Styles)}

100 years after the last reported casualties of the Spanish Flu pandemic, everyplace in the world was inundated with nothing but news of Covid-19.  Nova Scotia rocked with multiple murders and Beirut who celebrated the 75^th anniversary of Hiroshima with an explosion of their own that was almost akin to the Halifax, Nova Scotia explosion of 1917 were just two examples of the many locales rocked with boatloads of bad news in 2020.

That said, I feel blessed despite my woes which include the revelation that this year, one bottle might not be enough to plumb and, more importantly, forget the sad stories that comprised the dumpster fire that was 2020. Here is 2020 as me and the voices in my head remember it. Let me know if I missed anything, especially if it was good news. Buckle up and enjoy the slide.