Wikipedia:2008 Top 50 Report

The Top 50 Report – 2008

Annual Top 50

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Based on the Zeitgeist data and prepared with commentary by:

Commentary


Rank Article Class Image About
1 YouTube     The online video sharing platform is a consistently popular article, and as such frequently features on the Top 25 Report. It celebrates its third anniversary this year.
2 Barack Obama     "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."

The Illinois senator has made history as the next President of the United States - and the first African American to hold the office. Obama and his running mate Joe Biden won a decisive victory over John McCain (#14), winning the Electoral College and the popular vote by a sizable margin, including states that had not voted for the Democratic presidential candidate since 1976 (North Carolina) and 1964 (Indiana, Virginia, and Nebraska's 2nd congressional district).

Obama received the largest share of the popular vote won by a Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 and was the first Democrat to win an outright majority of the popular vote since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Obama's total count of 69.5 million votes stood as the largest tally ever won by a presidential candidate until 2020, when this was surpassed by both major party candidates in a high-turnout election. He was the first Democrat to win without Arkansas and Missouri since those states joined the Union in 1836 and 1821 and the first Democrat to win the presidency without winning West Virginia since 1916.

Obama flipped nine states that had voted Republican in 2004: Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia, as well as Nebraska's 2nd congressional district. As of 2022, this is the last time Indiana and North Carolina have voted Democratic, the last time that either a Democratic or Republican candidate received fewer than 200 electoral votes, and the last time an incumbent U.S. senator was a major party nominee. This is the only election in American history where both major party nominees were sitting US Senators.

3 Facebook   image commentary
4 Myspace   image commentary
5 United States     (#2) has become the first African American President of the United States, beating (#14) in (#24)
6 The Beatles     This year, an upcoming game based on The Fab Four in the Rock Band series of music video games was revealed on October 30. The game is being developed with the blessing and critical input of Apple Corps, including the surviving former Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, who have both made public appearances promoting the game. George Harrison's son Dhani has helped to bridge discussion between Harmonix and Apple Corps, while Giles Martin, son of the Beatles' music producer George Martin, has ensured high-fidelity versions of the Beatles' songs would be available.
7 Deaths in 2008   image commentary
8 Sarah Palin     The Governor of Alaska was nominated for the vice presidency at the 2008 Republican National Convention, shortly after her selection was announced by John McCain (#14)'s campaign. She was the first Republican female vice presidential nominee and the second female vice presidential nominee of a major party, after Geraldine Ferraro in 1984. The McCain-Palin ticket subsequently lost the 2008 election to the Democratic Party's then-U.S. Senators Barack Obama (#2) and Joe Biden. Throughout the race, her public image and experience came under media attention. Although her vice presidential bid alongside McCain was unsuccessful, the 2008 presidential election significantly raised Palin's national profile.
9 The Dark Knight (film)   image commentary
10 Outlook.com   image commentary
11 Lil Wayne   image commentary
12 List of Naruto characters   image commentary
13 Favicon   image commentary
14 John McCain     The longtime senior U.S. Senator from Arizona lost to Barack Obama (#2) in the presidential election.
15 Naruto   image commentary
16 World War II   image commentary
17 Heath Ledger   image commentary
18 Heroes (TV series)   image commentary
19 China   image commentary
20 Miley Cyrus   image commentary
21 Grand Theft Auto IV   image commentary
22 Cloverfield   image commentary
23 Adolf Hitler   image commentary
24 2008 United States presidential election     The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama (#2), the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden (pictured), the senior senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of John McCain (#14), the senior senator from Arizona, and Sarah Palin (#8), the governor of Alaska. Obama became the first African American to be elected to the presidency, as well as being only the third sitting United States senator elected president, joining Warren G. Harding and John F. Kennedy. Meanwhile, Biden became the first senator running mate of a senator elected president since Lyndon B. Johnson (who was Kennedy's running mate) in the 1960 election.
25 2008 Summer Olympics   image commentary
26 United Kingdom   image commentary
27 World War I   image commentary
28 Lost (TV series)   image commentary
29 India   image commentary
30 Bleach (manga)   image commentary
31 EBay   image commentary
32 New York City   image commentary
33 Internet Movie Database   image commentary
34 George W. Bush     The outgoing President will be succeeded by (#2), whom he met in the Oval Office, and has begun the presidential transition of power.
35 Britney Spears   image commentary
36 PlayStation 3     Sony's newest PLAYSTATION console, which was released last year.
37 Gmail   image commentary
38 Family Guy   image commentary
39 House (TV series)   image commentary
40 2 Girls 1 Cup     The viral shock video of the year, that anyone who's seen it will know the meaning behind the chocolate milk pictured here. Its popularly has been aided by a series of reaction videos that depict people reacting to watching it.
41 Canada   image commentary
42 Large Hadron Collider   image commentary
43 List of songs in Rock Band   image commentary
44 Japan   image commentary
45 Batman   image commentary
46 Global warming   image commentary
47 Jonas Brothers     This is the bottom line, it's true! The American pop rock band formed in 2005, who have gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel television network. They consist of three love bug brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. They moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, in 2005, where they wrote their first record that made its Hollywood Records release. This year, the group was nominated for the Best New Artist award at the 51st Grammy Awards and won the award for Breakthrough Artist at the American Music Awards. They may get a little crazy and get a little loud, but that's just the way they roll.
48 Guitar Hero World Tour   image commentary
49 List of Naruto: Shippuden episodes   image commentary
50 Kim Kardashian   image commentary

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