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Type a year · takes 3 seconds
You were born closer to…
Time feels like it moves at one speed until you do the maths. Put in your birth year (or anyone’s) and see which moment in history you’re nearer to than to today.
History is more fun when you’re the one solving it
We make PastRush, a history detective game for iPhone and iPad. Each case file gives you real exhibits and asks you to do what historians do: put events in order, weigh one source against another and decide what the evidence can and can’t prove.
- Dive from the Milky Way to the real place, then back in time to the moment it happened.
- A Daily Evidence Check with five claims to judge each day.
- Class mode for shared devices. No account, no ads, no tracking.
- One optional one-time purchase unlocks more cases; no subscription.
How it works
You were born closer to an event than to today when the gap between the event and your birth is smaller than the gap between your birth and now. Born in 1990? The Moon landing was 21 years before you, and today is 36 years after, so you’re closer to Apollo 11 than to this morning. The page picks the earliest event on its list that’s still closer, because that’s the one that stings.
Dates are the years these events are generally given. A few, like the pyramid and the printing press, are approximate, and the page says so. Today’s date comes from your device.
Why it feels wrong
We measure the past from where we stand, so recent decades feel stretched and distant ones feel squashed. The events you learned about as “history” at school were often closer to your birth than your birth is to today. That’s also why a teenager now thinks of the first iPhone the way someone born in 1990 thought of the first Walkman.
Test your sense of order with the which came first history game.
Questions people ask
Was I born closer to the Moon landing than to today?
In 2026, yes if you were born in 1997 or earlier. The Moon landing was in 1969, and the midpoint between 1969 and 2026 falls in 1997.
How does the calculator decide which event to show?
It looks for the earliest event on its list that is closer to your birth year than your birth year is to today, then shows it. Tap Show another to see the others.
Can I enter someone else’s birth year?
Yes. Any year from 1900 to 2025 works, so you can try a parent’s or grandparent’s.
Is my birth year stored?
No. Nothing is saved or sent.
Related
- What generation am I?Enter your birth year to see your generation (Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, Gen Z, Alpha), where researchers disagree, and how old you turned when history happened. Compare your family.
- Which came first? Daily history pairsTwo events, one question: which happened first? Ten new pairs every day, the same for everyone, with the years shown after each pick.
- BCE Century Calculator: Find the Century of a BC DatePlace BCE and BC dates in the correct century with visual boundaries, examples and a short practice exercise.
- A history game to play with grandkidsFor grandparents who want one screen, two heads and a real argument about the past. Five tap-to-reveal rounds to try tonight, then the case-file game.