Back in the Day: 2008

Back in the Day: 2008

Back in the Day: 2008

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What was happening when T95 turned 29?

POP CULTURE:

  • Toshiba announces its formal recall of its HD DVD video format, ending the format war between it and Sony’s Blu-Ray Disc
  • SpaceX launches the first ever private spacecraft, the Falcon 1 into orbit.
  • Music, podcast, and video streaming service Spotify is launched by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon
  • Iran’s attempt to create the world’s largest sandwich (1,500 metres) fails when crowds eat it before it can be measured
  • During a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq, Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw both of his shoes at then-president George W. Bush in one of the funniest moments in recent political history (just look at Bush’s face, that smirk while a guy throws his SHOES at the sitting president.) I mean, who throws a shoe, honestly?
  • A 4chan user made a prank about how Steve Jobs “died of a heart attack”, after the prank went around social media, Apple’s stock dropped around $5,000,000,000 because of the joke.
  • The NOAA no longer recommends crouching to avoid lightning, and as of 2008, instead recommends walking to safety. (It took scientists until 2008 to figure this out?)
  • During a world-wide hops (needed to make beer) shortage in 2008, Sam Adams brewing company sold craft brewers their hops at cost to keep them in business and has given over 3 million in loans to small breweries to spur competition.
  • The year 2008 was declared the International Year of the Potato by the UN
  • On 1st April, 2008 YouTube rickrolled its viewers by redirecting every featured front page video to the original song video, Never Gonna Give You Up.
  • For one day in 2008 there was an app in the App Store that cost $999.99 USD and did nothing. 8 people bought it.
  • Cost of a Superbowl ad in 2008: $2,700,000
  • SSHHHH! Kelloggs made their cereal boxes thinner in 2008 but kept the price the same so that buyers wouldn’t perceive the smaller size box when viewed from the front.

SPORTS:

  • 74th Orange Bowl: #8 Kansas beats #5 Virginia Tech, 24-21
  • College Football, 10th BCS National Championship Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans: #2 LSU beats #1 Ohio State, 38-24, becoming the first ever two-loss National Champion
  • Super Bowl XLII, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ: New York Giants beat New England Patriots, 17-14; MVP: Eli Manning, New York, QB
  • 70th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Kansas beats Memphis, 75-68; first time since seeding began, all 4 top seeds advance to the Final Four
  • NBA owners give approval of a Seattle SuperSonics’ relocation to Oklahoma City in a 28–2 vote by the Board of Governors. The team would be named the “Thunder” in the following months
  • Usain Bolt breaks the world record in the 100m sprint, with a wind-legal (+1.7m/s) 9.72 seconds
  • Stanley Cup Final, Civic Center, Pittsburgh, PA: Detroit Red Wings defeat Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2 for a 4-2 series win; Red Wings’ 11th Championship
  • 62nd NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat Los Angeles Lakers, 4 games to 2
  • 29th Summer Olympic Games opens in Beijing, China
      • American super-star swimmer Michael Phelps wins the 400m individual medley at the Beijing Olympics in world record 4:03.84. It would be the first of a record-setting 8 gold medals the swimmer would pick up at these Olympics.
    • United States takes all 3 medals in women’s fencing sabre event at the Beijing Olympics; first US podium sweep of a fencing event since 1904; Mariel Zagunis takes gold ahead of Sada Jacobson & Rebecca Ward
    • The US 4 x 100m freestyle replay team of Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones & Jason Lezak beats France by 8 seconds to win gold and smash world record at the Beijing Olympics
    • An American 1-2 in the 200m backstroke at the Beijing Olympics with Ryan Lochte swimming a world record 1:53.94 to beat team mate Aaron Peirsol
    • Usain Bolt of Jamaica wraps up the 100/200m double in style with a new 200m world record 19.30 at the Beijing Olympics
    • The star-studded American men’s basketball team led by the likes of LeBron James, Chris Paul & Kobe Bryant win the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics with a relatively narrow 118-107 win over Spain
  • 60th NASCAR Sprint Cup: Jimmie Johnson wins
  • Detroit Lions crash to a 31-21 loss to Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field; first team in NFL history to go winless in a 16-game season

  • Lead singer and bassist of Rush, Geddy Lee, had one of the largest collections of Negro Baseball League memorabilia and formally donated it all to the Negro Baseball League museum in Kansas City, MO.

MUSIC NEWS/ENTERTAINMENT:

    • A fire at the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood destroys several icons from movies, such as Courthouse Square, the clock tower from Back to the Future, and the King Kong exhibit on the studio tour.

    • “The Fame”, debut album by Lady Gaga, is released (Grammy Award Album of the Year, Best Electronic/Dance Album 2009)
    • Beyonce and Jay-Z are married
    • A Miley Cyrus photo shoot for Vanity Fair with Annie Leibovitz comes under fire after the actress/singer appears to be seen shirtless, covered by a blanket in a risque pose… she was 15 at the time.
    • Madonna turns 50, as does Prince, Ellen Degeneres, Michelle Pfeiffer, and actor Viggo Mortensen
    • n April 2008, Prince covered “Creep” at Coachella. This version was captured on a video and uploaded to Youtube. However, it was quickly taken down at Prince’s request. After finding out about the blocking, Thom Yorke was quoted as saying: “Well, tell him to unblock it. It’s our song.”
    • Dr. Pepper had an ad campaign that promised every American, except Slash and Buckethead, a free can of Dr.Pepper if the Guns and Roses released their long awaited album, Chinese Democracy. They could not keep up with the demand.

