Nearly 25 years separate the two candidates for Pensacola’s first strong mayor. Mike Wiggins graduated from Pensacola High School in the early 1960s, and Ashton Hayward got his diploma from Catholic High over two decades later. The Research and Useless Facts Department of the Independent News media and entertainment empire decided to compare how the teen years of Wiggins and Hayward differed.

Average cost of a new house
Wiggins: $12,500
Hayward: $92,000

Eggs per dozen
Wiggins: 32 cents
Hayward: 65 cents

Gas per gallon
Wiggins: 28 cents
Hayward: 89 cents

World leaders:
Wiggins: USA, John F. Kennedy; Britain, Harold Macmillan; France, Charles de Gaulle; Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev
Hayward: USA, Ronald Reagan; Britain, Margaret Thatcher; France, François Mitterrand; Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev

Crisis:
Wiggins: Cuban Missile Crisis
Hayward: Iran-Contra Affair

Space:
Wiggins: John H. Glenn, Jr., orbits Earth
Hayward: Space Shuttle “Challenger” explodes
Technology:
Wiggins: Silicone breast implants
Hayward: Disposable contact lenses

Trends:
Wiggins: Color television
Hayward: Home computers

Medicine:
Wiggins: Oral polio vaccine
Hayward: Anti-AIDS drug AZT

Television debuts:
Wiggins: “The Beverly Hillbillies”
Hayward: “The Simpsons”

Popular films:
Wiggins: “West Side Story,” “Spartacus,” “El Cid,”  “Lawrence of Arabia,” “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Hayward: “Platoon,” “Fatal Attraction,” “Good Morning, Vietnam,” “Lethal Weapon,” “Dirty Dancing”

Popular singers:
Wiggins: The Beatles, Chubby Checker, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, Neil Sedaka, Bob Dylan
Hayward: Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, U2, Whitney Houston, Bananarama

James Bond:
Wiggins: Sean Connery
Hayward: Timothy Dalton

Heavyweight champ:
Wiggins: Sonny Liston
Hayward: Mike Tyson