A Decade in Review: 2008

January

NEWS

• There are presidential primaries every week as states compete to be earlier and more prominent in the race. Among Democrats, Sen. Barack Obama wins in Iowa and South Carolina, Sen. Hillary Clinton wins in Michigan, Florida, and New Hampshire, and they essentially tie in Nevada. On the Republican side, Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas gains an upset victory in Iowa, while Sen. John McCain wins in New Hampshire and Florida while former Gov. Mitt Romney wins in Michigan and Nevada. By the end of the month, the field is essentially down to those five candidates
• Election results in Kenya seem to be disputed by everyone involved, and this results in escalating violence between the two sides. The 2000 Florida situation starts to look like a best case scenario.
• Growing fears of an American recession cause global stock markets to plummet. French trader Jerome Kerviel makes things worse by losing nearly $5 billion for Societe Generale in a scheme that I do not fully understand. The Fed responds with the largest interest rate cut in history.
• We all still have it better than those in Zimbabwe, where inflation this month is something like 150,000%.
• To everyone’s surprise, the government of Italy collapses, resulting in a call for elections.
• Bobby Jindal is sworn in as Governor of Louisiana. He is the first Indian-American Governor in the nation and the youngest in the country at 36.
• Sir Edmund Hillary dies.

ARTS

• Actor Heath Ledger dies of a medication overdose.
• Due to the writers’ strike, NBC holds an awkward press conference to announce the Golden Globes winners instead of actually putting on the awards ceremony.
• Cloverfield, a movie about a huge monster attacking New York City (as supposedly recorded by bystanders on their home movie camera) creates buzz with its release in theaters.
• FOX debuts its SF series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

SPORTS

• A bizarre series of events on the final day of the season leads to Ohio State getting back into the National Championship, this time against Louisiana State. For the second straight year, they get blown out, resulting in national grumbling.
• The NHL holds its first outdoor game New Years Day in a snowstorm in Buffalo, and it is a huge success. The league ends up making it an annual tradition.

February

NEWS

• 24 states hold their primaries on “Super Tuesday”. Sen. Barack Obama pulls ahead with 13 victories but Sen. Hillary Clinton still wins in nine states. On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain wins nine, Mitt Romney wins seven, and Gov. Mike Huckabee wins five, all southern states. Romney drops out within the week. Obama then wins four more states the next week and Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager resigns. McCain and Obama continue to win in various primaries the rest of the month and take the lead in their respective races.
• Fidel Castro resigns as President of Cuba in favor of his younger brother Raul.
• President Bush proposes a $158 billion economic stimulus plan, but it can’t get 60 votes in the Senate.
• The United States files charges against six alleged 9/11 conspirators, seeking the death penalty for “war crimes and murder”.
• The U.S. Senate votes to grant immunity to telephone companies complicit in the NSA’s warrantless wire-tapping.
• A gunman opens fire at a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University, leaving six people dead and few dozen injured.
• The parliament of Kosovo declares its independence from Serbia. Mass protests follow in the Serbia capital of Belgrade. Demonstrators attack the embassies of several major powers, including an attempt to set the U.S. embassy on fire. Russia refuses to recognize Kosovo’s independence, but most other major powers do so.
• The EU Anti-Trust Commission fines Microsoft a record 899 million euros for various violations.
• French President Nicolas Sarkozy marries former model Carla Bruni in Paris.

ARTS

• The Writers’ strike finally ends and Hollywood gets back into production.
• No Country for Old Men wins Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (the Coen brothers), and Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem). Daniel Day-Lewis and Marion Cotillard take home other acting awards.
• Paintings by Degas, Monet, Cezanne, and van Gogh are stolen from a museum in Zurich.
• Toshiba announces it will no longer produce HD-DVDs, signaling the end of this particular “format war” and the victory of BluRay.
• Actor Roy Scheider dies.

SPORTS

• The New England Patriots’ perfect season ends after a spectacular Super Bowl that ends with a 17-14 New York Giants victory. The Giants final, successful drive features an immediately famous catch by reserve WR David Tyree, while Plaxico Burress catches the final touchdown. Tyree has not played in the NFL since. It is the second most watched television program of all time and the most watched sporting event.
• A Senate committee holds a hearing regarding steroids in baseball at which Roger Clemens appears. This results in a rather hilarious show of craziness on all sides, most memorable to me for Mr. Clemens’ popularizing of the term “misremember”.

