Before TikTok, ChatGPT or even Penicillin and antibiotics, there was Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Born on July 10, 1925, Dr Mahathir, who has been Malaysia’s Prime Minister (PM) twice now, is celebrating his 101st birthday today! In conjunction with our former PM’s birthday, here are some iconic milestones Dr Mahathir has lived through since his birth in 1925:
1. He was born before the existence of TVs, computers or penicillin 💊
According to Elon University, the first working and fully electronic television system was invented in 1927 by Philo Taylor Farnsworth, then 21 years old.
Computers, on the other hand, were first invented by Charles Babbage in 1822, but were not built until 1991, according to Bricsys! According to AutoDesk, the first personal computer, however, was released in 1974, known as the Altair 8800.
As for penicillin, it was only discovered in 1928 by bacteriologist Alexander Fleming, according to the USDA.
2. He lived through World War II
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This global conflict went on from 1939 until 1945, when Tun Mahathir would have been just a teenager.
3. Lived through the reigns of 16 of Malaysia’s Yang di-Pertuan Agong 👑
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Our first King, Tuanku Abdul Rahman, began his reign in August 1957 when Mahathir was just 32. Since then, Malaysia has had a total of 17 Kings, with the current and 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong being Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar of Johor.
4. He is older than all 20 of Malaysia’s public universities
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He’s even older than Malaysia’s oldest university, Universiti Malaya (UM), which was officially established in 1961, as per the Ministry of Higher Education’s website.
5. He was already 38 when Malaysia was formed in 1963
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While Malaya gained independence on August 31, 1957, the formation of Malaysia which merged Malaya with the British colonies of Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore (before Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965), took place on September 16, 1963, when Dr Mahathir was already 38 years old and a practicing medical doctor.
6. The World Wide Web only existed during his first tenure as PM 🤯
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According to CERN, the World Wide Web (WWW) was invented by a British scientist named Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. Yes, there was a time when Google or ChatGPT hadn’t existed yet.
7. He was 74 when the Petronas Twin Towers were completed
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According to the Petronas Twin Towers website, this 88-storey twin structure was officially inaugurated on August 31, 1999, by Dr Mahathir himself, who was Prime Minister at the time.
8. He survived seven pandemics
Since the Asian Flu (H2N2), which emerged in China in 1957, up until COVID-19, which emerged in 2019, also in China, Dr Mahathir has experienced at least 7 pandemics in his lifetime. According to the National Library of Medicine, some of the other pandemics include the Hong Kong Flu (1968), HIV/AIDS (1981), and Swine Flu (2009), to name a few.
From a world without antibiotics or the internet to leading a young nation into the modern age, Dr Mahathir a.k.a Bapa Pemodenan, has witnessed more than most can imagine. Whether you admire him or debate his legacy, one thing is for sure: Tun M has lived through a century that shaped the world, and in many ways, helped shape Malaysia too.
Happy 101st birthday, Tun M!
