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Five Memes That Made the 2010s

Written by Lon Cohen  |  31. December 2019

As the decade closes we tend to look back on the last 10 years and list all of the cultural events that defined the era. What better way to relive the past ten years than through the most popular memes and dances that Long Islanders took part of. Walk with us down meme-ory lane and revisit some oldies but goodies.

 

Brian Poulos, who took the Ice Bucket Challenge every day for a month. Photo: The ALS Association Greater New York Chapter.

 

1. The Ice Bucket Challenge, 2014 - This one was for a good cause so we think it’s tops. Millions of people took part in the Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014 and raised many more millions of dollars for the cause and raised awareness of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The benefits of this viral phenomenon are still paying dividends in new research. A Long Island man took the Ice Bucket Challenge everyday in a different location for his dad. Watch one he did one with Quackerjack of the Long Island Ducks.

 

Photo: Image capture of the Long Island Aquarium Harlem Shake video from YouTube.

 

2. Harlem Shake, 2013 - It seems like everyone wanted to do the Harlem Shake in 2013. It was fun and surprising and pretty easy to do. Just dance crazily dressed up even more crazily. Good old fashioned internet fun. Even the Long Island Aquarium got into the act. Watch their video.

 

Photo: Paramount Facebook Video still.

 

3. The Mannequin Challenge, 2016 - Challenges became all the rage after the Ice Bucket Challenge. This one was a little bit tougher. People had to freeze in place usually in elaborate or outlandish poses as a camera panned around the room making it look like everyone was, well, a mannequin. Scott Stapp, lead singer of the rock group Creed, came to The Paramount in Huntington and did the challenge with a crowd full of fans. Watch the video here.

 

4. Planking, 2011 - Lie facedown on the floor and make yourself very stiff like a plank of wood. Sometimes in very interesting places. That’s about the extent of this challenge. People did it. For a while.

 

Mariah Carey takes the bottle cap challenge. Photo: Instagram video still.

 

5. Bottle Cap Challenge, 2019 - This is probably the highest on the difficulty meme meter. This idea is to use a roundhouse kicking technique to graze a bottle cap on a bottle so that oit spins off. Yeah, kinda hard. Well, Long Island’s own Mariah Carey put her own spin on the viral challenge using her vocal jiu jitsu to spin the cap off which she posted on Instagram. Watch the video here.

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