A majority of us born in 2004 are graduating high school this year. Even though all of us were too young to comprehend what was happening in 2004, it was an amazing year for news, entertainment, and sports. So, let’s take a trip back in time to revisit 2004…

Music

Music has such a big impact on everyone’s life. What would we do without music? Even though digital and streaming music was beginning to become popular in 2004, people still bought CD’s and vinyl. First, we start off the year with one of the biggest bangers of all time: Usher’s “Yeah!” was released on Jan. 27, 2004. The song stayed in the number 1 slot for 12 consecutive weeks and stayed on the billboard top 100 for 32 weeks! 

#1 Hits Everyone Knows-

• Outkast – Hey Ya! (Released late 2003)
• Twista ft. Kanye West and Jamie Foxx – Slow Jamz
• Usher ft. Lil Jon and Ludacris – Yeah!
• Terror Squad – Lean Back
• Snoop Dogg ft. Pharrell – Drop It Like It’s Hot
• Crazy- Gnarles Barkley
• Gold Digger– Kanye West
• You’re Beautiful– James Blunt
• Sexy Back– Justin Timberlake
• Ridin’– Chamillionaire ft. Krayzie Bone

Top 5 Albums-

• Confessions- Usher
• College Dropout– Kanye West
• Encore– Eminem
• American Idiot– Green Day
• Funeral – Arcade Fire

Movies and Television

In 2004, DVD players were still popular and some people may have still owned VHS tapes. Television was much different than it is today – we didn’t have all the different streaming platforms that we have now. We all know this next list of movies and TV shows because they’ve stood the test of time and are still popular today.

 

• Spongebob Movie
• The Notebook
• Shrek 2
• Shark Tale 
• The Incredibles 
• (3rd) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Meet the Fockers
• Spider-Man 2
• Napoleon Dynamite

• The ending of F.R.I.E.N.D.S
• Drake & Josh
• Blues Clues
• Spongebob 
• Entourage

The Spongebob movie grossed $140 million worldwide, becoming the sixth highest-grossing animated film of 2004. Friends was, and still is, one of the most popular shows in the world. Personally, it is my favorite show!

Sports

American Sports in 2004 was full of shocking upsets, capped by the Boston Red Sox winning their first World Series since 1918.

NBA- Detroit Pistons led by Chauncey Billups defeat the heavily favored L.A. Lakers, 4-1.

NFL- The New England Patriots and Tom Brady win the Super Bowl. The game had 144.4 million viewers which, at the time, made it the most viewed Super Bowl ever.

NHL- The Tampa Bay Lighting won the Stanley Cup defeating the Calgary Flames in seven games.

MLB- The Boston Red Sox, after overcoming a 3-0 deficit to the Yankees in the ALCS, win a World Series for the first time since 1918.

FIFA- Spain

The Summer Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece and Michael Phelps left with six gold and two bronze medals. The United States led the medal count by collecting 101 total medals.

Important/Interesting Facts

President- George W. Bush

Unemployment Rate– 5.4%

Average Gas Price- $2.32

Houses on Long Island– From 2000 to 2004, average single family home prices increased approximately 65%. from $248,000 to $410,00.

Money Value– $1 in 2004 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1.45 today, an increase of $0.45 over 17 years. 

Inflation– 2.66%

Life expectancy– US: 77.9 years

Births/Deaths– 

• 4,112,052 births in the US: the most births reported since 1990.
• 2,397,615 deaths.

Famous Births- 

• Charli Demilio- Tik Tok star
• Millie Bobby Brown- Actress
• Noah Schnapp- Actor

Famous Deaths- 

• Ronald Reagan- Former U.S. President
• Marlon Brando- Actor
• Ray Charles- Musician
• Christopher Reeve- Actor

The birth of Facebook, the domination of the IPod, the testing of bluetooth technology ready to hit the shelves, and the popularity of Skype were all major technological advances in 2004. What a year it was!