July 30, 2003: 450,000 Risk Getting SARS to Watch Rolling Stones, AC/DC

Remember the SARS epidemic of 2002-2003 when we were all going to die of the flu? In Canada there were 18 deaths and 251 confirmed cases of the respiratory disease, which caused a mass panic -- the World Health Organization was even advising against traveling to Toronto -- and tourism virtually ended in the country.

So the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Rush, the Guess Who, Justin Timberlake (who got bottles thrown at him by the hard rock audience), the Flaming Lips and a bunch of others got together to play a benefit concert in Toronto, Ontario to prove that the city was safe from SARS. Approximately 450,000 people showed up -- the largest concert in Canadian history -- and none of them caught SARS.