The comic isn't just the best thing to hit Comedy Central since Trey Parker and Matt Stone went to elementary school art class. He's also a king-maker. He coined the phrase "I'm Rick James, bitch!" and the funkateer's stock soared, and Lil Jon's guest spot is the reason why even your grandmother knows what "crunk juice" is. He even got the Fugees back together for a block party. Could Chappelle be the most powerful man in show biz?

To be hit by one hurricane is unfortunate. Being hit by four should make you seriously think about moving somewhere safer - like Idaho. Florida residents also thought about investing in rowboats after suffering through an unusually destructive storm season. Folks living in Alabama, Louisiana and Haiti didn't fare well, either. Mother Nature's wrath ended up costing the U.S. a pretty penny - somewhere around $26 billion in Florida alone.

They call him the Renaissance Man. He invented the helicopter and painted everything from the Mona Lisa to those two cherubs you see smiling on the wall of Italian restaurants. But it took Dan Brown's bestselling book, 'The Da Vinci Code' to explain that the overly-gifted Florentine genius was littering his works with clues to a vast conspiracy involving Jesus' offspring. It may be utter hogwash, but it made for breathless reading.

You've probably already forgotten this year's string of American Idol winners, but everyone remembers William Hung: the vocally challenged University of California student even left Simon Cowell speechless. Turning Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" into a nerd anthem, the singer parlayed his 15 minutes of fame into a two-album career. Look for 'Hung for the Holidays' in your local record store's bargain bin sometime in the next three weeks.

The once-glorious capital of Hellenic civilization was the butt of many a joke in the prelude to the Summer Olympics. Naysayers claimed its under-construction stadiums wouldn't be ready in time, and just before the big bash began a terrorist bombing added fresh anxiety to security fears. But the Greeks pulled it out of the fire! Barring the usual doping scandals and Pete Hamm's Gold Medal brouhaha, the 2004 games were trouble-free and must-see. For a brief moment, Athens was once again center of the world.

Can it only be six years since this cherubic starlet debuted in The Parent Trap? Lohan lost no time in growing up. The curves she showed off in Mean Girls led to whispers of surgical enhancement. Then Hillary Duff recorded a single, "Haters," about her film nemesis. Lohan and her clubbing ways earned more coverage than cosmopolitans and mojitos. No wonder she was left singing "Why don't they just let me live?" in that new video.

Poor Michael Moore. When Disney decided not to distribute his Bush-bashing Fahrenheit 9/11, all looked lost. Then his pals the Weinsteins rode to the rescue. The pear-shaped gadfly from Flint became so ubiquitous during this election season he even showed up on The O'Reilly Factor, boasting that whenever his name was taken in vain at the Republican Convention, the smear would make him another $10 million at the box office.

This carpenter from Galilee became Hollywood's most unlikely star when Mel Gibson turned his last 24 hours into a snuff film. Congregations turned out in force to peep the gore of his wounds and see what all the media fuss was about. Despite his sticky end, the Son of God has enjoyed a lucrative afterlife. The Passion of the Christ made $370 million, and every hipster worthy of their bed-head bought a "Jesus is My Homeboy" T-shirt. Now how about this guy Mohammad?

Never shy of publicity, the famed developer became a reality TV star with The Apprentice, and "you're fired" was the catchphrase for everyone who spends more time at work reading blogs than doing what they're paid to do. Trump's board meetings, where he ceremoniously axed the weakest link in a team of unbearable wannabes, became more legendary than his hair. Then he showed his true entrepreneurial skill by spinning his notoriety into board games, books, and magazine covers

The Southern singer with a voice so silken you could make love on it had spent years in the spotlight. But his split with TLC's Chilli inspired his greatest work, Confessions. Ubiquitous crunk star Lil' Jon hitched a ride on the red-hot single "Yeah!" but the disc's real juice was how its chronicling of Usher's infidelity in ballad after ballad. Confessions was a must-own for anybody who has ever had an ex heave the entire China cabinet at them.