Schapelle’s boogie board bombshell and Star Wars’ darkest chapter

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Rewind to 22 May to 28 May 2005 — the boogie board that broke Australia made headlines, Carrie Underwood hit her high note and Darth Vader finally got his glow-up.

🧳 Schapelle sentenced.The verdict that divided the country. Schapelle Corby was found guilty of smuggling 4.1kg of weed into Bali, sentenced to 20 years and instantly became a tabloid obsession. Whether you believed she was framed or just very chill about oversized bags, one thing's for sure — that boogie board became the most famous in Australian history.

🎤 Carrie wins idol.With a side part, a dream and a set of lungs that could level a small town, Carrie Underwood crushed Season 4 of American Idol. She beat Bo Bice, made “Alone” her own, and instantly became the future of country-pop — orange cheetah-print dress and all.

🛸 Revenge of the sith hits hard.Anakin snapped, Padmé sobbed and Obi-Wan got the high ground. Revenge of the Sith hit #1 at the box office and gave us the dark, tragic, lava-drenched climax the prequels had been teasing for years. The memes were born instantly. The heartbreak? Eternal.

🎮 Xbox 360 revealed.Forget Elijah Wood’s hair — the real star of the MTV special was Microsoft’s sleek new console. Wireless controllers! Custom faceplates! Xbox Live Marketplace! This was the start of HD gaming as we knew it — and the beginning of every broken TV blamed on Call of Duty rage.

🕰️ Big Ben stops.For 90 whole minutes, the UK’s most punctual icon took a mystery nap. Big Ben froze mid-chime, baffled engineers and became metaphor fuel for politicians, astrologers and Mercury retrograde girlies alike.

🏉 Crusaders crush Waratahs.In the last-ever Super 12 final, the Crusaders flexed hard. Richie McCaw was a machine, Dan Carter was unstoppable, and the Waratahs had no answers. It was fast, brutal, and the perfect full stop before Super Rugby expanded and got weirder.

💿 Audioslave drops new album.Chris Cornell and the Rage guys got a little softer (but no less powerful) on Out of Exile. Less rage, more reflection — and yes, “Be Yourself” is still a banger two decades later.

📚 Books we didn’t read.James Patterson dropped 4th of July, another Women’s Murder Club thriller, featuring courtroom drama, serial killers, and a sheep-herding dog named Martha — who most reviewers agreed was the best character.

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