March

NEWS

• Dmitry Medvedev is elected to succeed Vladimir Putin as President of Russia, though by this point most realize that Putin isn’t going anywhere and will still pretty much be in charge. Sure enough, he stays on as Prime Minister.
• Wins in Texas and Ohio put John McCain over the top as the Republican candidate for President. Mike Huckabee withdraws.
• Sen. Barack Obama gives a famous speech in Philadelphia addressing racial divisions in America.
• New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is linked with a criminal investigation into an online prostitution ring. He admits to partaking in the service and resigns. He is replaced by David Paterson, who is legally blind and also becomes New York’s first African-American governor.
• Congress tries to outlaw torture techniques such as waterboarding, but President Bush vetoes the legislation.
• Investment bank Bear Sterns threatens to collapse overnight, receiving emergency funding from JPMorgan Chase to stay afloat. JPMorgan Chase then buys the bank for $2. The Federal Reserve makes emergency loans to 20 investment banks.
• Widespread unrest in Tibet is put down pretty firmly by China, resulting in over 100 deaths. France threatens to boycott the 2008 Summer Olympics because of this.
• The Iraqi military attacks the city of Basra, seen as the last major al-Qaeda stronghold in the country. Intense fighting leaves 40 dead and 200 injured over a weekend. Amidst the fighting, the U.S. suffers its 4,000th casualty in Iraq.

ARTS

• Amid industry skepticism, Hulu.com, a joint online video venture of Fox and NBC, goes online. It fairly quickly becomes a major force in the television industry.
• The merger of the two major satellite radio companies, Sirius and XM, is approved by the Department of Justice despite anti-trust concerns.
• Author Arthur C. Clarke and Director Anthony Minghella die.

SPORTS

• Green Bay Packers superstar QB Brett Favre tearfully announces his retirement from the NFL after 17 years.
• Anti-Chinese protestors threaten to disrupt the lighting of the Olympic torch at Olympia.

April

NEWS

• Congress votes to approve $50 billion in aid to Africa to fight AIDS and other diseases.
• Skybus Airlines very suddenly goes out of business and cancels all flights.
• Silvio Berlusconi is elected to a third go-round as Prime Minister of Italy. Hilarity ensues.
• Hillary Clinton continues to win various Democratic primaries and refuses to withdraw from the race, despite some pointing out is unlikely at this point that she will catch Barack Obama.
• The Josef Fritzl case, involving a man imprisoning his daughter in his basement in Amstetten, Austria and fathering several children by her, makes international headlines.
• Gas prices continue to skyrocket. Polls find that “consumer confidence” is at an all-time low.

ARTS

• Charlton Heston dies.
• Grand Theft Auto IV becomes the fastest selling video game in history, moving 609,000 copies in 24 hours.
• Madonna breaks the all-time record for most top ten singles with her song “Four Minutes”.
• Actor Wesley Snipes is sentenced to three years in prison for tax violations.

SPORTS

• The Memphis Tigers blow a late lead and lose in overtime to the Kansas Jayhawks in an exciting NCAA basketball Final.
• The Olympic Torch is met with thousands of protestors on a swing through London and Paris. Several attempts are made to put out the torch. A run through San Francisco is changed to a different route the day of, leading to mass confusion.
• Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300, the first American top-flight racing win for any woman.

May

NEWS

• A massive earthquake hits China’s Sichuan province. At least 62,000 are killed as shoddily constructed buildings collapse, many of them schools. Scenes of the destruction are broadcast around the world. China ends up relaxing its “one child” policy for families who lost a child in the earthquake.
• Cyclone Nargis slams into Myanmar, causing widespread devastation and more than 78,000 possible deaths. The situation is exacerbated when the Myanmar government refuses to accept most outside assistance.
• A series of increasingly bad tornadoes hits areas across the United States, resulting in dozens of deaths over the course of a week.
• Tens of thousands protest in Seoul against their government opening up importation of U.S. beef, believing there is a danger of mad cow disease.
• Rebels from Darfur attempt to attack the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, leading to increasing chaos and Sudanese accusations that Chad was truly behind the attack.
• The U.S. Department of the Interior declares that the polar bear is a threatened species due to destruction of its habitat by global warming.
• The Supreme Court of California rules that a ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, legalizing gay marriage in the state.
• The Phoenix lander successfully touches down on Mars.
• The Democratic presidential race continues, with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama splitting races. Clinton appears to be too far behind, and makes an emergency appeal for donations.
• Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts endorses Barack Obama for President. Shortly thereafter it is revealed that Sen. Kennedy has a brain tumor.

