Annual

2012 Pop Culture HistoryIn 2012, the world was supposed to end on December 21st, according to a misreading of the Mayan calendar that spawned an entire industry of books, documentaries, and emergency-preparedness kits. It did not end. What actually happened was that The Avengers made a billion dollars, Carly Rae Jepsen asked if you had

2009 Pop Culture HistoryIn 2009, a man landed a commercial airliner on the Hudson River and became an instant American hero. A 47-year-old Scottish woman walked out onto a television stage and sang a song that made the internet cry. Bitcoin was invented and was worth essentially nothing. Avatar made more money than any film

2008 Pop Culture HistoryIn 2008, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, Usain Bolt ran faster than anyone in recorded human history, The Dark Knight reminded everyone what a superhero film could be, and the global financial system came closer to complete collapse than most people realized at the time. The Large Hadron

2007 Pop Culture HistoryIn 2007, Steve Jobs stood on a stage in San Francisco and introduced a device that combined a phone, an iPod, and an internet communicator. The audience responded as if he had announced the discovery of fire, which in certain respects is not an unreasonable comparison. The iPhone launched on June 29,

 2006 History, Facts and TriviaQuick Facts from 2006 Top Song: “Irreplaceable” by BeyoncéMost Famous American: Probably Beyoncé — or depending on your news diet, George W. BushDaily Hershey Kisses (14 oz): $2.50 | I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter (15 oz): $2.29#TBT: Throwback Thursday entered mainstream pop culture in 2006 — the trend of posting

2005 History, Facts, and TriviaQuick Facts from 2005 Top Song: We Belong Together by Mariah Carey — which spent a combined 14 weeks at #1 and was the longest-running #1 of 2005Notable Books: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (published in Swedish

2004 History, Fun Facts, and TriviaQuick Facts from 2004 Top Song: Yeah! by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, which spent 12 consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive: Jude LawMovie DVD: $19.99; Oscar Mayer bacon (1 lb.): $5.39; Oreo cookies (1 lb.): $2.99The Funny Late Night Host: Jay

2003 Pop Culture HistoryQuick Facts from 2003World-Changing Event: MySpace launched in August 2003, becoming the first social network to achieve mass adoption and introducing the concept of online personal profiles, friend lists, and music pages to a mainstream audience. It briefly made Tom Anderson the most well-known person on the internet, simply by being everyone’s