2007 Trivia, History and Fun Facts

2007 Trivia, History and Fun Facts

Quick Facts from 2007:

  • World Changing Events: The iPhone was released on June 29 and Tumbler.com was launched.
  • The Amazon Kindle was released on November 19.
  • The Top Song was Crank That (Soulja Boy) by Soulja Boy Tell’em
  • The Movies to Watch include Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Enchanted, The Golden Compass and Juno
  • The Most Famous Person in America was probably Steve Jobs
  • Notable books include: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling and The Shack by William P. Young
  • Price of an iPod, 2nd generation: $149.99
    Minimum Wage in 2007: $5.85 per hour*
    *some states higher
  • Cupid Shuffle by Cupid was the most popular line dance since 1998’s Cha Cha Slide.
  • The Funny Guys were: Patton Oswalt & Bill Engvall & Frank Caliendo
    The Other Funny Guy was: Louis C.K.
  • The Viral Phrase: “I Can Has Cheezburger?” created by Eric Nakagawa (Cheezburger) and Kari Unebasami (Tofuburger)
Top Ten Baby Names of 2007:
Emma, Madison, Hanna, Emily, Elizabeth
Jacob, Michael, Ethan, Joshua, Daniel
Fashion Icons and Sex Symbols:
Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Alba, Eva Longoria, Victoria Beckham, Rihanna, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Ali Larter, Fergie, Megan Fox
Leading Men and Hollywood Hunks:
Hugh Laurie, Adam Levine, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt
“The Quote:”
“I personally believe the U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don’t have maps and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and the Iraq everywhere like such as and I believe they should our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa or should help the Iraq and Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for us.”
– Miss South Carolina, Lauren Caitlin Upton
Time Magazine’s Person of the Year:
Vladimir Putin
Miss America:
Lauren Nelson
Miss USA:
Rachel Smith

The Scandals:
Anna Nicole Smith died from a drug overdose at age 39.

Red Hot Chili Peppers sued Showtime after the Cable TV network named a program ‘Californication’ – a title matching the band’s 1999 album. “For some TV show to come along and steal our identity is not right,” frontman Anthony Kiedis said in a statement. The case was dismissed because the Chili Peppers never trademarked the name.

Rapper Akon had a rather sexy dance with this fourteen-year-old young lady at an “over 18 only” concert in Trinidad. When confronted with the press, along with her preacher father, Danah Alleyne admitted that it wasn’t her best idea.

RIP:
A rescue ship at the Titanic sinking pulled a dead infant from the sea who wasn’t able to be identified. The ship’s sailors paid for a graveside monument dedicated to The Unknown Child. In 2007, DNA testing showed the child to be from an English family of six, the Goodwins, who all drowned.

In a KDND radio contest, on January 12, 2007, a woman died after drinking nearly 2 gallons (7.6 liters) of water in over 3 hours in an attempt to win a Nintendo Wii. The contest was called “Hold Your Wee for a Wii,” in which contestants were asked to drink as much water as they could without urinating.

More than a dozen human feet in shoes have washed up along the Pacific Northwest coast since August 2007.

Lisa Nowak, a NASA Astronaut, was arrested for the attempted kidnapping, assault and battery of US Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, the girlfriend of Astronaut William Oefelein, with whom Novak had been romantically involved.

Celebrity Hijinx:
Paris Hilton spent 23 days in jail for her DUI.

Britney Spears shaved off her hair

Lindsey Lohan, as of 2007, went to rehab 3 times.

Nerd Legend Freddy Andersson completed Super Mario Bros 3 in only 11 minutes and 3 seconds.

The Weather Channel released a compilation of the music used during their ‘Local on the 8s’ segment. It peaked #1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart for Contemporary Jazz.

Cost of a Super Bowl ad in 2007: $2,600,000

The Cat Video:
The Keyboard Cat (real name Fatso) meme video, though uploaded to youtube in 2007, was actually recorded in 1984
Pop Culture Facts & History:
The “mmm whatcha say” music used in both the 2007 SNL skit “The Shooting AKA Dear Sister” and in memes across the internet isn’t actually from Jason Derulo’s song Whatcha Say, but really from Imogen Heap’s 2005 song Hide and Seek.

