# Inspired by the "WWII wasn't that long ago" thread. Your age in the past **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 15, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583 "2014-09-15T19:10:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/21 "2014-09-16T00:05:52Z")
Born in '82. 32 years before that was July 1950. The Korean War was not yet a month old. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/22 "2014-09-16T00:06:41Z")
Let’s see:[ul] [li]The (First) Boer War ended[/li][li]Sitting Bull surrendered[/li][li]First performance of the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey circus[/li][/ul] And most important:[ul] [li]Dr Watson first makes the acquaintance of Sherlock Holmes[/li][/ul](66, born in 1947). ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/23 "2014-09-16T00:08:22Z")
Also: Garfield assassinated. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/24 "2014-09-16T00:11:27Z")
My year would be 1901, the first year of the 20th Century, which also saw Queen Victoria’s death, the birth the the American League, Theodore Roosevelt’s inauguration as vice-president in March and as president in September, the birth of the license plate in the US, and the awarding of the first Nobel Prizes. ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/25 "2014-09-16T00:15:47Z")
I was born in 1946 and my sister who has Down’s syndrome was born in 1964 and a couple of years ago she noticed that I was 64 and she was 46 that year. She told hundreds of people that year and a couple of years later she was still trying to tell it. I was born just after the close of WW2, my daddy was in Germany at the time I was born. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/26 "2014-09-16T00:22:33Z")
Dingo, that brings us back to 1868, the year US Grant was reelected. BTW, Stop eating babies! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/27 "2014-09-16T00:48:10Z")
I’m 59, born in 1954, so 59 years before I was born, here is what was happening > **[Historical Events in 1895](https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1895)** > > Historical events from year 1895. Learn about 130 famous, scandalous and important events that happened in 1895 or search by date or keyword. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/28 "2014-09-16T00:52:12Z")
That takes us back to October 1924. My father was two years old. The first _Austrolopithecus africanus_ remains were discovered in South Africa. Calvin Coolidge was re-elected. The first around-the-world airplane flight was completed after 175 days and 74 stops. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/29 "2014-09-16T00:53:04Z")
Mid-50s, born in the 1950s, so WWII was raging in the decade prior to me. It still feels like it wasn’t that long ago. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/30 "2014-09-16T01:01:13Z")
Sam-Brings us back to the turn of the century. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/31 "2014-09-16T01:02:06Z")
51, born in 1963. 51 years before I was born, the Titanic set sail and Fenway Park was opened. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/32 "2014-09-16T01:04:33Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Mid-50s, born in the 1950s, so WWII was raging in the decade prior to me. It still feels like it wasn’t that long ago. > [@etv78](#): > > Sam-Brings us back to the turn of the century. Ah yes. I see now. Yes, it does. Teddy Roosevelt would have been president, still just breaking in the chair in the Oval Office. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/33 "2014-09-16T02:01:48Z")
I’m a couple of weeks shy of 64, born in 1950. In the year 64BM, Tosca premiered in Paris. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/34 "2014-09-16T02:14:41Z")
I’ve just turned 38, so that takes me back to 1938. That year, Hitler marched in to Austria, Orson Wells caused a national panic when he broadcast his adaptation of War of the Worlds, and the ballpoint pen was invented by George and Ladislav Biro (we still call them biros over here; not sure if the rest of the world does). 38 years to the day before my birth, the [Seguro Obrero](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seguro_Obrero_massacre) massacre occurred in Chile. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/35 "2014-09-16T02:21:34Z")
I was born in January 77, so 37 years before I was born, WWII was barely 4 months old, and the US wouldn’t be joining it for about 2 years. Not much of interest not related to the war went down that month. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/36 "2014-09-16T02:39:21Z")
Born in '75, I’m 39, so 39 years Before Happy (B.H.): -My maternal grandmother became a teenager. -My paternal grandmother was a 30-year-old mother of three (and eventually had four more). -FDR is re-elected to his second term. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/37 "2014-09-16T03:15:55Z")
I’m 63, born in 1951. 1888: Benjamin Harrison defeats Grover Cleveland for President. Jack the Ripper terrorizes London. Henry Morton Stanley crosses the Ituri Forest in “Darkest Africa” to rescue Emin Pasha. The French Panama Canal Company goes bankrupt. Edison patents first movie system. Kodak camera patented. ---
**Author:** ![Daffyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daffyd/32/8923_2.png) [@Daffyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daffyd)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/38 "2014-09-16T03:20:34Z")
I was born in 1960, which means we go back to 1906… at which time there was this little thing called the San Francisco Quake causing a bit of damage around town… ---
**Author:** ![Arthur\_See\_Clarity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@Arthur\_See\_Clarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arthur_See_Clarity)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/39 "2014-09-16T04:06:01Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Born in '82. 32 years before that was July 1950. The Korean War was not yet a month old. phew, I was worried I was the only child of the 80s here. I was born in 88, so that puts my year at 1953, the year the Ford Rotunda was reopened for the 50th anniversary of the Ford company. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583/40 "2014-09-16T10:29:21Z")
[QUOTE=etv78] Sam-Brings us back to the turn of the century. [/QUOTE] Gah, I feel jerkish for nitpicking in IMHO, but… The phrase, “turn of the century” is relative and refers to the most recent change from “the nineties” to "the aughts’. If one is referring to the change from 189x to 190x, then one would say, “the turn of the last century” or, “the turn of the 20th century”. If one is referring to the change from 179x to 180X, one would say, “the turn of the 19th century”. My apologies for going OT. Back on topic. Born in 1961, 53 years old and that takes us back to 1908. I didn’t see anything cosmic happening in either [Historical Events in 1908 - On This Day](http://www.historyorb.com/events/date/1908) or [1908 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1908) so, I’ll indulge in my obsessive Whovianism and point out that on 8th January, 1908, William Hartnell, the actor who played the first Doctor, was born. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inspired-by-the-wwii-wasnt-that-long-ago-thread-your-age-in-the-past/698583.md?page=3)