Was a Pepsi commercial accident the exact midpoint of Michael Jackson's life?
In this Stand-up Maths episode, Matt Parker investigates a fascinating mathematical claim: that the moment Michael Jackson's hair caught fire during a Pepsi advertisement marks the precise halfway point of his life.
The video explores the calculation required to verify if the accident at the Shrine Auditorium on a Friday night serves as the temporal center of Jackson's lifespan. To determine this, one must account for specific historical details, such as the time zone regulations in Indiana during his birth year of 1957. This includes investigating whether communities like Gary switched to daylight saving time, as records suggest a change from CST to EST occurred on 27 April 1958.
Source: Was Michael Jackson's hair catching fire in a Pepsi ad the exact mid-point of his life?
