Act I
The World Stage
World Population
How many people shared the planet
people on Earth when you were born
1.9 billion more people have arrived since
You were born into a world approaching 7 billion. Population growth has begun to slow.
1 in 62 people alive today was born in 2003.
World Leaders
Who was in charge
United States President
George W. Bush
President
UK Prime Minister
Tony Blair
Prime Minister
UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan
United Nations
World Events
Defining moments of 2003
US-led coalition invades Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom, toppling Saddam Hussein's government within weeks
SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak spreads across Asia and beyond, killing 774 people in 17 countries
Saddam Hussein captured by US forces hiding in a small underground bunker near Tikrit, Iraq
Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates on re-entry over Texas and Louisiana, killing all seven crew members
Northeastern US and Canada blackout - the largest in North American history - leaves 55 million without power
Baby Names
Most popular names in 2003 (US)
Boys
Jacob, Ethan, Joshua
Girls
Emily, Emma, Madison
Atmosphere
CO₂ in the air you first breathed
CO₂ concentration (Keeling Curve)
+46.7 ppm since your birth
CO₂ has climbed 12% since 2003. It's one of the few numbers that only goes up.
Act II
What Things Cost
Average Annual Salary
What workers took home
$43.6k US median household incomeAdjusted for inflation, that's worth about $74k in today's dollars.
Today: $80kPurchasing Power
Are we actually better off today?
What $44k in 2003 is worth right now
7% 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 2003
life expectancy at birth in 2003
A 33.3-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 4.5x the average annual salary
Median home now costs 5.3x the average annual salary
Housing has gotten 1.2x 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
In da Club
50 Cent
Oscar Best Picture
Chicago
Directed by Roman Polanski
Grammy Album of the Year
Come Away with Me
Norah Jones
TV Premieres
Shows born the same year as you
Sports
Champions of the year
World Series
Florida Marlins
Baseball
F1 Champion
Michael Schumacher
Formula One
Super Bowl
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
48-21 vs Oakland Raiders
NBA Champion
San Antonio Spurs
Basketball
Screen & Page
What everyone was watching and reading
Most-Watched Show
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Television
Fiction Bestseller
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown
Box Office #1
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Film
Act IV
The State of Technology
Technology Milestone
Where technology stood
MySpace launches, becoming the dominant social network; iTunes Music Store opens in April, selling songs for 99 cents each
Notable Tech Releases
What launched that year
iTunes Music Store launches in April with 200,000 songs at 99 cents each
MySpace launches in August, becoming the first mass-market social network
Skype launches in August, enabling free internet voice and video calls
LinkedIn launches in May as a professional networking platform
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 147 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
290M
people in United States
GDP per Capita
$38k
per person per year
Your Birth Cohort
132M
babies born worldwide that year
Your birth year is closer to the Indian Ocean tsunami than to today.
Notable Births
Born the same year as you
Olivia Rodrigo·JoJo Siwa·Gracie Abrams·Greta Thunberg·Sunisa Lee
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
4,096 times more powerfulComputing power has roughly doubled every two years since you were born. That adds up to 4,096×.
12 doublings since 2003Milestone Years
Your milestone birthdays
You turn 40 in 2043 · You turn 65 in 2068 · You turn 100 in 2103
Language
Words that didn't exist when you were born
Still Alive
Jonathan the tortoise was already 171 years old
a Seychelles giant tortoise living on Saint Helena island. He was already 171 years old the year you were born. He's still alive today at 194.
You arrived in a world of 6.3 billion people. George W. Bush was in the White House. In da Club by 50 Cent was on the radio. You've never known a world without Google. The smartphone arrived in your childhood.
In 2003, 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