1. US Federal Reserve Rate Hike 2015: The housing market looked like a casino. BlackBerrys were ascendant. Twitter was 3 months old. Jesse Jackson was protesting high gas prices. Saddam Hussein was on trial. "American Idol" dominated American network TV. And cheeky Lightning McQueen from the hit film "Cars" first became a toy phenomenon. The world was a rather different place the last time the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. Here are some photos taken of what was going on in 2006, the last time the Fed raised interest rates.
   Image Caption: In this Tuesday, May 2, 2006 file photo, a Blackberry device is on display in New York. Back in 2006 when the U.S. Federal Reserve last raised interest rates before its rate-hike decision Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015, Blackberry phones were riding high particularly in the world of business. Apple's subsequent launch of the iPhone is widely blamed for Blackberry's fall from grace. Now Blackberry has minimal market share and recently launched its latest attempt at a comeback. (Image Source: AP)
   

2. US Federal Reserve Rate Hike 2015: Back on June 29, 2006, the Fed raised the short-term rate it controls from 5 percent to 5.25 percent. Even though it had raised that rate 16 times since mid-2004, the Fed's policymakers still saw "some inflation risks." At the time, only a handful of Cassandras were warning that the economy faced risks and that higher rates may not be such a good idea. After all, unemployment, at 4.6 percent, was extremely low. And the Fed's preferred inflation gauge had risen around 3 percent from a year earlier — a bit too high for Fed policymakers.
   Image Caption: In this Wednesday, May 10, 2006, file photo, a toy version of Lightning McQueen, the star of Disney-Pixar's "Cars" is shown ahead of the film's release. The animated movie was a big hit at the box office when the U.S. Federal Reserve last raised interest rates in June, 2006. (Image Source: AP)
   

3. US Federal Reserve Rate Hike 2015: The month after the Fed last raised rates, housing prices peaked and then fell into a gut-churning drop that would last 5½ years. The housing market's collapse ignited a financial panic that wiped out hundreds of banks, very nearly toppled the financial system and sent the American economy into the worst recession since the 1930s. The Fed would wait more than nine years before raising rates again. On Wednesday, Fed policymakers raised the short-term rate they control to a range of 0.25 percent to 0.50 percent from between zero and 0.25 percent.
   Image Caption: In this Wednesday, June 28, 2006 file photo, Colombian singer Shakira performs in Barcelona, Spain. Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" was top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in June 2006 when the U.S. Federal Reserve last raised interest rate before its decision Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015 to lift its main rate, after years of record lows. (Image Source: AP)
   

4. US Federal Reserve Rate Hike 2015: The rate hike ends an interest-rate easing cycle that began in 2007. The Fed acted swiftly that September to chop rates. And it kept chopping. In December 2008, the Fed cut its benchmark short-term rate all the way to a record low near zero and held it there for nearly seven years.
   Image Caption: In this March 29, 2006, file photo, YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley, left, and Steven Chen, pose with their laptops at their office loft in San Mateo, Calif. Social media was just gaining traction when the U.S. Federal Reserve last raised interest rates in June 2006 (Image Source: AP)
   

5. US Federal Reserve Rate Hike 2015: In the years that followed, the economy mounted a fitful recovery, constrained by lingering damage from the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Unemployment peaked at 10 percent in 2009 before sliding steadily to a seven-year low 5 percent last month.
   Image Caption: In this Friday, June 23, 2006 file photo, the Rev. Jesse Jackson leads a demonstration against oil company BP in Los Angeles over high gas prices. Concern over the inflation outlook in light of rising energy prices was partly behind the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision later that month to lift its main interest rate to 5.25 percent. (Image Source: AP)
   

6. US Federal Reserve Rate Hike 2015: The Fed kept a lid on interest rates, which have remained astonishingly low by historical standards. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage remains just 3.95 percent, compared with 6.7 percent in June 2006. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note is 2.31 percent, less than half the 5.22 percent yield in June 2006.
   Image Caption: In this Sunday, July 9, 2006 file photo Fabio Cannavaro lifts the soccer World Cup trophy after Italy defeated France in the final in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany. (Image Source: AP)
   

7. US Federal Reserve Rate Hike 2015: Despite the shrunken unemployment rate, the job market remains scarred by recession: The percentage of Americans who either have a job or are looking for one is stuck near a 38-year low. One reason is that many people have just given up out of frustration. Inflation, a bit too high in June 2006, is now disturbingly low — up just 0.2 percent in the year to October, nowhere near the Fed's 2 percent target.
   Image Caption: In this Sunday July 23, 2006 file photo, Tiger Woods celebrates after winning the British Open Golf Championship in Hoylake, England. Woods was world number 1 when the U.S. Federal Reserve last raised interest rates before its decision on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015, to lift its main rate. (Image Source: AP)
   

8. US Federal Reserve Rate Hike 2015: The real estate market has bounced back from its lows. But housing construction in October was still 41 percent below where it was in June 2006. Zero interest rates did fuel a surge in stock prices: The Dow Jones industrial average is up 57 percent from the last time the Fed raised rates.
   Image Caption: In this Friday, June 16, 2006 file photo, President George W. Bush at Boeing Field in Seattle, Wash. Later that month, the Federal Reserve raised its main interest rate to 5.25 percent with the U.S. economy seemingly performing strongly. When Bush left the White House in Jan. 2009, the U.S. economy was in real trouble following the global financial crisis which prompted the Fed to slash rates to near zero percent. (Image Source: AP)
   

9. US Federal Reserve Rate Hike 2015: And tastes have changed, too. The iPhone has buried the BlackBerry. Gasoline prices have plummeted. Twitter has 320 million active monthly users. "American Idol," a victim of falling ratings after the loss of stars Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul, is facing cancellation. The musical competition begins its last season in January.
   Image Caption: In this Thursday June 29, 2006, file photo, employees of KV Execution Services watch a television screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, as the U.S. Federal Reserve raised its main interest rate to 5.25 percent. However, a housing bust and a global financial crisis soon saw the Fed slashing rates, eventually to near zero percent. (Image Source: AP)

10. US Federal Reserve Rate Hike 2015: Unemployment rate was then 4.6%, now it is 5%
    
    Labor force participation rate was then 66.2%, now it is 62.5%
    
    30-year fixed rate mortgage was then 6.68%3, now it is 95%
    
    10-year Treasury note yield was then 5.22%, now it is 231%
    
    Dow Jones Industrial Average was then 11,190, now it is 8017,585.97
    
    Median home price (of existing home sold) was then $229,500, now it is $219,600
    Image Caption: In this Thursday, Jan. 19, 2006, file photo, an Atlas V rocket that carried the New Horizons spacecraft to Pluto lifts off at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It took the spacecraft around 9 1/2 years to reach Pluto, about the same length of time it has taken the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. (Image Source: AP)
    

11. US Federal Reserve Rate Hike 2015:
    Image Caption: In this Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015, file photo, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen removes her glasses as she testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the House Financial Services Committee hearing: "Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy." A rate increase is expected when the Federal Reserve ends its latest meeting Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015. (Image Source: AP)
    

12. US Federal Reserve Rate Hike 2015:
    Image Caption: In this Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015, photo, Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Banking Committee. The financial world’s worst-kept secret is that the Federal Reserve is all but sure to raise interest rates from record lows, on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015. (Image Source: AP)