ARTS

• Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. in the title role is released in theaters and becomes something of a surprise megahit considering the main character is not among Marvel’s better known. However, it is helped considerably by the movie being, you know, really good.
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull earns over $100 million in its opening weekend but is thoroughly disparaged by fans of the series.
• The film adaptation of the TV series Sex and the City is a major box office hit, leading to much debate about the neglected tastes of the female audience.
• Director Sydney Pollack dies.

SPORTS

• Big Brown wins the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, once again raising hopes of a Horse Racing Triple Crown. Fillie Eight Belles breaks down after finishing second in the Kentucky Derby and must be euthanized, raising safety concerns once again.
• Manchester United win an all-English Champions League final on penalties over Chelsea.
• Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt bursts onto the world scene with a world record of 9.72 at 100m in New York.

June

NEWS

• Sen. Hillary Clinton suspends her presidential campaign and endorses Sen. Barack Obama for President, essentially giving him the Democratic Party nomination.
• The U.S. Supreme Court rules that terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay can challenge their detention in the American court system. The Bush administration publicly disagrees with and then ignores the ruling.
• In a separate case, the Supreme Court rules that the death penalty may not be imposed for crimes other than murder, overturning the sentences of Louisiana inmates convicted of rape.
• Hundreds die in the Philippines as the result of Typhoon Fengshen. The majority of the death toll are passengers on the MV Princess of the Stars, a crowded ferry which sunk in the storm, killing at least 800.
• The Caribbean Monk Seal is officially declared extinct.

ARTS

• Pixar releases what many consider to be its best movie yet, the science fiction robot love story WALL-E. The first half-hour of the movie is almost entirely without dialogue, yet the film becomes a huge success.
• Rapper Lil Wayne releases his album Tha Carter III, which becomes a huge success and sells a million copies in a week.
• The video game Metal Gear Solid 4 is released worldwide to massive sales.
• NBC reporter and Meet the Press host Tim Russert and comedian George Carlin die.

SPORTS

• The Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. The Celtics are led by a triumvirate of stars in Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce, with the first two acquired in the previous off-season.
• Tiger Woods famously holds off Rocco Mediate in an 18-hole playoff at the U.S. Open, golfing with an injured knee. He then takes the next several months off to try and recuperate.
• The favored Detroit Red Wings defeat a Pittsburgh Penguins team led by superstar Sidney Crosby in six games to win the Stanley Cup.
• Big Brown finishes last in the Belmont Stakes, pulled up by his jockey who states that he felt like something was wrong. No physical problem with the horse is found. Da’Tara wins the race.
• Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy, under investigation for connections to gamblers, accusing other NBA referees of rigging various games, including the key Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings.
• The European Championship in soccer is held in Austria and Switzerland. Spain prevails 1-0 in the final over Germany.

July

NEWS

• President Bush lifts a ban on off-shore drilling in an attempt to mitigate oil prices. It does not work. He also signs the Housing and Economic Recovery Act in an attempt to assist with the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
• Zimbabwe’s annual inflation rate reaches 2.2 million percent. The Bank of Zimbabwe issues a 100-billion-dollar bank note.
• Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio presents articles of impeachment for President Bush to a House Committee, but they are never voted on.
• Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska is indicted on seven counts related to his conduct as a Senator. He strenuously disputes the charges but does not get re-elected.
• Bruce Ivins, suspect in the 2001 anthrax mailings, kills himself.

