Time Flies! And Here Are 10 Fascinating Facts That Prove How Quickly Time Goes By

Time flies, people. But sometimes life can fall into a bit of a rut, and we all need a little reminder of how fast time is passing us by — unless we can hold on to every moment we have and make the most of it. Here are 10 fun facts, just to remind you how quickly time is passing us all by.

1. Leonardo DiCaprio will turn 40 years old on November 11. The movie that made him a worldwide superstar, Titanic, was released in 1997. That means Dicaprio has been one of the world’s biggest movie stars for the entire lives of most students in this year’s high school senior class.

2. When the first episode of Seinfeld aired on NBC in 1989, Jerry Seinfeld was five years younger than DiCaprio is now. Jerry’s father sadly never saw the show. Kalman Seinfeld passed away in 1985 at the age of 67. But Jerry Seinfeld is almost that age himself now. The comedian turned 60-years-old on April 29 this year. And there’s still no Seinfeld reunion.

3. The Beatles, the band that changed the world of music and so much more, broke up 44 years ago. Paul McCartney first met John Lennon, forming the group that soon became The Beatles, in 1957. The legendary band dissolved just 13 years later. But Paul McCartney had the highest-grossing U.S. concert tour of 2014. McCartney is now 72-years-old. You could fit The Beatles’ entire existence into Paul McCartney’s solo career more than three times over.

4. The new Brad Pitt movie, Fury, is a World War II drama set in 1945 — 69 years ago. An equivalent movie made in 1945 would have to take place in 1876, the year that the United States of America celebrated its 100th birthday, and Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.

5. Speaking of Brad Pitt, the sex-symbol actor will turn 51-years-old on December 18. His supporting role in Thelma and Louise, usually credited with launching him to stardom, was in 1991, 23 years ago. This year’s college graduates weren’t even born. That was also the year the United States invaded Iraq — for the first time.

6. One more “time flies” fact about Brad Pitt — Pitt and Angelina Jolie are unquestionably Hollywood’s most famous couple, and it often feels like they always have been. But they began their affair, which led to children and marriage, in 2005. That was the same year that YouTube was founded. Facebook became available for anyone to use in 2006. The first iPhone did not go on sale until 2007.

7. The iPhone was one of the many innovations created by Apple under the leadership of CEO Steve Jobs, who co-founded the company in 1976. But 11 years after starting Apple, in 1985, Jobs was forced out. His absence lasted longer than that. It was 12 years later, in 1997, that he returned to take over the top job at Apple once again. But just 14 years after that, Jobs passed away from cancer. In those 14 years, Apple created the iMac computer, the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

8. Hard to believe the iPhone is only 7-years-old. Doesn’t it seem like everyone you know has one, or one of the may lookalike “smartphone” models? More than 500 million iPhones have sold in those seven years, making it not just one of the most popular technology products ever, but one of the all-time best-selling products of any kind, period.

Here are some notable events that have happened in the lifetime of a youngster currently 21 years old, before the first iPhone was ever sold:

• Bill Clinton’s re-election as president, and George W. Bush’s election and re-election.

• Pop star Ariana Grande’s birth.

• The 9/11 attacks.

• The entire 10-season run of Friends.

• The New York Yankees won four World Series, while their arch-rival Boston Red Sox won their first one in 86 years.

Just to name a few.

9. The first hip-hop record to become a hit, “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang came out in 1979, 35 years ago. The first rock and roll record to hit the charts, Bill Haley and the Comets’ “Rock Around The Clock,” was issued in 1954 — 25 years earlier. Think about that. Hip Hop is now 10 years older than rock was when hip-hop came along.

10. The final episodes of the acclaimed period TV drama Mad Men will air in the spring of 2015. The events in those episodes will take place in 1970, 45 years earlier. Just to show you how time flies, a show that aired in 1970 and took place 45 years earlier would be set in 1925 — the year the classic novel The Great Gatsby was published.

Bonus “Time Flies” Fact: The World Series starts on Tuesday, October 21, pitting the San Francisco Giants against the Kansas City Royals. Want to know how fast time flies? Only one player on either team — Giants pitcher Tim Hudson — played Major League Baseball in the 20th century. Hudson first played in June 1999. Otherwise, not a single player on the Giants or the Royals ever played a big league game in a year that started with “19.”

There you go. Proof that time really flies by. Enjoy every moment while you have it!