• Thousands of people died this year in wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.
• Climate scientists say these events will become even more severe as global temperatures keep rising.
• Some of this year's natural disasters set records based on the number of deaths and other factors like wind speed and amount of rainfall.

Natural disasters devastated communities around the world in 2018, killing thousands of people and inflicting billions of dollars in damage. 

In September, at least 1,900 people died in Indonesia after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake and a subsequent tsunami with waves as high as 20 feet. The following month, Hurricane Michael, the strongest storm to hit the United States in 50 years, devastated North and South Carolina and killed dozens of people. Some of the worst fires in US history hit California shortly afterward, melting cars, reducing bodies to bone, and wiping out an entire town.

Much of the record-breaking devastation was caused by elevated temperatures on land and at sea. In a warming world, climate scientists say these disasters will only continue to become more severe. 

Here are some of the year's worst natural disasters.

In October, Hurricane Michael became the strongest storm to ever hit the Florida Panhandle. It has since been linked to 60 deaths.

Hurricane Michael, which had sustained winds of 155 mph, is also the strongest hurricane to hit the continental US during the month of October. No other Category 4 storm has ever hit the Panhandle area.

Nationwide, Hurricane Michael was the third-strongest ever, behind only Hurricane Camille and the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. The latest hurricane left a wake of destruction in Florida, destroying entire rows of homes in the seaside town of Mexico Beach.

Mexico Beach, a small seaside town, was one of the hardest-hit areas. About 285 of the town's roughly 1,000 residents stayed behind during the hurricane.

The Camp Fire, which began on November 8, was the deadliest and most destructive fire in California's history. At least 88 people were killed in the blaze.

The Camp Fireburned through 153,000 acres in and around Paradise, a town in northern California. It burned an area five times the size of San Francisco.

More than 13,900 homes and 500 businesses were destroyed in the Camp Fire, along with more than 4,200 other buildings. It was the most destructive wildfire in state history based on structures lost.

Read more:A Walmart parking lot in California has become a camp for wildfire evacuees

• INSIDER conducted a survey on viewers' favorite shows currently airing on TV by asking them to list their top five. 
• One question also asked was about the viewers' political affiliation. 
• From those results, we determined which were the most politically divisive shows on TV.

Though television shows may not actively lean in any one political direction, some tend to appeal more to one side of the political spectrum.

INSIDER conducted a survey and asked viewers to list their five favorite shows currently on TV. We also asked for political affiliations. 

After breaking down the numbers and responses from participants who indicated they were moderately to strongly conservative or moderately to strongly liberal, INSIDER found which shows held the biggest divide between those groups. We excluded responses from those who said they fell into the middle range for political affiliation.

Here are the top 27 most divisive shows currently on TV. 

SurveyMonkey Audience polls from a national sample balanced by census data of age and gender. Respondents are incentivized to complete surveys through charitable contributions. Generally speaking, digital polling tends to skew toward people with access to the internet. SurveyMonkey Audience doesn't try to weight its sample based on race or income. Total 1,217 respondents, margin of error 3% with 95% confidence level, poll ran November 16 to 17.

"Last Man Standing" (Fox)

Liberal: 0%

Conservative: 65%

Difference: 65%

"Last Man Standing" was canceled by ABC in 2016 after six seasons, but was picked up by Fox in 2018. Tim Allen plays a politically conservative family man who works as the marketing director for an outdoor sports store. Some other members of his family, including his wife, are more liberal. 

"SEAL Team" (CBS)

Liberal: 0%

Conservative: 65%

Difference: 65%

The series centers on an elite unit of the Navy SEALS as they train and complete missions.

"The Good Place" (NBC)

Liberal: 59%

Conservative: 6%

Difference: 53%

Four humans find themselves discovering what it means to be good when they learn from a a demon and a programmed guide that there's a point system that determines a person's fate in the afterlife. 

• "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" arrives on the Nintendo Switch Friday, December 7th.
• The game will feature more than 70 playable characters and 100 stages, making it the biggest Smash game ever.
• Early reviews are praising "Smash Bros. Ultimate" for its huge amount of customizable content and its mix of casual fun and surprisingly deep gameplay mechanics.

Reviews of "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" have started to trickle out on the eve of the game's release, and critics are raving about Smash's first appearance on the Nintendo Switch. "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" is easily the most anticipated Switch game of the year; a multiplayer fighting game that seems ideal for Nintendo's portable console. 

"Ultimate" brings back every playable fighter from the previous Smash Bros. titles, boasting a roster of more than 70 characters in total with more than 100 stages to battle across. The game features a wide variety of single-player and multiplayer modes too, compiling a massive amount of content in the standard $60 package.

Critics have also celebrated the game's attention to detail, which pays respects to Nintendo's storied game franchises while also prioritizing quality-of-life improvements for the dedicated Smash Bros. fanbase.

Here are a few standout snippets of "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" reviews from The Verge, Polygon, Kotaku, CNET and NintendoLife

SEE ALSO: 'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate' is less than a week away and features more than 70 characters — here they all are

SEE ALSO: The major improvements to online play in 'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate' might be worth the price of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription

On Super Smash Bros. coming to the Switch

CNET: "The 2014 3DS version was a watered-down experience. This is the real deal. I've been playing SSBU during in-between moments in my day, and it's everything I've ever wanted. On Saturday, I found myself waiting at an art gallery for two hours, wishing I'd brought my Switch the whole time."

The Verge: "This isn’t Smash squeezed onto a smaller device, it’s the full version of the game that you can take with you pretty much anywhere ... Carrying a Switch around in your bag now means there’s always a possible impromptu "Smash" battle on the horizon."

The ability to customize your matches

Kotaku: "Players can design highly customizable presets for their preferred play mode, so the default mode after hitting “Smash” is no longer always a timed mode. If you’re like me, and you prefer to play in a stock mode with no items, you won’t have to rejigger the game’s settings every damn game anymore."

NintendoLife:"You’re encouraged to play the game however you want to, and adjust even the most trivial features to your heart’s content."

Polygon:"The ability to name and save each custom rule set has allowed me to swap between multiplayer flavors with the toggle of a single menu setting."

Thoughts on World of Light, the game's single-player adventure mode

CNET: "The World of Light board is massive -- after a week of playing, I'm still finding areas that I haven't been to yet."

