20 Famous Things That Quietly Went Away Without Anyone Noticing
War reporter and Journalist/ Author Janine di Giovanni, once said, human memory is short and fickle. Indeed, life is long and incredibly fast with a myriad of things happenings all the time. Is it any wonder that we tend to live through moments or episodes that seem incredibly important at the time and then a few months later as life moves forward, we all seem to collectively forget that incident ever occurred.
Case in point, just look at the past 2 and a half years. Every month something seemed to happen, there were in fact memes covering it, but do you recall all the events that took place? So, when a web user posed a question on reddit asking folks ‘What quietly went away without anyone noticing?’ as you can imagine the answers came pouring in. We’ve scoured the responses to find the most shocking revelations that truly, even we have to admit, were surprisingly, forgotten by the masses. Run through them below and see how many incidents you recall forgetting.
#1 The Panama Papers
Image source: AnkurTri27, Pixabay
Panama papers
another user added:
They actually still have impact to this very day, and lots of people noticed!
But as a summary, here are some things that happened:
After mass protests, the Prime Minister of Iceland was forced to resign, along with many other members of the ruling party.
After mass protests, the President of Pakistan was forced to resign, along with many other members of the ruling party.
Worldwide, hundreds of people – many rich and powerful – were arrested. Billions in stolen assets were returned to the people.
82 countries changed their laws to crack down on the wealth hoarding the papers revealed.
#2 The American Chestnut Tree
Image source: Verybaddentist, BobMacInnes
The American Chestnut Tree.
We sing “chestnuts roasting over an open fire” every year and yet never question why we have no chestnuts.
All the chestnut trees are dead is why, you see.
#3 Water Beds
Image source: valthonis_surion, Hans Peters / Anefo
Water beds.
another user added:
Used to have one. Nothing like forgetting to turn on the heater an hour before bed in the middle of winter.
#4 Acid Rain
Image source: GurglingWaffle, Pratik Gupta
Acid Rain.
It was a huge environmental issue in the late 70s thru the early 90s. Rain was acidic and damaged fertile areas among other things.
In the US there was much research done and eventually industrial regulations were put into place. Companies were allowed to decide what approach they chose to take as long as the results showed the appropriate amount of reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions.
Unfortunately, positive news doesn’t sell, so news outlets did not do justice to reporting this success. As we went into the 2000s hardly anyone remembered what was done.
#5 Facebook Poke Wars
Image source: Hot_buttered_toast, Rodolpho Zanardo
#6 The Word “Cyberspace”
Image source: horschdhorschd, Cyber-Andi
#7 TV Image Shrinking To A Dot Before Slowly Fading Away
Image source: ConcreteCubeFarm, Nothing Ahead
When you turn off the TV, how the image would shrink to a dot before slowly fading away.
#8 Service Clubs
Image source: originalchaosinabox, Andrea Piacquadio
Service clubs. e.g. the Rotary, the Lions, the Shriners.
Oh, they’re still around. But a common complaint among them is they’ve got no members under 70 and no new members are lining up to get in.
EDIT: The #1 question seems to be, “What the hell are these, anyways?”
They’re social clubs with the primary objective to be doing projects to better the community. They might raise money to build a new playground, a new hospital, for scholarships, stuff like that.
They raise money for stuff.
#9 Self-Aware Politicians
Image source: Cuddlychip, Images for the Future
politicians feeling ashamed when theyre caught lying
#10 Ownership
Image source: jaxiti1264, Pew Nguyen
Ownership. We used to pay money and then the thing actually belonged to us. Now everything is rented or leased. Everything is sold “as a service”. Music as a service. Movies as a service. Software as a service. Even printer ink as a service.
We spend and spend and in the end we hold nothing in our hands.
edit: You can also subscribe to clothes. Wear new clothes every month but never own them. You can also subscribe to cars. Clothes as a service, cars as a service.
#11 Toys In Cereal Boxes
Image source: GuttMilton, Heather Paul
Actual toys in cereal boxes and cracker jack boxes.
#12 BlackBerry Phones
Image source: Sufficient_Rub2165, Aaron.huo
#13 The Sears Wishbook
Image source: UneditedReddited, eBay/foundonpei
#14 Deep-Voiced-Guy-Narrated Movie Trailers
Image source: jonathonkarate, Tima Miroshnichenko
Movie trailers with that deep voice guy doing the voice overs.
#15 Taco Bell’s Chihuahua Mascot
Image source: To_Fight_The_Night, The Hall of Advertising
Taco Bell used to have a chihuahua as their mascot. Little dude just disappeared one day and anyone born after 2000 probably doesn’t even know what I am talking about.
#16 3D TVs
Image source: SuvenPan, ETC@USC
#17 24-Hour Stores
Image source: anxiousfamily, Henri Bergius
I think people have noticed now but at the time, nobody noticed it was happening: 24 hour stores. I live in a major city and we don’t have a single 24 hour grocery store ever since the pandemic.
#18 Picture-In-Picture TVs
Image source: WhoDoesntLikeADonut, Lisa Stevens
Picture in Picture TVs
another user added:
I miss this. Playing Crash Bandicoot in the tiny corner of the screen while my mom watched General Hospital on the rest of the screen.
#19 Google+
Image source: JBAnswers26, https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-iphone-showing-social-networks-folder-607812/
#20 Thick Manuals Filled With Game Lore
Image source: nevorar960, yoppy
Buying a new game and having a thick chunky manual filled with game lore which you would read before playing and so heighten the anticipation of the game itself.
Got wisdom to pour?