2010

by Ben England and Peter Leensvaart

Music: According to Billboard Music, three songs by different artists that defined the musical landscape of 2010 were “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha, “California Girls” by Katy Perry and “Runaway” by Kanye West.

Events: In the Gulf of Mexico, 4 million barrels of oil spilled from the Deepwater Horizon Macondo oil rig, killing 11 workers and approximately 114,065 birds, turtles, and mammals. Clean-up efforts following the spill continued for three years. “It was very sad but it also feels like it is prevalent today with all the save the ocean campaigns,” Gavin Thomas ‘22  said.

Movies: According to IMDb, Sci-fi thriller Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio, centers in on a world in which the subconscious is tangible and dreams can be stolen. The Christopher Nolan film won 34 awards and honors, with an Academy Award for Best Cinematography among them. “Inception is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. It really messed with my mind,” Alex Gertzen ‘22 said.

Toys: Zhu Zhu Pets, small, robotic hamsters with distinct names, colors, and symbols, won the TOTY award for Toy of the Year. “Zhu Zhu Pets were my favorite. I’m pretty sure I owned every single one and my dad made me a race track for them to go around,” Kaitlyn Nicholson ‘22 said.

2011

by Annie Pecoraro

Music: According to Billboard Music, three songs by different artists that defined the musical landscape of 2011 were “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO, “Firework” by Katy Perry, and “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele.

“I remember when all those songs came out and listening to them all the time and hearing them on the radio, and now I found them refreshing to listen to.” Kyra Peck ‘22 said.

Events: January 8, 2011, a shooter opened fire on a constituent meeting with Representative Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona. 14 people were injured, and 6 were killed.

Movies: The final film based off the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part II, premiered in 2011 and made 1.342 billion USD at the box office (surpassing its budget of 250 million USD).

Toys: According to the TOTY Awards, Mattel Inc.’s “The Sing-a-ma-jigs!™” were the most popular toy throughout 2011. “I feel like I can remember seeing the commercials when it came out but I didn’t have it,” Mary Blair Patterson ‘22 said.

2012

by Jack Gianetto and Aiden Hughes

Music: According to Billboard Music, “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye topped the charts in 2012. Released in 2011, the single went 8x platinum after topping the charts in the next year. “I could not get that [“Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye] out of my head for years. My brother played it all the time in the car he was 16 at the time and I was eight. He drove us to school and he’d be playing that song every single day in the morning, and it was very annoying, but I do enjoy the song to this day,” says Gavin Griffin ’23.

Events: The most impactful event of the year was December 21, 2012; the day nearly everyone in the world thought it would end. The Mayan calendar ended on the 21st, and many concluded that the day was predicted to be the end of time; this prompted mass hysteria until the next day, when the world had decidedly not ended. “I didn’t know about it. All I was doing in 2012, I was playing Minecraft. … but I started playing Minecraft back then.I was too busy, not dying from creepers to care about Mayan calendars right,” Eddie quam ’21

Movies: According to IMDb, The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall prevailed in the top 5 most popular movies of 2012. Not far down on the list are Wreck It Ralph and The Avengers, with the latter grossing $623.28M at the box office. “I watched Avengers and Wreck It Ralph they were both made well made and very good movies. Easily my favorite movies of 2012.” says Ethan Lewis ‘22

Toys: Monster High dolls took the toy market by storm in 2012, earning a profit of $38.5 million just in the first quarter of the year. “I played with Monster High dolls and Barbies, and also toy trucks. I did this because it was just fun, and I liked the mixture that it gave. I would put Monster High dolls like into a truck and drove them off a cliff.” Ashley Husband ’22 Said.

2013

by Lola Boushelle and Kendall Foxworth

Music: According to Billboard Music, three songs by different artists that defined the musical landscape of 2010 were “Blurred Lines” by Robert Thicke, “Roar” by Katy Perry, and “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. “My favorite is probably roar because I liked Katy Perry back then and I went to her concert.” Emersen McQueen ‘22 said.

Events: A bomber used two home-made pressure cooker bombs at the April 15 Boston Marathon in 2013. 3 people were killed. Around 260 people were injured, 16 of them having lost limbs. “I remember it being a really big thing and everyone talking about it because it wasn’t expected. What was really upsetting about it was that it was so shocking that nobody really knew what to do because it was in such an odd setting. Taylor Coffman ‘22 said.

Movies: Frozen was released to general theaters November 27, 2013, and grossed 1.276 billion USD at the box office. “I think that the top movie of the year is Frozen. When I first saw in third grade, I really liked it when I was in third grade,” Meredith McDonnell ‘23 said.

