JibJab is an American digital entertainment studio based in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. Founded in 1999 by brothers Evan and Gregg Spiridellis, it first achieved widespread attention during the
2004 US presidential election
The 2004 United States presidential election was the 55th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The Republican ticket of incumbent President George W. Bush and his running mate incumbent Vice President Dick Chen ...
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...
singing ''
This Land Is Your Land
"This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1940 in critical response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", with melody based on a Carter Fam ...
'' became a viral hit. Initially known for political and social
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming o ...
, JibJab produced commercials and shorts for clients such as
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...
,
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
,
PBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Inste ...
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
,
Qubo
Qubo ( ; stylized as qubo) was an American television network for children between the ages of 5 and 14. Owned by Ion Media, it consisted of a 24-hour free-to-air television network often mentioned as the "Qubo channel" (available as a digital ...
, and
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
before focusing on its now-flagship personalized eCard and messaging services. In 2016, its animated sticker-making program – which has been available since 2004 – became the top
App Store
An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the c ...
app by download growth.
In 2012, JibJab also expanded into the children's educational market with its multi-platform learning program,
StoryBots
StoryBots is an American children's educational media franchise best known for the Netflix series ''Ask the StoryBots''. The StoryBots library includes educational TV series, books, videos, music, games and classroom activities designed to make f ...
, which has since spawned two
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
TV series, ''
Ask the StoryBots
Ask is the active verb for a direct question.
Ask may also refer to:
Places
* Ask, Akershus, a village in Gjerdrum municipality, Viken county, Norway
* Ask, Buskerud, a village in Ringerike municipality, Viken county, Norway
* Ask, Vestland, a ...
'' and ''
StoryBots Super Songs
''StoryBots Super Songs'' is an American animated children's television series based on the characters from the StoryBots educational apps and videos. It was created and produced by JibJab Bros. Studios (now StoryBots Inc.) and premiered on Netf ...
''.
In 2019, JibJab was acquired by the private equity firm Catapult Capital.
Political satire
"Capitol Ill"
For the 2000 Presidential Election' JibJab released a Flash movie entitled "Capitol Ill" in July 2000, which featured an animated rap battle between George W. Bush and
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...
. Appearances by
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
In 2003, JibJab produced a Flash movie poking fun at
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
's campaign for
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. It depicts Schwarzenegger giving a campaign speech.
"This Land"
For the
2004 United States presidential election
The 2004 United States presidential election was the 55th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The Republican ticket of incumbent President George W. Bush and his running mate incumbent Vice President Dick Che ...
, JibJab created a Flash movie entitled "This Land," released on July 9, 2004, which featured animated versions of George W. Bush and
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
of
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspire ...
's song ''
This Land Is Your Land
"This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1940 in critical response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", with melody based on a Carter Fam ...
''.
The video was considered an instant success, eventually being viewed on every continent (including
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...
) as well as the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...
. The traffic surge forced JibJab's server to be shut down after one day, and the clip was placed on
AtomFilms
Atom.com (formerly AtomFilms) was a broadband entertainment network offering original short subject movies, animations, and series by independent creators. The company was founded in 1998 in Seattle by Mika Salmi. Sequoia Capital, led by Michael ...
, where it got more than 1 million hits in 24 hours.
After being linked to on thousands of websites, the video was featured several times in the printed media and on television, including ''
NBC Nightly News
''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...
'',
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is o ...
and ''
ABC World News Tonight
''ABC World News Tonight'' (titled ''ABC World News Tonight with David Muir'' for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting ...
''. On July 26, 2004, the creators appeared on ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...
'' with
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's '' The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 20 ...
. In December 2004, the Spiridellis brothers were named People of the Year by
Peter Jennings
Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings (July 29, 1938August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-born American television journalist who served as the sole anchor of ''ABC World News Tonight'' from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 2005. He dropped o ...
.The Richmond Organization, a music publisher that owns the copyright to Guthrie's tune through its Ludlow Music Unit, threatened legal action. JibJab responded with a lawsuit in a California federal court, claiming the song was protected under a fair use exemption for parodies. JibJab and Ludlow Music reached a settlement after JibJab's attorneys unearthed evidence that the song had passed into the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...
in 1973. The terms of the settlement allowed for the continued distribution of ''This Land''.
"Good to be in DC"
In October 2004, JibJab followed up with another original animation, "Good to be in DC," set to the tune of
Dan Emmett
Daniel Decatur Emmett (October 29, 1815June 28, 1904) was an American songwriter, entertainer, and founder of the first troupe of the blackface minstrel tradition, the Virginia Minstrels. He is most remembered as the composer of the song "Dixie" ...
's "
Dixie
Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cove ...
". In this video, animated versions of George W. Bush,
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former ...
, John Kerry, and
John Edwards
Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 alongside John Kerry, losing to incumbents George ...
sing about their hopes for the upcoming election.
"Second Term"
Immediately after George W. Bush's election victory, JibJab released a third video, "Second Term." Set to the tune of "
She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain
"She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" (sometimes referred to as "Coming 'Round the Mountain") is a traditional folk song often categorized as children's music. The song is derived from the Christian spiritual known as "When the Chariot Comes". ...
", an animated Bush gloats over his successful bid for a second term as president, and his plans for it, based on his campaign promises.
"Time for Some Campaignin'"
For the 2008 Presidential Election, JibJab released another election-themed animation, "Time for Some Campaignin'" in July of that year. Set to the tune of
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
Bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Pla ...
and
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
,
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...
,
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
, George W. Bush, and Dick Cheney sing of their presidential hopes. This video was the first instance where viewers had the option of using Jibjab's
e-card
E-card is an electronic postcard or greeting card, with the primary difference being that it is created using digital media instead of paper or other traditional materials. E-cards are made available many different ways, usually on various Intern ...
website to insert their own face as that of a harassed voter.
"He's Barack Obama"
Upon
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
becoming president, JibJab released "He's Barack Obama", where they portrayed Obama as a superhero. The music becomes a heavy metal interpretation of " When Johnny Comes Marching Home", as Obama promises he will fix the Middle East, defeat the Taliban, fix the schools, fight a giant space robot, wrestle a bear, fix the deficit and more.
2012 Election
For the 2012 Presidential Election, JibJab did not make an election video and instead began to focus their efforts on their e-card business. However, an election web app was released in late October of that year.
Year in Review
Starting in 2005, and for the next nine consecutive years until 2014, JibJab annually released Year in Review videos, usually late in December between
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
and
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Whi ...
, sung to all various classical melodies. The videos were originally uploaded on YouTube and their website. but on December 11, 2015, JibJab made a Facebook announcement that they would not be releasing anymore "Year in Review" videos as the brothers had begun finding them creatively unfulfilling. By then, ten "Year in Review" videos had been made; by the winter of 2016, JibJab removed all "Year in Review" videos from their website (although they would remain on their
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channel) and started to focus on their eCard videos instead. However, on November 24, 2020, in response to popular demand, JibJab revived the "Year In Review" series with a video about the past year, the first to use a non-classical tune, instead being custom-written.
"2-0-5" - 2005 Year In Review
2-0-5 is the year in review video for the year 2005, and was later posted to YouTube in October 2007. It parodies the songs "
Auld Lang Syne
"Auld Lang Syne" (: note "s" rather than "z") is a popular song, particularly in the English-speaking world. Traditionally, it is sung to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. By extension, it is also often ...
" and " Turkey In The Straw". 2-0-5 is sung from the perspective of George W. Bush reflecting on the year's events during a press conference. The mentions include:
*
Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Ki ...
*
STS-114
STS-114 was the first "Return to Flight" Space Shuttle mission following the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster. ''Discovery'' launched at 10:39 EDT (14:39 UTC), July 26, 2005. The launch, 907 days (approx. 29 months) after the loss of ''Co ...
"Return to Flight" space shuttle mission
*
Israeli disengagement from Gaza
The Israeli disengagement from Gaza ( he, תוכנית ההתנתקות, ') was the unilateral dismantling in 2005 of the 21 Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of Israeli settlers and army from inside the Gaza Strip.
T ...
second-term curse
The second-term curse is the perceived tendency of second terms of U.S. presidents to be less successful than their first terms.
According to the curse, the second terms of U.S. presidents have usually been plagued by a major scandal, policy in ...
*
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on Augu ...
and the
Plame affair grand jury investigation
The CIA leak grand jury investigation (related to the "CIA leak scandal", also known as the "Plame affair") was a federal inquiry "into the alleged unauthorized disclosure of a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee's identity", a possible v ...
*
Energy Policy Act of 2005
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 () is a federal law signed by President George W. Bush on August 8, 2005, at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The act, described by proponents as an attempt to combat growing energy probl ...
