WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- A request from Anthony Fauci, a top U.S. infectious disease expert, for people to "wear a mask" to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, tops a Yale Law School librarian's list of the most notable quotes of 2020.

Fauci's plea was made during an interview with CNN on May 21.

The list was assembled by Fred Shapiro, an associate director at the library and the editor of the Yale Book of Quotations, which was first published in 2006.

African American George Floyd's repetitive plea to the police officer who was brutalizing him -- I can't breathe -- comes second on the list.

The United States has the world's deadliest outbreak of COVID-19. To date, the country has recorded more than 14.75 million COVID-19 cases with 282,299 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.