The Keyboard Cat (real name Fatso) meme video, though uploaded to youtube in 2007, was actually recorded in 1984.

In 2004 Eminem dissed Michael Jackson on Just Lose it, in 2007 MJ responded by buying all of Eminem’s Publishing.

When released in France in 2007, Ratatouille was not only praised for its technical accuracy and attention to culinary detail, it also drew the 4th highest opening-day attendance in French movie history.

Deadline reported that, due to Hollywood’s unusual accounting process, the 2007 film Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix lost $167 million despite grossing $938.2 million.

American Astronaut Steven Swanson brought DVD copies of the show Firefly and its movie sequel Serenity to the ISS, where they remain permanently for the crew’s entertainment.

With free classified ads, research has shown that Craigslist cost the newspaper industry $5.4 billion from 2000-2007.

Gerald Ford is the only U.S. President to die in one year and be buried in another. He died on Dec. 26, 2006 and was buried on Jan. 2, 2007.

Nintendo’s classic arcade game Donkey Kong (1981) is so hard that by 2007, only 2 people were known to have completed it. Today, that number is still under 100.

Edison’s DC electric power was still in use in parts of New York City until 2007 when the last systems were finally converted to AC current.

In 1986, calculators represented an estimated 41% of the world’s general-purpose hardware capacity to compute information. By 2007, this had diminished to less than 0.05%.

A man named Oswald Laurence can be heard at the London Underground’s Embankment station, in the City of Westminster, saying “mind the gap”. In 2012 they were planning on changing all voiceovers but decided not to at this station when Laurence’s wife told them that he had passed away in 2007. She loved listening to him when on the way to work.

The-reigning Jeopardy! champion Scott Weiss purposely placed his final bet in such a way as to force the first three-way tie in the game’s history. He said he knew he could have bet more and won the game, but thought it would be fun to force a tie instead.

Donald Duck was used as a logo by a Mexican beverage company called Pascual since 1940. They even changed his name to Pato Pascual (Pascual Duck). Disney sued them in 1980, but the case was not resolved until 2007 when Pascual decided to create their own design for the character.

The original iPhone released in 2007 had no front camera, no App Store, ran on 2G speed, required a 2-year contract, worked with only one carrier, and started out as an idea by Steve Jobs to work as an interactive touchscreen to control a computer.

Facebook’s primary color is blue because Zuckerberg is red-green colorblind.

In 2007, a twin brother was born at 1:32 AM, However, then Daylight Savings Time occurred. His twin sister who was then born at 1:06 AM is considered 26 minutes older.

The Weather Channel released a Smooth Jazz CD based on the music played during its local weather segments; the CD topped Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz charts in 2007. 

Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin was only made available as a single in 2007, 36 years after the original release.

Monty Python members Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam led a group of 5,567 people to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest coconut orchestra. They played Always Look On The Bright Side of Life.

Since 2007 artist Florentijn Hofman has created a series of giant rubber duck sculptures that have been on display at major events. In 2014 the duck designs were stolen and have been used for unauthorized giant ducks.

The 2007 film Paranormal Activity is the most profitable film of all time with a 19,749% return on the initial investment of $450,000.

Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World’s End (2013) are known as ‘The Three Flavors of Cornetto Trilogy” written and directed by Edgar Wright. Each Cornetto flavor (color) represents the themes: Red = blood/gore (Shaun), Blue = cop movie (Fuzz), Green = sci/fi (World’s End).

On March 20, 2007, David Letterman became ill less than an hour before his show was to start. Adam Sandler, who was to be one of his guests that night, filled in for him and hosted the whole show.

The Yongle Encyclopedia was six times larger than the Encyclopædia Britannica despite being written 300+ years earlier. It was regarded as the world’s largest encyclopedia from 1408 to 2007

The NFL sent a cease and desist order to an Indiana Church in 2007 for charging admission to a Super Bowl party that was showing the game on a TV larger than 55 inches thus infringing on the NFL’s copyright laws.