Polygon:"The whole mode has much more complexity than I originally expected from a Nintendo title ... World of Light offered me a palate-cleansing grinding experience unlike anything in previous Smash games, where number crunching mattered as much as my fighting skill."

The Verge: "The battles are all quite different, but what they share in common is that they’re all fairly bite-sized challenges. Most only take a minute or two to complete. This makes it a natural fit for the Switch, where you can knock out a challenge (or a few) whenever you get a spare moment."

Nintendo Life: "The variety in these fights is staggering, and practically all of them are insanely good fun and a novel way to breathe additional life into battles."

Kotaku:"World of Light feels like a forced march through a Nintendo product catalog. It failed to elicit an iota of nostalgia in me. Mostly, I was frustrated."

• The winners of the 2018 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year contest have just been announced.
• This year, the grand prize went to a shot of thousands of recalled Volkswagen and Audi cars sitting idle in the Mojave Desert in California.
• The winner, US flight instructor Jassen Todorov, said he hoped the image would encourage people to "become more conscious and more caring for our beautiful planet."
• Millions of cars were recalled by Volkswagen in 2015 after it emerged that software in the company's cars was juicing the numbers on diesel emissions.
• Scroll down to see the rest of the winners across three categories: Places, Wildlife, and People.

The grand-prize winner of the 2018 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year contest has just been announced, and the photo is a haunting reminder of humanity's impact on the natural environment.

Titled "Unreal," American Jassen Todorov's shot captures thousands of recalled Volkswagen and Audi cars sitting idle in the Mojave Desert in California.

His photo beat out nearly 10,000 entries to claim the grand prize, earning him $5,000.

Todorov, who is a concert violinist and flight instructor, said he hoped the winning shot would serve as encouragement to us all to "become more conscious and more caring for our beautiful planet."

Millions of cars were recalled by Volkswagen in 2015 after it emerged that software in the company's cars was juicing the numbers on diesel emissions.

Meanwhile, winners, runners-up, and honourable mentions were also named across Places, Wildlife, and People categories.

Scroll down to check out the 10 finalists.

Grand Prize Winner and Places category winner: 'Unreal' by Jassen Todorov

Runner-up, Places: 'Thunderbird in the Dust' by Nicholas Moir

Third place, Places: 'Road to Ruin' by Christian Werner

President Donald Trump has had deep business ties to the Saudi Arabian court for more than two decades. 

And those ties have been called into question over his lack of a tough response to Riyadh since journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared and was possibly killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. 

"Having a President with global business ties means we've got ongoing worries that policy is going to be affected by his business interests," Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, which tracks potential conflicts of interest in the Trump administraition, recently told CNN.

"We know that historically the Saudis have spent huge money on Trump properties and we know that since he became a candidate and was elected they have targeted discretionary spending at his hotels," Weissman added. 

Here are some of Trump's ties to Saudi Arabia. 

SEE ALSO: The meteoric rise of Saudi's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is now suspected of ordering the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

In 1991, Trump sold his 282-foot yacht named "The Trump Princess" to a Saudi billionaire for $20 million.

At the time, Trump was almost bankrupt and looking to make some fast cash, reportedly selling the yacht to Prince Alwaleed bin-Talal for one third less than he paid for it. 

In 1995, Trump also sold New York City's Plaza Hotel to Alwaleed and Singaporean investors for $325 million. In turn, they sold it nearly a decade later for $675 million. In July, Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding Company re-purchased the Plaza along with a New York-based firm.  

In November 2017, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, launched a supposed anti-corruption purge largely seen as a consolidation of his power, arresting several Saudi princes and business leaders. 

Alwaleed was one of those MBS had detained, forced to stay at Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton for 83 days. You can read more about that here. 

In 2001, Trump sold the 45th floor of Trump World Tower to the Saudi court for $4.5 million. In 2008, the floor became part of the Saudi mission to the United Nations.

The New York Daily News revealed the sale in September 2016 after Trump had attacked Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail for the Clinton Foundation accepting money from Saudi Arabia.

"Crooked Hillary says we must call on Saudi Arabia and other countries to stop funding hate," Trump wrote on Facebook in June 2016. "I am calling on her to immediately return the $25 million plus she got from them for the Clinton Foundation!"

But earlier, at a 2015 rally in Alabama, Trump had said: "Saudi Arabia — and I get along great with all of them. They buy apartments from me.

After announcing his presidential candidacy, Trump incorporated several companies with names indicating that they may do business in Saudi Arabia, such as "THC Jeddah Hotel Advisor LLC." Jeddah is the second largest city in Saudi Arabia.

After he was elected, Trump's company, the Trump Organization, announced that it had shut down those companies. 

Source: Buzzfeed News, CBS

• From NBC's "This is Us" to Netflix's "The Handmaid's Tale," 2018 was a big year in television. 
• The series finale of "Orange is the New Black" brought hot-button issues to the small screen while the series finale of "The Americans" had viewers on the edge of their seats. 
• "Saturday Night Live" had one of its funniest sketches and Paul McCartney appeared on "Carpool Karaoke."

Television has long been regarded as an outlet to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Whether your vice is crying over the latest episode of "This is Us" or laughing hysterically to the newest "Saturday Night Live" skit, there are a plethora of shows for everyone.

Some shows pushed the envelope more than others this year capturing the audience's attention with every minute that passed. 

Here are 10 of the most shocking moments from your favorite television shows in 2018.

Warning: Ahead are spoilers for 10 popular TV shows. 

Viewers said their final goodbye to Roseanne Conner this year.

After a racist tweet landed Roseanne Barr in some hot water in May 2018, ABC's revival of her hit show "Roseanne" was swiftly canceled.

The following month, the network announced they'd be bringing back "The Conners," a spin-off following the family sans its matriarch.

ABC addressed Roseanne's absence on the series premiere of "The Conners," the family found out she had died of an opioid overdose, which isn't a huge shift from her fictitious backstory since the Roseanne had struggled with a drug addiction in the past.

Paul McCartney and James Corden took a trip down memory lane.

Late night host James Corden's "Carpool Karaoke" segment is one of the most heartwarming things on TV. Singers "help" Corden catch a ride to work, all while sitting shotgun belting out their signature hits.

