2003 & 2004

2003 was a scary time for the world with political unrest, suicide bombings, & SARS posing a threat to everyone's safety. It was also a scary time for tax-evading celebs as famed Miss Manners homemaker Martha Stuart was indicted. Interestingly enough, as she walked head held high on two feet into court, upright human footprints nearly 400,000 years old were discovered in Italy...coincidence? I think not. What  would our early human relatives have thought of taxes and space shuttles? In 2003, massive tornadoes, power outages, hurricanes, and record breaking hail stones, combined with the fighting in Iraq & Baghdad, led Americans to ask "Is this the end of the world???"
But in the midst of all that terror, both man-made and natural disasters, a tiny baby deer named Dewey was cloned (no relation to Bambi), showing that science was growing by leaps and bounds. The Terminator was also elected as governor of California...spawning both admiration & a plethora of late night jokes.
2003 also saw the deaths of many American legends, including Bob Hope, Gregory Peck, Katherine Hepburn, Barry White, Nina Simone, & Johnny & June Cash.
2004 was a leap year that started with a bang as NASA's Spirit landed on Mars. And in science, it was on from deers & onto humans in the field of cloning, as Korea announced the cloning of over 30 human embryos.
Sadly in 2004, Americans said goodbye to their favorite group of Friends as the show aired its finale. It was one of the most popular sitcoms EVER as well as a launching pad for some very big careers, most notably those of TV's BFFs Courtney Cox & Jen Aniston.
But as Friends turned out their set lights for the last time, a new pilot light was lit with the insanely popular show Lost.
The Yankees set a record for longest 9-inning baseball game ever against the Boston Red Sox in game 3 of the World Series.
And the United States saw its first ever female Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who also happened to be African American, when Colin Powell resigned.
Deaths in 2004 included Ann Miller, Johnny Ramone, Rick James, Christopher Reeve, & Ol' Dirty Bastard.
While a huge tsunami, one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history, claimed over 200,000 lives, much more shocking waves made the news when the CIA announced that there had been no imminent threat of weapons of mass destruction prior to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Both events drenched Americans with fear, doubt, & anger.