Act I
The World Stage
World Population
How many people shared the planet
people on Earth when you were born
1.7 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 2005.
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 2005
Hurricane Katrina strikes the US Gulf Coast on August 29, devastating New Orleans and killing 1,833 people in the deadliest US natural disaster in 75 years
London bombings on July 7 kill 52 people on the city's transport network in coordinated al-Qaeda-inspired attacks
Pope John Paul II dies on April 2 after 26 years as pope; Joseph Ratzinger elected Pope Benedict XVI on April 19
Kashmir earthquake kills over 73,000 people in Pakistan and India, leaving 3.5 million homeless as winter approaches
Iraqi legislative elections held; millions vote to elect a permanent government under the new constitution
Baby Names
Most popular names in 2005 (US)
Boys
Jacob, Michael, Joshua
Girls
Emily, Emma, Madison
Atmosphere
CO₂ in the air you first breathed
CO₂ concentration (Keeling Curve)
+42.7 ppm since your birth
CO₂ has climbed 11% since 2005. It's one of the few numbers that only goes up.
Act II
What Things Cost
Average Annual Salary
What workers took home
$46.3k US median household incomeAdjusted for inflation, that's worth about $75k in today's dollars.
Today: $80kPurchasing Power
Are we actually better off today?
What $46k in 2005 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 2005
life expectancy at birth in 2005
A 32.8-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 5.2x the average annual salary
Median home now costs 5.3x the average annual salary
Housing has gotten 1.0x 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
We Belong Together
Mariah Carey
Oscar Best Picture
Million Dollar Baby
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Grammy Album of the Year
Genius Loves Company
Ray Charles
TV Premieres
Shows born the same year as you
Sports
Champions of the year
World Series
Chicago White Sox
Baseball
F1 Champion
Fernando Alonso
Formula One
Super Bowl
New England Patriots
24-21 vs Philadelphia Eagles
NBA Champion
San Antonio Spurs
Basketball
Screen & Page
What everyone was watching and reading
Most-Watched Show
American Idol
Television
Fiction Bestseller
The Broker
John Grisham
Box Office #1
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Film
Act IV
The State of Technology
Technology Milestone
Where technology stood
YouTube founded in February; Google Maps launches; Xbox 360 released - beginning of the HD gaming era
Notable Tech Releases
What launched that year
YouTube founded in February by former PayPal employees, goes live in November
Google Maps launches in February, transforming how people navigate
Microsoft Xbox 360 launches in November, beginning the HD gaming console era
Reddit launched in June as a social news aggregation 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 176 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
296M
people in United States
GDP per Capita
$43k
per person per year
Your Birth Cohort
134M
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
Noah Jupe·Dafne Keen·IShowSpeed·Alysa Liu
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
2,048 times more powerfulComputing power has roughly doubled every two years since you were born. That adds up to 2,048×.
11 doublings since 2005Milestone Years
Your milestone birthdays
You turn 40 in 2045 · You turn 65 in 2070 · You turn 100 in 2105
Still Alive
Jonathan the tortoise was already 173 years old
a Seychelles giant tortoise living on Saint Helena island. He was already 173 years old the year you were born. He's still alive today at 194.
You arrived in a world of 6.5 billion people. George W. Bush was in the White House. We Belong Together by Mariah Carey was on the radio. You've never known a world without Google. The smartphone arrived in your childhood.
In 2005, 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