Celebrating 25 Years In Our Building!
June 9th marks the 25th anniversary of the grand opening of the Wayne Public Library.
A lot has changed since then!
What was happening in 1996?
January - Motorola introduces the first flip phone for commercial use. Cost? $1000!
February 10 - IBM computer Deep Blue beats chess master Garry Kasparov for the first time.
March 25 - Twister becomes the first Hollywood feature film to be released on DVD.
July 5 - Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal to be successfully cloned.
July 23 - The first public HDTV broadcast in the United States occurs in Raleigh, North Carolina.
July 27 - A bomb explodes in Centennial Olympic Park during the Atlanta Olympic Games.
August 29 - Tiger Woods makes his professional PGA Tour debut at the Greater Milwaukee Open.
September 26 - Nintendo releases the Nintendo 64 in North America.
Then Versus Now:
Cellular Phone in 1996:
Mobile phones were not yet commonplace, and featured monochrome displays and antennas. Text message were just becoming a thing.
Cellular Phone in 2021:
Mobile phones become portable computers and an essential part of our everyday lives.
Desktop Computer in 1996:
A Top-of-the-line Dell computer with a 66MHz processor, eight megabytes of RAM and a 320-megabyte hard drive cost over $4000.
Desktop Computer in 2021:
An all-in-one desktop with touchscreen, 4.1GHz processor, 8 GB of RAM and a 1 terabyte hard drive can be found for $600.
Average New Car Price in 1996:
$16,300
Average New Car Price in 2021:
$40, 850
Television in 1996:
A 27” CRT is considered standard! Flat panels are a year away from really hitting the market, and cable TV rules!
Television in 2021:
High Definition and 4K flat screens rule, and the average size screen jumps to 50”! Streaming services and “smart tvs” have become standard.
Cost Of a Gallon Of Gas in 1996:
$1.22
Cost Of a Gallon Of Gas in 2021:
$2.51
Dow Jones Industrial Average on 1/1/1996
5,115.70
Dow Jones Industrial Average on 1/1/2021
30,417.64
% of U.S. Households with Internet Access in 1996
Less than 17%
% of American Households with Internet Access in 2021
Over 85%
Actress Abigail Breslin - April 14
Actor Tom Holland - June 1
Actress Zendaya - September 1
Lourdes Ciccone (daughter of Madonna) - October 14
Musical Artist Lorde - November 7
Actress Hailee Steinfeld - December 11