There’s this current trend on social media when people recall something from earlier in the year only realize how long the year seems to have been. Another trend compares childhood memories, leaving you in wonder and awe that so many of your friends experienced similar things. Many life-changing and culture altering events happened in the last decade that can make you feel OLD. Where has the time gone?
Obama’s Inauguration
It’s been ten years since our 44th president, Barack Obama, was officially inaugurated. Obama broke barriers by becoming the first black president of the United States. In January 2009, his inauguration was broadcasted on live television for Americans across the country to witness the historic event. He had served two terms before leaving office in January 2017.
Michael Jackson’s Untimely Death
The summer of 2009 had barely begun, and the world had to bid farewell to the King of Pop. Michael Jackson died on June 25th of that year in his Los Angeles home. Attempts to save the singer failed, and he was pronounced dead later that day. Tributes to the late singer poured in from fans and fellow stars from around the country and world. He was only 50 years old.
The First iPad
2010 was the year that the first iPad made its debut. It was introduced on January 27th and officially launched on April 3rd. It came in several different models – 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB of storage – and with or without 3G connectivity. It seems that the iPad has been a part of our lives forever, but this iconic Apple product has barely spent nine years with Americans.
Lady Gaga’s Infamous Meat Dress
Famed singer Lady Gaga arrived at the 2010 Video Music Awards in a dress made from raw beef. This infamous red carpet look was deemed as “the meat dress” by the media. The dress was named the Top Fashion Statement of 2010 by Time Magazine, and fiercely condemned by animal rights groups.
The Royal Wedding ─ The First One
About two billion people tuned in to watch the televised wedding ceremony of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011. The coverage was relentless, and the media scrutinized almost every aspect of the event, including Kate’s dress. There was even a Lifetime movie about the couple.
Osama Bin Laden Was Killed
On the first day of May, President Obama announces that the founder of Al-Qaeda and world’s most-wanted fugitive was killed during an American military operation in Pakistan. According to Wikipedia, bin Laden’s body was “handled in accordance with Islamic tradition” and he was buried at sea less than a day after his day in order to prevent his burial site “from becoming a ‘terrorist shrine.’”
The “Call Me Maybe” Craze
Remember back when Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen came on the radio for the fifth time in the last hour, and this was totally normal? The hit song was actually released in September 2011, but it exploded in popularity in January 2012 when Justin Bieber promoted it on Twitter. The song became more of a viral hit when Selena Gomez and Ashley Tisdale made a video lip syncing to the song.
London Summer Olympics
On July 27, 2012, London officially kicked off the Summer Olympics with a star studded Opening Ceremony. There had been warnings against having the games in Great Britain as many thought the “vast, densely-populated” London wouldn’t be able to cope with the pressures of the Olympic games.
Miley Cyrus Twerking Through 2013
Remember that year when Miley Cyrus cut her hair, dyed it blonde, and gentrified twerking? Same. 2013 was the year of Cyrus’ comeback and breakaway from her squeaky clean persona of Disney’s Hannah Montana. What’s even more memorable from that time period would be her performance with Robin Thicke at the 2013 Video Music Awards. The singer wore a fuzzy one piece that would later be ripped off to reveal a nude two piece. Naturally, Twitter was in a frenzy for the next 48 hours.
Nelson Mandela’s Untimely Death
in 2013, Nelson Mandela, a South-African anti-apartheid revolutionary and political leader, died of a respiratory infection. Mandela was South Africa’s first black president and the first president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
Do you remember that summer when everyone was dumping ice water on their heads? During the summer of 2014, Americans uploaded hundreds of thousands of videos of themselves dumping ice buckets over their heads and then nominating friends to do the same, all in the name of charity. The ALS Association created the internet challenge in order to raise awareness and money to fight the disease. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is described as a group of rare neurological diseases where nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement are damaged.
The Ebola crisis
According to the World Health Organization, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was the largest, most severe and most complex Ebola epidemic in history. The first case of Ebola was reported in March 2014 in Sierra Leone. Before the international public history health emergency ended, more than 28,000 people were infected and 11,000 people died.
Empire Blesses Our Screens
Premiering on January 7 of 2015, Empire burst onto our screens with musical excellence and the drama to go along with it. The show follows Lucious Lyon and his family as he controls his monstrous music company, Empire Entertainment. The show has been hugely successful throughout the last four years, but it also has been through its fair share of drama. The show’s currently on its sixth season.
