10 Things That Happened 10 Years Ago: June 29-July 5

Joey Chestnut loses, Ben Affleck gets divorced, and Donald Trump hears, “You’re fired.” Here are 10 things that happened 10 years ago this week.

Joey Chestnut lost the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

It was the first time in nearly a decade that he didn’t win. Competitive eater Matt Stonie ate 62, while Chestnut only managed 60. It’s the only time Chestnut lost between 2007 and 2023. He won eight straight, lost to Stonie in 2015, then won another eight in a row before sitting out in 2024 due to a sponsorship issue.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner announced their divorce.

“After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce.” The announcement came one day after their 10th anniversary. He eventually got back together with former flame Jennifer Lopez, and married her in 2022. They split up two years later.

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis secretly got married.

They tied the knot on July 4th, 2015, 17 years after first meeting as cast members on “That ’70s Show”.

Donald Trump heard “you’re fired” over and over again.

NBC, Macy’s, NASCAR, and others dumped Trump after he launched his presidential campaign and made disparaging remarks about Mexicans: “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

Diddy fell in a hole at the BET Awards.

He was performing with Lil Kim, Mace, Faith Evans, and others while celebrating the 20th anniversary of Bad Boy Records.

Rihanna did something no other artist had done.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced she was the first artist to rack up more than 100 million gold & platinum song certifications.

“The Tonight Show” was on hiatus after Jimmy Fallon almost lost a finger.

His wedding ring partially ripped his finger off when he tripped on a rug and grabbed a countertop to catch himself. He suffered a “ring avulsion” and was in the ICU for 10 days. They had to take a vein out of his foot and rebuild the digit. “The Tonight Show” resumed taping two weeks later in mid-July.

“Crypto” was giving people diarrhea.

A disease called cryptosporidium – or “crypto” for short – was infecting pools and hot tubs and making people ill. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies wouldn’t take off in a big way for another few years.

People were wondering if “South Park” would make it to 20.

In the lead up to Season 19, co-creator Matt Stone calmed fans’ nerves by saying, “We won’t stop until we get canceled. We’re renewing. They have to f*cking cancel us, goddammit!” Season 27 of the show (which premiered in 1997) is set to start July 9th, 2025.

The trailer for “Creed” was released.

Fans of the “Rocky” franchise were wondering if the spinoff – starring Michael B. Jordan as Apollo Creed’s illegitimate son – would even work. It ended up grossing $174 million at the box office, leading to “Creed II” in 2018 ($214 million), and “Creed III” in 2023 ($276 million).