*
Michael D. Brown
Michael DeWayne Brown (born November 8, 1954) is an American attorney and former government official who served as the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from 2003 to 2005. He joined FEMA as general counsel in 2001 an ...
*
Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination
On October 3, 2005, Harriet Miers was nominated for Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court by President George W. Bush to replace retired Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Miers was, at the time, White House Counsel, and had previously ...
*
United States housing bubble
The 2000s United States housing bubble was a real-estate bubble affecting over half of the U.S. states. It was the impetus for the subprime mortgage crisis. Housing prices peaked in early 2006, started to decline in 2006 and 2007, and reac ...
*
Natural gas prices
Natural gas prices, as with other commodity prices, are mainly driven by supply and demand fundamentals. However, natural gas prices may also be linked to the price of crude oil and petroleum products, especially in continental Europe. ...
* Overseas job decline
*
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
*
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Ex ...
marriage in the United States
Marriage in the United States is a legal, social, and religious institution. The marriage age in the United States is set by each state and territory, either by statute or the common law applies. An individual may marry in the United States as of ...
Scooter Libby
Irve Lewis "Scooter" Libby (born August 22, 1950) is an American lawyer and former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney known for his high-profile indictment.
From 2001 to 2005, Libby held the offices of Assistant to the Vice President ...
*
Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale DeLay (; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1985 until 2006. He was Republic ...
Nuckin' Futs! - The JibJab Year In Review 2006
Posted to the internet in 2006 and later posted to YouTube in October 2007, this Year in Review portrays an elementary school Christmas concert with the kids singing about the past year, sung to the tune of
Jingle Bells
"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and most commonly sung American songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822–1893) and published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. It has been claimed t ...
. Topics include:
*
Iraqi Civil War (2006–2008)
The Iraqi Civil War was a civil war fought mainly between the Iraqi government along with American-led coalition forces and various sectarian armed groups, mainly Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Mahdi Army, from 2006 to 2008. In February 2006, sect ...
*
War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to:
*Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC)
* Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709)
*Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...
's daughter Shiloh Nouvel
*
Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad
Osama bin Laden's compound, known locally as the Waziristan Haveli ( ur, , Wazīristān Havelī, Waziristan Mansion), was a large, upper-class house within a walled compound used as a safe house for militant Islamist Osama bin Laden, who was ...
trial
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...
and
execution of Saddam Hussein
The execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein took place on 30 December 2006, (Death’s Angels). Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging, after being convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraqi Special Tribunal for the ...
*
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former ...
2006 transatlantic aircraft plot
The 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot was a terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives, carried aboard airliners travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada, disguised as soft drinks. The plot was discovered by British ...
Hugo Chavez
Hugo or HUGO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese
* Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback
* Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...
's appearance on
The Oprah Winfrey Show
''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...
.
*
2006 Thai coup d'état
The 2006 Thai ''coup d'état'' took place on 19 September 2006, when the Royal Thai Army staged a ''coup d'état'' against the elected caretaker government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The ''coup d'état'', which was Thailand's first ...
*
Mel Gibson
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apoca ...
Ted Haggard
Ted Arthur Haggard (; born June 27, 1956) is an American evangelical pastor. Haggard is the founder and former pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado and is a founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches. He served as pre ...
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
buying
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
Mark Foley scandal
The Mark Foley scandal, which broke in late September 2006, centers on soliciting emails and sexually suggestive instant messages sent by Mark Foley, a Republican Congressman from Florida, to teenaged boys who had formerly served as congre ...
*
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, and entertainer. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, she is a great-granddaughter of Conrad ...
swearing on abstinence from sex
*Religious conflict in various parts of the world
*
Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Ki ...
Escherichia coli
''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus '' Esc ...
food contamination
*
Kenneth Lay
Kenneth Lee Lay (April 15, 1942 – July 5, 2006) was an American businessman who was the founder, chief executive officer and chairman of Enron. He was heavily involved in the eponymous accounting scandal that unraveled in 2001 into the large ...
's death following his trial
*
Lance Bass
James Lance Bass (; born May 4, 1979) is an American singer, dancer, actor, film, and television producer. He grew up in Mississippi and rose to fame as the bass singer for the American pop boy band NSYNC. NSYNC's success led Bass to work in film ...
coming out as gay
*The resignation of Donald Rumsfeld's position as Secretary of Defense
*Democrats taking over Congress during the
2006 United States elections
The 2006 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 7, 2006, in the middle of Republican Party (United States), Republican President George W. Bush's second term. Democratic Party (United States), Democrats won control of both houses ...
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
's nuclear program
In 2007
The tune "
We Didn't Start the Fire
"We Didn't Start the Fire" is a song written and published by American musician Billy Joel. The song was released as a single on September 18, 1989, and later released as part of Joel's album '' Storm Front'' on October 17, 1989. A list song, i ...
" by Billy Joel was used in 2007's Year in Review. The setup is a group of
angels
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...
tasked with reporting on the Year 2007 attempting to avoid angering God with the documentation, and therefore "sugar-coating" it in a song. Topics included:
*
Global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
*Rising terrorism, specifically Osama bin Laden
*Oil prices
*
Michael Vick
Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a former American football quarterback. Regarded as having transformed the quarterback position with his rushing abilities, he is the NFL leader in quarterback rushing yards and was the league's firs ...
unidentified flying object
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are ide ...
at the
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
Democratic presidential debate
*The
2007 Chinese export recalls
In 2007 a series of product recalls and import bans were imposed by the product safety institutions of the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand against products manufactured in and exported from the mainland of th ...
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
,
Chris Dodd
Christopher John Dodd (born May 27, 1944) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1981 to 2011. Dodd is the longest-serving senator in Connecticut's history. ...
,
Bill Richardson
William Blaine Richardson III (born November 15, 1947) is an American politician, author, and diplomat who served as the 30th governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. He was also the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Energy Secretary ...
,
John Edwards
Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 alongside John Kerry, losing to incumbents George ...
, and
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
for the 2008 presidential elections
*The
War in Darfur
The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, is a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups bega ...
*
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
Blackwater USA
Blackwater was an American private military company founded on December 26, 1996 by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince. It was renamed Xe Services in 2009 and known as Academi since 2011 after it was acquired by a group of private investors ...
2007 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, honoring the best music videos from the previous year between June 2006 to June 2007, took place on September 9, in Las Vegas at The Palms. The 2007 VMAs were the smallest VMAs ever held in MTV history, eliminatin ...
*The
Barry Bonds perjury case
The Barry Bonds perjury case was a case of alleged perjury regarding use of anabolic steroids by former San Francisco Giants outfielder and all-time Major League Baseball career home run leader, Barry Bonds, and the related investigations surrou ...
Airbus A380
The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner.
Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
's first passenger flight (with
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines ( abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in corporat ...
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on Augu ...
dancing at the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner
*The O. J. Simpson robbery case
*President of Pakistan
Pervez Musharraf
General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...
Caitlin Upton
Caitlin Upton or Caite Upton (born Lauren Caitlin Upton on born March 27, 1989 in Lexington, South Carolina) is an American fashion model and beauty queen.
Career 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant
Upton became Miss South Carolina Teen USA for 2007 in ...
winning the
Miss Teen USA
Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on the M ...
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
*
2007 Boston Red Sox season
The 2007 Boston Red Sox season was the 107th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. Managed by Terry Francona, the Red Sox finished first in the American League East with a record of 96 wins and 66 losses. In the postseason, the ...
*The release of ''
Halo 3
''Halo 3'' is a 2007 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for the Xbox 360 console. The third installment in the ''Halo'' franchise, the game concludes the story arc begun in 2001's '' Halo: Combat Evolved'' and continued in ...
'' for
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...
winning
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
and
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to:
Film awards
* AACTA Award for Best Direction
* Academy Award for Best Director
* BA ...
for ''
The Departed
''The Departed'' is a 2006 American epic crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film '' Infernal Affairs'' and also loosely based on the real-life Boston Win ...
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...
adopting their son, Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt.
*
Knut
Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud ( Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used w ...
the polar bear's debut to the public
*The first release of the iPhone
* Sanjaya Malakar's performance on ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
''
The JibJab Year in Review 2008
Also known as The JibJab Year in Review '08, In this Year in Review the former
Baby New Year
The Baby New Year is a personification of the start of the New Year commonly seen in editorial cartoons. He symbolizes the "birth" of the next year and the "passing" of the prior year; in other words, a "rebirth". Baby New Year's purpose varies by ...
of 2008 (a caricature of Jimmy Durante) is seen singing about the past year's events to the next Baby New Year for 2009 in a voice reminiscent of
Danny DeVito
Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983), which won him a Gold ...
