Jan. 30: Kansas State beats Kansas in basketball 84-75 to snap the Jayhawks 24 straight win streak in Manhattan.

Feb. 12: The Writers Guild of America strike ends when executives agree to compensate writers.

April 7: The Kansas University basketball team wins its third NCAA Championship after defeating Memphis 75-68 in overtime.

May 2: Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Myanmar causing catastrophic destruction and at least 146,000 deaths, leaving thousands more people missing.

May 7: Dmitry Medvedev takes office as Russian president, replacing Vladimir Putin.

May 12: More than 69,000 people are killed in central southwest China by the Wenchuan earthquake.

July 18: The Dark Knight is released. It later becomes the highest grossing movie of the decade earning $533.3 million.
2. Shrek 2 $436.7 million
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest $423.3 million
4. Spider-Man $403.7 million
5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $402.1 million

Aug. 8: The XXIX Olympics open in Beijing despite allegations of human rights violations by the Chinese government. American Michael Phelps wins eight gold medals, breaking the previous record of American Mark Spitz in 1972.

Sept. 3: Vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin addresses her party at the Republican National Convention.

Sept. 14: Investment banking corporation Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy in one of the biggest bank failures in the United States since the Great Depression. Other banks follow soon after.

Oct: After a new rule prohibiting overnight in-school activities, the 9-year tradition of Sleep-in-a-Box is threatened. It was decided that, although the event could not be supported by the district, an outside organization could sponsor the fundraiser, and it could be held off-campus or in a rented Shawnee Mission facility.

Nov. 1: A 14-yr. state title streak is broken when the boys’ cross country team loses to the Lawrence Lions at state. Since 1991, the team has placed in the top three at state each year under the leadership of coach Van Rose. “This finish gave us a jolt of reality, because it showed us we weren’t invincible,” now junior Aaron Thornburg said. “It is like the saying goes, ‘You never know what you had until it’s gone.’”

Nov. 4: Barack Obama is elected the 44th president of the United States.