Now Reading: 10 Things That Happened 10 Years Ago: Aug 17-23
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10 Things That Happened 10 Years Ago: Aug 17-23
One Direction breaks up, “Potato Parcels” go viral, and the Pumpkin Spice Latte finally lives up to its name. Here’s what was in the news 10 years ago this week.
The PSL finally got real pumpkin
12 years after the Pumpkin Spice Latte debuted at Starbucks in 2003, they finally decided to toss some actual pumpkin in there. The new recipe included a “pumpkin spice flavored sauce” made with pumpkin purée.
One Direction broke up
The “extended hiatus” proved to be so extended, it functioned as the band’s unofficial break-up. Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan went their separate ways to work on solo projects. There was talk of a reunion tour in 2024 before Liam died tragically that October after falling from a third-floor window at a hotel in Argentina.
A Texas man was making $10,000 a month mailing potatoes
The website PotatoParcel.com exploded onto the scene after a 24-year-old in Texas launched an app offering to mail Russet potatoes with personalized messages on them. The unlikely success story led to a string of competing websites, and Americans found out the USPS allows you to mail a potato without a box. The potato itself counts as a container.
Jon Stewart had his first gig after leaving the “The Daily Show”
His last show (of his first stint as host) was August 6, 2015, but he was back in the spotlight two weeks later. His first gig following the departure was hosting WWE’s “SummerSlam,” where he fully screwed John Cena out of his World Heavyweight Championship title.
Jennifer Lawrence was the world’s highest paid actress
She topped the annual “Forbes“ list at $52 million, followed by Scarlett Johansson, Melissa McCarthy, Bingbing Fan, and Jennifer Aniston. Robert Downey Jr. had recently topped the highest paid actors list at $80 million.
Three Americans stopped a terrorist attack on a train headed for Paris
On August 21, 2015, a man with an assault rifle opened fire on a train heading from Amsterdam to Paris. Luckily, his gun misfired, and three Americans in their early 20s – two of them off-duty members of the U.S. military – were able to subdue the gunman and end the threat. Four people were injured, including another American who initially wrestled the gun away, but there were no fatalities. The gunman was later sentenced to life in prison.
Ashley Madison hackers leaked everyone’s info
The dating site for cheaters had been hacked that July, and the hackers threatened to release all of the data if the site didn’t shut down immediately. They followed through with the threat, releasing more than 60 GB of data on August 18 and 20. An analysis later showed that Alabama led the nation in extramarital affairs.
Tracy Morgan got married and announced his return to “SNL”
It was a big week for the “Saturday Night Live” alum. The show announced he’d be returning to host after he nearly died in a car crash a year earlier. He also married his 28-year-old baby mama Megan Wollover that same week, but sadly it didn’t last. They filed for divorce five years later in 2020.
A man in Scotland received the “world’s first bionic penis”
The 43-year-old had lost his junk years earlier when it was ripped off in a crazy car accident that saw him dragged nearly 600 feet. Headlines claimed it was the “world’s first” bionic penis, which wasn’t actually true. But people were happy to hear the man’s new bionic junk was an impressive eight inches long.
The owner of the “Goonies” house shut fans down
The owner of the home – located in Astoria, Oregon – was sick of people doing the Truffle Shuffle on her lawn, so she covered the front of her house in blue tarps. She said she’d been dealing with more than 1,000 visitors a day and installed a sign that said, “Imagine that you buy a house, fix it up, spend money, time and love. Then the city of Astoria encourages 100,000’s of people to come and stand in front and view it.” (A sign that said “Hey, you guys! Please stop it!” might have been more effective.)
