In 2021, "Levitating" topped the charts, Spider-Man: No Way Home packed theaters, a stamp cost 58¢, the average home went for about $347,000.
🎵 Top songs of 2021
"Levitating" — Dua Lipa
"Save Your Tears" — The Weeknd and Ariana Grande
"Blinding Lights" — The Weeknd
🎬 In theaters
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Encanto
What things cost in 2021
$3.01
Gallon of gas
58¢
Postage stamp
$9.57
Movie ticket
$3.55
Gallon of milk
$347,000
Average home
$42,400
New car
$70,800
Household income
In today's dollars, 2021's $3.01 gas works out to about $3.60 and the $9.57 ticket to roughly $11.40 — right in line with current prices.
The biggest moments of 2021
NASA's Perseverance rover landed on Mars in February.
COVID-19 vaccines began rolling out globally.
Billionaires Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson flew to the edge of space.
The container ship Ever Given got stuck sideways in the Suez Canal for six days, and the world could not look away.
NASA's little Ingenuity helicopter made the first powered flight on another planet.
The Tokyo Olympics were finally held in near-empty stadiums, where gymnast Suni Lee won all-around gold.
Toys, TV & trends of 2021
Pop It fidget toys were poked and popped in every backpack.
The sea shanty "Wellerman" had the whole internet singing along.
Roblox ruled recess conversations as gaming with friends went online.
Noodle the pug's "bones or no bones" forecasts told everyone what kind of day to have.
Hundreds of people named Josh met in a Nebraska field for a pool-noodle duel — 4-year-old "Little Josh" won.
NFT apes and Dogecoin jokes made "crypto" a dinner-table word.
The music scene
An 18-year-old named Olivia Rodrigo opened the year with "drivers license," which shattered Spotify records and made her the biggest new star in years. BTS's "Butter" stayed melted onto the No. 1 spot for ten weeks. And when Adele released 30, she convinced Spotify to remove the shuffle button from album pages — because albums, she said, are meant to be heard in order.
At the movies
Nomadland won Best Picture at a scaled-down, pandemic-delayed Oscars. Studios experimented wildly, with Warner Bros. releasing its entire slate on HBO Max the same day as theaters. Then Spider-Man: No Way Home arrived in December and proved audiences would still pack theaters, becoming the first film since 2019 to cross $1 billion.
Cartoons kids loved
Bluey
Arcane (animated hit)
SpongeBob SquarePants
The streaming wars turned animation into a battleground, with Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max all pouring money into original cartoons. Arcane stunned critics as proof a video-game adaptation could be prestige television, while Bluey quietly climbed toward becoming one of the most-streamed shows in America — for any age.
The world in 2021
World population: about 7.9 billion
U.S. President: Joe Biden (took office January 20)
The James Webb Space Telescope launched on Christmas Day
The Taliban retook Afghanistan as U.S. forces completed their withdrawal after 20 years.
Angela Merkel stepped down after 16 years leading Germany.
A volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma erupted for 85 straight days.
2021 birthday questions
How old is someone born in 2021?
Someone born in 2021 turns 5 in 2026 (4 if their birthday has not come round yet).
What was the number one song in 2021?
"Levitating" by Dua Lipa was among the biggest hits of 2021.
What movie came out in 2021?
Spider-Man: No Way Home was one of the films packing theaters in 2021.
How much did gas cost in 2021?
A gallon of gas ran about $3.01 in 2021, and a postage stamp cost 58¢.
How much did a house cost in 2021?
The average home went for roughly $347,000 in 2021, against a typical household income of about $70,800.