On this day, four years ago, the number-one song in America was “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran. The song was simultaneously released with “Castle,” another leading single to his then-upcoming album, ÷ . However, “Shape of You” would be the most successful song of 2017, topping the charts for eleven weeks from February through April. In the United Kingdom, the single consequently became the best-selling song of the decade. A little less than two years later, “Shape of You” would become the first song on Spotify to surpass two streams. As the 2010s came to a close, numerous charts highly ranked this song as one of the most successful of the decade.
If one were to visit a movie theatre back then, they could view the acclaimed 2016 psychological horror film, Split. At the time, it was the most popular movie in cinemas. The film serves as a standalone sequel to Unbreakable, a 2000 superhero thriller. Acclaimed film director, M. Night Shyamalan directed both features; Split in particular was his first sequel. In addition, it was also the first ever original super-villain origin story to be presented to theatres.
In the world of politics, meanwhile, tensions were slowly arising between political parties. The newly elected President Trump signed an executive order on the 27th, declaring the abolition of entry for refugees of the Syrian Civil War, into the United States. This proclamation came just a little over a year after Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.” This came after two major terrorist attacks, the first in Paris, the second in San Bernardino, CA. The Muslim ban additionally stipulated that any natives of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen were banned from entry for ninety days, regardless of visa status. Despite being challenged in the courts, and being internationally condemned, the order would be upheld until President Biden revoked the issue on January 20th, 2021.
Finally, the music video for Luis Fonsi’s Despacito was released on YouTube. Despacito would go on to become one of the highest viewed videos online. The official music video on YouTube would shortly topple Psy’s Gangnam Style as the most-viewed video on the platform. Despacito would hold onto this honor until well over three years later, when in November 2020, the official music video for Baby Shark would take over as the highest-viewed video.
Writers: Micah Borrelli & Lucas Hydock
Miners Pub 