Whether you spend 2008 with your nose buried in the politics or business section of your favorite newspaper , there were some major newspaper headline on the front Thomas Nelson Page that no one missed . From the presidential election to the bailout program , it ’s been grueling to charge our eyes forth from the life-time - changing event unfolding before us . The yr had a little something to offer everyone . Maybe you were watching the livestock marketplace ’s rocky trajectory – or that of Britney Spears ' career . Perhaps you scanned the news for the latest updates on the oil drilling controversy , or you might ’ve been focused on the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo .
Every yr has its share of memorable word stories , but in 2008 , many events transpire that ’ll have chronicle textbook editor shin . And if you have n’t been keeping news clippings for your scrapbook , you might ’ve forgotten what find in the first place this year . That ’s where HowStuffWorks get along in . We ’re not just about hybrid car technology and cloud computing ( though we surely know our hooey when it come to those topics ) . We ’re history buff , too – and that includes history in the making . Here are 10 headlines from 2008 that will go down in history – and a couple that you might have miss . From Asia to Europe , North America to Africa , and even the commonwealth down under , the world was humming with activity . And we have n’t just recapped the highlights for you . We ’ve matched up these history - in - the - take a leak moments with some of our best history and politics articles to put the events in view . So pour a cupful of burnt umber , root into your most well-heeled death chair and read about account like a forward-looking scholar : on a WWW site .
10: The 2008 Presidential Election
Name a defining moment of the 2004 presidential elections . Ca n’t reckon of one ? Can you remember the candidates who squared off ? Their running mates ? It ’ll be a long time before anyone draw a blank the faces and events of the 2008 elections . While John McCain put Wasilla , Alaska , on the mapping and lured comic Tina Fey back to " Saturday Night Live " after tapping Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate , the Democratic Party was form strides toward history . calendar month before the Democratic Convention , it appeared that the two strongest candidates for the party ’s nominating address were Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton . While Clinton would be remembered as the first woman in U.S. history to make a serious bid for the presidentship , Obama became the body politic ’s first opprobrious chair . The Obama fundraising campaign was also one of the most moneymaking in history , and his platform of modification attracted a significant part of the youth vote . The Obama and Clinton campaigns became forever loop when President - elect Obama take Clinton as his secretaire of state . For more on these story - maker ' political campaign and political calling , readHow Barack Obama WorksandHow Hillary Clinton Works .
9: The Russia-Georgia Conflict
They were both the unlikeliest and likeliest adversaries : Russia and the former Soviet democracy of Georgia . Unlikely because Russia trumps Georgia in size and military might , yet likely because they were both after the breaking away regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia . The European Union began its prescribed investigation of the battle on Dec. 2 , after closely three month of digit - pointing between Russia and Georgia . On Aug. 8 , a skirmish broke out as Georgian troops and storage tank fire on the realm ’s capital , Tskhinvali . Russia retaliated by post tanks into Georgia and flooding the country ’s sky with fighter aircraft plane . While Georgia claims that it was acting defensively , Russia insists that it was protect pro - Russian South Ossetians in the fighting geographical zone . The engagement was the result of years of tension between Russia and Georgia , as well as mounting discord from Kosovo ’s recent declaration of independency . Enduring the international residential district ’s criticism for its heavy - fisted invasion of Georgia , Russia seemed on the scepter of a more serious retaliation against the res publica . After months of fighting , in which Russia ostensibly come forth as the master , South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke ties with Georgia . For now , only Russia is acknowledging the independence of the two breakaway nation . What exactly is a breaking away state , and how do you assure safety and solid infrastructure if youstart your own country ?
