The Top 10 Everything of 2008

3. Levi Johnston

The 18-year-old is better known as Bristol Palin's baby daddy. In the flurry of discovery surrounding the come-from-nowhere nomination of Alaska governor Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate, it was revealed that Palin's eldest daughter, then 17, was pregnant...and planning to marry the father, her long-time boyfriend, Levi Johnston. The media quickly dug up old photos of the high school hockey player and a super-old MySpace page entry in which he declared: "I don't want kids." Johnston got gussied up for his world debut with the Palin family at the Republican National Convention, where keen observers noted a "Bristol" tattoo on his left ring finger. He is to become a father this month and a husband next summer.

Connect to this TIME Story