TECHNOLOGY
44
Given that , statistically , you share your birthday with around 21mn people , it ’ s fair to say that , in almost all of history , not a single day has passed that wasn ’ t special to someone .
However , not all days are equally special : 14 July , Bastille Day , matters more to the people of France than 4 July , the most important day of the year for many Americans . On 25 January 2020 , around 1.4bn people will celebrate the advent of the new Chinese lunar year , Scots the world over will celebrate the life of famed poet Robert Burns , and I will celebrate my own birthday - most likely with a plate of haggis and egg rolls . Aside from the roughly 15mn North Africans living in the Republic of Chad , who celebrate their independence from France , 11 August is a day that typically rolls around each year without much fanfare .
Given that 11 August is the anniversary of the first in a chain of events that have shaped the modern world in which we live , arguably more than the moon landing , its anonymity is a gross oversight . It all started with a credit card , a Sting CD and - as most things in the digital age were wont to start - a group of young software engineers in an unassuming house in Nashua , New Hampshire .
“ Attention shoppers : the internet is open ”
— The New York Times , August 12 , 1994
OCTOBER 2019