In 2016, "Love Yourself" topped the charts, Finding Dory packed theaters, a stamp cost 47¢, the average home went for about $234,000.
🎵 Top songs of 2016
"Love Yourself" — Justin Bieber
"Sorry" — Justin Bieber
"One Dance" — Drake featuring WizKid and Kyla
🎬 In theaters
Finding Dory
Captain America: Civil War
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
What things cost in 2016
$2.14
Gallon of gas
47¢
Postage stamp
$8.65
Movie ticket
$3.20
Gallon of milk
$234,000
Average home
$34,400
New car
$59,000
Household income
That cheap $2.14 gas of 2016 equals about $2.85 in today's dollars — still a bargain — while the $8.65 movie ticket converts to roughly $11.60, a shade above today's average.
The biggest moments of 2016
Simone Biles and Michael Phelps dazzled at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The Chicago Cubs won the World Series, ending a 108-year championship drought.
The Broadway musical Hamilton swept the Tony Awards and pop culture.
Leicester City won England's Premier League after starting the season as 5,000-to-1 longshots.
NASA's Juno spacecraft arrived at Jupiter on the Fourth of July.
Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature — a first for a songwriter.
Toys, TV & trends of 2016
Pokémon GO sent millions of players outside to catch Pikachu in their neighborhoods.
Kids everywhere flipped water bottles and froze in place for the Mannequin Challenge.
Hatchimals — toys that hatched from eggs — were the holiday season's hottest gift.
"Damn, Daniel!" and his white Vans echoed through every middle school.
Stranger Things premiered in July and made walkie-talkies and Eggo waffles cool again.
The tiny NES Classic Edition sold out everywhere, kicking off the retro-console craze.
The music scene
This was the year streaming officially took over, becoming the American music industry's biggest source of revenue for the first time. Beyoncé's Lemonade arrived as a full film-and-album event, and Drake's "One Dance" became Spotify's most-streamed song ever at the time — early proof that the charts now ran on playlists. The deaths of David Bowie and Prince made it a bittersweet year for music lovers.
At the movies
Spotlight won Best Picture at the February Oscars. Disney had arguably the greatest studio year ever, releasing Zootopia, The Jungle Book and Moana on its way to a record $7 billion worldwide. Deadpool shocked Hollywood by proving an R-rated superhero comedy could gross nearly $800 million.
Cartoons kids loved
The Loud House
Steven Universe
We Bare Bears
The Loud House premiered in May 2016 and rocketed to the top of Nickelodeon's ratings; its creator based Lincoln's ten sisters on his own upbringing in a family of ten kids. Streaming services also began commissioning big original cartoons like Voltron: Legendary Defender, foreshadowing where kids' TV was headed.
The world in 2016
World population: about 7.4 billion
U.S. President: Barack Obama
The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in the "Brexit" referendum.
Colombia signed a peace deal ending a 52-year conflict, earning its president the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Panama Papers leak exposed hidden offshore fortunes around the globe.
Health officials raced to contain the Zika virus across the Americas.
2016 birthday questions
How old is someone born in 2016?
Someone born in 2016 turns 10 in 2026 (9 if their birthday has not come round yet).
What was the number one song in 2016?
"Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber was among the biggest hits of 2016.
What movie came out in 2016?
Finding Dory was one of the films packing theaters in 2016.
How much did gas cost in 2016?
A gallon of gas ran about $2.14 in 2016, and a postage stamp cost 47¢.
How much did a house cost in 2016?
The average home went for roughly $234,000 in 2016, against a typical household income of about $59,000.