Charlie Hebdo Terrorist Attacks
On the same day that Empire premiered for the first time, two brothers forced their way into the offices of a French satirical newspaper called Charlie Hebdo. 12 people were killed, and 11 others were injured. The gunmen were identified as part of a terrorist group. Following the attack at the French newspaper office, there were several related attacks, such as the Hypercacher kosher supermarket siege – a terrorist held 10 hostages and murdered 4 Jews. The phrase “Je suis Charlie” became a slogan of support and solidarity on social media platforms.
2016 – The Year That Everything Happened
2016 was one for the books. So much that I couldn’t single out anything from that year, not of pop culture or history or politics. How could we ever forget the time everyone loved Pokemon again and became glued to their phones, endlessly wandering through neighborhood parks in order to victoriously catch ’em all? Or the fact that killer clowns were running around the streets during the entire month of October? Or that Ryan Lochte and a few other swimmers fabricated a terrifying robbery at the Rio Olympics? How can we forget the Cubs winning the World Series? Or Beyoncé dropping her vengeful Lemonade album? Who can forget the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar? Or the fact that we lost so many pop culture icons? Clinton’s loss of the election? El Chapo escaping through tunnels and finally being recaptured? 2016 was one hell of a rollercoaster.
Tom Holland’s Infamous Lip Sync Battle
Having been recently named the new Spider Man, Tom Holland appeared on Comedy Central’s Lip Sync Battle alongside his co-star, Zendaya. In this 2017 episode, Holland begins in a suit and tie and sings along to Singn’ in the Rain. He then goes behind a group of opened umbrellas. The song Umbrella by Rihanna begins to play and we see Tom Holland dressed in drag — short bob wig, full make-up with dark lipstick, and the same little maid’s outfit that Rihanna wore in the music video. Something you don’t see everyday is the new Spiderman lip syncing to Rihanna as Rihanna.
Watch the video here, if you want to relive the greatness.
Trump’s Inauguration
After the divisive election season, Donald Trump officially became president on January 20, 2017. His inaugural speech lasted only 16 minutes, which is the shortest in history since Jimmy Carter’s in 1977. His speech contained nationalist and populist rhetoric as he repeated “America First” throughout it. He also spent a lot of minutes talking about his infamous southern border wall.
#Beychella
Last year, Beyoncé became the first African American woman to headline Coachella; she’s the third woman to headline the festival solo. In 2017, she was set to headline the California festival, but she had to pull out due to her pregnancy. During her set at Coachella, she featured her Destiny’s Child groupmates, Kelly Rowland and Michele Williams. Beyoncé has also released Homecoming on Netflix, which serves as the concert film for her performance at Coachella.
Another Royal Wedding
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle officially tied the knot on May 19, 2018. The nuptials took place at Windsor Castle in St. George’s Chapel. Despite the controversy surrounding the event, 27.7 million viewers from Britain tuned in, and 29 million tuned in from the United States.
Midterm Elections
Can we all remember last November, when there was a surge to the polls? It was great. In the November 2018 Midterm Elections, Democrats were able to take control of the House of Representatives. There were 43 seats that flipped from red as a result of Americans’ passion and fury. The desperation to vote in midterms was essentially a preview of the frenzy of the upcoming 2020 election season.
Endgame – The End of a 10 Year Saga
Let’s recall the time when Marvel’s Endgame had yet to bless our theaters. The lead up to this singular movie was just plain ecstatic. For the past 10 years, Marvel has been churning out blockbuster after blockbuster. Endgame served as the sequel to last year’s Infinity War, which left – SPOILER ALERT – most of our beloved heroes dusted. Endgame also served as the ending to what’s been named as the Infinity War Saga. The release of Endgame gave fans closure to a 10 year journey. The hype for this movie had been cooking for almost a year before it came out on April 27th. Marvel’s Endgame became the highest grossing movie of all time.
The Government is in Shambles – the Mueller Report and The Shutdown
Earlier this year, Trump shutdown the government due to the fact that the House of Representatives wouldn’t approve his border wall. The shutdown started on December 22, 2018 and ended in January 25, 2019. Every government employee across the country was out of a job due to the shutdown. The House and the Senate were at an impasse until there was an agreement on budgeting the wall. On March 22, the Mueller Report was released and it revealed how Russia interfered with the 2016 Presidential Election. The report covered Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the allegations of conspiracy or coordination between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia, along with numerous allegations of obstruction of justice. The full report was released by Attorney General William Barr and a redacted version was released to the public by the Department of Justice on April 18, 2019. Volume I of the report concludes that the investigation didn’t find sufficient evidence that Trump’s campaign coordinated or conspired with the Russian government”. Volume II of the report addresses the obstruction of justice.
Time is a constant in life that we can’t get rid of. It’s trendy to remember something that happened earlier that year or earlier that decade. One’s that’ll make our history textbooks interesting.