. The song used in this is "
Miss Susie
"Miss Susie had a steamboat", also known as "Hello Operator",Mayfield, Josh. at ''Inky's Linkies''. 3 Apr 2004. Accessed 13 Jan 2014. "Miss Suzy", "Miss Lucy", and many other names, is the name of an American schoolyar ...
federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
In September 2008 the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that it would take over the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). Both government-sponsored enterpr ...
* The liquidity crisis of the
American International Group
American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. , AIG companies employed 49,600 people.https://www.aig.com/content/dam/aig/amer ...
* The
bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers
The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, was the climax of the subprime mortgage crisis. After the financial services firm was notified of a pending credit downgrade due to its heavy position in subprime mortgages, the Federal ...
* The continuing
War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to:
*Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC)
* Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709)
*Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...
Big Three automobile manufacturers
In the automotive industry, the term Big Three is used for a country's three largest motor vehicle manufacturers, especially indicating companies that sell under multiple brand names.
The term originated in the United States, where General Moto ...
* Jesse Jackson threatening to castrate Obama
* Rick Dyer and Matthew Whitton's YouTube video claiming to have seen Bigfoot's corpse in northern
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
* The
Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal
On March 10, 2008, ''The New York Times'' reported that Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer had patronized a prostitution ring run by an escort agency known as Emperors Club VIP. During the course of an investigation into the escort agency, the f ...
*
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, producer, director, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He is known for portraying FBI agent Fox Mulder on the television series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002, 2016-2018) and as writ ...
undergoing rehabilitation
*
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former ...
suffering a heart attack
*
2000s energy crisis
From the mid-1980s to September 2003, the inflation-adjusted price of a barrel of crude oil on NYMEX was generally under US$25/barrel in 2008 dollars. During 2003, the price rose above $30, reached $60 by 11 August 2005, and peaked at $147. ...
*
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...
performing in ''Equus'' (he is referred to and portrayed as "
Harry
Harry may refer to:
TV shows
* ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin
* ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons
* ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
" in the video)
*
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip ho ...
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
's victory during the
2008 United States presidential election
The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator f ...
*
Jenna Bush Hager
Jenna Welch Bush Hager (born November 25, 1981) is an American news personality, author, and journalist. She is the co-host of '' Today with Hoda & Jenna'', the fourth hour of NBC's morning news program ''Today.'' Hager and her fraternal twin sis ...
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...
,
Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...
and
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on Augu ...
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...
forgetting how many houses he owned
* Sarah Palin being selected as
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...
's running mate for the 2008 presidential election, with
Tom Ridge
Thomas Joseph Ridge (born August 26, 1945) is an American politician and author who served as the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security from 2001 to 2003, and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2003 to 2005. ...
,
Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...
Tim Pawlenty
Timothy James Pawlenty (; born November 27, 1960) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 39th governor of Minnesota from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House o ...
Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
leaving day-to-day operations at
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
*
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
and the
Russo-Georgian War
The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of Sou ...
Ike
Ike or IKE may refer to:
People
* Ike (given name), a list of people with the name or nickname
* Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969), Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II and President of the United States Surname
...
and
Gustav
Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to:
*Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film
* ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...
* The
John Edwards
Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who served as a U.S. senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2004 alongside John Kerry, losing to incumbents George ...
extramarital affair
An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of ...
Henry Louis Gates arrest controversy
On July 16, 2009, Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested at his Cambridge, Massachusetts home by local police officer Sgt. James Crowley, who was responding to a 911 caller's report of men breaking and entering the resid ...
*The divorce of Jon and Kate Gosselin
*The finger-biting incident at a pro-Obama healthcare rally in
Thousand Oaks, California
Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown. It is named after the many oak tr ...
*The
public health insurance option
The public health insurance option, also known as the public insurance option or the public option, is a proposal to create a government-run health insurance agency that would compete with other private health insurance companies within the Unite ...
*The
resignation of Sarah Palin
In 2006, Sarah Palin was elected governor of Alaska. Running on a clean-government platform, Palin defeated incumbent Governor Frank Murkowski in the United States Republican Party, Republican gubernatorial primary election in August. She then ...
*
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
's trip to
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
and him releasing
Euna Lee
Euna Lee (Hangul:유나 리; born 1972) is a Korean American journalist.
While working for Current TV, Lee and fellow journalist Laura Ling were detained in North Korea after they crossed into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from th ...
swine flu
Swine influenza is an infection caused by any of several types of swine influenza viruses. Swine influenza virus (SIV) or swine-origin influenza virus (S-OIV) refers to any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs. As ...
General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization
The 2009 General Motors Chapter 11 sale of the assets of automobile manufacturer General Motors and some of its subsidiaries was implemented through Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code in the United States bankruptcy court for the Southern D ...
*The "Miracle on the Hudson"
water landing
In aviation, a water landing is, in the broadest sense, an aircraft landing on a body of water. Seaplanes, such as floatplanes and flying boats, land on water as a normal operation. Ditching is a controlled emergency landing on the water s ...
of
US Airways Flight 1549
US Airways Flight 1549 was a regularly scheduled US Airways flight from New York City (LaGuardia Airport), to Charlotte and Seattle, in the United States. On January 15, 2009, the Airbus A320 serving the flight struck a flock of birds short ...
Michael Phelps
Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold med ...
Michael Vick
Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a former American football quarterback. Regarded as having transformed the quarterback position with his rushing abilities, he is the NFL leader in quarterback rushing yards and was the league's firs ...
's return to the NFL
*
Brett Favre
Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 201 ...
joining the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
balloon boy hoax
The Balloon Boy hoax occurred on October 15, 2009, when a homemade helium-filled gas balloon shaped to resemble a silver flying saucer was released into the atmosphere above Fort Collins, Colorado, by Richard and Mayumi Heene. They then claim ...
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the Gr ...
*
Carrie Prejean
Caroline Michelle "Carrie" Prejean Boller (; born 1987) is an American model, former Miss California USA 2009, and Miss USA 2009 first runner-up. Prejean was stripped of her Miss California USA crown for alleged breaches of contract. Litigation ...
*The
Mark Sanford disappearance and extramarital affair
From June 18 until June 24, 2009, Republican South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's whereabouts were unknown and the media covered what was described as his disappearance. Subsequently, Sanford reappeared and admitted that he had been in Buenos ...
*
David Souter
David Hackett Souter ( ; born September 17, 1939) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1990 until his retirement in 2009. Appointed by President George H. W. Bush to fill the seat ...
*
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
speech
*The " Three Wolf Moon" internet phenomena.
*The deaths of
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
,
Patrick Swayze
Patrick Wayne Swayze (; August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for playing distinctive lead roles, particularly romantic, tough, and comedic characters. He was also known for his media image and ...
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' for 19 years (1962–1981). During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the mo ...
,
Ed McMahon
Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the ABC game sh ...
,
Billy Mays
William Darrell Mays Jr. (July 20, 1958 – June 28, 2009) was an American television direct-response advertisement salesperson. Throughout his career, he promoted a wide variety of products, including OxiClean, Orange Glo, Kaboom, ...
,
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
,
David Carradine
David Carradine ( ; born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor best known for playing martial arts roles. He is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series '' Kung Fu'', playi ...
,
Bea Arthur
Beatrice Arthur (born Bernice Frankel; May 13, 1922 – April 25, 2009) was an American actress and comedian. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, Arthur began her career on stage in 1947, attracting critical acclaim before achieving ...
,
Roy E. Disney
Roy Edward Disney KCSG (January 10, 1930 – December 16, 2009) was an American businessman. He was the longtime senior executive for the Walt Disney Company, which was founded by his father, Roy O. Disney, and his uncle, Walt Disney. At the ti ...
,
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver (July 10, 1921 – August 11, 2009) was an American philanthropist and a member of the Kennedy family. She was the founder of the Special Olympics, a sports organization for persons with physical and intellectual disa ...
,
Mary Travers
Mary Allin Travers (November 9, 1936 – September 16, 2009) was an American singer-songwriter who was known for being in the famous 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, along with Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey. Travers grew up amid the burg ...
,
Dom DeLuise
Dominick DeLuise (August 1, 1933 – May 4, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, director, producer, chef, and author. Known primarily for his comedic performances, he rose to fame in the 1970s as a frequent guest on television variety sho ...
,
Ricardo Montalbán
Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG (; ; November 25, 1920 – January 14, 2009) was a Mexican and American film and television actor. Montalbán's career spanned seven decades, during which he became known for performances in a var ...
Lou Albano
Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009) was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor, who performed under the ring/stage name "Captain" Lou Albano. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1 ...