Cost of a Super Bowl ad in 2007: $2,699,963

Super Bowl Public Showing Rules:

For establishments that are not a food service or drinking establishments, you are ok if you:

(A) have less than 2,000 gross square feet of space (excluding space used for customer parking and for no other purpose), or

(B) if you have 2,000 or more gross square feet of space (excluding space used for customer parking and for no other purpose) and—

> if the performance is by audio means only, the performance is communicated by means of a total of not more than 6 loudspeakers, of which not more than 4 loudspeakers are located in any 1 room or adjoining outdoor space; or

> if the performance or display is by audiovisual means, any visual portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 4 audiovisual devices, of which not more than 1 audiovisual device is located in any 1 room, and no such audiovisual device has a diagonal screen size greater than 55 inches, and any audio portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 6 loudspeakers, of which not more than 4 loudspeakers are located in any 1 room or adjoining outdoor space.

If you are a food service or drinking establishment, you are ok if :

(A) you have less than 3,750 gross square feet of space (excluding space used for customer parking and for no other purpose), or

(B) the establishment in which the communication occurs has 3,750 gross square feet of space or more (excluding space used for customer parking and for no other purpose) and—

> if the performance is by audio means only, the performance is communicated by means of a total of not more than 6 loudspeakers, of which not more than 4 loudspeakers are located in any 1 room or adjoining outdoor space; or

> if the performance or display is by audiovisual means, any visual portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 4 audiovisual devices, of which not more than one audiovisual device is located in any 1 room, and no such audiovisual device has a diagonal screen size greater than 55 inches, and any audio portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 6 loudspeakers, of which not more than 4 loudspeakers are located in any 1 room or adjoining outdoor space.

Doomsday Clock:
5 minutes to midnight, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
2007: “The world stands at the brink of a second nuclear age. The United States and Russia remain ready to stage a nuclear attack within minutes, North Korea conducts a nuclear test, and many in the international community worry that Iran plans to acquire the Bomb. Climate change also presents a dire challenge to humanity. Damage to ecosystems is already taking place; flooding, destructive storms, increased drought, and polar ice melt are causing loss of life and property.”
The Habit:
Finishing up the Harry Potter series
2007 Toys inducted to the National Toy Hall of Fame:
Atari 2600, Kite, Raggedy Andy
1st Appearances & 2007’s Most Popular Christmas Gifts, Toys and Presents:
Nintendo DS , Sony PS3
Best Film Oscar Winner:
The Departed (Presented in 2007)
2007 Entries to The National Film Registry:
12 Angry Men (released in 1957)
Back to the Future (released in 1985)
Bullitt (released in 1968)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (released in 1977)
Dance, Girl, Dance (released in 1940)
Dances with Wolves (released in 1990)
Days of Heaven (released in 1978)
Glimpse of the Garden (released in 1957)
Grand Hotel (released in 1932)
The House I Live In (released in 1945)
In a Lonely Place (released in 1950)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (released in 1962)
Mighty Like a Moose (released in 1926)
The Naked City (released in 1948)
Now, Voyager (released in 1942)
Oklahoma! (released in 1955)
Our Day (released in 1938)
Peege (released in 1972)
The Sex Life of the Polyp (released in 1928)
The Strong Man (released in 1926)
The Three Little Pigs (released in 1933)
Tol’able David (released in 1921)
Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son (released in 1969/1971)
The Women (released in 1939)
Wuthering Heights (released in 1939)
The Big Movies: (according to boxofficemojo)
1. Spider-Man 3
2. Shrek the Third
3. Transformers
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix
6. I Am Legend
7. The Bourne Ultimatum
8. National Treasure: Book of Secrets
9. Alvin and the Chipmunks
10. 300
2007 Most Popular TV Shows:
1. American Idol (Fox)
2. Dancing With the Stars (Fall, ABC)
3. Desperate Housewives (ABC)
4. House (Fox)
5. CSI (CBS)
6. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
7. Sunday Night Football (NBC)
8. Survivor: China (CBS)
9. The Moment of Truth (Fox)
10. NCIS (CBS)
Sports:
World Series Champions: Boston Red Sox
Super Bowl Champions: Indianapolis Colts
NBA Champions: San Antonio Spurs
Stanley Cup Champs: Anaheim Mighty Ducks
U.S. Open Golf Angel Cabrera
U.S. Tennis: (Men/Ladies) Roger Federer/Justine Henin
Wimbledon (Men/Women): Roger Federer/ Venus Williams
NCAA Football Champions: LSU
NCAA Basketball Champions: Florida
Kentucky Derby: Street Sense

 

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