Wikipedia has an an entry in the history of bitcoin that traces its price rises and falls. The most recent record rise and fall is really nothing new for bitcoin.
From its inception in 2009 to March of 2010 bitcoin was worth virtually nothing.
In March 2010 a user tried to auction off 10,000 bitcoins (BTC) for 50 dollars but there were no buyers.
On the 17th of March 2010 the now defunct BitcoinMarket exchange started with bitcoin trading at .003 to the US dollar.
On the 22nd of May the same year the first actual payment using bitcoin was transacted as two pizzas were bought in Jacksonville Florida. The price was 10,000 bitcoins. The value of a bitcoin was less than a cent.
The price made a huge leap between July 2010 when it was about 8 cents to July 8 2011 when it rose to $31.00. By December of the same year it dropped to a low of just $2.00.
On 11th of April 2013 bitcoin posted a high of $266 a coin. By June of the same year it dropped to $70.