Robert Novak
Robert David Sanders Novak (February 26, 1931 – August 18, 2009) was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving in the ...
,
Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He remains the ...
Wayne Allwine
Wayne Anthony Allwine (February 7, 1947 – May 18, 2009) was an American voice actor, sound effects editor and foley artist for The Walt Disney Company. He is best remembered as the 3rd official voice of Mickey Mouse. He is the longest-tenured ...
Roman Polanski
Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...
The Jay Leno Show
''The Jay Leno Show'' is a talk show created and hosted by Jay Leno. Premiering on NBC on September 14, 2009, the program aired on weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET/ PT through February 9, 2010. The program was modeled upon the format of a late ...
Caroline Kennedy
Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (born November 27, 1957) is an American author, attorney, and diplomat serving in the Biden administration as the United States Ambassador to Australia since 2022. She previously served in the Obama administration as th ...
withdrawing from
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
*The new
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...
*
Norm Coleman
Norman Bertram Coleman Jr. (born August 17, 1949) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist. From 2003 to 2009, he served as a United States Senator for Minnesota. From 1994 to 2002, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota. First elected ...
and
Al Franken
Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American comedian, politician, media personality, and author who served as a United States senator from Minnesota from 2009 to 2018. He gained fame as a writer and performer on the television comed ...
in an election contest
*
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...
becomes a temporary judge on ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
''
*
The Fame Ball Tour
The Fame Ball Tour was the debut concert tour by American singer Lady Gaga, in support of her debut studio album ''The Fame'' (2008). North American shows began in March, followed by dates in Oceania and a solo trek through Europe. Dates in Asia ...
*
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, including ...
's on-set freakout towards a lighting equipment handler during the filming of
Terminator Salvation
''Terminator Salvation'' is a 2009 American military science fiction action film directed by McG and written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris. It is the fourth installment of the ''Terminator'' franchise and serves as a sequel to '' Termi ...
*
Adam Lambert
Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. Since 2009, he has sold over 3 million albums and 5 million singles worldwide. Lambert is known for his dynamic vocal performances that fuse his theatrical tra ...
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
purchasing
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
Levi Johnston
Levi Keith Johnston (born May 3, 1990) is an American model and actor, best known as the twice-former fiancé of Bristol Palin and father of their son Tripp. He first received media attention in August 2008 when U.S. vice presidential candidate ...
in
Playgirl
''Playgirl'' was an American magazine that featured general interest articles, lifestyle and celebrity news, in addition to nude or semi-nude men. In the 1970s and 1980s, the magazine printed monthly and was marketed mainly to women, although ...
*The
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
infidelity case
*
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
interrupting
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
's acceptance speech at the
2009 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, honoring the best music videos from the previous year between June 2008 to June 2009, were presented on September 13, 2009, at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and televised by MTV. The ceremony was h ...
So Long To Ya, 2010
The 2010 Year in Review aired on December 19, 2010, on '' CBS News Sunday Morning''. It featured puppets of Obama and Joe Biden singing about what happened in the year 2010; the song was set to the tune of "
The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze
"The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze", originally published under the title "The Flying Trapeze" and also known as "The Man on the Flying Trapeze", is a 19th-century popular song about a flying trapeze circus performer, Jules Léotard ...
". The review focused mainly on Barack Obama lamenting his good intentions for the year, and how various events thwarted his goals, such as:
*
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defi ...
*
2010 United States foreclosure crisis
The 2010 United States foreclosure crisis, sometimes referred to as Foreclosure-gate or Foreclosuregate, refers to a widespread epidemic of improper foreclosures initiated by large banks and other lenders. The foreclosure crisis was extensively ...
* Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as Obamacare)
*Joe Biden swearing on national television while introducing Obama during the signing ceremony
*
2010 Haiti earthquake
A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's c ...
*The eruption of
Eyjafjallajökull
Eyjafjallajökull (; ), sometimes referred to by the numeronym E15, is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, north of Skógar and west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of . The volcan ...
in
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considere ...
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...
*The
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
, image ...
*
Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (, ) is a landmark United States federal statute enacted in December 2010 that established a process for ending the "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy (), thus allowing gay, lesbian, and bisexu ...
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is o ...
Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...
's resignation
*Russian spies
*
2010 Times Square car bombing attempt
On May 1, 2010, a terrorist attack was attempted in Times Square in Manhattan, New York. Two street vendors alerted NYPD after they spotted smoke coming from a vehicle, and a car bomb was discovered. The bomb had been ignited, but failed to exp ...
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...
*Inherited wars
*U.S. financial debt
*Gridlocking politicians
*Iran's ongoing nuclear threats
*Presidential seal falls off podium during speech at women's conference
President Obama concludes the year stating that during his time in office, "that seems to be what you get." This video ends with a basketball being thrown at President Obama, knocking him through the first "0" of "2010" and Biden stating that it will need stitches.
2011, Buh-Bye!
On December 20, 2011, the 2011 Year in Review, titled "2011, Buh-Bye!" was released, and is available on YouTube. Sung to the tune of "
My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean
"My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean", or simply "My Bonnie", is a traditional Scottish folk song that is popular in Western culture. It is listed in Roud Folk Song Index as No. 1422. The song has been recorded by numerous artists since the beginning of ...
", it covered several events. These included:
*The introduction of
Ben & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings Inc., trading and commonly known as Ben & Jerry's, is an American company that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. Founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, the company went from a single ice cream ...
new (yet controversial) ice cream flavor, "Schweddy Balls", inspired by
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
*
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), ''The Thr ...
's removal from ''
Two and a Half Men
''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, t ...
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn (; born 25 April 1949), also known as DSK, is a French economist and politician who served as the tenth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and was a member of the French Socialist P ...
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
Anthony Weiner sexting scandal
Anthony Weiner is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from New York City who has been involved in multiple sex scandals related to sexting.
The first scandal began when Weiner was a Democratic U.S. Congressman. He u ...
(Weinergate)
*Taxation and Class War debates
*
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
2011 United States listeriosis outbreak
The 2011 United States listeriosis outbreak was a widespread outbreak of ''Listeria monocytogenes'' food poisoning across 28 US states that resulted from contaminated cantaloupes linked to Jensen Farms of Holly, Colorado. As of the final report o ...
*The Greek debt contagion
*The
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...
(including the
2011 Egyptian revolution
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
death of Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed leader of Libya, was captured and killed on 20 October 2011 after the Battle of Sirte. Gaddafi was found west of Sirte after his convoys were attacked by NATO aircraft. He was then captured by National Transition ...
*The removal of
Don't ask, don't tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people, instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on Decemb ...
*The claims and denials of homosexuality in ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...
'' characters
Bert and Ernie
Bert and Ernie are two Muppet characters who appear together in numerous skits on the long-running PBS/HBO children's television show, ''Sesame Street''. Originated by Frank Oz and Jim Henson, the characters are currently performed by puppeteer ...
*The
death of Osama bin Laden
On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden, the founder and first leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was shot several times and killed at his compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, by United States Navy SEALs of the U.S. Naval Spe ...
*The
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six mi ...
2011 England riots
The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London riots, were a series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011. Thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, which saw looting, arson, as well as mass deployment of police ...
*The
2011 end times prediction
American Christian radio host Harold Camping stated that the rapture and Judgment Day would take place on May 21, 2011, and that the end of the world would take place five months later on October 21, 2011.
Camping, who was then president of th ...
by
Harold Camping
Harold Egbert Camping (July 19, 1921December 15, 2013) was an American Christian radio broadcaster and evangelist. Beginning in 1958, he served as president of Family Radio, a California-based radio station group that, at its peak, broadcast ...
*The widespread
2012 phenomenon
The 2012 phenomenon was a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur on or around 21 December 2012. This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count cal ...
(also called the Mayan Prophecy or the Mayan Apocalypse)
*The short-lived marriage by
Kim Kardashian
Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the s ...
and
Kris Humphries
Kristopher Nathan Humphries (born February 6, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the NBA for the Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, New J ...
Borders Group
Borders Group, Inc. (former NYSE ticker symbol BGP) was an American multinational book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. In its final year, the company employed about 19,500 people throughout the U.S., primarily ...
*''
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
'' policy changes lead people to unsubscribe, consequently losing over 75% brand value
*
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...
's new hairstyle
*"
Friday
Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth d ...
" by
Rebecca Black
Rebecca Renee Black (born June 21, 1997) is an American singer and YouTuber. She gained extensive media coverage when the music video for her 2011 single "Friday" went viral on YouTube and other social media sites. "Friday" was derided by many ...
*The
Royal Wedding
''Royal Wedding'' is a 1951 American musical comedy film directed by Stanley Donen, and starring Fred Astaire and Jane Powell, with music by Burton Lane and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Set in 1947 London at the time of the wedding of Princess ...
