In 2012, "Somebody That I Used to Know" topped the charts, The Avengers packed theaters, a stamp cost 45¢, the average home went for about $177,000.
🎵 Top songs of 2012
"Somebody That I Used to Know" — Gotye featuring Kimbra
"Call Me Maybe" — Carly Rae Jepsen
"We Are Young" — fun. featuring Janelle Monáe
🎬 In theaters
The Avengers
The Dark Knight Rises
Skyfall
What things cost in 2012
$3.62
Gallon of gas
45¢
Postage stamp
$7.96
Movie ticket
$3.49
Gallon of milk
$177,000
Average home
$30,800
New car
$51,000
Household income
Adjusted for inflation, 2012's $3.62 gas works out to roughly $5.05 in today's dollars — and that $7.96 movie ticket would be about $11.15, almost exactly what tickets cost now.
The biggest moments of 2012
The London Summer Olympics dazzled the world.
NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars in August.
Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier with a stratosphere jump.
Hurricane Sandy swept the East Coast in October, and neighbors pitched in to help each other recover.
Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Diamond Jubilee — 60 years on the throne.
The world did NOT end on December 21, despite a year of jokes about the Mayan calendar "apocalypse."
Toys, TV & trends of 2012
Everyone seemed to be doing the horse-riding dance from PSY's "Gangnam Style."
Kids sketched goofy pictures for friends in the phone game Draw Something.
One Direction fever swept schools as "What Makes You Beautiful" played everywhere.
Everyone was sprinting from demon monkeys in the phone game Temple Run.
"YOLO" — you only live once — became the catchphrase of the year.
Grumpy Cat and gymnast McKayla Maroney's "not impressed" face ruled the young meme internet.
The music scene
Adele's 21 pulled off a rare feat, finishing as America's best-selling album for the second year in a row, while Taylor Swift's Red sold 1.2 million copies in one week — the biggest sales week in a decade. "Call Me Maybe" only became a smash after Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez posted a goofy lip-sync video that sent it around the world. Meanwhile, indie underdogs like Gotye and fun. proved anyone could top the charts in the download era's last golden years.
At the movies
The Artist, a black-and-white silent film, charmed its way to Best Picture at the February Oscars — the first mostly silent winner since 1929. The Avengers changed Hollywood forever by proving a shared "cinematic universe" could work, smashing the opening-weekend record with $207 million. That spring The Hunger Games launched the young-adult blockbuster boom.
Cartoons kids loved
Adventure Time
Gravity Falls
SpongeBob SquarePants
This was the start of a cartoon renaissance: Gravity Falls premiered in June 2012 and hooked kids (and adults) with hidden codes and a summer-mystery vibe, while Adventure Time hit its creative peak. The Legend of Korra also debuted, proving TV animation could tell ambitious, serialized stories.
The world in 2012
World population: about 7.1 billion
U.S. President: Barack Obama
"Gangnam Style" became the first YouTube video to hit 1 billion views
Barack Obama won re-election over Mitt Romney in November.
SpaceX's Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station.
Xi Jinping became China's top leader in November.
2012 birthday questions
How old is someone born in 2012?
Someone born in 2012 turns 14 in 2026 (13 if their birthday has not come round yet).
What was the number one song in 2012?
"Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra was among the biggest hits of 2012.
What movie came out in 2012?
The Avengers was one of the films packing theaters in 2012.
How much did gas cost in 2012?
A gallon of gas ran about $3.62 in 2012, and a postage stamp cost 45¢.
How much did a house cost in 2012?
The average home went for roughly $177,000 in 2012, against a typical household income of about $51,000.