In 2009, "Boom Boom Pow" topped the charts, Avatar packed theaters, a stamp cost 44¢, the average home went for about $216,700.
🎵 Top songs of 2009
"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed Peas
"Poker Face" — Lady Gaga
"Just Dance" — Lady Gaga featuring Colby O'Donis
🎬 In theaters
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
What things cost in 2009
$2.35
Gallon of gas
44¢
Postage stamp
$7.50
Movie ticket
$3.10
Gallon of milk
$216,700
Average home
$23,300
New car
$49,800
Household income
Gas relaxed to about $2.35 in 2009 after 2008's spike, which is roughly $3.55 in today's dollars. The $7.50 movie ticket converts to about $11.40, and the 44-cent stamp to about 67 cents.
The biggest moments of 2009
James Cameron's Avatar redefined 3D filmmaking.
Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th U.S. President.
Michael Jackson died in June at age 50.
Captain "Sully" Sullenberger safely landed a crippled jetliner on the Hudson River in January, and all 155 people aboard survived the "Miracle on the Hudson."
A modest Scottish singer named Susan Boyle stunned the Britain's Got Talent judges in April, and her audition became one of the most-watched videos on Earth.
The New York Yankees christened their brand-new stadium by winning the franchise's 27th World Series title.
Toys, TV & trends of 2009
Zhu Zhu Pets robotic hamsters were the must-have toy of the 2009 holiday season.
Angry Birds and an early version of Minecraft both appeared for the first time that year.
Wii Sports Resort and The Beatles: Rock Band kept families playing video games together.
FarmVille sprouted on Facebook in June, and soon millions of grown-ups were setting alarms to harvest imaginary crops.
Two ex-Yahoo engineers launched a little app called WhatsApp, planting the seed of a new way for families worldwide to stay in touch.
Pillow Pets, the folding plush pillows from the TV commercials, became the cozy must-have on every kid's holiday list.
The music scene
The Black Eyed Peas pulled off a chart feat no act had ever managed, holding the number-one spot for 26 straight weeks as "Boom Boom Pow" handed the crown directly to "I Gotta Feeling." At September's MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye West interrupted 19-year-old Taylor Swift's acceptance speech, creating the most talked-about pop-culture moment of the year. Meanwhile Glee premiered and its cast's cover songs, led by "Don't Stop Believin'," began flooding the charts like nothing since the Beatles.
At the movies
Kathryn Bigelow made history at the following spring's Oscars as the first woman ever to win Best Director, and her small film The Hurt Locker beat her ex-husband's mega-blockbuster for Best Picture. Pixar's Up became the first animated film ever chosen to open the Cannes Film Festival. At the other end of the budget scale, Paranormal Activity, shot for about $15,000, scared up nearly $200 million worldwide.
Cartoons kids loved
SpongeBob SquarePants
iCarly (live-action favorite)
Phineas and Ferb
Kids' TV was blurring the line between television and the internet: iCarly's show-within-a-show was literally a webcast, mirroring the YouTube world its viewers lived in. Nickelodeon also spun the scene-stealing penguins of Madagascar into their own series in 2009, its first show built with DreamWorks and a sign that movie studios wanted a piece of the cartoon lineup.
The world in 2009
World population: about 6.85 billion
U.S. President: Barack Obama
The H1N1 swine flu pandemic spread globally
Usain Bolt lowered his own 100-meter world record to a staggering 9.58 seconds at the world championships in Berlin, a mark still untouched years later.
NASA's LCROSS mission deliberately crashed a rocket stage into a lunar crater and confirmed there is water ice on the Moon.
Millions across Asia witnessed the longest total solar eclipse of the entire 21st century in July, with darkness lasting over six minutes.
2009 birthday questions
How old is someone born in 2009?
Someone born in 2009 turns 17 in 2026 (16 if their birthday has not come round yet).
What was the number one song in 2009?
"Boom Boom Pow" by The Black Eyed Peas was among the biggest hits of 2009.
What movie came out in 2009?
Avatar was one of the films packing theaters in 2009.
How much did gas cost in 2009?
A gallon of gas ran about $2.35 in 2009, and a postage stamp cost 44¢.
How much did a house cost in 2009?
The average home went for roughly $216,700 in 2009, against a typical household income of about $49,800.