*The
Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest movement against economic inequality and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district, in September 2011. It gave rise to t ...
movement and the widespread of the
Occupy movement
The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...
Betty Ford
Elizabeth Anne Ford (; formerly Warren; April 8, 1918 – July 8, 2011) was the first lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977, as the wife of President Gerald Ford. As first lady, she was active in social policy and set a precedent as a p ...
,
Randy Savage
Randall Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestl ...
,
Andy Rooney
Andrew Aitken Rooney (January 14, 1919 – November 4, 2011) was an American radio and television writer who was best known for his weekly broadcast "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney", a part of the CBS News program '' 60 Minutes'' from 1978 to 201 ...
Ryan Dunn
Ryan Matthew Dunn (June 11, 1977 – June 20, 2011) was an American stunt performer, television personality, actor and comedian. He was best known as one of the stars of the MTV reality stunt show ''Jackass (TV series), Jackass'' and its fi ...
, and
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz.
A membe ...
*The
Nyan Cat
Nyan Cat is a YouTube video uploaded in April 2011, which became an internet meme. The video merged a Japanese pop song with an animated cartoon cat with a Pop-Tart for a torso flying through space and leaving a rainbow trail behind. The video r ...
Internet phenomena
*The last
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...
mission (
STS-135
STS-135 ( ISS assembly flight ULF7) was the 135th and final mission of the American Space Shuttle program. It used the orbiter ''Atlantis'' and hardware originally processed for the STS-335 contingency mission, which was not flown. STS-135 la ...
Mel Gibson
Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apoca ...
Astrological Signs
In Western astrology, astrological signs are the twelve 30-degree sectors that make up Earth's 360-degree orbit around the Sun. The signs enumerate from the first day of spring, known as the First Point of Aries, which is the vernal equinox. ...
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
on December 20, 2012, the 2012 Year in Review used the so-called " Mayan Prophecy" of the end of the world as its visual theme, complete with two faux-Mayan characters narrating the song. Taking place on
21 December 2012
The 2012 phenomenon was a range of Eschatology, eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur on or around 21 December 2012. This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Lo ...
, it is sung to the tune of "
Down By The Riverside
"Down by the Riverside" (also known as "Ain't Gonna Study War No More" and "Gonna lay down my burden") is an African-American spiritual. Its roots date back to before the American Civil War, though it was first published in 1918 in ''Plantation ...
". Events covered include:
*Global warming results in arctic ice melting at a new record pace
*
Felix Baumgartner
Felix Baumgartner (; born 20 April 1969) is an Austrian skydiver, daredevil and BASE jumper. He is widely known for jumping to Earth from a helium balloon from the stratosphere on 14 October 2012 and landing in New Mexico, United States, as par ...
jumping to solid ground from the edge of the atmosphere (
Red Bull Stratos
Red Bull Stratos was a high altitude skydiving project involving Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner. On 14 October 2012, Baumgartner flew approximately into the stratosphere over New Mexico, United States, in a helium balloon before free fal ...
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
(including the
2012 Benghazi attack
The 2012 Benghazi attack was a coordinated attack against two United States government facilities in Benghazi, Libya, by members of the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Sharia.
On September 11, 2012, at 9:40 pm local time, members of Ansar a ...
)
*The
United States fiscal cliff
The United States fiscal cliff refers to the combined effect of several previously-enacted laws that came into effect simultaneously in January 2013, increasing taxes and decreasing spending.
The Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, which had been e ...
*The popularity of
Zumba
Zumba is a fitness program that involves cardio and Latin-inspired dance. It was founded by Colombian dancer and choreographer Beto Pérez in 2001, and by 2012, it had 110,000 locations and 12 million people taking classes weekly. Zumba is a ...
*The book ''
Fifty Shades of Grey
''Fifty Shades of Grey'' is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It became the first instalment in the ''Fifty Shades'' novel series that follows the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, ...
''
*
Sam Champion
Samuel James Champion (born August 13, 1961) is an American weather anchor who is best known for his combined 25-year career on the ABC flagship station WABC-TV and ''Good Morning America''. He formerly co-anchored '' AMHQ: America's Morning He ...
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
Kristen Stewart
Kristen Jaymes Stewart (born April 9, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2012, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a César Award, in addition to nominations for an Aca ...
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...
*
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong ('' né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005 after recovering fr ...
being stripped of his titles for using performance-enhancing drugs
*The disappointing price plunge of
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
stock once the company went public
*The record-breaking success of Marvel's '' Avengers'' movie, surpassing the same year's films ''
The Dark Knight Rises
''The Dark Knight Rises'' is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. The film is based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is th ...
''; ''
The Hunger Games
''The Hunger Games'' is a series of young adult dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The first three novels are part of a trilogy following teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and the fourth book is a prequel set 6 ...
'' and ''
The Amazing Spider-Man
''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bimonthly per ...
''
*
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...
Disney's
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
Psy
Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage per ...
Secret Service
A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...
US Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
Big Bird
Big Bird is a Muppet character designed by Jim Henson and built by Kermit Love for the long-running children's television show ''Sesame Street''. An eight-foot two-inch (249 cm) tall bright yellow anthropomorphic bird, he can roller skat ...
Michael Phelps
Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold med ...
,
Missy Franklin
Melissa Franklin Johnson (born May 10, 1995) is an American former competition swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist. She formerly held the world record in the 200-meter backstroke (long course). As a member of the U.S. national swim team ...
,
Gabby Douglas
Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas (born December 31, 1995) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2012 Olympic all around champion and the 2015 World all-around silver medalist. She was a member of the gold-winning teams at both the 2 ...
, and
Usain Bolt
Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay.
An eight-ti ...
*
McKayla Maroney
McKayla Rose Maroney (born December 9, 1995) is a retired American artistic gymnast and singer. She was a member of the American women's gymnastics team dubbed the Fierce Five at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the team ...
's "not impressed" facial expression following her second-place finish in the women's vault
*The
Curiosity rover
''Curiosity'' is a car-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. ''Curiosity'' was launched from Cape Canaveral (CCAFS) on November 26, 2011, at 15:02:00 UTC and lan ...
on Mars
*
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
's autobiography ''Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story''
*The deaths of
Michael Clarke Duncan
Michael Clarke Duncan (December 10, 1957September 3, 2012) was an American actor. He was best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in '' The Green Mile'' (1999), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor a ...
,
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his character ...
,
Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Ada Diller (née Driver; July 17, 1917 – August 20, 2012) was an American stand-up comedian, actress, author, musician, and visual artist, best known for her eccentric stage persona, self-deprecating humor, wild hair and clothes, and ...
,
Sherman Hemsley
Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as George Jefferson on the CBS television series ''All in the Family'' (1973–1975; 1978) and ''The Jeffersons'' (1975–1985), Dea ...
,
Dick Clark
Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting '' American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 19 ...
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed " The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston i ...
,
Jerry Nelson
Jerry L. Nelson (July 10, 1934 – August 23, 2012) was an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Muppets. Renowned for his wide range of characters and singing abilities, he performed Muppet characters on ''Sesame Street'', ' ...
(represented alongside an angel version of
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...
's "
Count von Count
Count von Count (known simply as the Count) is a Muppet character on the PBS/ HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street.'' He is meant to parody Bela Lugosi's portrayal of Count Dracula. He first appeared on the show in the Season 4 premie ...
Hector Camacho
In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
,
Alastair Burnet
Sir James William Alexander Burnet (12 July 192820 July 2012), known as Alastair Burnet, was a British journalist and broadcaster, best known for his work in news and current affairs programmes, including a long career with ITN as chief presente ...
,
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...
(as well as the bankruptcy and liquidation of
Hostess Brands
Hostess Brands is an American-based bakery company formed in 2013. It owns several bakeries in the United States that produce snack cakes under the Hostess and Dolly Madison brand names and its Canadian subsidiary, Voortman Cookies Limited, pr ...
Twinkie the Kid
Twinkie the Kid is the mascot for Twinkies, Hostess's golden cream-filled snack cakes. He is a registered trademark of Hostess Brands. He made his debut in 1971. He has appeared on product packaging, in commercials and as related collectible mer ...
shown as an angel)
*
Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
Operation Pillar of Defense
In November 2012, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Pillar of Defense ( he, עַמּוּד עָנָן, ''ʿAmúd ʿAnán'', literally: "Pillar of Cloud") which was an eight-day campaign in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip, which bega ...
