Annual review: what happened in 2020

The year 2020 is a year that will go down in history. There was a virus that caused many infections and, unfortunately, many deaths. It was a coronavirus that was named Covid-19 and caused a pandemic. In 2020 it will be 75 years since the Netherlands was liberated during the Second World War. Unfortunately, all planned festivities could not take place due to the coronavirus. Natural disasters occurred in several places around the world. What else happened in 2020?

The year 2020
January

Dog survives 16 days on the Matterhorn

February
March
April
May
June
July

Deceased actors on the series Glee
Lara van Ruijven

August
September
October
November

Nicky Verstappen
Ice floe broken off

December

Imprisoned man in Sweden

The year 2020

The year 2020 is all about Covid-19 worldwide. That virus claims many lives all over the world. 2020 also marks 75 years since the Netherlands was liberated during WWII.

January

A New Year’s dive is held in many places in the Netherlands.
On New Year’s Day, a silent procession is held for 16-year-old Roan from Drachten. More than 2,000 people are participating. The silent procession is even broadcast on the NOS news. Roan was stabbed on December 22, 2019 and died on December 30.
A Ukrainian plane crashes in Iran shortly after take-off. All 176 passengers are killed.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan indicate that they are distancing themselves slightly from the British Royal House.
Puerto Rico is hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale. A state of emergency is declared.
The many forest fires in Australia are flaring up again after it has been a little colder for a while.
A rescue dog survives 16 days on the Matterhorn. (explained in more detail)
The Coronavirus has the whole world under its spell. The disease has broken out in all Chinese provinces. The cruise ship Costa Smeralda is anchored in Rome. There are 6,000 passengers on board, 29 of whom are Dutch. There is suspicion that a Chinese couple has been infected with the virus.
The Nordnorge – a Hurtigruten ship is experiencing problems due to the stormy winds in the port of Bodø.
Portuguese Paulo Goncalves – participant in the Dakar Rally – died suddenly during the seventh stage. He went into cardiac arrest. Resuscitation was no longer possible. He died on the spot and was only 40 years old.
Tom Mulder – former radio DJ – has died at the age of 72. He was ill for a short time. He has not been heard on the radio since 2004. That had to do with a brain hemorrhage. He did a lot. For example, he presented a doll or an envelope at the Tros Vijftig. Before that he worked at Radio Veronica. Later he went to Radio 10 Gold.
Aart Staartjes died as a result of his collision in Leeuwarden. He was 81 years old.
Dutch motorcycle racer Edwin Straver has died following a crash in the Dakar Rally. He was seriously injured during the 11th stage. He was transported to the Netherlands, but died there in hospital.
Former basketball player Kobe Bryant and his daughter have died in a helicopter crash. He was only 41 years old and his daughter was only 13 years old. In addition to them, 7 more occupants of the helicopter died.

Dog survives 16 days on the Matterhorn

Malice – an Italian rescue dog – has survived a 16-day adventure on the Matterhorn. She disappeared on January 12 from Plateau Rosa on the Italian side of the Matterhorn. No one knew where she was and there were fears for her life. They searched for her for 10 days using helicopters and a drone, but she was not found. Her owner was afraid that she had ended up in a crevasse. It was also thought that she had walked to Zermatt via the Swiss side. But all this turned out to be untrue! So she spent 16 days wandering around the Matterhorn, in temperatures of -25 °C and at an altitude of 3,500 meters. It is a miracle that she returned to her owner on her own; very emaciated and with a number of cuts.

February

In February, containers will again fall from a ship near Ameland, just like in January 2019.
The first woman in space breaks the space record. She has been in space for no less than 328 days and is the first woman to perform a space walk.
Two people are stabbed with a machete during a terrorist attack in London. The perpetrator is killed by the police.
Right-wing extremist Tobias Rathjen shoots ten people dead in Hanau.
In the German Volksmarsen, a man deliberately drives into a carnival procession. More than sixty people are injured.
Europe will have to deal with three storms in a short time: Chiara, Dennis and Ellen.
South Korea declares a state of emergency due to the coronavirus.
Heavy rain lashes Jakarta.
The first corona infection in the Netherlands was diagnosed on February 28.
Former footballer Theo Slijkhuis dies at the age of 81.
Former footballer Carlo de Leeuw dies at the age of 59.
Loek Hollander – a karateka legend – dies at the age of 81.
Barry Hulshoff – a former football player and football coach – dies at the age of 73.
The inventor of the world-famous Lego figures – Jens Nygaard Knudsen – dies at the age of 78.
20-year-old American rapper Pop Smoke dies after being shot in his own home.
Jaap Stobbe – he played the role of the Plague Spirit in the series Bassie & Adriaan – dies at the age of 83.

