We don’t have to tell you that 2020 defies simple precedent. Through a year marked by partisan politics, pandemic, and protests, one extraordinary moment followed another in ways that made the times feel unparalleled and consequential. Even when we haven't agreed on anything else, we seem to agree that the events of 2020 will reverberate into the future and shape years—if not generations—to come.  

So how will 2020 go down in history? 

We invited twenty of today's most insightful historians and thought leaders to imagine what future generations will see when they look back at 2020 with the perfect vision of hindsight. When our view is finally clarified by time, what about this year will reveal its lasting significance? 

Their unique and compelling visions, which we’re collecting here as the Hindsight 20/20 project, identify key lessons from 2020 that we can harness as we create our shared future. From public health to racial justice to social media and more, these ideas draw on the past to illuminate what the decades ahead may hold—and give us the power to embrace it, or to change it.