Act I
The World Stage
World Population
How many people shared the planet
people on Earth when you were born
2.1 billion more people have arrived since
You were born into a world approaching 7 billion. Population growth has begun to slow.
1 in 61 people alive today was born in 2000.
World Leaders
Who was in charge
United States President
Bill Clinton
President
UK Prime Minister
Tony Blair
Prime Minister
UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan
United Nations
World Events
Defining moments of 2000
Y2K computer bug passes without catastrophe, ending a global scare that cost $300-600 billion to remediate
NASDAQ composite peaks at 5,048 before the dot-com bubble bursts, erasing $5 trillion in market value over two years
USS Cole bombing in Yemen kills 17 US sailors in an Al-Qaeda attack, foreshadowing 9/11
Concorde Air France Flight 4590 crashes in Paris killing 113, marking the beginning of Concorde's end
US presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore produces an unprecedented 36-day recount battle in Florida
Baby Names
Most popular names in 2000 (US)
Boys
Jacob, Michael, Matthew
Girls
Emily, Hannah, Madison
Atmosphere
CO₂ in the air you first breathed
CO₂ concentration (Keeling Curve)
+52.9 ppm since your birth
CO₂ has climbed 14% since 2000. It's one of the few numbers that only goes up.
Act II
What Things Cost
Average Annual Salary
What workers took home
$42.0k US median household incomeAdjusted for inflation, that's worth about $76k in today's dollars.
Today: $80kPurchasing Power
Are we actually better off today?
What $42k in 2000 is worth right now
4% less purchasing power than today's median
Wages have grown, but housing, healthcare, and education have grown faster. The math isn't in your favor.
The Birth Lottery
Same year. Different world.
life expectancy at birth in 2000
life expectancy at birth in 2000
A 34.0-year gap, decided entirely by where you happened to be born. Same year, different world.
Everyday Prices
What things cost
Housing
Homes vs. salaries - then and now
Median home cost 3.5x the average annual salary
Median home now costs 5.3x the average annual salary
Housing has gotten 1.5x harder to afford relative to income. Your parents weren't exaggerating about how cheap houses were.
Act III
What Was Playing
Billboard Year-End #1
Maria Maria
Santana
Oscar Best Picture
American Beauty
Directed by Sam Mendes
Grammy Album of the Year
Supernatural
Santana
TV Premieres
Shows born the same year as you
Sports
Champions of the year
World Series
New York Yankees
Baseball
F1 Champion
Michael Schumacher
Formula One
Super Bowl
St. Louis Rams
23-16 vs Tennessee Titans
NBA Champion
Los Angeles Lakers
Basketball
Screen & Page
What everyone was watching and reading
Most-Watched Show
Survivor (CBS)
Television
Fiction Bestseller
The Brethren
John Grisham
Box Office #1
Mission: Impossible 2
Film
Act IV
The State of Technology
Technology Milestone
Where technology stood
Y2K bug passes without catastrophe; the dot-com bubble bursts, wiping out trillions in market value
Notable Tech Releases
What launched that year
Y2K arrives without widespread computer failures, after billions were spent on remediation worldwide
The dot-com bubble peaks in March with the NASDAQ hitting 5,048 before losing 78% of its value
PlayStation 2 released in Japan in March, becoming the best-selling console of all time
USB flash drives introduced commercially; Napster reaches 26 million users before record labels sue for copyright infringement
Social Media Timeline
How old were you when these launched?
The Universe
Worlds discovered beyond our solar system
confirmed exoplanets
confirmed and counting
We've gone from 85 to 5,800. Most of these worlds were found by a single space telescope called Kepler.
Act V
Your Place in Time
🇺🇸 United States
Your country the year you arrived
Population
282M
people in United States
GDP per Capita
$36k
per person per year
Your Birth Cohort
134M
babies born worldwide that year
Your birth year is closer to 9/11 than to today.
Notable Births
Born the same year as you
Zion Williamson·Addison Rae·Noah Cyrus·Chloe Kim·Halle Bailey
Life Expectancy
Have we made progress?
United States life expectancy at birth
United States life expectancy today
A small gain, but every year counts.
Computing Power
How much faster the machines have gotten
8,192 times more powerfulComputing power has roughly doubled every two years since you were born. That adds up to 8,192×.
13 doublings since 2000Milestone Years
Your milestone birthdays
You turn 40 in 2040 · You turn 65 in 2065 · You turn 100 in 2100
Language
Words that didn't exist when you were born
Still Alive
Jonathan the tortoise was already 168 years old
a Seychelles giant tortoise living on Saint Helena island. He was already 168 years old the year you were born. He's still alive today at 194.
You arrived in a world of 6.1 billion people. Bill Clinton was in the White House. Maria Maria by Santana was on the radio. You've never known a world without Google. The smartphone arrived in your childhood.
In 2000, recording your voice meant GarageBand or a cheap USB mic.
Today, you can clone your own voice with a few minutes of audio.
Hear what that sounds like →keep exploring