Birth year confusion

April 5, 2010 8:07 AM

Can I conclusively determine a birth year from these two data points?

Trying to piece together a person's year of birth from two newspaper reports, but I think I'm confusing myself here. Say I know the following two things about this guy:

He was 31 on August 2, 2002.
He was 33 on January 8, 2005.

So, this means his birthday is between January and August, and he was born in 1971, right?

posted by activitystory to grab bag (3 answers total)

Since he was 31 on August 2, 2002, he was born between August 3, 1970 (32 years minus a day) and August 2, 1971 (31 years) before that date.

Since he was 33 on January 8, 2005, he was born between January 9, 1971 (34 years minus a day) and January 8, 1972 (33 years) before that date.

Putting these together, he was born sometime between January 9, 1971 and August 2, 1971.

In short, you're right.
posted by madcaptenor at 8:11 AM on April 5, 2010

Yes, because on January 8th, 2002, he was 30, and on August 2nd, 2002, he was 31.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:16 AM on April 5, 2010

Thanks! I needed someone to spell it out for me.
posted by activitystory at 8:25 AM on April 5, 2010