David NetoHappy Birthday USA!
The USA has great potential, and continually renews itself.
John Kessenich@dneto America is 38% older today than when I was born. That's how young America is.
Nicolai Hähnle@johnkslang @dneto That's an interesting way of looking at it.
Obviously there's a whole lot of other history there, but the Federal Republic of Germany is more than twice as old today as when I was born. Or, to put it differently, I'm older now than the Federal Republic of Germany was when I was born.
That feels wrong somehow, but the arithmetic doesn't lie.
Canada adopted a new constitution (and full formal political independence) in April 1982. I watched the signing ceremony live on TV. The Queen wore a blue dress that day.
Traditionally we mark the birth from July 1, 1867, when we gained *most* of our autonomy via a British act of Parliament.
Lastly, the most interesting book of Canadian history I've read is "Reflections of a Siamese Twin" which argues that our main national identity and distinctiveness developed over 450 years as an intertwining of British, French, and aboriginal cultures. (As opposed to the usual perception of "two solitudes" of the British and French.)
So yeah, the idea of the age of a country depends a lot on definitions, and the age can surprise.