1969 vs. 2009

The other day I was looking at one of my favorite places to buy books, the Goodwill, and found a 1969 Readers Digest Almanac. Since I like statistics and facts and I was born in 1969 I thought that would be an interesting read. Here's a snap-shot of what the country was like in 1969 compared to 2009:



1969: Makeup of Senate (Jan 1): 63 Democrats, 37 Republicans
2009: Makeup of Senate (Dec 2009): 57 Democrats 40 Republicans, 2 Independent, 1 vacant



1969: Makeup of House (Jan 1): 246 Democrats, 186 Republicans, 2 vacant, 1 Not seated
2009: Makeup of House (Dec 2009): 257 Democrats, 178 Republicans



1969: Congressional Salary: $30,000/year
2009: Congressional Salary: $174,000/year



1969: President (Jan 1) : Lyndon B, Johnson (D)
2009: President (Dec 2009): B. Hussein Obama (D)



1969: Presidential Salary (Jan 1): $100,000/ year plus $50,000/ year for expenses
2009: Presidential Salary (Jan 1): $400,000/year plus $50,000/year for expenses, $50,000/ year for travel. $19,000/year for entertainment.



1969: Gallon of premium gas: $0.36
2009: Gallon of premium gas: $2.95



1969: Quart of milk :$0.24
2009: Quart of milk: $1.25



1969: Pack of cigarettes: $0.31
2009: Pack of cigarettes: $5.50



1969: Sugar 1 pound: $0.12
2009: Sugar 1 pound: $0.38

1969: Penicillin per tab: $0.19
2009:Penicillin per tab: $0.13

1969: Movie ticket: $1.26
2009: Movie ticket:$7.18

1969: Average manufacturing wage: $2.63/hr
2009: Average manufacturing wage $18.40/hr

1969: Unemployment: 3.8%
2009: Unemployment:10.0%

1969: Internet Invented (not by Al Gore)
2009: 1.7 billion people with Internet access

1969: CSU tuition: $402
2009: CSU tuition:$6318

1969: Largest computer has 16KB of storage (16,000 bytes)
2009:Largest database (Yahoo) has 2PB of storage (2,000,000,000,000 bytes)

1969: Average computer size = size of room
2009: Average computer size = fits on lap