On my birthday, I find it fun to calculate how much of history I’ve lived through. Depending on your age, you might have lived through similar percentages of history.

[EDIT: I attached the spreadsheet to calculate the numbers below if you want to calculate for your life.]

Some numbers, for example: I’ve lived about 2.6 percent of the time Christianity has existed, but only 0.3 percent of the time since agriculture started.

I’ve lived 10 percent of the time since Columbus reached North America and Copernicus suggested the Earth went around the Sun.

I’ve lived about one fifth of the Unites States’ existence and nearly two thirds of the time since the U.S. entered World War II.

I’ve lived almost the entire time since a man first walked on the Moon.

Before I was born

Event	Event Date	Time since (years)	Fraction I’ve experienced	Fraction I’ll experience if I live to 100
Agriculture starts		15,000	0.3%	0.7%
Jesus	01/0001	2,023	2.6%	4.8%
Columbus	01/1492	532	10%	17%
Copernicus: sun at center	01/1515	509	10%	18%
U.S. declares independence	07/1776	247	21%	34%
U.S. enters World War II	12/1941	82	64%	77%
Atomic bomb on Hiroshima	08/1945	78	67%	79%
First man on moon	07/1969	54	96%	98%

After I was born

Another way of looking at things is how much I’ve lived since events.

Almost two thirds of my life happened after the Berlin Wall fell.

I’m surprised when people don’t know about my first company, Submedia, but why should I be? I thought of the idea over half my life ago.

I’ve lived a third of my life with an MBA and over 45 percent with a PhD (which I finished after Submedia got its first funding).

I’ve lived over 40 percent of my life post 9/11.

I’ve done burpees daily and posted on my blog daily over one fifth of my life, close to a quarter.

Finally, I’ve lived two percent of my life with my apartment disconnected from the electric grid.

Event	Event Date	Time since (years)	Percent of my life since	Percent of my life since if I live to 100
Birth	07/1971	52	100%	100%
Phillies win World Series	10/1980	43	82%	91%
Berlin wall falls	11/1989	34	65%	82%
Conceived of Submedia tech	06/1996	27	52%	75%
Earned PhD	11/1999	24	46%	72%
9/11 attacks	09/2001	22	42%	70%
Earned MBA	05/2006	17	33%	65%
Great Recession	01/2009	15	28%	63%
Started burpee sidcha	12/2011	12	22%	60%
Idea to avoid doof	10/2014	8.8	17%	57%
Unplugged apartment	05/2022	1.2	2%	49%
Today	07/2023	0	0%	48%

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