*
Snooki
Nicole Elizabeth LaValle (née Polizzi; born November 23, 1987), best known by her nickname Snooki, is an American reality television personality. She is best known for being a cast member of the MTV reality show ''Jersey Shore'' and starring ...
gives birth to her first child, Lorenzo Dominic LaValle
The video ends with a meteor apocalypse impact on Earth, with 2013 beginning as JibJab's new year's era.
2013: What a Year!
Posted on December 19, 2013, the 2013 year in review was themed as a Broadway musical number. It is sung to the tune of "
Give My Regards To Broadway
"Give My Regards to Broadway" is a song written by George M. Cohan for his musical play ''Little Johnny Jones'' which debuted in 1904 in New York.
Cohan, playing the title character, sings this song as his friend is about to sail to Americ ...
". Topics mentioned included:
*
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...
*
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
withdrawing his vice term
*
Lamar Odom
Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player. As a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he won championships in 2009 and 2010 and was named the NBA Six ...
's
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
account is suspended as a result of a sexually explicit video
*
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...
2012–13 Egyptian protests
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...
Mohamed Morsi
Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012 drone attacks in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
HealthCare.gov
HealthCare.gov is a health insurance exchange website operated by the United States federal government under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act or ACA, commonly referred to as “Obamacare”, which currently serves the residents of th ...
*Toronto Mayor
Rob Ford
Robert Bruce Ford (May 28, 1969 – March 22, 2016) was a Canadian politician and businessman who served as the 64th mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014. Before and after his term as mayor, Ford was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobi ...
Gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
''
*The
resignation of Pope Benedict XVI
The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI took effect on 28 February 2013 at 20:00 CET, following his announcement of it on 11 February. It made him the first pope to relinquish the office since Gregory XII was forced to resign in 1415 to end the Wes ...
Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limiting the definition of marr ...
and
California Proposition 8
Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in co ...
iPhone 5C
The iPhone 5C (marketed as iPhone 5c) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is part of the sixth generation of the iPhone. The device was unveiled on September 10, 2013, and released on September 20, 2013, alon ...
Baauer
Harry Bauer Rodrigues (born April 30, 1989), known professionally as Baauer, is an American record producer and DJ, best known for his double platinum song " Harlem Shake".
He has produced varied dance music from the age of 13 and previously prod ...
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip ho ...
twerking
Twerking (; possibly from 'to work') is a type of dance that came out of the bounce music scene of New Orleans in the late 1980s. Individually performed chiefly but not exclusively by women, performers dance to popular music in a sexually prov ...
at the
2013 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2013 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 25, 2013, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Marking the 30th installment of the award show, they were the first to be held in New York City not to use a venue within the borough of M ...
and the launch of her music video for "
Wrecking Ball
A wrecking ball is a heavy steel ball, usually hung from a crane, that is used for demolishing large buildings. It was most commonly in use during the 1950s and 1960s. Several wrecking companies claim to have invented the wrecking ball. An e ...
Jeff Bezos
Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ;; and Robinson (2010), p. 7. ''né'' Jorgensen; born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor, and commercial astronaut. He is the founder, executive chairman, and former preside ...
buying ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''
*The controversy over
Paula Deen
Paula Ann Hiers Deen (born January 19, 1947) is an American chef, cookbook author, and TV personality. Deen resides in Savannah, Georgia, where she owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant and Paula Deen's Creek House with her sons, Jamie ...
Robin Thicke
Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 hit single " Blurred Lines", which is one of the best-selling singles of all time. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, h ...
Pharrell
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom h ...
*The deaths of
James Gandolfini
James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. (; September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor. For his role as Tony Soprano, the Italian-American Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'', he won three Emmy Awards, five Screen ...
Marcia Wallace
Marcia Karen Wallace (November 1, 1942 – October 25, 2013) was an American actress and comedian, primarily known for her roles in television situation comedies. She is best known for her roles as receptionist Carol Kester on the 1970s sitc ...
Ray Harryhausen
Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for '' Mi ...
,
Cory Monteith
Cory Allan Michael Monteith (; May 11, 1982 July 13, 2013) was a Canadian actor and musician who played Finn Hudson on the Fox television series '' Glee''. As an actor based in British Columbia, Monteith had minor roles on television series bef ...
,
Paul Walker
Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise.
Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gaining recogniti ...
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...
,
Robin Sachs
Robin Sachs (5 February 1951 – 1 February 2013) was an English actor, active in the theatre, television and films. He was also known for his voice-over work in films and video games.
Born to a theatrical family, Sachs studied at the Royal Acad ...
Danny Wells
Jack Westelman (April 7, 1941 – November 28, 2013), known as Danny Wells, was a Canadian actor. He was best known for his role as Charlie, the bartender on ''The Jeffersons'', as well as his role as Luigi in the live-action/animated series '' ...
,
Syd Field
Sydney Alvin Field (December 19, 1935November 17, 2013) was an American author and speaker who wrote several books on screenwriting, the first being '' Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting'' (Dell Publishing, 1979). He led workshops and s ...
Lisa Robin Kelly
Lisa Robin Kelly (March 5, 1970 – August 15, 2013) was an American actress. She was best known for her role as Laurie Forman on the TV series ''That '70s Show''.
Early life
Kelly was born in Southington, Connecticut, and raised there and in Mo ...
*The liquidation of
Blockbuster LLC
Blockbuster LLC, formerly known as Blockbuster Video, was an American-based provider of home video and video game rental services. Services were offered primarily at video rental shops, but later alternatives included DVD-by-mail, streaming med ...
*The Internet popularity of
Batkid
Batkid is the superhero name of Miles Scott, an American child and cancer survivor. His wish was to be "Batkid", a sidekick of the comic book superhero Batman, the subject of books, radio, television, and films. Once the request went out, thousand ...
The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)
"The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)" is an electronic dance novelty song and viral video by Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis. The top trending video of 2013 on YouTube, "The Fox" was posted on the platform on 3 September 2013, and has received over ...
" by
Ylvis
Ylvis () are a Norwegian comedy duo consisting of brothers Vegard and Bård Ylvisåker. They debuted as professional variety artists in 2000 and have since appeared in several countries in variety shows, comedy concerts, television shows, radio ...
*The
2013 Colorado floods
The 2013 Colorado floods were a series of natural disasters occurring in the U.S. state of Colorado. Starting on September 11, 2013, a slow-moving cold front stalled over Colorado, clashing with warm humid monsoonal air from the south. This res ...
*
Typhoon Haiyan
Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. On making landfall, Haiyan devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. It is one of the ...
over the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
Sharknado
''Sharknado'' is a 2013 American made-for-television science fiction comedy disaster film directed by Anthony C. Ferrante. It tells about a waterspout that lifts sharks out of the ocean and deposits them in Los Angeles. It is the first install ...
''
*The
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...
-
Anne Frank
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – )Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new light on Anne Fra ...
controversy
*
Marissa Mayer
Marissa Ann Mayer (; born May 30, 1975) is an American businesswoman and investor. She is an information technology executive, and co-founder of Sunshine Contacts. Mayer formerly served as the president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!, a p ...
buying
Tumblr
Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...
Jason Collins
Jason Paul Collins (born December 2, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who was a center for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal, where he was ...
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup.
Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS education ...
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she ...
Kristen Bell
Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress. Beginning her acting career by starring in stage productions while attending the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, she made her Broadway stage debut as Becky That ...
and
Zach Braff
Zachary Israel Braff'Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...
Emma Roberts
Emma Rose Roberts (born February 10, 1991 Additional on October 9, 2016) is an American actress. Known for her work in film and television projects of the horror and thriller genres, she has received various accolades, including a Young Arti ...
' addiction to
cronut
The Cronut is a pastry. It resembles a doughnut and is made from croissant-like dough filled with flavored cream and fried in grapeseed oil. The Cronut was created and trademarked in 2013 by the French pastry chef Dominique Ansel.
Etymology
Cro ...
Despicable Me 2
''Despicable Me 2'' is a 2013 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to ''Despicable Me'' (2010), it is directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, and ...
''
2014, You Are History
JibJab's final year in review for six years was posted on December 21, 2014; the 2014 year in review is sung to the tune of
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
Ode to Joy
"Ode to Joy" (German language, German: , literally "To heJoy") is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in ''Thalia (magazine), Thalia''. A slightl ...
2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge ( he, מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן, translit=Miv'tza Tzuk Eitan, ),
was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that h ...
*The December 2014
Sony Pictures Entertainment hack
On November 24, 2014, a hacker group identifying itself as " Guardians of Peace" leaked a release of confidential data from the film studio Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). The data included personal information about Sony Pictures employe ...
and temporary cancellation of ''
The Interview
''The Interview'' is a 2014 satirical alternate history action-comedy film co-produced and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg in their second directorial work, following ''This Is the End'' (2013). The screenplay was written by Dan Ste ...