This summer, Corden tapped former Beatle Paul McCartney for his latest jaunt, and the broadcast could not have been more delightful. The two journeyed to Liverpool, UK, pointing out iconic spots in the quartet's rise to global dominance, including McCartney's childhood home where he and fellow bandmate John Lennon wrote "She Loves You."

Teddy Perkins made his "Atlanta" debut.

FX's "Atlanta" is one of the most critically acclaimed shows on air, it even earned creator Donald Glover a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy TV Series. Glover penned the hour-long episode and subsequently wore whiteface to play the Perkins, an erratic homeowner and piano salesman with murderous tendencies who comes to haunt series regular Darius (Lakeith Stanfield).

Even in you've never sat down to watch an episode of this hit show, this particular installment showcases why Glover is regarded as one of the most creative minds on TV today.

• Netflix has been releasing lots of original content this year.
• "13 Reasons Why" was the most watched Netflix show of 2018.
• Other shows include "Insatiable", "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" and "Elite."

As 2018 comes to a close, it's time to take stock of not only what TV shows critics took a shine to, but also which ones drew the most viewers. While some of the most-streamed shows on Netflix this year weren't exactly surprising — promising new shows "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" and "Elite" made the top 20 — some of the picks on the list don't match up with critics' reviews.

"Insatiable," for example, cleared the top 10 most-streamed shows of the year despite backlash, and "13 Reasons Why" scored the number one slot despite (or perhaps because of) its controversial subject matter.

According to TV Time, these are the top 20 most-viewed Netflix shows of 2018.

"A Series of Unfortunate Events."

In the second season of the show, things get more unfortunate than ever for the Baudelaire children. They must endure an unpleasant prep school, Count Olaf-as-a-gym-teacher, a pit of hungry lions, and more.

"Cable Girls."

This show follows four young women with jobs at Spain's first national telephone company, who pursue their dreams and seek increasing independence in a quickly-changing society. There are now three seasons on the streaming platform.

"Marvel's Luke Cage."

"Luke Cage" was canceled by Netflix after a second season. The show follows a man with superhuman strength who must fight for Harlem and revisit his difficult past.

• The nominations for the 2019 Golden Globes were announced Thursday morning. 
• Many were shocked to see Emmy-winning shows like "Atlanta" and "The Handmaid's Tale" left off the list. 
• Fan-favorite films like "First Man" and "Eighth Grade" were also missing from the nominations list. 

The 2019 Golden Globe Awards nominations were announced Thursday morning. Although the list includes some much-deserved names, there were also some critically-praised series, films, and actors missing. 

The 76th annual awards show will air from the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 6 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PST on NBC. It will be hosted by Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg.

Keep reading to see all the snubs. 

The award-winning FX series “Atlanta” was missing from the list.

Many were shocked that Donald Glover’s comedy was left off the Golden Globes list, especially since it took home best TV series for a musical or comedy at last year’s award show. The critically-acclaimed series also won outstanding comedy series at the 2018 Emmys, making its absence an even bigger shock.

The saving grace is that Glover was nominated for best performance by an actor in a television series – musical or comedy.

Netflix's "GLOW" was also left out of the best comedy or musical TV category.

Starring Alison Brie, the Netflix series about female wrestlers has received a lot of critical praise and even earned a 2018 Emmy nomination. Many were expecting to see it make the 2019 Golden Globes nomination list.

Viola Davis, at the least, should have been nominated for "Widows."

We can understand the action thriller not receiving a best picture nod, but at least recognize one of the stand-out performances of the year from Davis.

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

• High-quality Bundt pans are easy to maneuver, bake evenly, produce attractive cakes, release your baked goods effortlessly, and are a snap to clean up.
• The Wilton Perfect Results Non-Stick Fluted Tube Pan is our top pick because it’s inexpensive, lightweight, and has easy-to-grip handles.

There is no single recipe used to make a Bundt cake. Rather, the term refers to the shape of the cake, which generally has ridges or grooves and a cylindrical hole in the middle. Though the cake has been around for centuries, it didn’t get its “Bundt” moniker until Nordic Ware trademarked it in 1950 to describe its new line of pans.

Today, there are dozens of companies selling their own Bundt pans, only you will often see these pans referred to as “fluted tube pans” to avoid potentially infringing on the trademark. Nordic Ware continues to be the most popular brand thanks to its selection of countless designs.

Bundt pans are used for a variety of purposes, including molding frozen desserts and gelatins and baking festive breads. For this guide, though, we are going to focus on which pans are best for crafting cakes.

Using a Bundt pan to bake cakes is quite simple. First, you use a baking spray or shortening to grease the pan — use pastry a brush to get into all of the crevices. Slowly add the batter — any cake batter will do — to the pan. Once it’s all in, tap the pan a few times to get the air bubbles out. For even baking, spread the batter so it’s higher on the sides than the center.

Once the cake is ready, remove it from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Tap the pan a few times and invert it over a cooling rack to let the cake slide out and cool completely.

A good Bundt pan must produce cakes that are attractive to look at. There are two factors that play into this. First, the shape of the actual pan will give you a good idea of what your baked goods will look like. The designs range from your classic symmetrical round pan with ridges to incredibly intricate grooves for catching glazes. The other factor to consider is the product’s tint. Typically, the darker the pan, the darker your cake will be. So, you will likely want a pan that is lighter in color.

Several different materials are used to make Bundt pans: silicone, ceramic, glass, and an array of metals. We only included aluminum and steel pans in our guide because silicone is floppy and fails to brown correctly and glass and ceramic do not conduct heat well. A heavy-duty aluminum or steel pan with a nonstick surface will cook your cake evenly and give it a nice even browning.

While researching the best Bundt pans, we read through hundreds of expert and buyer reviews and ratings of dozens of models. Our guide features pans that have a track record of ease of use, performance, and durability.

Here are the best Bundt pans you can buy:

• Best Bundt pan overall: Wilton Perfect Results Non-Stick Fluted Tube Pan
• Best affordable Bundt pan: Cuisinart Chef's Classic Nonstick Bakeware Fluted Cake Pan
  
• Best high-end Bundt pan: Nordic Ware Jubilee Bundt Pan
  
• Best big Bundt pan: Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Anniversary Bundt Pan
  
• Best easy-grip Bundt pan: Anolon Advanced Nonstick Bakeware Fluted Mold Pan
  

Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.

