This week is B-A-N-A-N-A-S: planes, trains and Hollaback Girls

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Rewind to 24 to 30 April 2005 — where a massive plane took flight, Gwen taught us how to spell bananas and Japan's rail system suffered a shattering blow.

🚄 Speed kills in Amagasaki. Japan’s famously punctual trains derailed — literally — when a young driver trying to make up time crashed into an apartment block, killing 107. JR West’s obsession with being on time sparked a national reckoning on corporate pressure and safety.

🛫 The whale takes off.The Airbus A380 made its maiden voyage. A 4-engine, double-decker beast that could carry over 800 people and briefly made air travel feel like a cruise ship. Too big, too bold, and (eventually) too expensive to survive the low-cost airline era. RIP, sky king.

🐅 Tiger unleashed.Apple dropped Mac OS X Tiger, packed with game-changers like Spotlight and Dashboard. Automator made us feel like hackers and VoiceOver showed Apple meant business on accessibility. 200 features? Apple said so. We counted about 14. Still: iconic.

📣 B-A-N-A-N-A-S.Gwen Stefani clapped back at Courtney Love with a cheerleader chant for the ages. Hollaback Girl hit the charts and took over high school halls everywhere. You couldn’t escape it — not in gym class, not at prom and definitely not on your Motorola RAZR ringtone.

🎥 Nicole talks politics (in a Made-Up Language)The Interpreter hit cinemas with Nicole Kidman whispering in UN corridors and Sean Penn brooding nearby. High-stakes diplomacy, fictional African nations and the first film ever shot inside UN Headquarters? Peak mid-2000s prestige thriller vibes.

🐩 Fluff, fillets & flared nostrils.Showdog Moms & Dads premiered and it was barking mad. Homemade doga classes, filet mignon for pups and a dog psychic. Bravo let the leashes off and we never looked at poodles the same way again.

📚 No place like home… or jail.Mary Higgins Clarke’s latest potboiler had murder, secrets and a three-time bride who may or may not have shot her mum. One-star reviewers were not kind.

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