12 Things That Last(ed) Less Time Than Windows XP

Microsoft gave Windows XP its final updates this week, more than 12 years after it was first released in 2001. More than a quarter of desktop computers are still running XP - and why not, since it's all about mobile apps now anyway. What else can happen in that amount of time?

1. Solar cycles

en.wikipedia.org / Via en.wikipedia.org

The Sun's magnetic field varies on an 11-year cycle. Sunspot activity increases dramatically at the peak of each cycle, causing more brilliant aurorae and radio interference here on Earth. Recent cycles have been declining in magnitude, fortunately for our Wi-Fi.

2. Every US presidential administration (including FDR's)

Via fdrlibrary.marist.edu

Most American presidents adhered to a tradition of seeking no more than two four-year terms in office, following George Washington's example. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected four times and spent 12 years, one month, and eight days in office, collapsing from a cerebral hemorrhage while sitting for a portrait. The 22nd Amendment, passed by Congress in 1947 and ratified in 1951, now prohibits anyone from being elected as president more than twice.

3. The Great Depression

en.wikipedia.org / Via en.wikipedia.org

Speaking of FDR, part of the reason he stuck around so long was to fix the economy after the stock market crash of 1929. Also to keep us out of war, which, well, he kind of changed his mind after Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941. But that sorta fixed the Depression, so, yay?

4. How I Met Your Mother

cbs.com / Via cbs.com

Not just the last season dragging a single weekend out over seven interminable months, either. The whole thing lasted nine long, convoluted years, wrapping up March 31. Turns out Ted was Voldemort's dead father the whole time.

5. The Apollo program

nasa.gov / Via nasa.gov

John F. Kennedy set the goal of landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade on May 25, 1961. The final manned Apollo mission returned to Earth in December of 1972. And they did it with the computing power of a pocket calculator. Just sayin'.

6. The Beatles

en.wikipedia.org / Via en.wikipedia.org

No matter when you determine the start of the Fab Four to be (first Quarrymen performance? Ringo joining?), any sensible timeline of the band can't go past 1970. All 12 of their studio albums came out in the span of eight years.

7. The reign of King Tut

en.wikipedia.org / Via en.wikipedia.org

Arguably the most well-known Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun ruled for only ten years. The "boy king" died at 19 years of age but at the height of Egypt's power, and his tomb is the most complete ever uncovered.

8. Homer's Odyssey

en.wikipedia.org / Via en.wikipedia.org

After the fall of Troy, Greek warrior Odysseus took his sweet time getting home to Ithaca. Over the course of a decade, he encountered a cyclops, sirens, a six-headed monster, and more than one angry god. He was not affected, however, by the Conficker worm.

9. A free public education

wikipaintings.org / Via wikipaintings.org

A committee of the National Education Association recommended in 1892 that children receive twelve years of instruction. The US Census Bureau reports that as of 2011, total government spending per pupil per year was $10,560.

10. Jupiter's year

nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov / Via nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

The largest planet in our Solar System takes 4,332 Earth days to take one trip around the Sun. That's 11.8 Earth years. All its worlds are ours, except Europa.

11. This Canadian guy's walk around the world

gadling.com / Via gadling.com

Jean Béliveau traveled 75,554 kilometers and visited 64 countries - all on foot. (That doesn't include flights or boat trips. He's not Jesus.) While it's thought to be the longest pedestrian trip around the globe, others have taken less circuitous routes in less time, like this Japanese dude who did it in just over four years.

12. Time between Spider-Man movie reboots

marvel.wikia.com / Via marvel.wikia.com

For some reason, the franchise begun in 2002 had to be scrapped in 2012. No one knows why. Literally no one.