The World in 2008 the year the banks broke
1.5BInternet users
4BMobile phones
$4.11US gas price at its peak
$7.18Movie ticket (US)
$700BUS bank rescue plan
8Phelps gold medals in Beijing
27kmRing of the new atom smasher
44Years since Spain's last title
9.69sBolt's 100m world record
Iceland's three big banks had grown until they owed about ten times what the whole country earned in a year. All three failed inside one week.
Life back then

The iPhone 3G and its new App Store turned phones into app machines, and the first Android phone followed in the fall. Money worries were everywhere: banks failed, house prices fell and shoppers hunted for deals. Facebook passed MySpace this year to become the biggest social network in the world. In Sweden, a small startup called Spotify opened its doors and let people stream songs instead of buying them.
The year in 8 events
- ๐๏ธFeb 17 Kosovo declares independence from Serbia.
- ๐ฏ๏ธMay 12 A huge earthquake strikes Sichuan, China. About 87,000 people die or go missing.
- ๐ฑJul 10 Apple opens the App Store with about 500 apps. A whole new industry is born.
- ๐
Aug 8 The Summer Olympics open in Beijing at 8:08 pm on 8/8/08.
- ๐Sep 15 Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy. Markets crash around the world and the financial crisis goes global.
- ๐ฆOct 9 Iceland takes over Kaupthing, the last of its three big banks to fail. The country's savings and currency go down with them.
- ๐ณ๏ธNov 4 Barack Obama wins the US election and becomes the first Black president-elect.
- ๐ฏ๏ธNov 26 Gunmen attack hotels, a station and a cafe in Mumbai over three days. About 170 people die.