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Rewind to 4 September 2005 to 10 September 2005

🌀 Katrina fallout

The floodwaters were barely receding in New Orleans and already the finger-pointing had begun. FEMA was roasted for its snail-paced response, Bush’s leadership was under fire and TV screens were filled with images of stranded residents that turned a natural disaster into a national reckoning.

🎨 Art attack!

In Austria a woman pulled out a jackknife and slashed Roy Lichtenstein’s Nudes in Mirror because she thought it wasn’t real. Lady, it’s Pop Art, it’s meant to look fake. Four cuts later the painting was wounded but salvageable and she was promptly charged after also biting a cop. Mood.

🎧 Nano nano!

Steve Jobs blew minds by pulling the new iPod Nano out of his jeans’ tiny pocket. Thinner than a pencil eraser, held 1,000 songs and immediately became the must-have flex of 2005.

🎤 Jacko’s ghost single

Michael Jackson announced a Katrina charity track with a dream lineup — Mariah, Jay-Z, Mary J, Missy, Snoop. What we got? Nada. The song ghosted harder than a MySpace friend request.

🚘 Transporter 2 defies physics

Jason Statham in Miami, flipping cars 360° to knock off bombs and proving gravity is optional. Critics rolled their eyes, audiences rolled into the box office — nearly $90 million worldwide and Statham locked in as the new millennium’s action guy.

🤠 Brokeback breakthrough

Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain won Venice’s Golden Lion. Two cowboys in love, one of cinema’s most heartbreaking lines and Hollywood finally gave queer love a serious stage.

🏝️ Reality bites

OG Survivor winner Richard Hatch got indicted for tax evasion. Apparently “outwit, outplay, outlast” didn’t apply to the IRS. He ended up serving three years — proving naked strategy doesn’t beat federal accountants.

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