The best Bundt pan overall

Why you’ll love it: Thanks to its nonstick surface and easy-grip handles, the Wilton Perfect Results Non-Stick Fluted Tube Pan makes baking Bundt cakes a pleasant experience.

The Wilton Perfect Results Non-Stick Fluted Tube Panfeatures a nonstick surface and is made of steel so it bakes evenly, releases your food effortlessly, and is easy to clean. This container is dishwasher safe, though Wilton recommends washing by hand.

It produces cakes that are approximately 9.25 inches in diameter and 3.37 inches high so they are slightly smaller than your usually Bundt cake. Wilton backs the quality of this pan with a 10-year limited warranty.

Cook’s Illustrated gave the Wilton Perfect Results Fluted Tube Pan high marks because the handles are easy to grab thanks to built-in ridges. The reviewer also gave this pan the highest rating for ease of use and release. However, the writer did note that the shallowness of the cake fluting led to a less impressive-looking finished product.

Kitchen Byte recommends this Wilton pan because of its low price and 10-year guarantee, but the reviewer found the metal to be somewhat thin and didn’t trust it in the dishwasher.

About 89% of the people who reviewed the Wilton Perfect Results Non-Stick Fluted Tube Pan on Amazon gave it five stars. Buyers had an easy time maneuvering this lightweight pan, and since there are no deep grooves, it’s easy to clean. There are also several comments about how easily the pan releases cake after baking.

One buyer tested out the pan and found it held 10 cups of water. She didn’t recommend putting that much batter in, though, because it would overflow as it expanded during cooking. She suggests putting a catch pan underneath if you’re concerned about overflow.

Pros: Lightweight, easy to maneuver, excellent nonstick surface for quick release and effortless cleanup

Cons: Small, concerns about durability

Buy the Wilton Perfect Results Non-Stick Fluted Tube Pan on Amazon for $11.99

The best affordable Bundt pan

Why you’ll love it: If you are interested in trying to make Bundt cakes, the Cuisinart Chef's Classic Nonstick Bakeware Fluted Cake Pan is a durable and affordable option that is ideal for beginners.

The Cuisinart Chef's Classic Nonstick Bakeware Fluted Cake Pan is made of a heavy-gauge aluminized steel that is designed to bake evenly. Food releases easily thanks to the nonstick Whitford Xylan coating. To prevent warping, the edges are extra-thick rolled.

You can even pop this pan into the dishwasher for easy cleaning. Cuisinart offers a quality promise of great performance for a lifetime.

Food & Wine recommends the Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Nonstick Bakeware Fluted Cake Pan because the cake it produced was browned uniformly, cooked all the way through, and there was no crumbling or cracking as the reviewer slid the cake neatly from the pan. However, she was not impressed with the appearance of the cake’s “under-defined” ridges and curves. 

Approximately 87% of the Amazon reviews of the Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Nonstick Bakeware Fluted Cake Pan are positive. The most common comment from buyers is that they are surprised by how heavy duty the pan is. Durability is one of the biggest pros.

One reviewer purchased this pan to make pineapple upside-down cake. He has made several now, and each has turned out terrific.

Pros: Affordable, durable construction, cooks cake evenly, lifetime warranty

Cons: Produces cakes with an unimpressive appearance

Buy the Cuisinart Chef's Classic Nonstick Bakeware Fluted Cake Pan on Amazon for $12.95

The best high-end Bundt pan

Why you’ll love it: The Nordic Ware Jubilee Bundt Pan is an excellent tool for creating breathtakingly beautiful cakes that also taste great.

It only makes sense that the company that invented Bundt cake pans would have the most attractive collection to choose from. Nordic Ware has developed dozens of different pans featuring intricate designs, including pine forest, Star of David, fleur-de-lis, and more. Check out the entire selection here.

The Nordic Ware Jubilee Bundt Pan is one of the best. It’s made of cast aluminum, which is ideal for even baking. The pockets in the resulting cake are great for catching glazes, and the diamond pattern has hidden hearts in its design. As with all of its Bundt pans, Nordic Ware makes this pan in the United States and backs it with a lifetime warranty.

Good Housekeeping recommends the Nordic Ware Jubilee Bundt Pan because it bakes cakes evenly and quickly, the resulting cake is easy to remove from the pan, and the texture is excellent. The reviewer tested the pan by baking a store-bought cake mix. The testers were impressed with the crisp, thin crust and the moist crumb. They didn’t like that it isn’t dishwasher safe, but it was easy enough to wash by hand thanks to the nonstick finish.

Baking Bites, Club 10 Reviews, and Epicurious also recommend this pan, and buyers seem to love it, too. There are currently more than 300 reviews of the Nordic Ware Jubilee Bundt Pan on Amazon, and all but 11 of them give it four or five stars.

The most helpful commenter, stilljojo, was apprehensive to try such an intricate pan at first but found that the process was effortless. She used an oil spray on the pan. Afterward, she ran a silicone spatula around the cake to loosen it from the pan. This worked out well.

Other buyers have had similar experiences. One home baker recommended using a clean brush to make sure the oil spray gets into all of the crevices.

Pros: Produces beautiful cakes that are evenly-browned and have a moist crumb, lifetime warranty

Cons: Expensive, not dishwasher safe

Buy the Nordic Ware Jubilee Bundt Pan on Amazon for $24.17 (originally $34.95)

• There are a lot of myths surrounding contraception. 
• Hormonal birth control is effective at preventing pregnancy when taken correctly
• INSIDER reached out to two experts to bust some contraception myths

Birth control has always been a hot topic. Since couples have sex for a number of reasons, knowing how to prevent pregnancy safely is important for the health of all involved. Over the past few centuries, people around the world have experimented with ways to prevent pregnancy without abstaining from sex. During the 1600s, people in England used condoms that were made out of animal guts. 

As times have evolved, so too has contraception. Today, there are a wide variety of family planning strategies that allow people to have healthy sex lives whilst avoiding unwanted pregnancy. There are still barrier methods such as condoms and diaphragms, but now there are also hormonal methods like the birth control pill, patch, shot, implant, and intrauterine device (IUD).

