Rewind to 23–30 October 2005 🎸
💀 The King still reigns
Elvis may have left the building, but he sure didn’t leave the bank. Forbes crowned him the top-earning dead celebrity — again — raking in a cool US$45 million thanks to Graceland tours, reissues and endless blue suede merch. Even in the afterlife, Elvis was out-grossing the living.
🚭 Britain stubs it out
Tony Blair’s government finally declared war on cigarette smoke, announcing plans to ban puffing indoors across England. Pub regulars cried “nanny state,” non-smokers rejoiced and by 2007, the beer gardens were full of shivering smokers pretending it was fine.
🏀 Sheryl Swoopes changes the game
WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes became the first active pro basketball star to come out, telling ESPN she was done hiding who she was. The three-time MVP’s honesty cracked open the sports world and made her a trailblazer long before the rainbow-profile-pic era.
⚾ The curse Is broken
After 88 long, cursed years, the Chicago White Sox finally won the World Series — sweeping the Astros and making Ozzie Guillén the first Latin American manager to take the crown. Cubs fans quietly sobbed into their hot dogs while the South Side partied for weeks.
🎤 Chris Brown runs it
A 16-year-old newcomer with dance moves smoother than his lip gloss dropped Run It! and instantly became R&B’s golden child. Every TRL viewer decided he was the next Usher… before 2009 reminded us fame and character don’t always move in sync.
🧠 NSYNC Says Bye Bye (for real)
Fans clung to hope, but the release of NSYNC Greatest Hits was the final nail in the boy-band coffin. Justin was already bringing sexy back solo and the rest of us were left clutching our frosted-tip memories like it was 2001 all over again.
🪚 Saw II carves up halloween
Jigsaw returned with blood, traps, and trauma — slicing his way to #1 at the box office. Critics gagged (in both ways), audiences screamed and the “torture-porn” era of horror was officially born.
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