The Birth of Pepe the Frog and the meme that broke the internet

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🎧 Rewind to 30 October – 5 November 2005

🎃 The great pumpkin arms race
New England’s finest farmers flexed their green thumbs at the Topsfield Fair, where a 1,314-lb orange beast stole the show. People clapped. Kids squealed. Somewhere, a guy whispered “that’s a big-ass pumpkin.” Simpler times — when the heaviest thing online was a JPEG of your harvest.

🐎 Makybe Diva’s mic-drop moment
Flemington lost its mind as Makybe Diva thundered home to a third straight Melbourne Cup win. No horse had ever done it and none has since. She retired on the spot — champagne spraying, Glen Boss crying and Australia collectively declaring her the GOAT (Greatest Of All Thoroughbreds).

🐸 A Frog is born (and it feels good, man)
November 2005 saw the debut of Matt Furie’s comic Boy’s Club — and with it, the birth of Pepe the Frog. Back then, he was just a chill stoner amphibian with bad aim and good vibes. Twenty years later, he’s meme history — proof that even frogs can’t escape the internet’s chaos.

🐥 Chicken Little takes flight
Disney went fully digital for the first time without Pixar and served up Chicken Little, starring Zach Braff as the sky-is-falling featherball. It made $315 million, confused adults, delighted kids, and marked the moment Disney said “we can animate on our own!” (spoiler: not quite yet).

🎸 Ozzy goes classic rock
The Prince of Darkness released Under Cover, an entire album of ’60s and ’70s covers. Beatles, Cream, Stones — all filtered through that unmistakable Ozzy snarl. Critics called it weirdly wholesome, fans called it “dad rock for the undead.”

🎤 Wolfmother’s big, hairy debut
Australia’s retro-rock revival roared with Wolfmother’s self-titled album — part Zeppelin worship, part thunderous festival fuel. Woman and Joker & the Thief tore up Triple J, every ad and half the movie trailers for the next decade. Hair, riffs, chaos — peak 2005.

📺 MTV’s petty revenge era
Jackass alum Ryan Dunn debuted Homewrecker — a show where wronged roommates got to destroy and redecorate their enemies’ bedrooms. Think Pimp My Ride meets Mean Girls. It was cruel, hilarious and oh-so-MTV. Justice, but make it petty.

📖 The wheel keeps turning
Robert Jordan dropped Knife of Dreams, the 11th entry in his endless fantasy saga The Wheel of Time. Fans devoured the drama, complained about the endless bosom descriptions and still begged for more. Spoiler: there would indeed be more. Many more.

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