The year of 2024 had many memorable moments in the pop culture world. Some of these include the Hawk Tuah girl, the Orlando Baby, and the Brat Summer. While these are all very popular events, listed below are my top 10 pop culture moments of 2024. 

1. The engagement of the actors Tom Holland and Zendaya. We start off strong with the long awaited engagement of these two well liked celebrities. This surprise was not publicly announced until the Golden Globes on Jan. 5th, 2025. However, multiple sources, including People Magazine, Teen Vogue and Elle.com, claim Holland popped the question on Christmas Day while in one of Zendaya’s family homes in the United States. It is believed that the engagement was very minimalistic and romantic. Sources say that Zendaya could not be happier with the way that Holland proposed to her.
2. Wicked and Gladiator. This mashup between the blockbuster films Wicked and Gladiator, also known as the Barbenheimer of 2024. Although Wicked had more of a female audience, Gladiator made up for the lack of males in the theater because that film was where all of the men were. Both Wicked and Gladiator were released to theaters on Nov. 22, 2024. According to Newscentermaine.com, the Gladiator movie made 55.5 million dollars in its opening weekend and according to nbcuniversal.com, Wicked made 163 million dollars in its opening weekend. The two movies collectively made only 26 million dollars less than the combination of the amount of money Barbenheimer made in their opening weekend.
3. The Paris Olympics. On July 26, 2024 the United States of America started their competition against the rest of the world in the 2024 Paris Olympics. USOPC.org tells us that the USA won the Paris Olympics with 126 medals (40 golds, 44 silvers and 42 bronze medals). The USA’s closest competitor was China, however, they were still a grand 35 medals away from catching the United States.
4. Timothee Chalamet look-alike contest. Fourth, a Timothee Chalamet look alike contest took place in the Washington Square Park in New York City. According to the New York Times magazine, around 10,000 people showed up to watch the contest. Although the show up numbers were big, the grand prize was only 50 dollars. However, there was an unexpected guest that showed up to the challenge, the real Timothee Chalamet himself attended the contest for a laugh. AP news tells us that after the police shut down the show, Chalamet crashed the crowded event.
5. Luigi Mangione case. Luigi Mangione, who is a suspect in the case of the death of Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO. The New York Times shares that Mangione was arrested at a McDonalds in Altoona because a fellow customer recognized him. Mangione was found with the same gun that the killer was believed to use. One of the odd things about this case was how the police found a 262-word handwritten manifesto claiming that he was the shooter. The manifesto says that he saw the killing as a direct challenge to the health care industry’s “corruption” and “power games.” Mangione was accused of three cases of murder in Manhattan. These include a first degree murder count that labels him a terrorist and the other two being different counts of second-degree murder. The hearing for this case has now been delayed to mid- February.
6. The 2024 US election. The presidential election of 2024 was between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump won the election with over 2 million more votes than Kamala. Many thought that Trump was going to win the election easily. However, Kamala made Trump work hard to win this election.
7. Caitlin Clark being named the 2024 athlete of the year. According to USA today, Caitlin Clark is only the fourth women’s basketball player to ever receive that award. Caitlin led Iowa to the national championship and broke the NCAA Division 1 career scoring record during her college career. After being drafted by the Indiana Fever this past year, Clark helped lead the Fever to the postseason for the first time in eight seasons. She also helped lead the WNBA to must-see television, the Fever is scheduled to play 36 out of their 40 regular season games on national television.
8. The Eras Tour. The famous pop star Taylor Swift gives a tour across five different continents. While the tour ended on Dec 8, the past is something to marvel at. She performed in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America. Swift performed a total of 149 shows in some of the world’s biggest cities. Due to this tour, Swift cashed 2 billion dollars into her bank account. There is also an Eras Tour Book and more than 814,000 copies sold in its launch week. All 149 stadiums were sold out, meaning Swift made between 10 to 13 million dollars per concert.
9. Raygun. The widely growing popular Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn, also known as Raygun. Raygun competed in three rounds of breakdancing and she did lose all three. But what made her so popular was the skill and tactics she used in the competition, a mix of wacky, confusing and random movements. According to New York Times magazine, many Australians are very embarrassed by the actions and skills of Raygun. Some say that the more they watch the videos of her, the more they get annoyed. The Paris Olympics Games add that the breakdancing sport is to appeal to the younger audience. Since Raygun is 36 years old and wearing very different clothes than the other competitors, she no doubt stood out.
10. Glenn Powell. The widely known and appreciated Glen Powell, who starred in the new Twisters movie. Not only did he star in the Twisters movie in 2024 he also starred in The Blue Angels movie. Just from the Twisters movie Powell made very 1.5 million dollars and his net worth heading into 2025 is right around 7 million dollars. The Twisters movie made 370 million dollars.