1 billion seconds ago it was 1972, who did the math and came up with

[Demonaut]

1 billion seconds ago it was 1959? Ive heard this claim twice now, and just out of curiosity did the calc, once at a union meeting for Gephardt and a second from a link posted at DU

[eyesroll]

1. I believe, when that information first materialized, 1 billion seconds ago

WAS 1959.

People get the e-mail, or hear the figure, and don't bother to update their math.

[commander bunnypants]

2. Somebody with way to much time on their hands

DDQM

[brainshrub]

3. That calculation was done in 1992. (nt)

[Demonaut]

5. What does (nt) mean?

[brainshrub]

9. (nt) Means "No Thread."

It means I don't have a message in the body.

[Mistress Quickly]

4. Thanks for the brain exercise!

and it should be updated.

It will always 32 years ago.

[onebigbadwulf]

6. Umm no

it takes ~222 years to tick a billion seconds. Time to redo the math.

[Dudley_DUright]

7. No, the correct answer is 32 years

Try your calculation again.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

8. Uh, no, you're wrong...

1,000,000,000 seconds / 60 =
16666666.6667 minutes / 60 =
277777.7778 hours / 24 =
11574.0741 days / 365 =
31.7098 years.

Unless of course you mean 1,000,000,000,000 (the UK billion)? Even then, you'd still be wrong because that would be 31709.79198 years...