1992

What Was Happening in 1992

The world watches Barcelona light the Olympic flame as Britain crashes out of the ERM on Black Wednesday.

Born in

By the Numbers in 1992

World Population

UK Life Expectancy

58.3 years

US Life Expectancy

58.7 years

Gold Price (per oz)

$361.02

Dow Jones Index

4,360

US National Debt

Sovereign Nations

185

How Much Did Things Cost in 1992?

ItemUKUS
Average house price£60,257$103,000
Average salary£14,886$31,500
Pint of milk27p$0.57
Loaf of bread54p$0.74
Dozen eggs£1.06$1.03
Pint of beer£1.25$2.20
Gallon of petrol/gas£2.00$1.13
Cinema ticket£3.00$4.15

Technology and Inventions in 1992

Text messaging (SMS) was sent for the first time. Windows 3.1 became the dominant PC operating system. The term 'surfing the Internet' was coined, though very few people had actually been online. Sega and Nintendo battled fiercely in the console wars.

  • First SMS text message sent ('Merry Christmas')
  • Windows 3.1 released, selling a million copies in two months
  • IBM Simon, considered the first smartphone, was demonstrated
  • Wolfenstein 3D launched the first-person shooter genre

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More About 1992

What Was Happening — A journey through the years