Inventions & Breakthroughs of December 2011
Gadgets, lab surprises, odd bets, and future-shocks from this slice of the calendar.
1 
Voice Assistant (Siri)
2 
Cloud Storage Consumer Services
3 
Electric Vehicle Supercharging
4 
Mobile Payment Systems
5 
Social Messaging Apps
6 
Genome Sequencing Cost Reduction
7 
Digital News Aggregation
8 
Autonomous Vehicle Research Program
9 
Smart Home Automation Platforms
10 
Medical Robotic Surgery Expansion
The Sounds of
Popular recordings and roots/country selections associated with the year
HEADLINES ON December 16, 2011
Full News Archive
- Headline: Debate Over Short Sales Regulation. Impact: The debate over short sales ignited a series of investor rebellions across the globe. Fast forward a few decades, and you’ll find a world where investors stage sit-ins, demanding the right to short-sell while dressed as stock market bulls and bears. Who knew finance could be a theatrical performance?. Fact: Did you know that short-selling is often compared to betting against a horse in a race? It’s perfectly legal, but try telling that to the horse owners!.
- Headline: Janet L. Robinson Retires from NY Times. Impact: Janet L. Robinson's retirement marked the end of an era, leading to a shift where media executives now hold ‘retirement parties’ more frequently than actual parties, speeding up the decline of print journalism and increasing the number of cat videos online. Thanks, Janet!. Fact: Did you know that the New York Times has more crossword puzzles than actual news articles these days? That’s what happens when you can’t find good headlines!.
Wall Street Time Machine
The Right Call: If you'd invested $1,000 in any one of these companies in 2011, here's what the stored 2025 dataset estimates.
Rank #1
NVDA
NVIDIA
Price in 2011
$0.36
2025 dataset value
$480,243
NVIDIA - If you invested $1,000 in 2011, it would be worth $480,243 today (480.2x return)
🦸 Top 5 Comics
Detective Comics #1
$1,500,000
Action Comics #1
$8,000
Ultimate Fallout #4
$1,500
Batman #1
$2,220,000
Justice League #1
$750
🧸 Top 5 Toys
LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu
$20.00
Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
$200.00
Monster High Dolls
$150.00
LeapPad Explorer
$50.00
Beyblade: Metal Fusion
$150.00
🎮 Top 5 Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
$200.00
Portal 2
$30.00
Dark Souls
$200.00
Batman: Arkham City
$16.00
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
$200.00
⚾ Top 5 Trading Cards
2011 Topps Update Mike Trout #US175
$2,000
2011 Panini National Treasures Cam Newton RPA #328
$3,000
2011 Bowman Chrome Bryce Harper Autograph #BCP111
$9,716
2011 Panini Gold Standard Kobe Bryant #24
$1,500
2011 Magic: The Gathering - New Phyrexia's Karn Liberated
$250