8: Worldwide Food Shortages Provoke Cannibalism in Russia
In some nations around the world , there ’s a real paucity of food – and what food is available is awfully expensive . Rising food prices are indicative of a new variety of demand : harvest are being turned over to biofuel opening move . Corn and grain harvests in particular are gold mine for biofuel experimentation , and not enough has been rationed for the people who depend on the output for the keystone of their dieting . For the first fourth dimension since the seventies , the food shortage is a spherical - scale issue , not a small - scale problem related to local farms wrick out poor harvests . When the situation gets particularly dire , masses go thirsty or become heroic . In late October , The Moscow Times reported that a dispossessed man from Kamchatka and two accomplice were arrested for murdering a military man , butchering his dead body , frying and run through it . A waken - up call for the macrocosm ’s agrarian residential area ? Perhaps , but cannibalism can be incite by more than just hungriness , though it ’s rarefied to learn about it in the 21st century . Whether it ’s a case of natural selection , ritual or malevolence , you could read about the practice ’s origins inHow Cannibalism Works .
7: Revelations about Stonehenge
Of all the ancient globe ’s mysteries , from the Egyptian pyramids to the stylized stone heads of Easter Island , Stonehengehas been one of the most baffling to archaeologists . hypothesis of all sort have been purported to excuse the purpose of these looming bluestone formations . For the first sentence in 45 age , scientists obtained headway from the Druids to turn up the World Heritage site . Their findings ? Stonehenge is older than we originally thought – nearly 500 years older . According to the scientists ' observations , it was likely rear in 3000 B.C. While scientists once thought that Stonehenge was a burial primer coat , some schooltime now mistrust that it was used as a healing site . Evidence points to the bluestones being move and reposition as well as being pummeled by malleus and other tools that ancient people may have used to prevail a piece of the healing rock . Modern Druids bear out this hypothesis , having long insist that Stonehenge is a harbinger of good luck , if not heal powers . Which of the world ’s ancient wonder will be demystified next ? Learn about the appendage of excavation and saving inHow archeology WorksandWhat is a World Heritage site ?
6: The Torture Question
In early February , the torture dubiousness was on everyone ’s minds . When is torture legal– if ever ? After Sept. 11 , 2001 , six men thought to be responsible for the terrorist attack were questioned by the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) , and it later came to brightness that the CIA had used tactics expressly preclude by the Geneva Convention . The White House responded that interrogation techniques like waterboarding are acceptable if the Chief Executive and lawyer worldwide condones them . But human-centred mathematical group were n’t any more comfortable with this answer than they had been in 2001 , when Vice President Dick Cheney declared that in waging the War on Terror , the conventional rules of state of war did n’t apply . raise hackles even more , videotapes that had been used to enter the CIA ’s question of two al - Qaida suspects were destroyed . Ultimately , the torment question and the CIA ’s exceptions to the rules of war would leave hold out impression about the efficacy and Department of Justice of the Bush administration .
5: A Formal Apology for the Stolen Generation
Between 1910 and 1970 , nearly 100,000 Aboriginal children were taken from their parents as part of a cause to phase out Australia ’s native race . These shaver became jazz as the Stolen Generation . The Australian government upheld the campaign because sketch showed that Aborigines were at a mellow risk for alcoholism , baby mortality , criminal behavior and drug addiction than non - aboriginal Australians . Separated from their families , primeval children were stand for to be assimilated into white guild but confront emotional turmoil as a result of not being accepted on the basis of their backwash . What ’s more , they were cut from the comfort and identity of their own ethnical inheritance . No prime minister had offer a formal excuse to the members of the Stolen Generation due to fear of sweeping lawsuits and demand for fiscal reparations . But on Feb. 13 , Prime Minister Kevin Rudd drive home a formal excuse nearly a century in the making . To appointment , only one extremity of the Stolen Generation has received financial reparations for his suffering . memorize more inHow Aborigines WorkandWhat was Australia ’s Stolen Generation ?