ARTS

• The Dark Knight, the second Batman film directed by Christopher Nolan, breaks the opening weekend box office record with $158.4 million. The late Heath Ledger co-stars as the Joker. The film receives universal acclaim, seen as the superhero film achieving the status of art. It eventually becomes only the fourth film to gross over $1 billion worldwide.

SPORTS

• Rafael Nadal defeats Roger Federer in a marathon that many say is the greatest Tennis match they’ve ever seen to win the Wimbledon title.
• Iraq is banned from participating in the upcoming Olympic Games after the government takes over the Iraqi Olympic Committee. Negotiations allow for the eventual reversal of this decision, but too late for many Iraqi athletes to compete.
• A year after returning to baseball after a battle with drug addiction, Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers causes a sensation when he hits 28 homers (a record by far) in a round of the Home Run Derby, held as part of the All-Star festivities at Yankee Stadium.

August

NEWS

• The Democratic Party holds its convention in Denver. It nominates Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois for President and Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware for Vice President. Obama gives a much-watched speech at a packed football stadium. Sen. Obama is the first African-American to be nominated for President by a major American party.
• Sen. John McCain suddenly elevates Alaska Governor Sarah Palin onto the national stage by choosing her as his running mate. Her conservative positions and folksy demeanor make her an immediate center of attention.
• The former Soviet republic of Georgia takes military action against separatists in its province of South Ossetia. Russia intervenes in this matter, becomes the only foreign nation to recognize South Ossetia, and invades Georgia. The city of Tshkinvali, caught in the middle, is pretty much completely leveled and thousands die. After a week or so of international crisis, President Medvedev announces that Georgia has been sufficiently “punished” and Russian forces gradually leave.
• In Pakistan, opposition parties in control of parliament move to begin impeachment proceedings against President Pervez Musharraf. He angrily resigns.
• Sen. John Edwards, former Vice Presidential candidate, admits to cheating on his wife during her battle with breast cancer.
• Tropical Storm Fay hits the Caribbean and south Florida, killing at least a dozen.
• Widespread protests demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister paralyze Thailand. Orange-clad demonstrators shut down Bangkok’s major airports for several days.
• The Gulf Coast is threatened by Hurricane Gustav, leading to another mass evacuation of New Orleans and much national apprehension.

ARTS

• Stephenie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn, the final book in her immensely popular vampire romance Twilight series, is published to the largest sales this side of Harry Potter.
• NBC’s hilariously over-the-top soap opera Passions airs its final episode.
• Isaac Hayes and Bernie Mac die.

SPORTS

• The Summer Olympics are held in Beijing, China. They generate huge interest worldwide, both due to the political situation with China and some high-profile competitions. The Opening Ceremonies are not boycotted as had been discussed, and considered the most spectacular in history. China has 51 gold medals but the U.S. has 110 total medals, leaving the two nations to publicly squabble about who’s really on top of the medals table. American swimmer Michael Phelps wins eight gold medals, some of them in extremely tight, exciting races, breaking records for most golds in one games and most career gold medals. Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt becomes an international celebrity after three very impressive gold medal, world record performances in the sprint events.
• Brett Favre makes a strange decision to “unretire”, but the Packers announce they have moved on and eventually trade Favre to the New York Jets.
• The Boston Red Sox finally get tired of the antics of their star outfielder Manny Ramirez and trade him to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he hits a stunning .399 for the remainder of the season.

