Review of 2008
Now that 2008 is behind us let’s have a look back and remind ourselves of the ups, downs and events that got our attention throughout the year. The news was mainly dominated by the current credit crisis with Northern Rock being nationalised back in February last year, this was closely followed by other big names and companies also financially struggling and many were forced to scale down the workforces making hundreds of workers redundant. The much loved high street chain Woolworths was one of the unfortunate casualties of the credit crunch eventually closing down all stores across the UK leaving staff devastated and jobless…. Early in the year school girl Shannon Matthews was reported missing resulting in a huge police hunt lasting 24 days and costing in the region of 2 million pounds, the school girl was later found safe and well at a distant relatives flat resulting in her own mother being arrested for plotting the kidnap on order to obtain the £50.000 reward money. John and Anne Darwin the couple who faked Mr Darwins death to claim on the insurance were both jailed for fraud and the killer of school boy Rhys Jones was finally found guilty of murder and jailed for life. In May Boris Johnson took over Ken Livingstone as mayor of London and America voted Barack Obama as their new president, this was seen as a major milestone to finally prove that racism is a thing of the past as Obama became the first black president. Hilary Clinton became the new secretary of state. We also saw Jonothan Ross suspended from his BBC chat show and Russell Brand resign as a result of a phone scandal which occured on their radio show, both made a public apology after hundreds of viewers complaining about their unacceptable behavoir.
In the scientific world 2008 saw a major breakthrough in stem cell research, the first windpipe produced by the patients own stem cells was successfully transplanted meaning thousands of patients will potentially be given a better chance at a better life and we saw scientists start a massive experiment undergound named “The Big Bang”. This was an experiment to recreate the big bang on a smaller scale to enable further understanding of the beginning of the world and particulary trying to discover what was dubbed “The God Particle”, we are currently awaiting results in the next few months.
2008 was also a milestone for British sport as the British team excelled at the Olympics in Beijing bringing home a total of 47 medals and coming 4th in the final medals table, of the medals won 19 of those were gold. During the closing ceremony the Olympic torch was passed on to London ready for the 2012 London Olympics and British sensation Leona Lewis performed at the top of a London bus which circled arond the Olympic stadium.
The film Mamma Mia was the most successful Hollywood musical of all time and became the biggest selling DVD of the year, the film starring Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan was a huge hit and was based upon the hugely successful stage musical with the same title. The Batman sequel The Dark Knight was the most successful worldwide box office hit. The star of the film Heath Ledger tragically died in January of an accidental overdose leaving behind young daughter Matilda and was buried in his native Australia. Also in 2008 we sadly said goodbye to the following..
Jeremy Beadle ( television presenter), Paul Newman (actor Road To Perdition), Michael Crichton (creator of Jurassic Park and ER), Bernie Mac (actor Oceans 11 and 12 and Transformers), Roy Scheider (actor Jaws) and Anthony Minghella ( director English Patient and Cold Mountain).
In contrast 2008 was a great year for celebrity babies making their debut into the world, Nicole Kidman gave birth to baby girl Sunday Rose and Nicole Richie gave birth to baby girl Harlow. The following celebrities also had babies in 2008…..
Angelina Jolie, Christina Aguilera, Ashlee Simpson, Halle Berry, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Lopez, Cate Blanchett, Tori Spelling, Gwen Stefani, Lisa Marie Presley, Gillian Anderson, Naomi Watts, Tina o Brien and Louise Redknapp.
2008 was also a year for congratulations as certain celebrities finally tied the knot these included Wayne Rooney and Collen Mcloughlin, Jessica Alba and Cash Warren, Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz, Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Reynolds, Ellen Degeneres and Portia De Rossi, Olivia Newton John and John Easterling, Nelly Furtado and Dernacio Castellon and Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon.
So as we wrap up 2008 lets hope there are plenty of ups for the year 2009 and look forward to getting 2009 off to a great start.
Normanton Voice
Normanton West Yorkshire
