In 1998, "The Boy Is Mine" topped the charts, Armageddon packed theaters, a stamp cost 32¢, the average home went for about $152,500.
🎵 Top songs of 1998
"The Boy Is Mine" — Brandy and Monica
"You're Still the One" — Shania Twain
"Truly Madly Deeply" — Savage Garden
🎬 In theaters
Armageddon
Saving Private Ryan
A Bug's Life
What things cost in 1998
$1.06
Gallon of gas
32¢
Postage stamp
$4.69
Movie ticket
$2.70
Gallon of milk
$152,500
Average home
$20,238
New car
$38,890
Household income
A $1.06 gallon of gas in 1998 has the buying power of roughly $2.05 in 2024 dollars. A 32¢ stamp is around 62¢ today, and a $4.69 movie ticket is about $9.
The biggest moments of 1998
Titanic swept the Oscars with 11 wins and became the first movie to pass $1 billion at the box office.
Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa's thrilling home run chase captivated baseball fans all summer long.
Google was founded in a California garage in September 1998, quietly changing the future of the internet.
John Glenn returned to space aboard the shuttle Discovery at age 77, becoming the oldest person ever to fly in space, 36 years after his first orbit.
The Seinfeld finale in May 1998 drew 76 million viewers as America said goodbye to the show about nothing.
Michael Jordan hit "The Last Shot" in June 1998 to win his sixth title, a storybook ending to his Bulls career.
Toys, TV & trends of 1998
Furbys chattered their way to the top of every holiday wish list, selling out in stores nationwide.
Pokémon Red and Blue launched in America, and "Gotta catch 'em all" instantly became a schoolyard mission.
Yo-yos made a huge comeback, with kids practicing walk-the-dog and around-the-world at recess.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time arrived in November and was instantly hailed as one of the greatest video games ever made.
Apple's translucent Bondi-blue iMac made computers suddenly, shockingly cute — and helped save the company.
Dawson's Creek premiered in January 1998, and teens everywhere adopted its impossibly articulate heart-to-hearts.
The music scene
The teen-pop tidal wave gathered force in 1998: a 16-year-old from Louisiana named Britney Spears released her debut single "...Baby One More Time" that fall, and boy bands filled every mall sound system. Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill fused hip-hop and soul so gracefully that it would sweep the Grammys with a record five wins for a woman. And improbably, swing music roared back — zoot suits, horn sections, and all — powered by a khaki-clad Gap commercial.
At the movies
Hollywood's favorite parlor game in 1998 was dueling movies: two asteroid blockbusters (Deep Impact beat Armageddon to theaters by seven weeks) and two computer-animated bug films (Antz crawled out just ahead of A Bug's Life) went head to head. The real fight came at the Oscars, where Shakespeare in Love upset the heavily favored Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture in one of the biggest surprises in Academy history.
Cartoons kids loved
Pokémon
The Powerpuff Girls
CatDog
September 1998 marked anime's true American landfall: the Pokémon cartoon hit U.S. syndication and became a full-blown phenomenon, while Cartoon Network's Toonami block turned after-school hours into an anime pipeline. At the same time, Cartoon Network's homegrown originals hit their creative stride, proving the channel could mint its own stars. Japanese and American animation were now sharing the same kids' attention, hour by hour.
The world in 1998
World population: about 5.9 billion
U.S. President: Bill Clinton
The Good Friday Agreement was signed in April 1998, bringing a historic peace deal to Northern Ireland.
Construction of the International Space Station began in late 1998, as the Russian Zarya and American Unity modules joined in orbit.
Host nation France won its first World Cup in July 1998, defeating Brazil 3-0 as a million fans flooded the Champs-Élysées.
Indonesia's President Suharto resigned in May after 31 years in power, one of the era's great political turning points.
1998 birthday questions
How old is someone born in 1998?
Someone born in 1998 turns 28 in 2026 (27 if their birthday has not come round yet).
What was the number one song in 1998?
"The Boy Is Mine" by Brandy and Monica was among the biggest hits of 1998.
What movie came out in 1998?
Armageddon was one of the films packing theaters in 1998.
How much did gas cost in 1998?
A gallon of gas ran about $1.06 in 1998, and a postage stamp cost 32¢.
How much did a house cost in 1998?
The average home went for roughly $152,500 in 1998, against a typical household income of about $38,890.