Renée Zellweger
Renée Kathleen Zellweger (; born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards, she was one of the world's highest-paid ...
's facial reconstruction
*The 2014 Omar J. Gonzalez White House intrusion
*The viral cover of the ''Paper'' magazine featuring
Kim Kardashian
Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the s ...
*The rise of
ISIS
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
executive order
In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...
s
*The
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...
Ferguson, Missouri
Ferguson is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is part of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Per the 2020 census, the population was 18,527.
History
What is now the city of Ferguson was founded in 1855, when William ...
, the
death of Eric Garner
On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner was killed in the New York City borough of Staten Island after Daniel Pantaleo, a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, put him in a prohibited chokehold while arresting him. Video footage of the incide ...
legalization of marijuana
The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. These ...
in Washington, D.C. and Colorado
*The
Ice Bucket Challenge
The Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is an activity involving the pouring of a bucket of ice water over a person's head, either by another person or self-administered, to promote awareness of the disease amyo ...
*
Hobby Lobby
Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., formerly Hobby Lobby Creative Centers, is an American retail company. It owns a chain of arts and crafts stores with a volume of over $5 billion in 2018. The chain has 969 stores in 47 US states. Hobby Lobby is owned by ...
filing a lawsuit over the
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...
, refusing to cover employee birth control
*The sexual assault allegations against and career implosion of
Bill Cosby
William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...
and subsequent removal of ''
The Cosby Show
''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...
'' from television.
*
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's '' The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 20 ...
's retirement from ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...
The Colbert Report
''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show fo ...
'' as host
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...
All About That Bass
"All About That Bass" is the debut single of American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor, released on June 30, 2014, through Epic Records. The song was included on Trainor's debut extended play (EP) ''Title'' (2014) and her debut studio album of t ...
" by
Meghan Trainor
Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...
*
Shia LaBeouf
Shia Saide LaBeouf (; born June 11, 1986) is an American actor, performance artist, and filmmaker. He played Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series ''Even Stevens'', a role for which he received Young Artist Award nominations in 2001 and ...
covering his face with a paper bag (with the words "I am not famous anymore" scribbled over it) at the Berlin Film Festival and Rob Cantor's Shia LaBeouf Live
* Roger Goodell terminating
Ray Rice
Raymell Mourice Rice (born January 22, 1987) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. He played college football at Rutgers, where he received first-t ...
from the
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...
and
Adrian Peterson
Adrian Lewis Peterson (born March 21, 1985) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest running backs in football history. He played college football at Oklahoma, where he set the ...
from the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
over domestic violence cases
*The marriage of Brad Pitt to
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...
Amal Alamuddin
Amal Clooney (; ar, أمل علم الدين; born 3 February 1978) is a Lebanese and British barrister.
Her clients include Filipino and American journalist Maria Ressa; former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed; Julian Assange, the ...
*The divorce of
Chris Martin
Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, pianist, rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Devon, he went to Uni ...
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...
's egg-throwing and DUI incidents, subsequent arrest, and continued career downfall
*The
Solange Knowles
Solange Piaget Knowles (; born June 24, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, performance artist, and actress. Expressing an interest in music from an early age, Knowles had several temporary stints as a backup dancer for Destiny's Child, whi ...
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he was a p ...
*The Rosetta Spacecraft successfully landing on a comet
*The success of ''
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Guardians of the Galaxy is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
It may more specifically refer to:
Comic book teams
* Guardians of the Galaxy (1969 team), the original 31st-century team fr ...
4chan
4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from anime and manga to video games, cooking, weapons, television, ...
and
Reddit
Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, imag ...
Kate Upton
Katherine Elizabeth Upton (born June 10, 1992) is an American model. She first appeared in the ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue in 2011, and was the cover model for the 2012, 2013 and 2017 issues. In addition, she was the subject of the 1 ...
, and
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Caroline Dunst (; born April 30, 1982) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the short ''Oedipus Wrecks'' directed by Woody Allen in the anthology film '' New York Stories'' (1989). She then gained recognition for her ro ...
56th Annual Grammy Awards
The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid comp ...
Mandatory Fun
''Mandatory Fun'' is the fourteenth studio album by American musician "Weird Al" Yankovic. The self-produced album was released by RCA Records in the United States on July 15, 2014, and was the final album on Yankovic's recording contract. Yankovi ...
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
' first ever female
Thor
Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, an ...
*The deaths of
Casey Kasem
Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice No ...
,
Norman Bridwell
Norman Ray Bridwell (February 15, 1928 – December 12, 2014) was an American author and cartoonist best known for the ''Clifford the Big Red Dog'' book series.
Early life
Bridwell was born on February 15, 1928, in Kokomo, Indiana, to Leona and ...
,
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
,
Sid Caesar
Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor, comedian and writer. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950 ...
,
Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...
Jan Hooks
Janet Vivian HooksJan Hooks obituary liteseyfh.com; accesse ...
,
Harold Ramis
Harold Allen Ramis (; November 21, 1944 – February 24, 2014) was an American actor, comedian, director and writer. His best-known film acting roles were as Egon Spengler in ''Ghostbusters'' (1984) and ''Ghostbusters II'' (1989), and as Russell ...
,
Joan Rivers
Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...
, and
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character roles—typically lowlifes, eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical produ ...
Anaconda
Anacondas or water boas are a group of large snakes of the genus '' Eunectes''. They are found in tropical South America. Four species are currently recognized.
Description
Although the name applies to a group of snakes, it is often used ...
" by
Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...
and
Eaten Alive
''Eaten Alive'' (known under various alternate titles, including ''Death Trap'', ''Horror Hotel'', and ''Starlight Slaughter'', and stylized on the poster as ''Eaten Alive!'') is a 1976 American horror film directed by Tobe Hooper, and written ...
*The release of the
iPhone 6
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are smartphones that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the eighth generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S, and were announced on September 9, 2014, and rele ...
Songs of Innocence
''Songs of Innocence and of Experience'' is a collection of illustrated poems by William Blake. It appeared in two phases: a few first copies were printed and illuminated by Blake himself in 1789; five years later, he bound these poems with a ...
'' album release
*
Malaysia Airlines
Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB; ms, Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad), formerly known as Malaysian Airline System (MAS; ), and branded as Malaysia Airlines, is the flag carrier airline of Malaysia and a member of the Oneworld airline alliance. (Th ...
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...
losses (The disappearance of
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370) was an international passenger flight operated by Malaysia Airlines that disappeared on 8 March 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to its planned destination ...
and shooting down of
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian forces on 17 July 2014, while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. Cont ...
Gamergate controversy
Gamergate or GamerGate (GG) was a loosely organized online misogyny, misogynistic online harassment campaign and a right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. It was conducted using the hashtag "# ...
*The
Chase Bank
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase Bank or often as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City, that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and fin ...
,
Home Depot
The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement r ...
, and
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Jamal Morgan (born November 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor best known for his television work as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1996–2003) and for his role as Tracy Jordan in the sitcom ''30 Rock'' (2006 ...
's traffic accident and subsequent lawsuit against
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
*The
Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai ( ur, , , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997), is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Awarded when she was 17, she is the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and the second P ...
winning a 2014 Nobel Peace Prize
*The discovery of
Dreadnoughtus schrani
''Dreadnoughtus'' is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur containing a single species, ''Dreadnoughtus schrani''. ''D. schrani'' is known from two partial skeletons discovered in Upper Cretaceous (Campanian to Maastrichtian; approximately ...
Janet Yellen
Janet Louise Yellen (born August 13, 1946) is an American economist serving as the 78th United States secretary of the treasury since January 26, 2021. She previously served as the 15th chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018. Yellen is ...
becomes Chairwoman of the
Federal Reserve Board of Governors
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the m ...
*The racist comments made by
Donald Sterling
Donald T. Sterling (born Donald Samuel Tokowitz; April 26, 1934) is an American attorney and businessman who was the owner of the San Diego / Los Angeles Clippers professional basketball franchise of the National Basketball Association (NBA) fro ...
, and the ensuing controversy
2020, You've Got to Go
After not creating a new Year in Review since 2014, You Are History; JibJab revived the tradition in 2020 due to fan demand on November 24, 2020. This Year In Review is the first to be in JibJab's signature "Starring You" format. Events mentioned include:
*
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single " Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom ...
’s numerous wins at the
62nd Annual Grammy Awards
The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 26, 2020, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Al ...
* ''
Parasite
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...
'' winning
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the
92nd Academy Awards
The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 2019 and took place on February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:00 p ...