March

Due to the global corona outbreak, many events that were planned – the European Football Championship, which was supposed to be held in the summer of 2020, and the Eurovision Song Contest, which was to be held in May, have been postponed to 2021.
There is talk of a pandemic because people worldwide have become infected with the coronavirus.
An intelligent lockdown applies in the Netherlands due to increased infections with the coronavirus.
The Formula 1 GP, which was to be held at Zandvoort in May, has been postponed until further notice.
Zagreb (capital of Croatia) is hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 on the Richter scale.
North Macedonia joins NATO.
The very first GP of 2020, which was to be held in Australia, is cancelled.
Egbert Tietema – he was one of the first residents and entrepreneurs of Biddinghuizen – passed away on March 19 at the age of 92. Egbert Tietema participated in the SBS program ‘The world according to 80-year-olds’ in 2018.
American country singer Kenny Rogers dies at the age of 81.
Liesbeth List dies at the age of 78.
Bill Withers – an American soul singer – dies at the age of 81.

April

63 people die during an anti-terrorist operation organized by the army in Niger.
In Italy, a bridge spanning the River Magra collapses. Miraculously, only one person is injured.
A 51-year-old man causes a massacre in Canada. He shoots a total of 22 people dead in various places and is later shot dead by the police.
Columbia joins the OECD, becoming the 37th member state.
Dirk van den Broek – founder of supermarket Dirk van den Broek – dies at the age of 96.
Dutch pianist Louis van Dijk dies at the age of 78.
Stirling Moss – a British former racing driver – dies at the age of 90.

May

A container ship is heading towards the beach of Vlissingen at great speed. Ultimately, the captain manages to prevent a stranding at the last minute.
After floating around in the Pacific Ocean for 42 days, two fishermen manage to reach land on an uninhabited island.
The Luxembourg heir to the throne Charles Jan Filips Joseph Maria was born on May 10.
A tornado rages over Loenhout, Belgium. That is close to the border at Breda. No one gets hurt.
Five surfers die while surfing near Scheveningen.
A tropical cyclone is wreaking havoc in Bangladesh and eastern India. More than eighty people die.
In Pakistan, a plane crashes into a residential area in Karachi. 97 people die.
The oldest resident of the Netherlands – Eelke Bakker – dies at the age of 109.
Little Richard – his real name was Richard Wayne Penniman – dies at the age of 87.
Guillermo ‘Jorge’ Santana – the youngest brother of Carlos Santana – dies at the age of 68.
American professional wrestler Shad Gaspard dies at the age of 39. He was swimming with his son when he was hit by a wave. After being missing for three days, he was found on the beach of Venice Beach.

June

Dozens of Nigerians are being murdered by Boko Haram in Nigeria.
About three people die in a knife attack in the British city of Reading.
The highest temperature ever recorded is in Siberia. It will be no less than 38 °C.
Jan Zeeman – the founder of the Zeeman retail chain – dies at the age of 78.
Marc de Hond – son of Maurice de Hond – dies at the age of 43. Marc de Hond was a jack of all trades. He was a wheelchair basketball player, television presenter and writer, among other things. He was also a DJ at 3FM for many years.
Aad van de Heuvel dies at the age of 84.
Tineke Verburg dies at the age of 64.
Vera Lynn dies at the age of 103. Vera Lynn is known for the song We’ll Meet Again that she released during WWII.

July

A landslide in a jade mine in Myanmar leaves 113 dead.
In Great Britain, more than seven hundred criminals are arrested in a large-scale police operation (the largest to date). Thousands of kilos of drugs, millions in cash and dozens of weapons are seized.
A major fire in a cathedral in Nantes irreparably damages a famous organ and a painting. Upon further investigation, the fire appears to have been started by a Rwandan volunteer.
A ceasefire is finally declared between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. There has been war between them since 2014.
The Tianwen-1 – a rocket to Mars – is launched in China. The rocket is scheduled to arrive on Mars in February 2021.
Due to an investigation into inappropriate behavior within the women’s gymnastics selection, all competitions are stopped.
The Italian composer Ennio Morricone dies. He will be 91 years old.
Australian snowboarder Alex Pullin dies while spearfishing. He will be 32 years old.
Naya Rivera – who was, among other things, an actress on the television series Glee – goes missing after sailing on a boat with her son. After a few days her lifeless body is found. (explained in more detail)
Short track star Lara van Ruijven dies at the age of 27. (explained in more detail)
20-year-old Russian-Australian figure skater Yekaterina Aleksandrovskaya commits suicide.