Despite medical advances and birth control becoming more accessible, unplanned pregnancies still remain fairly common. Although research shows that the rate of unintentional pregnancies in the US has declined over the past 30 years, the numbers still remain considerably high. According to The World Health Organization,"26.5 million unintended pregnancies occur each year because of inappropriate use or method failure of their birth control."

To find out the truth about some common contraception myths, INSIDER reached out to two experts on this subject.

MYTH: You can't get pregnant if you have sex during your period

In general, people are their least fertile during and right after their menstrual period. This is the time of the menstrual cycle that happens prior to ovulation when a potentially fertilizable egg is released from the ovaries. As a result, some people may think this means they can have unprotected sex without having to worry about pregnancy.

However, according to Dr. Lauren Streicher, this isn't a reliable approach at all.

She told INSIDER, "What happens is somebody may have some bleeding which they interpret as their period, when in fact, it might even be ovulation. Some people bleed a little bit when they ovulate. Or somebody might have bleeding that's breakthrough bleeding, and it's still not their period."

Even if a person has a fairly regular cycle, there's still a chance that their body might ovulate early, "Now if someone is like clockwork, and they have sex during their period — their true period, the chances of conception are tiny because ovulation is gonna occur 12 to 14 days later," said Dr. Streicher. "But you have to keep in mind if someone has sex on day six of their period, and then they ovulate early ... you never know."

Dr. Streicher told INSIDER that sperm can live up to 72 hours and an egg can hang on for 48-72 hours. This means that the window where a person can get pregnant is much wider than people may believe.

MYTH: If a person douches or washes the vagina immediately after sex, pregnancy can be prevented

Dr. Mary Jane Minkintold INSIDER, "The problem with this is those sperm are pretty fast little devils. Once ejaculation occurs, sperm can be within the uterus in 20 minutes. And the vigorous ones, the healthiest guys [sperm] tend to be up there the fastest, and those are the ones that are most likely to get you pregnant. [Cleaning the vagina] will get rid of a lot of sperm hanging around, but many will already have made their way into the uterus."

MYTH: You can't get pregnant if you have unprotected sex in a hot tub

"It's not likely, but it is possible," said Dr. Minkin. "Sperm do not like heat, it's true ... but the heat doesn't kill everything."

She noted that if the penis ejaculates semen into the vagina, the sperm can travel fast enough to make it safely up into the uterus, where they can impregnate a potential egg.

• "Rich" is defined by some Americans as having an average of $2.4 million, according to a Charles Schwab survey.
• But how much money you need to earn to be considered "rich" by the government's standards depends on the city you live in.
• What's considered rich in Seattle is over $100,000 more than what's considered rich in Detroit.

Just how much money do you need to earn to be considered "rich"?

For some Americans, the answer is having an average of $2.4 million to your name — that's almost 30 times the actual median net worth of US households, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

Ask the government, and they'll define wealthy as individuals earning at least $500,001 and couples earning at least $600,000 — the new income thresholds that now pay the top federal marginal income tax rate of 37% in accordance with President Donald Trump's new tax plan.

But in reality, the answer varies depending on the city you live in. What's considered rich in Detroit is more than $100,000 less than what's considered rich in Seattle.

Not sure if you fall into the upper class?

We pooled 5-year estimate data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community survey, combining results on median household income from 2013-2017 to determine just how much you need to earn in the most populated city in every state, including Washington DC, to be considered rich (hint: it's at least twice the median household income).

Below, check out the income needed to be considered rich in some of America's biggest cities, ranked from lowest to highest.

SEE ALSO: How much money you have to earn to be considered rich in 42 major US cities

DON'T MISS: Here's the salary you need to be in the top 50% of earners in 50 major US cities

51. Detroit, Michigan: at least $55,676

Median household income:$27,838

Population:679,865

50. Birmingham, Alabama: at least $67,540

Median household income: $33,770

Population: 212,265

49. Newark, New Jersey: at least $69,652

Median household income: $34,826

Population: 282,803

• When I upgraded my MacBook Pro to Mojave last month, I loved all of the changes, particularly the new Stacks feature. But I was bummed out when one of my most-used apps, Photoshop, would no longer open.
• I have an old version of Adobe Photoshop I've kept on my laptop for many years now (it's CS5, in case you're wondering).
• Every single time I tried to open Photoshop, it would crash and produce an error report.
• There was nothing I could do to fix it — or so I thought.
• After doing some sleuthing online, I learned that the kind folks at MacWorld UK had stumbled upon a trick that makes many seemingly-incompatible apps, like my old version of Adobe Photoshop, suddenly work on MacOS Mojave.
• If you have an old version of Photoshop yourself, or have any other apps that don't seem to work in MacOS Mojave, try this trick first before giving up all hope.

SEE ALSO: Apple's newest Mac software is now available: Here are the 7 best features in 'Mojave'

SEE ALSO: Apple's new Mac software cleaned up years of messy files that accumulated on my desktop in less than a second

First, open System Preferences.

Click on Security & Privacy.

Click on the far-right tab called "Privacy."

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

Shopping is time-consuming and stressful, so it's no wonder many of us often default to buying generic, unmemorable gifts just to get the whole process over with. We've all been guilty of it, and part of the reason is the dearth of unique options that live in one, easily shoppable place. 

UncommonGoods, the online shop inspired by the founder's experiences roaming craft fairs and trade shows, highlights the best of independent makers from around the world. Selling thousands of unique products, it's one of the few places we know we'll always find something cool for our loved ones, whether they're hungry home cooks, die-hard sports fans, or classic old souls. 

If you see a lot of gifts from the site that you like, or you think you'll shop UncommonGoods beyond the holidays for other gifting occasions, sign up for its Uncommon Perks shipping program. Shipping prices ordinarily start at $4.95 and depend on your order value and desired shipping speed, but this $19 annual membership will get you free standard shipping on all US orders, regardless of order value. 

Before you dive into the treasure trove that is UncommonGoods, check out our 30 top picks from the site first. These gifts are far from ordinary. 

Looking for more gift ideas? Check out all of Insider Picks' holiday gift guides for 2018 here.

A beautiful and unconventional puzzle

Geode Puzzle, $65, available at UncommonGoods

If regular puzzles just aren't challenging enough for them, these nature-inspired ones exercise their brain in new and exciting ways. 

