WHAT HAPPENED IN YOUR BIRTH YEAR?

Here is a cool new website "what happened in my birth year" by Philipp Lenssen of Google Blogoscoped fame. The concept is pretty simple: just type in the year of your birth to find out the top selling movies and books, most popular songs and TV shows, as well as significant historical events.

In the year : 1992

In 1992, the world was a different place. There was no Google yet. Or Yahoo. In 1992, the year of your birth, the top selling movie was Aladdin. People buying the popcorn in the cinema lobby had glazing eyes when looking at the poster.

Remember, that was before there were DVDs. People were indeed watching movies in the cinema, and not downloading them online. Imagine the packed seats, the laughter, the excitement, the novelty.

Do you know who won the Oscars that year? The academy award for the best movie went to Unforgiven. The Oscar for best foreign movie that year went to Indochine. The top actor was Al Pacino for his role as Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman. The top actress was Emma Thompson for her role as Margaret Schlegel in Howards End. The best director? Clint Eastwood for Unforgiven........

In the year 1988

In 1988, the world was a different place.

There was no Google yet. Or Yahoo.

In 1988, the year of your birth, the top selling movie was Rain Man. People buying the popcorn in the cinema lobby had glazing eyes when looking at the poster.

Remember, that was before there were DVDs. People were indeed watching movies in the cinema, and not downloading them online. Imagine the packed seats, the laughter, the excitement, the novelty.

Do you know who won the Oscars that year? The academy award for the best movie went to Rain Man. The Oscar for best foreign movie that year went to Pelle the Conqueror. The top actor was Dustin Hoffman for his role as Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man. The top actress was Jodie Foster for her role as Sarah Tobias in The Accused. The best director? Barry Levinson for Rain Man.

In the year 1988, the time when you arrived on this planet, books were still popularly read on paper, not on digital devices. Trees were felled to get the word out. The number one US bestseller of the time was The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy. Oh, that's many years ago. Have you read that book? Have you heard of it? Look at the cover!

In 1988... The Soviet Union begins its program of economic restructuring, perestroika, with legislation initiated by Premier Mikhail Gorbachev. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is established, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. Taiwan President Chiang Ching-kuo dies in Taipei; Vice-President Lee Teng-hui becomes president.

The Great Seto Bridge opens to traffic in Japan. World Expo '88 opens in Brisbane Queensland, Australia. Celine Dion wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland with the song Ne partez pas sans moi. U.S. President Ronald Reagan addresses 600 Moscow State University students, during his visit to the Soviet Union. Wembley Stadium hosts a concert featuring stars from the fields of music, comedy and film, in celebration of the 70th birthday of imprisoned ANC leader Nelson Mandela. The Netherlands defeats the Soviet Union 2-0 to win Euro 88.

Volkswagen closes its Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania plant after 10 years of operation. In Estonia, 300,000 demonstrate for independence. The United Kingdom bans broadcast interviews with IRA members. The BBC gets around this stricture through the use of professional actors. Super Mario Bros. 3 is released in Japan. Philip Morris buys Kraft Foods for US$13.1 billion. The video game of the day was Mega Man 2 ...