Deceased actors on the series Glee

The series Glee aired between 2009 and 2015. The first actor of this series died in 2013. That was lead actor Cory Monteith. He died after an overdose of drugs and alcohol. He was 31 years old. In 2018, Mark Salling committed suicide after confessing to being in possession of child pornography in 2017. Naya Rivera – she divorced Ryan Dorsey in 2018 – took a boat trip with her 4-year-old son Josey on Lake Piru, a large reservoir in California. They went swimming in a place where it was allowed. The undertow was too strong and with all her energy she was able to get her son into the boat, but she no longer had the strength to climb into the boat herself. She went missing. Only after a few days was her lifeless body found.

Lara van Ruijven

Lara van Ruijven was a promising short track star. In 2019 she became world champion in the 500 meters and during the 2018 Winter Olympics she won bronze together with her team (Yara van Kerkhof, Jorien ter Mors and Suzanne Schulting) in the 3000 meter relay. At the end of June 2020, she was at a training camp in France when she suddenly became seriously ill. It turned out that she suffered from an autoimmune disease and developed complications. Due to these complications, she became increasingly ill and ended up in the ICU. She died on July 10. She received a public tribute at Thialf in Heerenveen: the hearse drove a lap of honor over the ice. Many people were waiting outside and paid their last respects to Lara.

August

A Russian woman is stuck in a crevasse near Zermatt for two days and two nights. She is rescued by Air Zermatt.
Penguin Pierre is staying in an Australian zoo after being washed ashore. There he regularly watches the TV series Pingu.
A crocodile is seen in several places in the German river Unstrut.
In Riverside County, America, many people have to leave their homes due to the approaching forest fires.
Thousands of people are injured and hundreds are killed by a major explosion in the port of Beirut.
The south of France is under the spell of forest fires. A thousand hectares of nature is destroyed and thousands of people have to leave their homes.
During a hostage situation in a bank in Le Havre, France, people are held hostage for hours.
A landslide in India kills at least forty people.
A state of emergency is declared on the island of Mauritius. The reason for this is that oil continues to leak from a Japanese cargo ship that ran aground off the coast two weeks earlier.
Four swimmers die in the North Sea.
A temperature of 54.4 °C is measured in Death Valley.
45 migrants drown off the coast of Libya. One of the engines of the ship they are on explodes.
In India, sixteen die when their apartment building collapses.
Floods ravage Afghanistan and Pakistan. 150 people are killed in Afghanistan and dozens are killed in Pakistan.
Hans Scheepmaker – a Dutch producer and television and film director – dies at the age of 69.
Dutch stylist Jorna Spapens dies after a short illness. She was 58 years old.
Wayne Fontana dies at the age of 74.
Moroccan-Dutch writer Naima El Bezaz dies by suicide. She was 46 years old.
Trini Lopez dies at the age of 83.
Dutch children’s book author Corry Hafkamp dies at the age of 90.

September

A state of emergency is declared in Sudan due to heavy flooding. Around a hundred people die and 100,000 homes are destroyed by the heavy floods.
A British golfer proves he can aim well. He hits a ball through the open windows of his own Ferrari.
According to a study by the HBSC, Dutch children are the happiest children in the world.
On Lesbos, refugees set fire to their own Moria reception camp.
Instead of opting for a wooden coffin, you can also opt for a ‘living coffin’ since September 2020. That box is made of plant roots and mushrooms.
The British city of Birmingham is shocked by several stabbing incidents.
Severe forest fires are raging in the United States.
Two people are injured outside the former Charlie Hebdo office in Paris. The perpetrator wounds them with a machete.
An Antonov An-26 crashes in Ukraine. 26 passengers die.
Anne Brasz-Later dies at the age of 114. She was the oldest resident of the Netherlands.
Opera singer Caroline Kaart dies at the age of 88.
Corine Spier-Rottschäfer was a Dutch fashion model and beauty queen. In 1959 she was voted Miss World. She died at the age of 82.

October

Donald Trump and his wife Melania have been infected with the coronavirus. Several members of the White House appear to be infected with the virus.
French teacher Samuel Paty is beheaded in the street.
In many countries, cafes and restaurants are closing because the number of corona infections is rising rapidly. The catering industry must also close in the Netherlands.
Iceland is hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 on the Richter scale.
Three people are fatally injured in a knife attack in Nice, France.
The Greek island of Samos and part of the Turkish city of Izmir are hit hard by an earthquake that started in the Aegean Sea. The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.7 on the Richter scale. Hundreds of people are injured and dozens of people die. Moments later the earthquake causes a small tsunami.
Jan des Bouvrie dies at the age of 78.
Sean Connery – better known as 007 – dies at the age of 90.
Eddy van Halen dies at the age of 65. He was ill.

