Editorial
Front Page - Friday, January 8, 2010
Are We There Yet?
More from the last decade
Jay Edwards
Don’t look back. Something may be gaining on you. – Satchel Paige
Continuing with a recap of the first 10 years of the 21st century.
In 2005 Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojty) died. He had served as the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church nearly 27 years, the second longest reign, behind Pope Pius IX. Other accomplishments during his 84-year life were as a soccer goalie, a librarian and a playwright.
During World War II he protected many Polish Jews from the Gestapo, and once aided a 14-year-old Jewish refugee girl named Edith Zierer, who had run away from a Nazi labor camp. After her collapse on a railway platform, Wojty a carried her to a train and accompanied her safely to Kraków.
Hurricane season had made it all the way to the letter K when meteorologists in late August began watching a tropical depression over the Bahamas. It’s dying effects were seen eight days later in the Great Lakes region. During her short life Katrina would become the largest natural disaster in the history of the United States. Over 1,800 people lost their lives due to the monster storm.
In October an earthquake in Kashmir, Pakistan killed 80,000.
Andrew Stimpson, a 25-year old British man, was reported as the first person proven to have been ‘cured’ of HIV. Once the cover boy and centerfold of Euroboy magazine, Stimpson was born in 1980, which was the year before The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that five homosexual men in Los Angeles had a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems.
Other notable deaths in ’05 were Johnny Carson, Hunter S. Thompson, Richard Pryor and Rosa Parks.
In 2006 a stampede during the Stoning of the devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, killed 362 pilgrims.
The ritual re-enacts Abraham’s pilgrimage to Mecca as explained by the Muslim historian al-Azraqi: “When Abraham left Mina and was brought down to (the defile called) al-Aqaba, the Devil appeared to him at Stone-Heap of the Defile. Gabriel said to him: ‘Pelt him!’ so Abraham threw seven stones at him so that he disappeared from him. Then he appeared to him at the Middle Stone-Heap. Gabriel said to him: ‘Pelt him!’ so he pelted him with seven stones so that he disappeared from him. Then he appeared to him at the Little Stone-Heap. Gabriel said to him: ‘Pelt him!’ so he pelted him with seven stones like the little stones for throwing with a sling. So the Devil withdrew from him.”
In June, Warren Buffet donated $30 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
On Dec. 30, Saddam Hussein, former Iraq president, was executed in Baghdad.
Other notable deaths in 2006 were Don Knotts, Floyd Patterson and Red Buttons.
In 2007 the final book of the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” was released and sold over 11 million copies in the first 24 hours, becoming the fastest selling book in history.
Track and field star Marion Jones surrendered her five Olympic medals she won in the 2000 Sydney Games, after admitting to doping.
On Dec. 20, Picasso’s “Portrait of Suzanne Bloch” was stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art. Around five o’clock in the morning, three men invaded the museum and took away the masterpiece, along with Portinari’s “O lavrador de café” from the museum collection. The whole action took about three minutes. The estimated value of the Picasso was $50 million. The paintings were recovered by police in 2008 and returned to the museum.
Notable deaths in 2007 were Evel Knievel, Ike Turner, Tammy Faye Messner and Lady Bird Johnson.
In 2008 the price of petroleum reached $100 a barrel for the first time.
An attempted assassination of Maldivian president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was thwarted after a Boy Scout grabbed the attacker’s knife. The young scout was injured.
In Beijing, Michael Phelps surpassed Mark Spitz in gold medals at a single Olympics, winning eight.
Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Barack Obama became the first African-American president-elect.
Notable 2008 deaths – Sir Edmund Hillary, Heath Ledger, Charlton Heston, George Carlin, Paul Newman and Mark Felt (“Deep Throat”).
The last year of the decade began with the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States.
The Pittsburg Steelers won their sixth Super Bowl, more than any other team.
In June, the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza strain, commonly referred to as “swine flu,” was deemed a global pandemic, becoming the first condition since the Hong Kong flu of 1967–1968 to receive this designation.
Notable deaths last year were Walter Cronkite, Michael Jackson, Ted Kennedy and John Updike.
Happy New Year.
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