Google's Guide To The Universe

By Sean Gregory Sunday, Dec. 21, 2003
    • The search engine keeps track of the Web queries that show the largest spike each month. A disease, a hot book and an even hotter videotape occupied our minds this year.

    JANUARY Joe Millionaire (Fox TV hit debuts)

    FEBRUARY NASA (the space shuttle Columbia blows up on Feb. 1)

    MARCH Al-Jazeera (Gulf War II starts)

    APRIL SARS (worldwide scare over the epidemic)

    MAY Matrix (Reloaded opens on May 15)

    JUNE Harry Potter (a new volume — at last — hits stores at midnight, June 21)

    JULY Tour de France (Lance again)

    AUGUST MSBlast (computer virus strikes on Aug. 11)

    SEPTEMBER Hurricane Isabel (rocks East Coast on Sept. 18)

    OCTOBER Halloween (scary stuff)

    NOVEMBER Paris Hilton (in the raw)

    DECEMBER Christmas (an old reliable is the year's No. 1 hit)