July 11, 2004

A Big Mac cost $2.90 that summer of 2004, and the Dow Jones sat at 10,783 — with the war in Iraq dominating the national conversation as the Senate prepared a report examining how intelligence had been used to justify the invasion. On movie screens, "Spider-Man 2" was the summer's dominant blockbuster, while on television, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" remained the most-watched show in the country, drawing tens of millions of viewers each week. That August, the Summer Olympics came to Athens, Greece, where American athletes brought home 36 gold, 39 silver, and 26 bronze medals, finishing the Games with 101 total — one of the strongest performances the US had turned in on the international stage in years.