In 2014, "Happy" topped the charts, Guardians of the Galaxy packed theaters, a stamp cost 49¢, the average home went for about $208,000.
🎵 Top songs of 2014
"Happy" — Pharrell Williams
"Dark Horse" — Katy Perry featuring Juicy J
"All of Me" — John Legend
🎬 In theaters
Guardians of the Galaxy
The LEGO Movie
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
What things cost in 2014
$3.36
Gallon of gas
49¢
Postage stamp
$8.17
Movie ticket
$3.69
Gallon of milk
$208,000
Average home
$32,400
New car
$53,700
Household income
In today's dollars, 2014's $3.36 gas comes to roughly $4.55 and the $8.17 ticket to about $11.10 — proof that movie prices have mostly just kept pace with inflation.
The biggest moments of 2014
The Winter Olympics were held in Sochi, Russia.
Germany won the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Europe's Rosetta mission landed the little Philae probe on a speeding comet.
A brutal "polar vortex" froze much of the U.S. in January, coining a new weather phrase.
Scotland voted to remain part of the United Kingdom in a historic referendum.
Berlin marked 25 years since the Wall fell with 8,000 glowing balloons along its old path.
Toys, TV & trends of 2014
Millions dumped buckets of ice water on their heads for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
The maddening app Flappy Bird had everyone tapping — then it vanished from app stores.
Frozen mania meant Elsa costumes everywhere and "Let It Go" on endless repeat.
The maddeningly simple puzzle game 2048 devoured study halls everywhere.
Microsoft bought Minecraft for $2.5 billion, stunning kids who'd built entire worlds in it.
"Bae," "on fleek," and "turnt" invaded school hallways via Vine.
The music scene
Taylor Swift went full pop with 1989 — then made headlines by pulling her entire catalog off Spotify to protest streaming payouts. Apple caused a stir of its own by auto-loading U2's new album onto everyone's iPhones for free, which many found more creepy than generous. And "Happy," originally tucked into the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, exploded thanks to the world's first 24-hour music video.
At the movies
12 Years a Slave won Best Picture, and host Ellen DeGeneres's star-packed Oscar selfie briefly broke Twitter with over three million retweets. Guardians of the Galaxy was the year's big gamble — a space romp starring a talking raccoon that nobody expected to become the summer's biggest hit. Interstellar sent audiences through a wormhole in November.
Cartoons kids loved
Steven Universe
Gravity Falls
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Steven Universe grew into something rare: a kids' show praised for tackling big feelings with real tenderness. Gravity Falls fans, meanwhile, spent the year decoding the cryptograms hidden in every episode's credits — one of TV's first truly internet-era scavenger hunts.
The world in 2014
World population: about 7.2 billion
U.S. President: Barack Obama
Seventeen-year-old Malala Yousafzai became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner ever.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished, becoming one of aviation's great mysteries.
West Africa battled the largest Ebola outbreak in history as health workers rushed to help.
India reached Mars with its Mangalyaan orbiter — the first nation to succeed on its very first try.
2014 birthday questions
How old is someone born in 2014?
Someone born in 2014 turns 12 in 2026 (11 if their birthday has not come round yet).
What was the number one song in 2014?
"Happy" by Pharrell Williams was among the biggest hits of 2014.
What movie came out in 2014?
Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the films packing theaters in 2014.
How much did gas cost in 2014?
A gallon of gas ran about $3.36 in 2014, and a postage stamp cost 49¢.
How much did a house cost in 2014?
The average home went for roughly $208,000 in 2014, against a typical household income of about $53,700.