How 15 Years Changed America

2001 seems like it was just yesterday, but America was a vastly different country 15 years ago. From pop culture to prices, here are just a few examples of what's changed since then:

1.) Music

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Source: destinyschild.com[/caption]Some of the top hits that year were "Hanging by a Moment" by Lifehouse and "Drops of Jupiter" by Train, if you listened to the top 40 stations. J-Lo was at the top of her game, and Destiny's Child released "Independant Woman Part I," among other singles. Weezer released "Hash Pipe," Creed was working on their third album, and now I feel super old.

2.) Movies

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My dad literally took me out of school to see this movie the day it was released. Best day ever. (Source: Movieposter.com)[/caption]The Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series kicked off in theaters in 2001, with incredible success. Other major hits included Donnie Darko, Shrek, Tomb Raider, Monsters Inc., Oceans Eleven, and, of course, Black Hawk Down.

3.) Prices

The average price of gas was $1.46 a gallon. Eggs were about $.90 cents. The average rent was $715.00.

Anybody got a time machine? (Just kidding, I can't afford that right now.)

4.) Wikipedia

The "source" that professors hate the most went online officially, and became available for anyone to edit. What was life like before Wiki? Horrible, that's what.

What is this "encyclopedia" that you speak of? Imma Google that.

5.) Operation Enduring Freedom began today, and 2,356 American service members died to protect us so that all of these things could happen, peacefully and safely.

Over 19,000 American soldiers were also wounded over the 4,830 days that made up OEF. Today, we still have about 9,000 troops there (as opposed to the roughly 100,000 we had there in 2011). Osama Bin Ladin was only recently eliminated, and we have spent over $60 Billion dollars training and equipping Afghan security forces.Today, unfortunately, Afghanistan remains the lead producer of opium, with about 90% of the product originating from poppy fields there. The quantity of product leaving the country has only increased since 2001. We're still fighting there, but the media seems to be more concerned with "more important" wars.Let's not forget the sacrifices that so many Americans made so that we could enjoy the freedoms that we have.