Kanye was already dominating the Web, 50 Cent took us to the candy shop and Tom Cruise lost it. Though it certainly will be forever immortalized as the year of Time Out Chicago's launch, there were plenty of other great things going on in 2005. To celebrate our 10th anniversary today, we're taking a look back at the best of everything in 2005.
RECOMMENDED: More on Time Out Chicago's 10-year anniversary
On TV
Comedy was reborn in 2005 with the near decade–long legend that was The Colbert Report launching alongside The Office, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and How I Met Your Mother. Though only one is still with us, their legacy lives on inside us ...that's what she said.
In music
In Destiny's Child's farewell year, Mariah Carey took center stage with her best-selling album, The Emancipation of Mimi, slaying pop powerhouses like Gwen Stefani, Ciara, Kelly Clarkson and the Black Eyed Peas for the top spot.
Sufjan Stevens touring his 2005 album, IllinoisJoe Lencioni/Wikimedia commons
Chicago was wrapped in the ever-loving embrace of Sufjan Steven's tender little voice that hurts so good, debuting his top-rated album of the year, Illinois.
In the movies
The six-year-long slog that was the Star Wars prequel trilogy ended, and though we're not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, it left us all cautious for the sequels slated for release later this year.
Also in '05, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe enchanted at the box offices while the Fresh Prince taught us how to love in Hitch.
John E. Smith/Wikimedia commons
In books
All kinds of controversy brewed on the bookshelves, from a dead headmaster in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince to illuminati conspiracies in The DaVinci Code. Among the more heart- and groundbreaking were The Kite Runner and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, the former landing a film and the latter now blazing a trail on Broadway and London's West End.
In sports
Chicagoans rejoiced when the White Sox won the World Series, a feat they first accomplished nearly a century prior. Tiger Woods claimed his fourth Masters title and the Patriots won the Super Bowl, sans deflated footballs.
Post-White Sox victory parade clean upSeñor Codo/Flickr
In the news
There was no shortage of celebrities in the news: Martha Stewart was released from Camp Cupcake in the first days of Time Out Chicago's debut, Michael Jackson was acquitted of child molestation charges, Angelina v. Aniston ensued (team Aniston for life) and Tom Cruise asserted his masculinity by having a fit on a couch.
Online
Kanye West rounded off two tragedies of 2005 in one video, calling out President George Bush and the media in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, proving in retrospect that though his music may have deflated since then, he's still just as good at going viral.
YouTube's launch sent the viral-video phenomena to new heights, blessing us with the piercing cries of the Grape Lady, Pinky the cat and the lip-synching likeness of the BackStreet Boys.