*
Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
hand washing
Hand washing (or handwashing), also known as hand hygiene, is the act of cleaning one's hands with soap or handwash and water to remove viruses/bacteria/microorganisms, dirt, grease, or other harmful and unwanted substances stuck to the hands ...
and
hand sanitizers
Hand sanitizer (also known as hand antiseptic, hand disinfectant, hand rub, or handrub) is a liquid, gel or foam generally used to kill many viruses/bacteria/microorganisms on the hands. In most settings, hand washing with soap and water is ge ...
during the pandemic
* Closures of barber shops and hair salons
* Panic buying of toilet paper due to the pandemic
*
Zoom
Zoom may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Zoom (software), videoconferencing application
* Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display
* Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...
protests
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one.
Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...
that ensued
* The
Black Lives Matter Plaza
Black Lives Matter Plaza (officially Black Lives Matter Plaza Northwest) is a two-block-long pedestrian section of 16th Street NW in downtown Washington, D.C. The plaza was renamed by Mayor Muriel Bowser on June 5, 2020, after the Department of ...
Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone
The Capitol Hill Occupied Protest or the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), originally Free Capitol Hill and later the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), was an occupation protest and self-declared autonomous zone in the Capitol Hill nei ...
in Seattle
*
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
Asian giant hornet
The Asian giant hornet (''Vespa mandarinia'') or northern giant hornet, including the color form referred to as the Japanese giant hornet, is the world's largest hornet. It is native to temperate and tropical East Asia, South Asia, Mainland Sout ...
(also known as the "murder hornet") in Seattle, Washington
* The rise of
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version o ...
and subsequent attempts to ban the service
*
Jeff Bezos
Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ;; and Robinson (2010), p. 7. ''né'' Jorgensen; born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor, and commercial astronaut. He is the founder, executive chairman, and former preside ...
LeBron James
LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest p ...
becomes MVP of the
2020 NBA Finals
The 2020 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2019–20 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Laker ...
Kenny Rogers
Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted m ...
Chadwick Boseman
Chadwick Aaron Boseman (; November 29, 1976August 28, 2020) was an American actor. During his two-decade career, Boseman received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, ...
, Alex Trebek, Sean Connery, James Lipton, Ennio Morricone, Kirk Douglas, Regis Philbin, Herman Cain, John Lewis, Katherine Johnson, Bill Withers, Kelly Preston, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg
* The 2020 United States presidential debates, 2020 Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates, including the incident of a fly landing on Mike Pence’s face
* White House COVID-19 outbreak, Donald Trump testing positive for COVID-19
* 2020 United States presidential election, the slow count due to heavy mail-in votes and Inauguration of Joe Biden, Joe Biden's victory, as well as Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, allegations of electoral fraud and the ensuing efforts to overturn the results by Donald Trump and his supporters
* 2020 Western United States wildfire season, US West Coast fires
* COVID-19 recession, 2020 COVID-19 recession
* Chadwick Boseman#Illness and death, Black Panther (film)
* Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
Others
Big Box Mart
In 2005, JibJab released the video "Big Box Mart". Sung to the tune of "Oh, Susannah", it tells the story of a 53-year-old frequent patron of the titular big-box store, who is enthralled by the store's discounts and offers, but soon loses his job as a factory worker, which is outsourced to Beijing, China as a result of the company now selling cheap products to Big Box Mart stores. The man is left no choice but to be employed at his local Big Box Mart for the rest of his life.
What We Call the News
Sung to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic", "What We Call the News" laments the decline of journalism in the cable TV era, particularly sensationalistic stories.
Founding Fathers Rap
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson rap about their accomplishments and end their verse with "United States Declaration of Independence, We Declare Our independence". They are accompanied by John Adams and James Madison. Adams is the DJ, and Madison says "Oh Yeah" after every verse.
Shawshank In A Minute
This sketch was part (and winner) of a 2006 online competition, The Great Sketch Experiment, held by JibJab and their first live action production. Participants included the comedy duo ''Famous Last Nerds'' (Jordan Allen-Dutton and Erik Weiner) and John Landis as director. It both summarizes and parodies ''The Shawshank Redemption'', condensing the plot to a length of nearly three minutes and underlining it with Hip hop music, rap music.
Music videos
JibJab produced a music video for the 2006 song "Do I Creep You Out?" by Weird Al Yankovic, a parody of Taylor Hicks' "Do I Make You Proud?". The video depicts the main character stalking a barista in increasingly disturbing ways, ending with his being arrested and jailed as he publicly professes his emotions in a song. In 2009 JibJab produced another music video for Yankovic for the song "CNR", which is a style parody of The White Stripes. The video and song portrays Charles Nelson Reilly as a superhuman doing seemingly impossible or improbable things. It also features Yankovic and Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz as Jack White and Meg White respectively.
E-cards and messaging
Starting in October 2007, JibJab began its focus on personalized eCards and videos, letting users insert photographs of their faces into humorous birthday cards, holiday greetings and congratulatory notes and send them to other people as e-cards or "sendables". Initially, this included branded personalized videos, including working with OfficeMax on the video site ''Elf Yourself'', where an uploaded photo is put onto a singing and dancing elf, as well as partnerships with ''Star Wars'' (for the 30th anniversary of ''The Empire Strikes Back'') and ''Mad Men''. A series of eCards were created by Internet personality Dane Boedigheimer (best known for later creating ''The Annoying Orange'') known as "From the Fridge", featuring anthropomorphized foods such as eggs, chocolates, avocados, pumpkins, cranberries, and cookies suffering a horrifying torture or death in accordance with their use or consumption for events and holidays such as birthdays, anniversaries, congratulation, Valentine's Day, the Super Bowl, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving (United States), Thanksgiving, and
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
.
Since then, in addition to greeting eCards, JibJab has also extended its personalization technology to popular music videos, including:
* ...Baby One More Time (song), ...Baby One More Time ( Britney Spears)
*
Friday
Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth d ...
(
Rebecca Black
Rebecca Renee Black (born June 21, 1997) is an American singer and YouTuber. She gained extensive media coverage when the music video for her 2011 single "Friday" went viral on YouTube and other social media sites. "Friday" was derided by many ...
Psy
Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage per ...
)
* Sexy and I Know It (LMFAO)
* Shut Up and Dance (Walk the Moon song), Shut Up and Dance (Walk the Moon)
* Addicted to Love (song), Addicted to Love (Robert Palmer (singer), Robert Palmer)
* Roar (song), Roar (Katy Perry)
* Take On Me (A-ha)
*
All About That Bass
"All About That Bass" is the debut single of American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor, released on June 30, 2014, through Epic Records. The song was included on Trainor's debut extended play (EP) ''Title'' (2014) and her debut studio album of t ...
(
Meghan Trainor
Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...
)
* Cake by the Ocean (DNCE)
* Happy ( Pharrell Williams)
* Sorry (Justin Bieber song), Sorry (
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...
)
* Cheap Thrills (song), Cheap Thrills (Sia)
Since launching its eCard service, more than 100 million people have visited JibJab's website annually. In 2014, the company launched a messaging app for personalized animated GIFs, available on both IOS and Android (operating system), Android platforms. In 2016, the JibJab app was one of the first mobile apps to be enable for IMessage and was ranked first among them in download growth. The JibJab app was also featured prominently in Apple Inc., Apple's annual WWDC product presentation.
StoryBots
In 2012, JibJab expanded into the children's educational market with its multi-platform learning program,
StoryBots
StoryBots is an American children's educational media franchise best known for the Netflix series ''Ask the StoryBots''. The StoryBots library includes educational TV series, books, videos, music, games and classroom activities designed to make f ...
. The brand currently includes web-based educational content, as well as two
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
television series, ''
Ask the StoryBots
Ask is the active verb for a direct question.
Ask may also refer to:
Places
* Ask, Akershus, a village in Gjerdrum municipality, Viken county, Norway
* Ask, Buskerud, a village in Ringerike municipality, Viken county, Norway
* Ask, Vestland, a ...
'' and ''
StoryBots Super Songs
''StoryBots Super Songs'' is an American animated children's television series based on the characters from the StoryBots educational apps and videos. It was created and produced by JibJab Bros. Studios (now StoryBots Inc.) and premiered on Netf ...
''.
See also
* List of most popular websites
* Vyond
* Elf Yourself
* Meme
*
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
*
StoryBots
StoryBots is an American children's educational media franchise best known for the Netflix series ''Ask the StoryBots''. The StoryBots library includes educational TV series, books, videos, music, games and classroom activities designed to make f ...
References
External links
JibJab.com JibJab.com on Facebook JibJab.com on Twitter JibJab on YouTube {{Authority control
1999 establishments in California
Adult animation
American comedy websites
Companies based in Los Angeles
Ebooks
Internet memes
Internet memes introduced in 2004
Internet properties established in 1999