Toys: In 2013, the “Rainbow Loom” caused sales in the children’s craft section at Michael’s craft store to surpass all other areas within the sale. “I remember in elementary school I could play with rainbow loom for hours. I really liked learning how to make all the different types of bracelets and designs. It was definitely something everybody did back then,” Rachel Benner ‘21 said.

2014

by Zach Lipfield and Matthew Bowman

Music: The top three songs of the year were “Stay With Me” by Sam Smith, “A Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay, and “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift. “My favorite song of the year of those is probably Blank Space because Taylor Swift slaps.” Jack Keough ‘21 said.

Events: Some significant events that occurred in 2014 include the Sochi Olympics as well as the Fifa World Cup, were Germany defeated Argentina in the finals with a score of 1-0. 2014 saw the Seattle Seahawks win the Superbowl, the San Francisco Giants win the World Series, and the Los Angeles Kings winning the Stanley cup.

Movies: The top movies from the year were Big Hero Six, Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Lego Movie, which all grossed above 400 million USD.

Toys: The Wii U console came out in 2014, and many people bought it because of its unique features. Old Wii games worked on the Wii U, and it could be played on a tablet. “I didn’t have one, but I wanted one, I just never got around to getting it” Ben Rumminger ‘21 said.

2015

by Maria Gonzalez

Music: Three songs by different artists that defined the musical landscape of 2010 were “Hello” by Adele, (2,590,097,394 views) “Sorry” by Justin Bieber (3,217,051,236 views) and “See You Again” (4,295,945,758 views) by Wiz Khalifa.

Events: Paris was struck with ISIS terror attacks in November of 2015 that killed 130 people, and wounded another 494. Suicide bombers gathered outside of a football match at the Stade de France before the detonation.

Movies: Some of the highest grossing movies of 2015 include Mad Max Fury Road, Inside Out, Star, Wars the Force Awakens, Pitch Perfect 2 , Hunger Games, The MockingJay Part 2 and Jurassic World.

Toys: Lego Minecraft, Lego Dimensions , Jumbo Talking Minion and Star Wars BladeBuilders Jedi master are among the most popular toys of 2015.

2016

by Matthew Fink and Bennett Edlund

Music: According to Billboard Music, the top three songs  of 2016 were “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber, “Sorry” by Justin Bieber and “One Dance” by Drake ft. Wizkid and Kyla. “I’m surprised Justin Bieber has multiple songs up there. I’m not that much of a fan of Justin Bieber’s music. I really wasn’t in the ‘top music’ scene in 2016.” Will Vasilas ‘22 said.

Events: 2016 hosted, arguably, one of the most polarizing presidential elections in the history in the United States. Although Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, sitting president Donald Trump own in the electorate. “Towards the end of the election, it started to get hectic, crazy, and dramatic. I just think it turned out bad in general.” Austin Coudeyras ‘22 said.

Movies: In 2016, Captain America: Civil War prevailed as the most popular movie of the year, grossing 1.153 billion dollars. “My favorite thing about Captain America: Civil War was that the introduced Spider-Man into the MCU. But also I enjoyed seeing all of my favorite super heroes fight on screen.” Will Vasilas ‘22 said.

Toys: not on doc, infographic has it

2017

by Noah Camm and Lily Hansen

Music: According to Billboard, some of the most popular songs of 2017 were “Bad Liar” by Selena Gomez, “Bodak Yellow” by Cardi B, and “Slide” by Calvin Harris feat. Frank Ocean & Migos. “When I first heard “Bodak Yellow” I was like ‘This is my new hype song’ and it’s such a vibe. I enjoyed the son because it would get everyone singing and just having a good time. I like Cardi B because everyone will always know the lyrics to her music and she’s the life of the party,” Tanya Chorusia ‘21 said.

Events: Donald Trump was inaugurated  as president, January of 2017. In his first year, the president removed 226,000 people in 201. Trump won election against Hillary Clinton the year before, November 9, 2016. “Personally my family wasn’t too excited about it because of the deportations and my family’s hispanic,” Avery Winter ‘22 said.

Movies: Mystery/Thriller film Get Out from director Jordan Peele won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best First Film in 2017, before going on to win Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards the following year. “I think it was interesting on how they flipped the roles of white people being viewed as angels and it helps you look at the stereotypes because it modern reality people of color are being judged,” Arianna Howard ‘23 said.

Toys: In 2017, the $300 Nintendo Switch was released. The game turned a profit of $871.18 million in its first six months on the market. “They’re really cool. Super Smash Bros Ultimate. I enjoy that game a lot and the graphics are good. It’s portable and it can plug into the TV too,” Gavin Moody ‘22 said. 

2018

by Annie Pecoraro