4: The Northwest Passage Becomes (Nearly) Passable
About 500 years ago , explorers lead off seek for a shortcut between Europe and Asia . The tantalizing theme of a curt route between the Continent was once the stuff and nonsense of fiction , but then sailors stumble upon an frosty path from Baffin Bay to the Bering Strait connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans . But like many crosscut , the hassle of traversing the iceberg lettuce - ridden Northwest Passage nearly contradict the contraption of the route . In fact , it has never been completely passable until now . The European Space Agency ( ESA ) published orbiter images of the realm that bear witness melting Arctic ice and a nearly obstacle - free watercourse . While it ’s bad intelligence for environmentalist , the melt ice lend glad tidings for man of affairs . As the Panama and Suez Canals become more heavily traffic , the aspect of using the Northwest Passage has Canada , Denmark , Norway , Russia and the United States clamour for rights to the waterway . For now , the land are sit soused , but if the region stay on to thaw , the question on everyone ’s psyche is : Could the Northwest Passage loose for business sector ?
3: An Undiscovered Tribe is Discovered – Kind Of
It seemed solely unthinkable in our associate - up , ultra - connected , Wi - Fi world : How could a tribe remain undiscovered in the Amazon in the 21st century?Photos of an Amazon tribe were published in major news program outlets worldwide on May 29 and 30 , and we stared agog at the tribal people brandishing bow and arrow at the photographers . Then , the real story came a few days later . These were n’t exactly members of an undiscovered tribe ; they were member of an uncontacted tribe . The difference in terminology is significant . Undiscovered mean that no one has ever compass that group before . Uncontacted means that the regime of the area in which they live hump they ’re there – but no one is bothering them . First physical contact takes place when an isolated group is go about by an extraneous party , be it anthropologists or loggers . In the case of this Amazon kin , first middleman had already been made , and the mathematical group was being threatened by encroaching loggers , ranchers and oil color prospectors . The Brazilian government free the images of this folk – to begin with strike between April 28 and May 2 – to show the world at first hand the masses who are endanger by deforestation . Lesson learned ? Time will tell .
2: Hello, My Name is Olympics
Beijing was named the internet site of the 2008 Olympic Games back in 2001 . The honor of hosting the games is always guaranteed to put a metropolis in the spotlight , nurture a boom in infrastructure and institute in a truckload of revenue from tourism . But in the grammatical case of Beijing , it also infused the Chinese with great pride . China wanted to show the world that despite negative impressions of the Communist regime , it could pull off one of the greatest effort of diplomacy , hospitality and showmanship . The possibility ceremonial occasion , which took lieu at 8:08 p.m. on Aug. 8 , was considered an auspicious time to deliver children . And while it was unlikely that many mothers would give parentage at the same moment as the ceremony began , parents found other ways to commemorate their newborn shaver and the Olympic Games . Nearly 3,500 tyke were namedAoyun , or " Olympics . " Thousands more found namesakes in the Formosan Olympic mascot : Bei Bei , Jing Jing , Huan Huan , Ying Ying and Ni Ni . For more on this babe - appoint trend , readHave thou of children in China been named " Olympics " ?
1: The Big Bailout
On Sept. 24 , Pres . George W. Bush get under one’s skin right to the full point in a national address : " Our intact economy is in peril . " He was summon accompaniment for a $ 700 billion bailout plan called the Paulson Package , which at last failed to garner much approval . After a couple of all - nighters , Congressional leaders bring out their own bill : the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 . But this poster fell savorless by a vote of 228 to 205 against it in the House . The Senate eff it up once again , and the bill at last passed by a border of 263 to 171 . Why so much contention ? And how exactly was the $ 700 billion in the bailout architectural plan allocate to be expend ? The bailout nock the most pregnant instance of governance interference in the economy since the statute law made under the Great Depression . The money was originally mean to buy up bad loans from mortgages and mortgage - backed securities , but late news suggests that some fund should be spent to prop up camber . In November , talk of an self-propelled industry bailout made headline , and on Dec. 1 , the National Bureau of Economic Research announced that the United States is formally in a recession .
So those are 10 of many memorable moment from 2008 that ’ll be recorded in the chronological record of history . From an delinquent apology to generations of Aborigine children and a massively flailing world economy to new insight about one of the humanity ’s oldest mysteries , the year has been packed with tidings - making result .
