In 2017, "Shape of You" topped the charts, Star Wars: The Last Jedi packed theaters, a stamp cost 49¢, the average home went for about $247,000.
🎵 Top songs of 2017
"Shape of You" — Ed Sheeran
"Despacito" — Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber
"That's What I Like" — Bruno Mars
🎬 In theaters
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Beauty and the Beast
Wonder Woman
What things cost in 2017
$2.42
Gallon of gas
49¢
Postage stamp
$8.97
Movie ticket
$3.16
Gallon of milk
$247,000
Average home
$35,400
New car
$61,400
Household income
In today's money, 2017's $2.42 gas is about $3.15 and the $8.97 ticket about $11.75 — meaning movie tickets then were actually a little pricier, adjusted for inflation, than they are now.
The biggest moments of 2017
A total solar eclipse crossed the United States in August.
Cassini completed its 20-year Saturn mission with a final dive.
The #MeToo movement spread across social media.
Apple's iPhone X ditched the home button for Face ID, marking ten years of the iPhone.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement in November.
The Houston Astros won their first World Series, lifting a city recovering from a hard hurricane season.
Toys, TV & trends of 2017
Fidget spinners whirled through every classroom in America.
Homemade slime videos took over the internet (and kitchen tables).
Kids lip-synced their hearts out on the Musical.ly app.
The Nintendo Switch launched in March with Zelda: Breath of the Wild and sold out for months.
"The floor is lava!" could be shouted anywhere, anytime — and everyone had five seconds to climb.
Salt Bae's dramatic sprinkle became the meme of the year.
The music scene
"Despacito" made history as the first mostly-Spanish No. 1 in the U.S. since the "Macarena" in 1996, tied the all-time record of 16 weeks on top, and became YouTube's most-viewed video ever. K-pop broke through in America as BTS won a Billboard Music Award and performed at the American Music Awards. Cardi B's "Bodak Yellow" made her the first solo female rapper to top the Hot 100 since Lauryn Hill in 1998.
At the movies
The 2017 Oscars produced the most famous flub in award-show history: La La Land was mistakenly announced as Best Picture before Moonlight was revealed as the true winner. Get Out, made for just $4.5 million, became a cultural phenomenon, and Pixar's Coco celebrated Día de los Muertos with a story that left theaters sniffling worldwide.
Cartoons kids loved
Steven Universe
Adventure Time
We Bare Bears
Reboot fever hit kids' TV: the new DuckTales launched with David Tennant voicing Scrooge McDuck and a theme song everyone already knew by heart. Studios had realized that shows beloved by 90s kids could win over those kids' children — nostalgia was now a programming strategy.
The world in 2017
World population: about 7.55 billion
U.S. President: Donald Trump (took office January 20)
Hurricanes Harvey and Maria caused widespread devastation
Emmanuel Macron, 39, became France's youngest president ever.
Saudi Arabia announced that women would finally be allowed to drive.
Astronomers watched two neutron stars collide, detecting both gravitational waves and light from a single cosmic event for the first time.
2017 birthday questions
How old is someone born in 2017?
Someone born in 2017 turns 9 in 2026 (8 if their birthday has not come round yet).
What was the number one song in 2017?
"Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran was among the biggest hits of 2017.
What movie came out in 2017?
Star Wars: The Last Jedi was one of the films packing theaters in 2017.
How much did gas cost in 2017?
A gallon of gas ran about $2.42 in 2017, and a postage stamp cost 49¢.
How much did a house cost in 2017?
The average home went for roughly $247,000 in 2017, against a typical household income of about $61,400.