Year 2016 in Review: Fun Facts, Trivia, and Historic Highlights

This quick read is a collection of fun facts, trivia, and historical events from the year 2016. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, sports facts, historic firsts, entertainment trivia, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. In 2016, Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States, and Joe Biden was the nation’s 47th vice president.
2. The U.S. unemployment rate was 5%, and the nation’s inflation rate was 1.3%.
3. The average annual income in the U.S. was $74,664, and the price of a first-class stamp decreased from 49 cents to 47 cents.
4. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Americans paid an estimated $15 billion in bank overdraft and non-sufficient funds (NSF) charges, an increase of 2.2% over 2015.
5. In December 2016, the median price for a new house was $327,000, while the average cost was $382,500.
6. About 63.5% of Americans owned their home, down from the peak of 69% in 2004. Cleveland, Miami, New York, Pittsburgh, and Tampa were the top five metropolitan areas in the country for free-and-clear homeownership. On the other hand, Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Las Vegas, and Washington, D.C., had the lowest percentage of free-and-clear homeowners.
7. Americans paid an average of $34,077 for a new car, which was 2.7% higher than in 2015, and 12.6% more than in 2011.
8. The average American household had $16,061 in credit card debt.
9. In 2016, healthcare costs increased by 6.2%.
10. At the grocery store, one pound of potatoes cost 68 cents, wheat bread was $1.96 for a 16-ounce loaf, and chocolate chip cookies were $3.35 for a 16-ounce package. Eggs were $1.68 a dozen, sirloin steak was $8.39 a pound, and one gallon of whole milk was $3.20.
11. On January 10, British singer and songwriter David Bowie passed away just two days after the release of his final album, Blackstar.
12. January 22 to 24: A record-breaking blizzard dumped up to three feet of snow in parts of the mid-Atlantic, including “New York City, Long Island, and portions of northeast New Jersey and southwest Connecticut."
13. At the 88th Academy Awards on February 28, Spotlight won an Oscar for Best Picture, and Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant) won an Oscar for Best Director. Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant) won an Oscar for Best Actor, and Brie Larson (Room) won an Oscar for Best Actress. Finally, Inside Out won an Oscar for Best Feature Film, and Son of Saul (Hungary) won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
14. On March 2, U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko returned to Earth after 340 days in space.
15. On March 20, President Obama arrived in Cuba and became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the country in 88 years.
16. On April 13, Kobe Bryant played his last NBA game. He scored 60 points to help the LA Lakers defeat the Utah Jazz, 101-96.
17. On April 20, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced that political activist Harriet Tubman would replace Andrew Jackson on the face of the $20 bill. (Just so you know, Andrew Jackson was the seventh U.S. president, from 1829 to 1837.)
18. On April 22, an estimated 130 countries signed the landmark Paris Climate Change Agreement at the United Nations in New York. History.com tells us that “The agreement’s goal was to keep the global average temperatures from rising by more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by dramatically reducing carbon emissions.”
19. On April 25, over 500 current and former residents of Flint, Michigan, filed a class action lawsuit against the EPA. CNN.com reports that the plaintiffs claimed negligence and demanded “more than $220 million in damages for the EPA's role in the Flint water crisis.” (Just so you know, “On April 25, 2014, officials from Flint, Michigan, switched the city’s water supply to the Flint River as a cost-cutting measure for the struggling city. In doing so, they unwittingly introduced lead-poisoned water into homes” in what could have become a major public-health crisis.)
20. On May 1, after more than 50 years, a U.S. cruise ship set sail for Cuba.
21. On May 18, Google launched Google Assistant, “a digital assistant service that uses artificial intelligence to respond to voice requests. It can answer questions, set reminders, perform online retail transactions, and control electrical devices in the home.”
22. On May 27, President Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, Japan.
23. On June 3, American professional boxer and activist Muhammad Ali passed away. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest boxers of all time.
24. On June 7, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a play written by J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany, premiered in London.
25. On June 23, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. The UK’s historic Brexit vote—51.89% in favor of leaving the EU and 48.11% against—triggered British Prime Minister David Cameron to resign and created havoc on global markets.