September

NEWS

• The Republican Party holds its convention at St. Paul, Minnesota. It nominates Sen. John McCain of Arizona for President and Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska for Vice President.
• Seemingly overnight, the sudden collapse of investment firm Lehman Brothers causes waves throughout world economies. The American International Group (AIG) seeks a $40 billion emergency loan to stay afloat. In the end the Federal Reserve agrees to lend them $85 billion in exchange for, essentially, control over the company. Bank of America agrees to buy Merrill Lynch in an attempt to combat troubles at both firms.
• The Dow Jones average falls a thousand points in just a few days at this news. Worldwide markets experience similar falls. Trading has to be halted at several world exchanges, but this does little to stop the crash.
• The Bush administration asks Congress for $700 billion in bailout money to buy bad mortgages causing collapses at financial firms.
• John McCain “suspends” his campaign to help deal with the crisis. Barack Obama does not. Both head to Washington for talks with President Bush regarding bailout plans.
• Washington Mutual is seized by the FDIC, with most of its assets sold to JPMorgan Chase. This is the largest bank failure in American history. Meanwhile, Citigroup agrees to buy Wachovia and take on its massive debts. The Dow Jones drops 777 points in a single day, a record. It goes up 500 points the next day.
• Hurricane Gustav quickly weakens to a tropical storm and has a relatively light impact on the Gulf Coast. A few weeks later Hurricane Ike hits the Texas coast and causes a great deal of damage and eight deaths. Ike then continues at surprisingly high strength into the American heartland, causing blackouts for days, several deaths, and widespread destruction in areas not equipped to handle hurricanes. I am without power for about a week.
• Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda abruptly resigns less than a year after taking office. Taro Aso is elected to replace him.
• The U.S. economy loses a hundred thousand jobs this month alone.
• Asif Ali Zardari is elected as the next President of Pakistan.
• The Brahmaputra River floods in India, causing 24 deaths and displacing over two million people.
• An American air raid in Herat, Afghanistan, is estimated to leave 90 civilians dead. The U.S. military opens an inquiry into the matter. Intial claims that the destruction was overblown are put to rest by cell phone videos posted on the internet.
• The Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva is successfully used for the first time. The world is not eaten by a black hole as some had predicted.
• Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai sign a power-sharing agreement in Zimbabwe under which Mugabe gets to remain President but Tsvangirai is granted considerable powers.
• An election is held in Thailand to address the current crisis and a new Prime Minister, Somchai Wongsawat, is elected.
• Rwanda becomes the first nation where women outnumber men in the legislature.
• The media discovers that Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter Bristol is five months pregnant, beginning a public soap opera that continues to this day.

ARTS

• Major new TV debuts include the vampire series True Blood, the biggest ratings hit in the history of HBO, CBS’ The Mentalist, Sons of Anarchy on FX, and The CW’s remake of 90210.
• Paul Newman and David Foster Wallace die.

SPORTS

• The New York Yankees defeat the Baltimore Orioles in their final game at Yankee Stadium.
• Tom Brady suffers a catastrophic season ending knee injury in the New England Patriots first game, eventually causing the NFL to rewrite some of its rules in order to better protect quarterbacks.

October

NEWS

• Congress passes the $700 billion dollar bank bailout and it is signed by President Bush.
• The Dow breaks its single day record again with an 800 point drop in one day. European markets fall an average of about 8% the same day. A week or so later it rises over 900 points in a day.
• The U.S. national GDP shrinks over the course of a month for the first time in 17 years.
• Sens. Obama and McCain engage in a tense series of debates. Sarah Palin and Joe Biden debate as well, leading to the seemingly disparate schools of opinion that Palin was terrible or amazing.
• Former Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell publicly endorses Barack Obama for President.
• All three of Iceland’s major banks fail, causing grave financial fallout all over Europe and pretty much destroying that nation’s economy.
• The Connecticut Supreme Court rules that gay and lesbian couples have the right to marry in that state.
• The U.S. announces it is ending its Space Shuttle program and plans to rely on Russia for space launches between 2010 and 2015.
• Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party are re-elected in Canada.
• India launches Chandrayaan-1, an unmanned lunar exploration mission.
• Two neo-Nazi white supremacists are arrested on charges of plotting to assassinate Barack Obama.
• Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota makes national headlines for the first time when she makes national headlines when she calls for investigations into “anti-American” activities by members of Congress during an interview on MSNBC.

ARTS

• Britney Spears has her first number one hit in several years with “Womanizer”.
• Another #1 hit this month is “I Kissed a Girl”, the debut single from Katy Perry. Amusingly, this becomes the 1000th #1 hit of the rock era, according to Billboard.

SPORTS

• The Philadelphia Phillies win the World Series four games to one over the surprising upstarts Tampa Bay Rays, who had previously not been remotely competitive since entering the league in 1998. This sets off wild celebrations in normally hard-luck sports town Philly. Game Five is halted with the score tied due to rain and the final three innings played two days later as the Phillies clinch.

