10 things that turned 10 this year

As we hit the ripe old age of 10, we look back at some of the things that were hitting the headlines when we were just a foetus:

1. The dress

The internet collectively lost its mind over a dress that was either black and blue or white and gold, depending on your brain’s lighting settings, caffeine intake, and personal relationship with reality. Friendships were tested, group chats were lit up, and everyone briefly became an expert in colour perception. In the end we all learned that the real illusion was thinking the internet could ever agree on anything.

2. Snapchat filters

2015 also saw the birth of the Snapchat filter. The dog filter instantly became a fan favourite and everyone from your co worker to you nan was seen with floppy Terrier ears, panting at their phones like horny cartoons. Thus began the golden age of filters. Self-respect optional, everyone was just one tap away from being a very good boy.

3. To Pimp a Butterfly

It was a big year for music, with Tame Impala, Adele, Drake and Jamie XX dropping iconic albums. But probably most culturally significant was Kendrick Lamar’s magnum opus: To Pimp a Butterfly. It arrived sounding like funk, jazz, protest, poetry, and a group therapy session all at once. Critics scrambled for superlatives and fans realised this was not a “throw it on in the background” kind of album. It was bold, heavy, brilliant, and proved Kendrick could dominate the charts while also assigning homework.

4. Ice bucket challenge

The internet decided philanthropy was best delivered via shock therapy and the Ice Bucket Challenge exploded. People dumped freezing water on their heads, screamed, filmed it, tagged their friends, and briefly remembered to mention ALS somewhere in the caption. Somehow, between the chaos and the clout-chasing, real money was raised and real awareness happened. Proving that if you want the internet to care you just need cold water, peer pressure, and a camera.

5. We Said Goodbye to Mad Men

6. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit theatres and reminded everyone that no franchise ever really dies, it just waits for Disney. The film rebooted the saga with shiny new heroes and familiar plot beats, and enough nostalgia to power the Death Star. Fans cheered, argued, and immediately began debating whether it was a loving homage or an unnecessary remix. Love it or side-eye it, the Force was officially back.

Apple released the Apple Watch and suggested that checking your phone wasn’t enough, you should now be notified directly on your wrist. It promised the future, and launched a thousand awkward tan lines. Early adopters learned the true thrill of paying premium prices to be gently buzzed by unwanted emails. It wasn’t perfect, but it was inevitable, marking the moment watches stopped being about time and started being about tiny floaty icons and fitness guilt.

8. Katy Perry’s left shark

During Katy Perry’s Super Bowl halftime show, one backup dancer in a shark costume accidentally achieved what most influencers only dream of: effortless virility. Slightly off-beat, deeply unbothered, and radiating pure “I’m just here for the paycheque” energy, Left Shark instantly stole the show. Memes exploded and America briefly united in admiration of a shark who refused to try too hard. Fame was swift, confusing, and entirely undeserved, just as the internet likes it.

9. The Whip and the Nae Nae

10. Rihanna’s Met Gala look

Rihanna arrived at the Met Gala wearing a luminous yellow, fur-trimmed, Guo Pei gown and instantly derailed the internet’s ability to focus on anything else. The dress was couture, dramatic, and approximately one meme away from becoming a household object, as timelines lovingly compared it to omelettes, pizzas, and imperial duvets. It was a reminder that true style dominance means wearing museum-level fashion while the world argues whether you look like breakfast. We’re still not over it.