1898: October 2017

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October 2017

Title text: And yet I have no trouble believing that the start of the 2016 election was several decades ago.

Explanation

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Randall once again makes us feel old by referencing an old movie that our memory puts as recent. The movie in question is The Social Network, written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher, which was released seven years and three days prior to this comic, on October 1, 2010. Seven years is also how long some people believe bad luck will follow you after breaking a mirror.

The 2016 US presidential election took place on November 8, 2016. Donald Trump won in a surprise victory over Hillary Clinton (Randall's preference, see 1756: I'm With Her). Donald Trump's tumultuous presidency so far probably makes Randall feel that the election took place far longer than 11 months ago. Backward telescoping is a psychological effect that causes people to overestimate the elapsed time since an event.

Interestingly, the title of this comic is patterned on the previous "this will make you feel old" comic "November 2016," which was published in the early hours of November 9th, while the presidential election's ballots were still being counted. Some people (including explain xkcd editor