🧠 Inventions of 1996
Breakthroughs and everyday innovations from the year.
1 
USB Standard Deployment
2 
Online Social Network Concept
3 
Flash Memory Expansion
4 
Web-Based Mapping Service
5 
Online Education Platforms
6 
Video Conferencing Software
7 
Portable Digital Camera
8 
Speech-to-Text Software Expansion
9 
Search Engine Ranking Algorithm
10 
Online Payment Gateway
HEADLINES ON May 17, 1996
Full News Archive
- Headline: Fuming Caretaker's Deadly Idolatry. Impact: The film's portrayal of a gardener's deadly obsession inspired a surge in 'gardening horror' films, leading to the eventual rise of the 'Green Thumb Killer' franchise, which dominated box offices in the late 2020s. Who knew pruners could be so deadly?. Fact: Fun fact: Gardening can actually reduce stress levels! Clearly, someone skipped that chapter and went straight for the thriller version instead..
- Headline: Gritty Noir in a City of Vice. Impact: This gritty cop drama inadvertently inspired a new genre of 'alcoholic detective' films that became wildly popular, leading to a boom in whiskey sales and the establishment of 'Sober October' as a national holiday to balance it all out.. Fact: Did you know that the average detective in films consumes about three times the legal limit of alcohol? The real mystery is how they still manage to solve cases while being completely sloshed!.
- Headline: FILM REVIEW;Romance On the Run As a Plague Closes In. Impact: This romantic drama during a cholera outbreak led to a bizarre trend in historical romance films that romanticized disease. By the 2040s, it was considered chic to fall in love while battling pandemics, because who doesn’t love a good 'sick' romance?. Fact: Cholera outbreaks were once so rampant that they were a leading cause of death in the 19th century. Nothing like a good love story to distract from the fact that you might just be one sip of bad water away from a one-way ticket to the afterlife!.
Wall Street Time Machine
The Right Call: If you'd invested $1,000 in any one of these companies in 1996, here's what it would be worth in 2025.
Rank #2
MSFT
Microsoft
Price in 1996
$3.43
Value in 2025
$141,245
Microsoft - If you invested $1,000 in 1996, it would be worth $141,245 today (141.2x return)
Rank #3
AAPL
Apple
Price in 1996
$0.24
Value in 2025
$1,130,051
Apple - If you invested $1,000 in 1996, it would be worth $1,130,051 today (1130.1x return)
🦸 Top 5 Comics
Ultimate Spider-Man #1
$150
Superman: The Wedding Album
$150
Kingdom Come #1
$120
The Amazing Spider-Man #418
$4.00
Preacher #12
$150
🧸 Top 5 Toys
Tickle Me Elmo
$125.00
Beanie Babies
$10.00
Tamagotchi
$200.00
Space Jam Action Figures
$150.00
Nintendo 64
$300.00
🎮 Top 5 Video Games
Super Mario 64
$200.00
Tomb Raider
$200.00
Resident Evil
$243.85
Quake
$24.48
Pokã©Mon Red And Blue
$150.00
⚾ Top 5 Trading Cards
Charizard - Base Set (Shadowless) - 1st Edition
$300,000
Kobe Bryant Fleer Ultra Rookie Card
$1,200
Allen Iverson Topps Chrome Rookie Card
$3,000
Michael Jordan 1996 Skybox E-X2000 A Cut Above
$4,500
Delver Lens of Truth - 1996 Magic: The Gathering World Championship
$250,000