A pair of lamps made for long-distance relationships

Long Distance Friendship Lamp, $85-$170, available at UncommonGoods

Everyone is busy these days, and it's not as easy to keep up with loved ones as we all wish. A set of paired lamps, one of which lights up when the other is touched, lets them know you're still thinking of them even when you don't have time to talk. Our editor uses them to keep in touch with her parents.

A cheese board shaped like their home state

USA and State Serving Board, $48, available at UncommonGoods

State pride and an excellent cheese and charcuterie spread go hand in hand with these beautiful bamboo boards. 

• There has been lots of great TV.
• TVTime tracked the shows people watched and came out with most-watched shows of the year.
• Shows include "Elite", "Queer Eye" and "The Haunting of Hill House."

Feeling down about the end of 2018? If so, you can emerge from the year knowing that, most likely, you watched a lot of TV.

Some of it might have been good, and some of it might have been bad. But so many new shows came out this year that it would almost be impossible not to spend a lot of time watching at least some of them. And TVTime, a television tracking service, kept a record of the most-watched shows released this year. Chances are, a few of your favorites are on the list.

From "Elite" to "Queer Eye," here are the most-watched new shows of 2018.

"On My Block."

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

Metacritic: 69

In "On My Block," four lifelong friends who grew up in the same inner-city Los Angeles neighborhood find their once-strong friendships being strained as they start high school.

"Safe."

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77%

Metacritic: 67

Tom Delaney (Michael C. Hall) is a widowed pediatric surgeon trying to parent his two teenage daughters while grieving the loss of his wife. When one of his daughters goes missing, he looks on the family laptop for clues and finds much more than he anticipated.

"Queer Eye."

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Metacritic: 73

"Queer Eye"— a reboot of the early-aughts classic "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy"— hit 2018 at just the right time. In it, instantly-lovable life gurus Tan, Bobby, Jonathan, Antoni, and Karamo help people figure out how to dress, decorate, groom, decorate, cook, and, most importantly, love themselves and others.

The New York City subway system is one of the most fascinating curiosities in a city full of mysteries. Miles of underground track shrouded in darkness, littered with abandoned stations and secret passageways — it's a common object of desire for the urban explorers among us.

And, occasionally, New York City acknowledges the delightful mystery surrounding its 24-hour transportation system. The annual "Holiday Nostalgia" train line, seen above, is a perfect example of this.

The train line, consisting of eight vintage New York subway cars from several different eras, runs for a few weekends each year — from the Sunday after Thanksgiving to the end of the year, only on Sundays. It costs the same $2.75 as any subway ride.

So what'd we do? We got on the train and took a ride, of course! This is what it's like.

SEE ALSO: New York City subway cars are cleaned by hand — and it takes one person 3 and a half hours to do it

I got on at the Second Avenue stop in Manhattan — when I snapped these photos in 2016, the train ran between the Second Avenue stop in Manhattan and the Queens Plaza stop in Queens.

In 2018, the holiday train is running on the F line starting at the 2nd Av station, and via the A/C/D line from the 125th St station. It makes a handful of stops at major stations along the way — like Columbus Circle and Herald Square — "as an ode to the holiday shopping season,"

As you can see from 2016's schedule, the train ran throughout the day starting at 10 a.m. and concluding at about 5 p.m. It's similar in 2018, but there are a few changes.

The schedule is slightly different for 2018. According to the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the train "will depart from 2nd Avenue on the F line in Lower Manhattan and run along 6th Avenue in Manhattan to 47th-50th/Rockefeller Center before heading up the Central Park West line, where the train will stop at 59th St – Columbus Circle before making its way up to 125th St on the A/C/D lines in Harlem."

Even though we arrived at 12:30, there were already a bunch of people waiting — some were clearly tourists; others were clearly New Yorkers.

• Reuters does a yearly roundup of its most-liked photos on Instagram.
• The 2018 images feature the World Cup tournament, flooding in North Carolina, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding, and migrant caravans, among other scenes. 
• Here's a recap of 2018, one striking photo at a time.

International news agency Reuters documents "the news in pictures, as it happens."

They capture moments in politics, sports, and international affairs — among so many other categories — so we can see what's happening in the world around us.

Every year they round up their most-liked photos on Instagram, where they currently have 1.8 million followers. This year saw a World Cup tournament, hurricanes and flooding in North Carolina, a royal wedding, and migrant caravans, among other things. 

Here are Reuters' top 47 most-liked photos on Instagram. 

Winters in Sibera can be both brutal and breathtaking. An aerial view of a forest road during sunset — with the air temperature at about minus 16.6 degrees Fahrenheit — outside the village of Balakhta in Russia captures that dichotomy.

Near Dhaka, Bangladesh — one of the most crowded places in the world— an overcrowded train leaves Tongi rail station after the final prayer of "Bishwa Ijtema," the world congregation of Muslims.

Source: Business Insider

A fox walks past 10 Downing Street in London.

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

• Giving gifts is wonderful and wrapping them up in lovely paper is half the fun, so we've rounded up the best wrapping paper and supplies you can buy online.

• We think Target has the best selection of wrapping paper for the most reasonable price, but we also love the gift wrap from the Paper Source, Hallmark, The Container Store, World Market, and Brown Kraft Paper.

Gift giving takes place throughout the entire year to mark holidays and special occasions alike. To many people, one of the best parts of buying gifts is wrapping them up in gorgeous wrapping paper with ribbons, bows, and fancy tags.

Gift wrap adds a layer of beauty and anticipation to every gift, and let's face it, tearing through the paper to find the treasure inside is simply delightful.

We love wrapping gifts as much as we love giving them, so we've rounded up the best wrapping paper and wrapping supplies you can buy.

Whether you want wrapping paper, gift bags, gift boxes, or the accessories that go on top of wrapping paper, we have a pick for you. We've also included the tape and scissors you'll need to wrap all those presents.

Also, if you're doing holiday gift shopping, you can check out all of our 2018 gift guides on Insider Picks.

