the summer of

What it was like to be 15 in 1996 in America

To be fifteen in America in 1996 was to have “1979” by The Smashing Pumpkins everywhere, Independence Day on every screen, and Friends on after school. That year, gas cost $1.23 and the Nintendo 64 was the new thing. Born in 1981? You turned 15 in 1996 — a teenager from 1994 to 2000, right in the window a soundtrack bonds to you for life.

Compiled by the Original Lore archive from period charts, box-office and price records. How we build these · sources noted throughout.

▶ Play your 1996 reel with sounda 30-second video of your year — the song, the screen, the turn.

the mixtape of 1996

1979 — The Smashing Pumpkins

  1. 1979 — The Smashing PumpkinsThat shimmer was cruising past your old middle school, already nostalgic somehow at sixteen.
  2. Don't Speak — No DoubtGwen's breakup ballad was the one you cried to when the summer romance quietly ended.
  3. Wonderwall — OasisThe song everyone half-sang at every party, arms slung around shoulders, sure you'd stay friends forever.
  4. Ready or Not — FugeesLauryn's velvet flow drifted from open windows, cool and unhurried, the perfect end-of-summer haze.
  5. Santeria — SublimeBradley's sun-baked groove was every beach bonfire, barefoot and careless and seemingly endless.

▶ Play your 1996 reel

why this one mattered

More than any chart song, '1979' is the sound of being 15 in 1996 — the dreamy loop and the video of kids joyriding and crashing a party perfectly bottled suburban teenage boredom and freedom. It's nostalgic about being a teenager while you were one, which is exactly why it remains the cohort's instant emotional trigger.

the year-end #1 was Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix) — Los Del Río.

the movies you are watching in 1996

  • Independence Day
  • Twister
  • Mission: Impossible
  • The Rock
  • Jerry Maguire

the tv shows you are binging in 1996

  • Friends
  • Seinfeld
  • ER
  • The X-Files
  • The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

the games you are playing in 1996

  • Super Mario 64
  • Mario Kart 64
  • Pokémon Red and Blue
  • Crash Bandicoot
  • Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
  • Resident Evil

what things cost in 1996

What things cost in 1996
a gallon of gas$1.23
a movie ticket$4.42
the federal minimum wage$4.75/hr
a first-class stamp$0.32
the average income$35,492

trending this year

Nintendo 64
Photo by Evan-Amos (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nintendo-64-Console-FL.jpg · Public Domain
Nintendo 64
Motorola StarTAC
Photo by Nkp911m500 (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Generation_Motorola_StarTAC_cellular_phone.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
Motorola StarTAC
Tickle Me Elmo
Clément Bucco-Lechat, via Wikimedia Commons (File:Handmade teddy bear.jpg) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tickle Me Elmo
Space Jam
Everyday English / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Space Jam
The Macarena
Daniel Case / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0 (also GFDL)
The Macarena

the gadgets you just got

Nintendo 64
Photo by Evan-Amos (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nintendo-64-Console-FL.jpg · Public Domain
Nintendo 64
Motorola StarTAC flip phone
Photo by rfdigitalwpg (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Motorola_StarTAC_Flip_Phone.jpg · CC BY 2.0
Motorola StarTAC flip phone
Nintendo Game Boy Pocket
Photo by Evan-Amos (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Game-Boy-Pocket-FL.jpg · Public Domain
Nintendo Game Boy Pocket
Palm Pilot 1000
Photo by Ndiggity (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palm_Pilot_1000.png · CC BY-SA 4.0
Palm Pilot 1000
WebTV
Photo by Superzerocool (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Webtv.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.1 JP
WebTV

what everyone is snacking on

Fruit Gushers
Thomson200, Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Betty_Crocker_Fruit_Gushers_pieces.jpg · CC0 1.0 (Public Domain Dedication)
Fruit Gushers
Lay's WOW! / Olestra chips (Frito-Lay)
Evan-Amos (public domain) · Public Domain (released by author)
Lay's WOW! / Olestra chips (Frito-Lay)
Dunkaroos
taylorhatmaker (Flickr), CC BY 2.0
Dunkaroos
Oreo cookies
Angel caboodle / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 · CC BY 3.0 (also GFDL)
Oreo cookies
Bugles
Marco Almbauer (public domain, no attribution required) · Public Domain (released by copyright holder)
Bugles

what everyone is drinking

Surge soda
Pauloleong2002 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Surge soda
Crystal Pepsi
Farside268, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crystal_Pepsi_Cristal_Canada.jpg) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Crystal Pepsi
Snapple
Marcus Quigmire (Flickr), via Wikimedia Commons (File:Diet (3298274926).jpg) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Snapple
Capri Sun
Photo by Tamzin Hadasa Kelly (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Capri_Sun_pouch_standing.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Capri Sun
SoBe
Joshua Ommen (Amarillo, USA), via Flickr — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SoBes.jpg · CC BY 2.0
SoBe

what made the news in 1996

  • Bill Clinton wins reelection, defeating Bob Dole for a second presidential term
  • A bomb rocks Centennial Olympic Park during the Atlanta Summer Games
  • TWA Flight 800 explodes off Long Island, killing all 230 aboard
  • FBI agents arrest Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, at his remote Montana cabin
Bill Clinton re-elected President
Bob McNeely, The White House · Public Domain (U.S. federal government work)
Bill Clinton re-elected President
Centennial Olympic Games open in Atlanta
MSGT Joseph Pittelli, U.S. Air Force · Public Domain (U.S. Air Force work)
Centennial Olympic Games open in Atlanta
Centennial Olympic Park bombing
Robert Neff / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Centennial Olympic Park bombing
TWA Flight 800 explodes off Long Island
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) · Public Domain (NTSB / U.S. government work)
TWA Flight 800 explodes off Long Island
Unabomber Ted Kaczynski arrested in Montana
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) · Public Domain (FBI / U.S. government work)
Unabomber Ted Kaczynski arrested in Montana

what everyone is saying

  • "Macarena!"Los del Rio's 'Macarena' dominated US charts and dance floors in 1996
  • "As if!"Catchphrase popularized by the movie Clueless, peaking in 1996 pop culture
  • "Show me the money!"Line from the film Jerry Maguire, released December 1996
  • "Yada yada yada"Popularized by Seinfeld in the mid-1990s
  • "Talk to the hand"Dismissive slang phrase widespread in mid-1990s US culture

top-performing stocks in 1996

Top-performing stocks in 1996
CompanyTickerPriceChange
Yahoo!YHOO$21+150%
IntelINTC$65+130%
IomegaIOM$25+300%
DellDELL$53+200%
America OnlineAOL$33+45%

worst-performing stocks in 1996

Worst-performing stocks in 1996
CompanyTickerPriceChange
Apple ComputerAAPL$21-35%
Bally Total FitnessBFT$7-50%
Boston ChickenBOST$30-15%
Quantum CorporationQNTM$11-40%
Sunrise MedicalSMD$13-45%

the summer of 1996.

the best of it still feels like it's coming.

…and then it cools. Play the reel to feel where 1996 goes.

Turn 1996 into a 30-second reel →

▶ Play your 1996 reel with sound