26. On August 11, scientists discovered that a 392-year-old Greenland shark was the longest-living vertebrate animal in the world.
27. On September 18, at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards, Veep (HBO) won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, and the fantasy drama Game of Thrones (HBO) won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series. Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent) won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep) won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
28. On September 25, China began to operate the world’s largest radio telescope, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), to help search for extraterrestrial life.
29. On October 7-8, Hurricane Matthew ravaged Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, “leading to record-breaking flooding and millions of power outages.”
30. On November 2, the Chicago Cubs won their first World Series since 1908 by defeating the Cleveland Indians, 8-7.
31. On November 8, Republican Donald Trump was elected as president of the United States by defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump lost the popular vote to Clinton by more than 2.8 million votes but received 304 electoral votes to Clinton’s 227.
32. On November 8, Kensington Palace in London confirmed that Prince Harry was several months into a relationship with American actress Meghan Markle.
33. On December 14, University of Toronto scientists discovered water deep down in a mine in Canada that was about 1.5 billion years old.
34. In 2016, McDonald's had 36,525 restaurants, and Subway had 44,805 locations.
35. Popeyes had 2,688 restaurants worldwide, which included 159 new locations.
36. Did you know that dogs attacked an estimated 6,755 postal workers during 2016?
37. The UK and Iceland experienced a 62-foot-high wave, the highest ever recorded on planet Earth.
38. Bottled water surpassed carbonated soft drinks in sales for the first time.
39. Fried chicken, Filipino cuisine, cauliflower, sweet potato toast, and ice cream sandwiches were top American food trends.
40. In 2016, the most visited websites were Google, Facebook, YouTube, Gmail, and Amazon.
41. The most popular passwords for online accounts were “123456,” “123456789,” and “qwerty.”
42. An estimated 87% of the U.S. population used the Internet.
43. Facebook had about 1.55 billion active users worldwide, and X (Twitter) had around 315 million active members across the planet.
44. For the first time in history, streaming services generated more revenue for the music industry than sales of albums and singles.
45. An estimated 2.9 billion Google searches were made every day, and 2.7 million blog posts were published daily.
46. In 2016, journalist Bill O’Reilly (Fox) had the top cable news show in terms of total viewers. Megyn Kelly (Fox) and Rachel Maddow (MSNBC) followed him in popularity.
47. At the 2016 NAB Marconi Radio Awards, WINS-AM (New York, NY) won an award for Legendary Station of the Year, WTOP-FM (Washington, DC) won an award for News/Talk Station of the Year, and KKBQ-FM (Houston) won an award for Country Station of the Year.
48. In 2016, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was the highest-grossing film, the mobile game Pokémon GO became the fastest-growing app in history, and the most popular song was Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself.
49. Here is a partial list of television shows that aired during the 2016-17 season but weren’t back for the 2017-18 season: 2 Broke Girls (CBS), 24: Legacy (FOX), American Crime (ABC), APB (FOX), Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise (ABC), Big Brother: Over the Top (CBS), Bloodline (Netflix), The Catch (ABC), Chicago Justice (NBC), Conviction (ABC), Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (CBS), Doubt (CBS), Emerald City (NBC), Mercy Street (PBS), The Odd Couple (CBS), Powerless (NBC), Secrets and Lies (ABC), Time After Time (ABC), Training Day (CBS), and Workaholics (Comedy Central).
50. Boston Marathon winners: Lemi Berhanu (men’s race) and Atsede Baysa (women’s race)
51. Kentucky Derby winner: Nyquist
52. Indianapolis 500 winner: Alexander Rossi
53. NBA champions: Golden State Warriors
54. NCAA basketball champions: Villanova University
55. NCAA football champs: Clemson
56. Orange Bowl winner: Clemson over Oklahoma
57. Rose Bowl winner: Stanford over Iowa
58. Stanley Cup champs: Pittsburgh Penguins
59. Sugar Bowl winner: Ole Miss over Oklahoma State
60. Super Bowl champions: Denver Broncos
61. U.S. Open Golf winner: Dustin Johnson

References:

1. https://popculturemadness.com/2016-trivia-fun-facts-history/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_in_the_United_States
3. https://www.computerhope.com/history/2016.htm
4. https://www.slashfilm.com/548220/2016-national-film-registry-movies/
5. https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/14/world/2016-in-review-fast-facts/index.html
6. https://www.infoplease.com/current-events/2016
7. https://www.bestfoodfacts.org/food-trends-of-2016/
8. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-timeline-2015.html

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 Gregory DeVictor