Here is the best wrapping paper and wrapping supplies:

• Best wrapping paper overall: Target
• Best high-end wrapping paper: Paper Source
• Best affordable wrapping paper bundles: Hallmark
• Best classy wrapping paper: The Container Store
• Best off-beat wrapping paper: World Market
• Best recycled wrapping paper: Brown Kraft Paper
• Best scissors: Fiskars Scissors
• Best utility knife:  Stanley Classic Utility Knife
• Best tape for wrapping gifts: Scotch Magic Tape

Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks. Also, if you're doing holiday gift shopping, you can check out all of our 2018 gift guides on Insider Picks.

The best wrapping paper overall

Why you'll love it: Target has tons of wrapping paper, gift bags, gift boxes, tags, and other wrapping supplies in fun patterns for a great price.

If you want a huge selection of wrapping paper and wrapping supplies to choose from, check out Target. No matter what time of year you need to wrap a gift, Target has a wrapping paper for your needs. Its holiday wrapping shop is incredible, too. You can find just about any pattern you want from fun, silly patterns to classic designs and gift wrap for kids.

You can refine results on Target's website by holiday and occasion, as well as brand to quickly find the best options for your needs. You can even get personalized wrapping paper from Wondershop.

Well-known brands like Papyrus, Minted, American Greetings, Hallmark, and so on sell wrapping paper and supplies at Target, too. 

In addition to wrapping paper, you'll find tons of gift bags, gift boxes, tags, bows, ribbons, and other wrapping supplies. 

Pros: Huge selection, fun patterns, classic designs, wrapping supplies of all kinds, options for other holidays and events

Cons: Not all are eco-friendly 

Buy holiday wrapping paper, gift bags, gift boxes, and supplies at Target

Buy wrapping paper, gift bags, gift boxes, tags, and more at Target

The best high-end wrapping paper

Why you'll love it: Paper Source has everything you need to wrap a gift, including gorgeous wrapping paper, gift bags, gift boxes, tissue paper, and cards galore.

If you care about the presentation of your gifts, you'll love the Paper Source's wide selection of artful wrapping paper and wrapping supplies. You can find everything from classic holiday prints and fun playful designs, to gift wrap that will work for any season.

The company also makes gift boxes and gift bags, so if you hate wrapping presents, you don't actually have to wrap them at all. You'll also find lovely tissue paper, cards, and other decorating supplies like tags, bows, and ribbons.

You don't have to worry about the paper ripping mid-wrap or the tissue paper disintegrating as you remove it from the package — Everything from Paper Source is of the highest quality.

If you're worried about the environment and you care where your gift wrap comes from, you can feel pretty good about shopping at Paper Source. The company uses 30% recycled paper in its solid color papers, partners with sustainable forestry mills, uses recycled materials to make many of its cards, avoids chlorine, recycles ink and all paper scraps, and other eco-friendly practices.

The prices are expensive, though. Wrapping paper ranges in price from $2 to $25, and the most expensive paper is hand painted in the US, so it's well worth the price. The gift wrap costs about $10, but you only get two sheets.

Gift boxes cost anywhere from $2 to $15 and they come in tons of fun colors and patterns. Gift bags start at $2 and go up to $16. The tissue paper, ribbons, bows, and tags all cost reasonable prices, though.

Pros: Great selection of designs; gift wrap, bags, boxes, tags, ribbons, etc. are all sold here; well made; eco-friendly practices

Cons: Expensive

Buy gift wrap, gift bags, gift boxes, cards, and more at Paper Source

The best affordable wrapping paper bundles

Why you'll love it: Hallmark is a famous card company that makes affordable wrapping paper bundles that come with everything you need to wrap a gift, including the paper, tags, ribbons, gift bags, and more.

If you have a lot of gifts to wrap, you may not want to spend a lot of money on expensive wrapping paper. Hallmark has very affordable gift wrap bundles that come with everything you need to wrap presents, including the wrapping paper, gift bags, and tags. You can also get the piece separately for good prices.

Hallmark's gift wrap comes in tons of colors, patterns, and styles. You can find fun, festive snowmen beside classic, stately stripes and solid colors. Snoopy and other characters also pop up on certain gift bags in Hallmark's collection.

Single rolls of wrapping paper cost $4 to $10, and a bundle with 3 rolls of wrapping paper, 10 gift bags, and 32 gift tag stickers costs just $20 to $30. The bundle is a fantastic deal for people on a budget with a great deal of wrapping ahead of them.

If you're worried that affordable prices also means bad environmental practices, don't be — Hallmark says its "gifting supplies are made with paper from well-managed forests," and "wrapping paper is made in the USA with European paper." It may not be recycled paper, but at least it comes from a relatively responsible source.

Pros: Affordable, bundles are a great deal, fun prints, classic designs, good variety, well made, accessories available

Cons: Not as eco-friendly as some options

Buy Hallmark wrapping paper, gift bags, gift boxes, tags, and other bundles on Amazon

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

It's an exciting time to be in retail — as a brand, as a consumer, and for us as product writers. The Insider Picks team tested countless new products, learned the stories of many new startups, and followed the growth of dozens of our now-favorite companies. 

A select few retail companies really impressed us in 2018, and for a variety of reasons — from superior product launches to admirable social initiatives with quantifiable impact.

They're a standout representation of what it takes to succeed in retail today: the puzzle pieces of mission, product, branding, customer service, and other key business components fitting together to create a cohesive solution to the needs and wants of consumers. 

Learn more about the all-stars of 2018 retail below. 

Everlane

Shop Everlane here

Everlane has much to celebrate this year, including the opening of its first brick-and-mortar stores, which were welcomed with open arms in San Francisco and New York; stellar product drops like basic but comfortable underwear, the soft leather flats we can't stop talking about, and an outerwear collection made from recycled plastic water bottles; and another successful anti-Black Friday initiative that sent $260,000 to help fund beach cleanups across the country.

The brand impressed us throughout the year for its continued commitment to ethical, transparent manufacturing practices and almost-eerie grasp of the styles customers crave — and how to fill the gaps with its own minimalist, carefully curated take. 

Dagne Dover

Shop Dagne Dover here

It's not just you — we've been seeing a lot more Dagne Dover bags in the streets of urban jungles, too. This might be because of its increased but carefully managed offline presence in select Nordstrom stores, Equinox boutiques, and BANDIER shops, or confident push into styles and textures you wouldn't expect from a women's work bag company.

Whether it's a work tote, gym and travel bag, or laptop bag, the women of Insider Picks have agreed that Dagne Dover hits it out of the park every single time with a consistent track record that's not always easy for experimental startups to achieve. 

