2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s. Geospatial World also called 2020 "the worst year in terms of climate change" in part due to major climate disasters worldwide, including major bushfires in Australia and the western United States, as well as extreme tropical cyclone activity affecting large parts of North America. A United Nations progress report published in December 2020 indicated that none of the international Sustainable Development Goals for 2020 were achieved. Time magazine used its fifth ever Red X cover to declare 2020 "the worst year ever", although the cover article itself did not go as far, instead saying "There have been worse years in U.S. history, and certainly worse years in world history, but most of us alive today have seen nothing like this one."
January 1
Croatia begins its term in the presidency of the European Union.
Flash floods struck Jakarta, Indonesia, killing 66 people in a worst flooding in over a decade.
January 2 – The Royal Australian Air Force and Navy are deployed to New South Wales and Victoria to assist mass evacuation efforts amidst the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season.
January 3 – A United States drone strike at Baghdad International Airport kills ten people, including the intended target, Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, and Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
January 5
Second Libyan Civil War: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announces the deployment of Turkish troops to Libya on behalf of the United Nations-backed Government of National Accord.
2019–20 Croatian presidential election: The second round of voting is held and Zoran Milanović of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia defeats incumbent president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović.
January 8
Iran launches ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. soldiers, injuring multiple personnel.
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January 1950 January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: Aeroflot Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 aboard are killed, including almost the entire national ice hockey team (VVS Moscow) of the Soviet Air Force – 11 players, as well as a team doctor and a masseur. January 6 – The UK recognizes the People's Republic of China; the Republic of China severs diplomatic relations with Britain in response.
January 1927 January 1 – The British Broadcasting Company becomes the British Broadcasting Corporation, when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. January 7 The first transatlantic telephone call is made via radio from New York City, United States, to London, United Kingdom. The Harlem Globetrotters exhibition basketball team play their first ever road game in Hinckley, Illinois. January 9 – The Laurier Palace Theatre fire at a movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, kills 78 children.
January 1934 February 1934 January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing an estimated 6,000–10,700 people. January 26 – A 10-year German–Polish declaration of non-aggression is signed by Nazi Germany and the Second Polish Republic.