  • TRL’s final show before returning (in shortened form) in 2017

BOX OFFICE:

    • First film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe released “Iron Man” directed by Jon Favreau, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark

  • “The Dark Knight” directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, premieres in New York
  • “Slumdog Millionaire” based on the novel “Q & A” by Vikas Swarup, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Dev Patel premieres at the Telluride Film Festival (Best Picture 2009)
  • “Quantum of Solace” 22nd James Bond film starring Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko, premieres in London
  •  “Twilight”, based on the book by Stephenie Meyer, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, premieres in Los Angeles
  • “Sex and The City: The Movie” hits theaters
  • Harrison Ford returns as Indiana Jones in “The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull”
  • Pixar and Disney release another blockbuster, “Wall-E”
  • Kung-Fu Panda was so successful in China that it caused a national debate on why Westerners made a better film about Chinese culture than the Chinese themselves.

TELEVISION: 

  • “Breaking Bad”, created by Vince Gilligan and starring Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul premieres on AMC
  • Seth MacFarlane reaches an agreement worth $100 million with Fox to keep “Family Guy” and “American Dad” on television until 2012, making MacFarlane the world’s highest paid television writer
  • Tina Fey premiers her portrayal of Sarah Palin on SNL. Saturday Night Live also scored its highest ratings in 14 years when Palin herself made an appearance on the show.

 

  • Only one time in the 45 yr running of the Price is Right game show has a contestant “guessed” the exact value of prizes ($23,743.00) in the Showcase showdown and his name was Terry Kniess.
  • TruTV replaces CourtTV on cable networks
  • A Writer’s Strike forced the 65th annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony to be scrapped. The Strike would be resolved days after the Awards show would have aired
  • In Drew Carey’s first primetime episode of The Price is Right on CBS, the show had its first $1 million winner. Adam Rose won $1,153,908 in cash and prizes.
  • The USA TV website “Hulu” goes live
  • CNN becomes the first channel in the history to use hologram technology on television, during the 2008 United States Presidential Election. CNN’s Jessica Yellin became the first person ever to be transmitted via hologram, followed by Will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas
  • Show Premieres: Breaking Bad; The Mr. Men Show; America’s Best Dance Crew; 1000 Ways to Die; The Wendy Williams Show; 90210; Sons of Amarchy; Fringe; The Mentalist; Sanctuary; Star Wars: The Clone Wars; Ghost Adventures
  • Shows cancelled/ended: Star Jones; The Wire; Frisky Dingo; The Boondocks (returned in 2010); Rob & Big; Beauty and the Geek; WWE Heat; Space Ghost Coast to Coast; Avatar: The Last Airbender; The Suite Life of Zack & Cody; Total Request Live; The Shield; Boston Legal;

HISTORICAL EVENTS:

  • Black Monday in worldwide stock markets. FTSE 100 had its biggest ever one-day points fall, European stocks closed with their worst result since 9/11, and Asian stocks drop as much as 15%.
  • Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba due to ill health after nearly fifty years
  • The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in the history of mankind is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland
  • Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be elected President of the United States, defeating Republican candidate John McCain

  • Bill Gates steps down as Chairman of Microsoft Corporation to work full time for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
  • Hurricane Ike makes landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast of the United States, causing heavy damage to Galveston Island, Houston and surrounding areas.
  • O.J. Simpson found guilty of charges of kidnapping and armed robbery. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison, but was released on parole in 2018

NOTABLE DEATHS:

  • Heath Ledger – Actor
  • Tim Russert – reporter/journalist “Meet the Press”
  • Suzanne Pleshette – actress “Bob Newhard Show” “Rome Adventure”
  • John Stewart – Musician/songwriter “Kingston Trio”
  • Shell Kepler – actress “General Hospital”
  • Barry Morse – actor “The Fugitive”
  • Roy Scheider – actor “Jaws” (Police Chief)
  • William F. Buckley – author/conservative commentator
  • Mike Smith – Musician, vocalist for “The Dave Clark Five”
  • Arthur C. Clarke – writer “2001: A Space Odyssey”
  • Charlton Heston – actor “The Ten Commandments”
  • Jerry Wallace – Musician, country artist
  • Eddy Arnold – Musician, baritone that helped create “The Nashville Sound”
  • Dick Martin – Comedian
  • Harvey Korman – actor “Carol Burnett Show”
  • Bo Diddley – Musician
  • Jim McKay – sportscaster “ABC Wide World of Sports”
  • George Carline – Comedian
  • Estelle Getty – actress “The Golden Girls”
  • Bernie Mac – Comedian/actor
  • Isaac Hayes – Musician/actor, “Chef” from South Park
  • Jerry Reed – musician/actor, co-starred in “Smokey & The Bandit”
  • Richard Wright – Musician, pianist for Pink Floyd
  • Paul Newman – actor/auto racer
  • Levi Stubbs – singer, frontman for The Four Tops
  • Merl Saunders – Musician, keyboardist for The Grateful Dead
  • Paul Benedict – acotr “The Jeffersons”
  • Bettie Page – Model
  • Eartha Kitt – singer “Santa Baby”

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