In 2013, "Thrift Shop" topped the charts, Frozen packed theaters, a stamp cost 46¢, the average home went for about $197,000.
🎵 Top songs of 2013
"Thrift Shop" — Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz
"Blurred Lines" — Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell
"Radioactive" — Imagine Dragons
🎬 In theaters
Frozen
Iron Man 3
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
What things cost in 2013
$3.51
Gallon of gas
46¢
Postage stamp
$8.13
Movie ticket
$3.46
Gallon of milk
$197,000
Average home
$31,250
New car
$52,000
Household income
Run through the inflation calculator, 2013's $3.51 gas equals about $4.85 today, and the $8.13 movie ticket lands near $11.20 — right around what theaters charge now.
The biggest moments of 2013
A new royal baby, Prince George, was born to Prince William and Kate in July.
"Selfie" was named Oxford Dictionaries' Word of the Year as smartphone photos took over.
NASA confirmed that Voyager 1 had become the first spacecraft to reach interstellar space.
A meteor exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia in February, caught on countless dashboard cameras.
Twinkies vanished when Hostess shut down — then triumphantly returned to shelves in July.
Pope Benedict XVI became the first pope in nearly 600 years to resign.
Toys, TV & trends of 2013
Kids wove rubber-band bracelets on Rainbow Looms and traded them at school.
Candy Crush Saga had everyone matching candies on their phones.
Six-second Vine videos and the goofy "Harlem Shake" dance ruled the internet.
Ylvis's "What Does the Fox Say?" had every kid ring-ding-ding-ing down the hallways.
The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One both launched in November, sparking epic holiday wish lists.
Doge — a fluffy Shiba Inu surrounded by Comic Sans captions — became the internet's favorite meme. Wow.
The music scene
In February 2013 Billboard began counting YouTube views toward the Hot 100 — and the meme-powered "Harlem Shake" instantly shot to No. 1, a sign of where pop was headed. Sixteen-year-old Lorde's "Royals" made her the youngest artist to top the chart in a quarter century, Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" owned the summer, and in December Beyoncé invented the surprise album drop, releasing a full visual album overnight with zero warning.
At the movies
Argo took Best Picture at the Oscars, with a memorable assist from First Lady Michelle Obama announcing the winner from the White House. Gravity stunned audiences with its you-are-there space visuals on the way to seven Academy Awards. And Frozen, a November release, snowballed into a phenomenon that would soon become the highest-grossing animated film the world had yet seen.
Cartoons kids loved
Teen Titans Go!
Adventure Time
Gravity Falls
Steven Universe premiered in November, making Rebecca Sugar the first woman to create a Cartoon Network show on her own. Teen Titans Go! also debuted in 2013, trading the original series' drama for gag-a-minute comedy — kids loved it even as older fans grumbled.
The world in 2013
World population: about 7.1 billion
U.S. President: Barack Obama
Pope Francis became the first pope from the Americas.
Edward Snowden's leaks about government surveillance made global headlines.
Nelson Mandela died at age 95, and the world paused to honor him.
Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest storms ever recorded, devastated the Philippines.
2013 birthday questions
How old is someone born in 2013?
Someone born in 2013 turns 13 in 2026 (12 if their birthday has not come round yet).
What was the number one song in 2013?
"Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz was among the biggest hits of 2013.
What movie came out in 2013?
Frozen was one of the films packing theaters in 2013.
How much did gas cost in 2013?
A gallon of gas ran about $3.51 in 2013, and a postage stamp cost 46¢.
How much did a house cost in 2013?
The average home went for roughly $197,000 in 2013, against a typical household income of about $52,000.