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The Timeline

social distance posters

The following timeline is a compilation of news media from every day of the pandemic.

We also provide a brief analyses for each month of the year, with a general overview of events, trends, and significant policy or ideological shifts.

Our method involved using keywords on search engines throughout each day of the pandemic. Keywords were modified as they fell out of use in their historic context and new ones were adopted (for instance, the disease was called “Wuhan Pneumonia” in January 2020, and evolved to COVID-19 by mid-February).

Media cited is a mix of opinion and standard reporting.

We almost always include the original links directly from articles collected, and all links have been uploaded to the Internet Archive in case the news organization changes a link or removes an article.

We link directly to the Internet Archive in cases where articles have already been removed.

Our goal is to create and maintain a useful tool for researchers, students, policymakers, or anyone who wants to remember what happened in these two years.

Link collection chart