The Year 2006 in Review: Fun Facts, Trivia, and Historic Highlights

This quick read is a collection of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 2006. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, sports facts, grocery prices, computer and Internet news, entertainment trivia, and much more.

1. In 2006, George W. Bush was the president of the United States, and Dick Cheney was the nation’s vice president.
2. Unemployment hovered around 4.4%. The states with the highest unemployment rates were Alaska, Michigan, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
3. The nation’s inflation rate was 3.23%, and the average retail price for a gallon of gas was $3.03.
4. The USPS raised the price of a first-class stamp to 39 cents.
5. A 2006 Honda Civic EX retailed for about $19,055, and a 2006 Chevrolet Corvette had a sticker price of $43,690.
6. On January 19, the New Horizons spacecraft was launched as part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program. The New Horizons mission was headed toward Pluto and was scheduled to pass “within 6,200 miles of Pluto on July 14, 2015.” NASA’s intent for the mission was “to study Pluto's atmosphere and surface.”
7. On January 27, Western Union discontinued its telegram and commercial messaging services. Founded in 1861, Western Union created the first transcontinental message service in the United States, “which was used to send coast-to-coast messages during the Civil War.” (Today, Western Union is a financial services provider that specializes in electronic money transfers as well as email and fax services.)
8. In February, Del Monte announced that it would end pineapple production in Hawaii. The company’s decision left only two companies that grow pineapple in the Aloha State—Dole Food Hawaii and the Maui Land & Pineapple Company.
9. In February, the billionth song was downloaded on iTunes. It was titled Speed of Sound by Coldplay.
10. On February 8, the results of an eight-year federal study found that “a low-fat diet does not decrease the risk of heart disease, cancer, or stroke.” Many practitioners in the medical community found the results stunning.
11. On March 2, Wikipedia volunteers created the one-millionth article, which was about the Jordanhill railway station in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland.
12. On March 9, Google announced that it had purchased Writely—a browser-based word processor—which marked the beginning of Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Sheets, and Google Slides.
13. In April, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a report stating that there were about a trillion barrels of oil “in three basins along the present-day Green River in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.”
14. In April, Skype announced that it had over 100 million registered users. Skype, a communication platform that can be used between computers, tablets, and mobile devices, was launched in 2003.
15. In May, Walmart became the largest seller of organic milk in the U.S.
16. In July, the FBI arrested three people for trying to sell Coca-Cola trade secrets and recipes to Pepsi-Cola.
17. On July 15, Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams launched Twitter, an online social networking platform where users “post and interact” with messages known as “tweets.”
18. On August 24, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefined the solar system. Most notably, Pluto lost its status as a planet and was reclassified as a dwarf planet. According to the IAU, the solar system officially consists of eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. There are also three dwarf planets—Pluto, Ceres, and Eris.
19. In October, the acclaimed Four Seasons restaurant in New York City raised the price of its famous “Baked Potato with White Truffles” to $200, up from the previous year's price of $150.
20. On October 9, Google announced that it was purchasing YouTube for $1.65 billion.
21. On October 18, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 12,000 for the first time in its 110-year history.
22. On October 23, Google introduced its Custom Search Engine service. The service allowed users to narrow Google’s 11.5 billion indexed web pages down to a “topical group of pages.”
23. On October 26, President Bush signed the USA Patriot Act into law. Designed to combat terrorism, the Patriot Act gave law enforcement officials greater flexibility when “searching telephone, e-mail, and other forms of communication and records.”
24. On November 7, Democrats gained control of both houses of Congress during the midterm elections. The Washington Post tells us that “In the House, Democrats won 230 seats and led in two races, while Republicans won 196 seats and led in seven races. Democrats will have nine new senators on their side of the aisle as a result of Tuesday's balloting. Six of them defeated sitting Republican senators from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Rhode Island, Montana, and Virginia. The other three replaced retiring senators from Maryland, Minnesota, and Vermont.”
25. In December, New York became the first American city to ban artificial trans fats in restaurant food. According to the New York Times, the ban affected “all but tiny amounts of artificial trans fats in restaurant cooking, a move that would radically transform the way food is prepared in thousands of restaurants, from McDonald’s to fashionable bistros to Chinese take-outs.”
26. On December 13, Google launched its patent search engine that allowed users to search over seven million patents.
27. In 2006, the most common passwords on the web were “password,” “123456,” “12345678,” “1234,” “qwerty,” “dragon,” “baseball,” “football,” “letmein,” “monkey,” “696969,” “abc123,” “Mustang,” “Michael,” “shadow,” “master,” “Jennifer,” “111111,” “2000,” “Jordan,” “Superman,” “Harley,” “1234567,” “hunter,” and “ranger.”
28. Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” was “You,” in commemoration of all Internet users.
29. For One More Day was a best-selling fiction book, Night at the Museum was a popular film, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was a top-rated TV show.
30. Here are some sports facts from the year 2006: The Pittsburgh Steelers were the Super Bowl champs, the Carolina Hurricanes clinched the Stanley Cup, and Barbaro was the winning horse in the 132nd Kentucky Derby.
31. In 2006 as well, the words “birther,” “bucket list,” “bussin’,” “copypasta,” “crowdsourcing,” “dumpster fire,” “Eris,” “gamification,” “hypermilling,” “sizzle reel,” “ski cross,” “smishing,” “SMS phishing,” “street corn,” “totes,” and “YouTuber” all appeared in print for the first time.
32. Bacon (Hormel): $3.00 for a one-pound package
33. Beef (ground, 90% lean): $3.49 a pound
34. Beef (rump roast): $3.29 per pound
35. Bread (Wonder): $1.99 for a 12-ounce loaf
36. Cereal (Kellogg’s Raisin Bran): $1.99 for a 20-ounce box
37. Cheese (Philadelphia brand, cream): $2.79 for an eight-ounce package
38. Coffee (Maxwell House Master Blend): $3.49 for an 11.5-ounce can
39. Cookies (Keebler Chips Deluxe): $2.00 for an 18-ounce package
40. Crackers (Nabisco saltines): $2.39 for an eight-ounce box
41. Eggs (extra large): $1.50 per dozen
42. Juice (Ocean Spray, cranberry): $2.00 for a 64-ounce bottle
43. Mayonnaise (Hellmann’s): $2.50 for a 32-ounce jar
44. Onions (sweet red): 99 cents a pound
45. Oranges (Sunkist, navel): $3.99 for a three-pound bag
46. Pasta (Ronzoni): 99 cents for a one-pound box
47. Peanut butter (Skippy): $2.19 for an 18-ounce jar
48. Potato chips (Ruffles): $1.69 for a five-ounce bag
49. Soda (Coca-Cola): $3.49 for eight 12-ounce cans
50. Spaghetti sauce (Prego): $2.19 for a 26-ounce jar

References:

1. https://popculturemadness.com/2006-history-fun-facts-and-trivia/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_in_the_United_States
3. https://www.infoplease.com/year/2006
4. https://www.computerhope.com/history/2006.htm
5. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/2005
6. https://www.onthisday.com/date/2006
7. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-2006.html
8. https://www.mclib.info/Research/Local-History-Genealogy/Historic-Prices/Historic-Prices-2000s/Historic-Prices-2006

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 gory DeVictor