Patagonia

Shop Patagonia here

More so it seems than other clothing industries, outdoor brands share a special connection with the environments they design for. With the push into recycled materials like down and cashmere, and the no-hesitation decision to send its $10 million 2018 tax cut to grassroots environmental activist groups, Patagonia ramped up its efforts to protect the outdoors. 

The ubiquity of its vests and sweaters might inspire joke Instagram accounts, but at least they're the products of a highly-rated B Corp with a conscience. In February, it launched Patagonia Action Works to connect individuals to events, petitions, and organizations they might be interested in, and on Election Day, stores across the country closed as a reminder for citizens to vote.

The attack on Pearl Harbor, which catapulted the US into World War II, happened 77 years ago on Friday. 

The Japanese attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii killed more than 2,400 American sailors and civilians and wounded 1,000 more. 

Japanese fighter planes also destroyed or damaged almost 20 naval ships during the attack. 

But the US sailors and civilians didn't standby without putting up a fight. 

Here are 7 Pearl Harbor heroes you’ve never heard about. 

SEE ALSO: Intense photos show the USS Enterprise, the decorated WWII aircraft carrier that the Japanese just couldn't sink

SEE ALSO: 9 photos of the USS Wolverine, a strange WWII aircraft carrier that was originally a luxury paddlewheel steamer

1. Phil Rasmussen, who raced into his plane to attack Japanese Zero fighters.

Lt. Phil Rasmussen was one of four American pilots able to get in the air and engage Japanese fighters during the attack on Pearl Harbor. 

When the attack was launched, Rasmussen was still in his pajamas when he ran out to the flight line and jumped in an then-old Curtiss P-36A Hawk fighter plane — the only US planes the Japanese hadn't yet taken out. 

Once in the air, Rasmussen shot down one Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter planes, and damaged another before he was targeted by two more.

The two Japanese fighters shot up his plane, and took out his radio, hydraulic lines and rudder cables, but he was able to fly away and hide in the clouds before landing without brakes, a rudder or tailwheel. 

Rasmussen received the Silver Star for his actions, and retired from the Air Force in 1965. 

Sources: US Air Force, We Are The Mighty

2. Doris Miller, who fired a machine gun at attacking fighters.

Cook Third Class Doris Miller was stationed on the USS West Virginia battleship when the Japanese attacked. 

Awake at 6 a.m., Miller was collecting laundry when the attack was launched. He went to his battle station, which was an anti-aircraft battery magazine in the middle of the ship, only to find it had been taken out by a torpedo. 

Miller then went to the deck, where he was assigned to carry away wounded sailors before he was ordered to the bridge to help the mortally wounded Mervyn Sharp Bennion (who later received the Medal of Honor). 

After helping deliver ammunition to two .50 caliber Browning anti-aircraft machine gun crews, and without any weapons training, he manned one of the guns himself and fired until the ammunition was spent. 

"It wasn't hard," Miller later said.

"I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine. I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her for about fifteen minutes. I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us."

He received the Navy Cross for his actions, the first ever given to an African American. 

Miller was killed in 1943 while serving on the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay, which was sunk by a Japanese torpedo.

Source: US Navy

3. Annie G. Fox, who worked ceaselessly to care for the wounded.

First Lieutenant Annie G. Fox was the head nurse at the hospital at Hickham field, which was Hawaii's main army airfield and bomber base, when the attack on Pearl Harbor was launched.

Fox "administered anesthesia to patients during the heaviest part of the bombardment, assisted in dressing the wounded, taught civilian volunteer nurses to make dressings, and worked ceaselessly with coolness and efficiency, and her fine example of calmness, courage and leadership was of great benefit to the morale of all with whom she came in contact,"according to her Purple Heart medal citation. 

Fox was the first US service woman to receive the Purple Heart, which she received for her actions during the attack. 

At the time, the US military awarded Purple Hearts for "singularly meritorious act of extraordinary fidelity or essential service." When the requirement of being wounded was added, her Purple Heart was replaced with the Bronze Star, since she had not been wounded. 

Fox was promoted to the rank of major before retiring from the service in 1945. 

• Carrie Underwood and husband Mike Fisher have been together for a long time now, but some fans may not be aware of how they met and fell in love in the first place.
• From their first meeting to living in different countries, their son, and their new baby on the way, a lot has happened for Underwood & Fisher over the last decade or so.
• Here's a look at how their lives have changed.

Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher have been country music royalty for a while. Whether you're a hockey fan or not, chances are good that you know that Mike Fisher is married to one of country music's biggest superstars (and one of "American Idol's" biggest success stories).

The couple has a son and another baby on the way. But even some big fans may not know all of the ins and outs of their relationship timeline. Here's what you need to know.

2008: They were set up.

Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher met after being set up. According to Refinery29, Underwood's bassist, Mark Childers, tried to set the two up on a blind date, but that Underwood wasn't so sure initially since he lived so far away. Instead, Fisher and Underwood met backstage after one of her shows.

She then texted Childers, "hot, hot, hot," according to Refinery29. 

After that, the two had dinner together, according to E! Online, and Fisher determined that things were "kinda going OK" when Underwood helped herself to some of his dessert.

2008: It was three months between the first time they saw each other and the next time they saw each other.

After they first met, it took three months before they saw one another again because Underwood was living in Tennessee and Fisher was playing hockey for the Ottawa Senators, meaning she was living in the United States and he was living in Canada.

"I mean, can I make dating more difficult?"Underwood later said on VH1's "Behind the Music.""Let's get a hockey guy who lives in another country, awesome."

According to Taste of Country, Underwood and Fisher's first truly official date was on New Year's Eve in 2008.

2008-2009: Their first kiss was on New Year's Eve.

That night, the couple also shared their first kiss as the ball dropped, ringing in 2009. Underwood shared the details of the kiss with Glamour, as Taste of Country noted. "We talked on the phone for almost three months before we actually got together," Taste of Country reported she told Glamour. "That was good for us. Then our first real date was on New Year's Eve, and our first kiss was when the ball dropped."

"We were in front of people, and he's not a big PDA guy," Underwood reportedly continued. "I figured, I'll go in for it because he can't leave me hanging, right? So I made him kiss me in public."