50 Pop Culture Moments From 20 Years Ago That Make 2004 Feel Like It Was A Whole Different Universe
1.In 2004, Shrek 2 was the biggest film of the year in the US.
2.While Spider-Man 2 and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban were the second and fourth highest-grossing films of the year.
3.Myspace was the coolest social media site and at the beginning of that year would be the first to get one million users.
4.While Mark Zuckerberg co-launched Facebook at Harvard.
5.Google launched Gmail — in beta form — though many people didn't think it was a real product because they announced it on April Fools' Day.
6.Motorola released its iconic Razr — which cost $499 at the time (and that was A LOT for a phone in 2004).
7.It was a big year for portable gaming systems! Nintendo released the Nintendo DS, while Sony released the PSP in Japan.
8.Bratz were among the hottest toys.
9.As were the Robosapien robots. It was even named Toy of the Year by Toy Retailers Association.
10.Apple released the iPod Mini and everyone wanted one because they came in different colors.
11.Apple also released the iPod Photo, which was the first iPod to have a color screen.
12.LiveStrong bracelets were released and everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, sported one.
13.Uggs (which were already popular) became an even bigger trend. I am sure you knew someone, or maybe that someone was you, who wore them ALL THE TIME.
14.American Apparel was the coolest store and was a place where "hipsters" shopped.
15.Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie graced our TV screens on the first and second season of the The Simple Life.
16.The Da Vinci Code spent a second year atop the New York Times Bestseller List and was an absolute phenomenon.
17.Jude Law was named People's Sexiest Man Alive.
18.Shake Shack opened its first location in New York City and was an immediate hit.
19.McDonald's got rid of Supersizing — they also said the decision to phase it out had nothing to do with the documentary Super Size Me.
20.Low carb/zero carb diets continued to be all the rage.
21.VH1 had us feeling the '90s nostalgia with I Love the 90s.
22.The original Star Wars Trilogy was released on DVD for the very first time. Needless to say, it was a huge hit and made over $100 million in its first-day sales.
23.World of Warcraft was released and would go on to be one of the biggest-selling PC games of all time (selling over 14 million copies).
24.Howard Dean — who was running to be the Democratic presidential candidate — let out his infamous "Dean Scream" while addressing his supporters after coming in third in Iowa Democratic caucuses. The scream would become the butt of many jokes.
25.Ashlee Simpson got caught lip-syncing on SNL and it was awkward.
26.Janet Jackson performed during the Super Bowl Halftime Show and the whole "Nipplegate" controversy happened. Justin Timberlake would go on to throw her under the bus.
27.Beyoncé won five Grammys for her iconic debut solo album, Dangerously In Love.
28."Hey Ya!" by Outkast started off the year as the No. 1 song in the country.
29.While "Yeah!" by Usher, feat. Lil Jon would end up being the biggest song of the year. His album Confessions would also be the biggest-selling album of 2004.
30.The Killers re-released "Mr. Brightside" after the success of "Somebody Told Me" and the song would go on to become a sleeper hit — eventually reaching No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June of 2005.
31.Gwen Stefani went solo and released her first album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby.
32.Friends aired its final episode and it is the most-watched show of the entire 2000s. The series finale was watched by 52.5 million viewers.
33.While Sex and the City aired its final episode as well — which aired during part two of Season 6.
34.The SATC finale was also satirized on SNL, where Christina Aguilera delivered a now classic and Snatch Game-worthy performance as Samantha Jones.
35.Lost premiered on ABC and got everyone hooked immediately.
36.Desperate Housewives also premiered on ABC and was an immediate sensation.
37.Entourage debuted on HBO and a lot of douchey guys made the show their entire personality.
38.The Swan aired on Fox and even for the time was considered a pretty awful reality show. In case you forgot, the premise of the show was that in each episode they would take two "unattractive women" put them on a diet and workout routine, and give them a bunch of plastic surgery, along with therapy. At the end of the episode, they would select one of the women to move along to The Swan Pageant — where they would compete against other contestants from other episodes.
39.Arnold Schwarzenegger was the governor (aka The Governator) of California and made a memorable appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno alongside Gray Davis, the governor he replaced in a recall election the previous year.
40.Fantasia Barrino won the third season of American Idol.
41.Karl Lagerfeld became the first designer to do a collab with H&M. Not only was it a huge success, but it changed the fashion industry as not only H&M, but other lower-priced retailers, decided to do designer collabs.
42.At that year's Oscars, Charlize Theron won Best Actress for Monster; Sean Penn won Best Actor for Mystic River; Renée Zellweger won Best Supporting Actress for Cold Mountain; and Tim Robbins won Best Supporting Actor for Mystic River.
43.While Peter Jackson took home three Oscars — Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay — for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
44.Napoleon Dynamite was released and EVERYONE was quoting it.
45.EVERYONE was also wearing Vote For Pedro T-shirts they got at Urban Outfitters.
46.Britney Spears married Kevin Federline.
47.While Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck called off their engagement and broke up. J.Lo would go on to marry Marc Anthony later that year.
48.Barbie and Ken also announced that they had broken up after 43 years together. Barbie also moved on to a new boyfriend — Blaine, an Australian surfer.
49.The Notebook was released and had us all crying in the theaters.
50.And lastly, Mean Girls was released and pop culture was forever changed.