November

In Vienna, four people are ultimately killed and 22 injured in an attack in six different locations. The perpetrator is shot dead by the police.
On November 2 it will be 19.1 °C in De Bilt. That day will go down as the warmest day in November since measurements have been taken by the KNMI (since 1901).
The number of infections due to Covid-19 is rising rapidly in various countries. Lockdowns are imposed.
Nicaragua is being ravaged by Hurricane Eta (Category 4 hurricane). Due to the hurricane, a lot of rain falls in Guatemala. Dozens of people lose their lives as a result.
A new variant of the coronavirus has been found in mink in Denmark that is transmissible to humans. All Danish mink farms must immediately kill their minks and close their businesses.
A fire breaks out in the ICU department of a Romanian hospital. Seven people are injured and ten people die.
Dow Jones Index exceeds 30,000 points for the first time in history. In March of this year it reached 19,000 points, a record low.
Joe Biden will be the new American president.
Jos B. gets 12.5 years in prison for the murder of Nicky Verstappen (explained further) . Both his lawyer and the Public Prosecution Service will appeal.
The largest ice floe in the world is heading straight for the island of South Georgia. Thousands of penguins are at risk. The ice floe is as big as the island it is heading for. (explained in more detail)
Joe Sullivan was a Canadian war veteran. He dies at the age of 100.
Former footballer Diègo Maradona dies at the age of 60.
Corry van Gorp dies at the age of 78.
Liselore Gerritsen – the ex-wife of Paul van Vliet – dies at the age of 83.
Former football player and television presenter Frank Kramer passed away on November 30 at the age of 73. He had been ill for some time. On the day he turned 73 (November 27), he became unwell and ended up in a coma.
Dominc Grant (of Grant & Forsyth) dies at the age of 71.

Nicky Verstappen

Nicky Verstappen was at a camp at Brunsummerheide in 1998. On the night of August 10 to 11, he disappeared without a trace. His body was found a day later. Who the perpetrator was remained unclear for years. It was only in 2018 – 20 years later – that the suspected perpetrator, Jos B., was found based on DNA kinship research. Jos B. was in Spain at the time. During the hearing in 2020, he keeps claiming that he did not kill Nicky. The Public Prosecution Service demands 15 years in prison and TBS in October. Ultimately, he is sentenced to 12.5 years in prison, but both his lawyer and the Public Prosecution Service disagree.

Ice floe broken off

The ice floe heading straight for the island of South Georgia broke off from the Larsen C plateau in Antarctica in 2017. At that time, the ice floe had a size of 6,000 square kilometers (the country of Luxembourg fits in twice) and was 175 kilometers long. In some places the ice was 50 kilometers wide. The ice floe is also called A68.

December

A man deliberately drives into shoppers in Trier. This results in five deaths, including a 9-month-old baby. The child’s mother is injured. The perpetrator – a 51-year-old resident of Trier – lived in his car before the attack, had no criminal record, but did have an alcohol problem.
Extreme snowfall ravages the Alpine countries.
The Japanese container ship One Apus loses about 1,900 containers during a heavy storm in the Pacific Ocean. Of those containers, approximately 40 contain dangerous cargo.
In Sweden, a man is freed from an apartment after 27 years. His mother – now 70 years old – has kept the man out of society since he was 12, because he had a mental illness. It was initially said that she had locked him up all this time, but investigations show that this is not the case. His sister didn’t trust it all this time and only now managed to raise the alarm. (explained in more detail)
Farmers block the distribution centers of various supermarket chains.
The Netherlands is facing a hard lockdown due to the excessive number of corona infections.
The coronavirus has mutated mainly in Great Britain.
Roswitha Cristian – wife of Danny Christian – dies at the age of 63. She was ill for some time.
Dolf de Vries dies at the age of 83. Dolf de Vries was an actor in the musical Soldaat van Oranje and a writer.
Ursel van Geer dies at the age of 74.
Former Italian footballer Paolo Rossi has died at the age of 64.
Bram van der Vlugt dies at the age of 86 from the consequences of Covid-19.
The Frisian cabaret artist and comedian, Taeke van der Meer, dies at the age of 83. He fought against asbestos cancer.
Pierre Cardin – a French fashion designer, but also a jewelry designer – dies at the age of 98.

Imprisoned man in Sweden

The 41-year-old man has been largely shielded from the outside world by his mother since he was 12. It was initially said that she had locked him in their apartment all those years, but after interrogations that turns out not to be the case. Local residents have seen him occasionally. The mother was detained, but was eventually released. The man had suffered from mental illness since he was 12. A sister of his found him in the apartment. She had raised the alarm before, but no one believed her. The sister had not been to her mother’s home for more than 20 years, but still felt compassion for her brother. She was young herself when she left her mother.