November

NEWS

• Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is elected President, the first African-American to achieve that office. While not a landslide the margin is wider than some anticipated, with the final electoral count 365 to 178. Obama accepts in front of a huge, emotional rally in Chicago’s Grant Park.
• It is soon after announced that Barack Obama will nominate Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State and Timothy Geithner to be Secretary of the Treasury. It becomes clear that he intends to keep Robert Gates on as Secretary of Defense.
• The Democratic Party picks up five seats in the Senate and also slightly expands its margin in the House of Representatives. Mark Begich becomes the first Democrat to represent Alaska in Congress in 28 years. Democrats also gain the majority in the Ohio House of Representatives.
• California controversially passes Proposition 8, which once again bans gay marriage in the state.
• Mumbai experiences ten major coordinated terrorist attacks over the course of three days. At least 173 and killed and several hundred are wounded. The attackers turn out to be members of a Pakistani Islamic terrorist organization.
• The Bush government announces a second, smaller bailout of AIG. A few weeks later, the Federal Reserve announces a new $800 billion stimulus package designed to help unclog the frozen credit market. Included is a bailout of Citigroup.
• Circuit City goes bankrupt.
• The European Union undergoes officially enters its first recession ever. Japan is also officially in recession for the first time since 2001.
• The American auto industry appears to be on the brink of total collapse and all executives of the Big Three automakers appear before Congress asking for a bailout.
• Political tensions in Thailand escalate once again. Thousands of protestors shut down Bangkok airports. The government declares a state of emergency in an attempt to clear out the protestors.
• Malaysia bans the practice of yoga, claiming it is not compatible with Islam.

ARTS

• Slumdog Millionaire, a vaguely Bollywood tale of triumph over poverty in India directed by Danny Boyle, is the critical hit of the year and also becomes a success at the box office.
• Taylor Swift’s Fearless album is released, destined to become a huge hit and make her a megastar.
• The film adaptation of the popular young adult vampire romance novel series Twilight hits theaters and is a great success. Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson become superstars due to their performances in the title roles.
• Daniel Craig’s second James Bond film, the puzzlingly-titled Quantum of Solace, is released. Most conclude it is a major step down after Casino Royale.
• Guns N Roses’ Chinese Democracy album finally comes out after seventeen years. Collective reaction is “eh…”
• MTV airs the final episode of the video countdown show Total Request Live, its influence having declined since the halcyon days circa 2000.
• FX airs the final episode of The Shield.
• CNN debuts a rather wacky system of field reporters appearing in the studio via holograms rather than on video screens during its election night coverage. Also inexplicably appearing via hologram is Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.
• Author Michael Crichton dies.

SPORTS

• The Columbus Crew win their first Major League Soccer title.

December

NEWS

• Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois is arrested by the FBI on corruption charges. He is accused of attempting to sell his appointment of a successor in Barack Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder. He refuses to resign and the state legislature begins impeachment proceedings against him. He eventually appoints Roland Burris to the seat. After much drama and theatrics on all sides he is eventually allowed to take his post.
• Israel begins air strikes and other attacks against the Gaza Strip in an attempt to strike at Hamas-backed terrorists. Over 300 are killed in the first few days of the attack.
• The protests in Thailand are resolved after the Constitutional Court dissolves the government and bans the current leaders from participating for five years.
• Financier Bernie Madoff is arrested and admits to running the largest pyramid scheme in American history.
• President Bush visits Baghdad. The biggest news of the trip occurs when an Egyptian journalist throws his shoes at the President during a press conference.

ARTS

• Perhaps chief among the Oscar-bait films released is David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, in which Brad Pitt plays the backwards-aging title character. It becomes a box office success. Also released are Frost/Nixon, Doubt, and Gran Torino, among others.
• Beyonce scores another number one hit with “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”
• Eartha Kitt, Harold Pinter, Mark Felt, and Bettie Page die.

SPORTS

• The New York Yankees are the only baseball team willing to spend money due to the financial crisis and end up signing C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, and A.J. Burnett to rich contracts.
• The Detroit Lions become the first NFL team since 1976 to go winless through an entire season.
• O.J. Simpson is sentenced to 15 to 33 years in prison for the kidnapping and robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers in Las Vegas.
• Sammy Baugh, considered by some the first great “modern” quarterback, dies.