14 Things We Can't Believe Happened 10 Years Ago

To some people 2004 may feel like 2 seconds ago. Of course, just because the world passes an arbitrary ten year mark it doesn't follow that the ideas of the previous decade are suddenly turned into pumpkins and it's not until we look back through old photos and browse through old news archives that we realise how much the world has moved forward. For those of us in our twenties it can be a slightly scary thought that we left high school ten years ago, and we find ourselves getting nostalgic when we realise we have in fact turned into Romy and Michele. Ten years ago Blair and Bush were still in power, Million Dollar Baby and The Notebook had audiences crying in cinemas and Outkast's "Hey Ya!" ruled the charts. Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse had just released their long awaited albums and Lindsay Lohan was still an innocent fresh-faced 17 year old. How times have changed. To celebrate the passing of the last decade, and how quickly the sands of time seem to slip through our fingers, we're looking back at 15 of the biggest cultural events that happened 10 years ago.

14. Mean Girls Was Released

Mean Girls is the teen cult classic of the noughties that sparked a meteor shower of eminently quotable soundbites, almost becoming a secret language to those who were teenagers in 2004. The movie was supposed to be a springboard for Lindsay Lohan, but if the past decade has taught us anything it's that even the brightest stars can only shine for so long before burning out. While Lohan may be reprising her role as La La Land's most predictable petty-criminal, Rachel McAdams has gone on to star in The Notebook, The Time Traveller's Wife and Wedding Crashers, while Amanda Seyfried has proven herself a fine actress landing eye-catching leading roles in blockbusters like Mama Mia, Les Mis and Lovelace. Aside from the fashion, the film hasn't aged at all: high schools are still broken up into cliques like 'the Plastics', 'cool Asians', 'sexually active band geeks', 'burnouts' and 'desperate wannabes,' which gave the film its global appeal. It has embedded a lasting impression on a whole generation far beyond its intended target audience because of these stereotypes we find in high school, and indeed life. And under the army pants and flip-flops in the corridors at North Shore High there was an inspiring message at the core of the movie that popularity isn't everything and that women should behave more civilised towards one another and stop all of the two-faced bitching - life is hard enough.