The internet was dumbstruck to learn that two teenagers from completely different backgrounds and diametrically opposed causes had one thing in common–their birthday.
Environmental activist Greta Thunberg was born on January 3, 2003 in Stockholm, Sweden.
The acquitted shooter of three people at an anti-racism protest, Kyle Rittenhouse, was born on the same exact date in Antioch, Illinois.
The two 18-year-olds have become news headlines for the vastly different life paths they have chosen.
In 2020, a 17-year-old Rittenhouse–armed with an assault rifle–crossed state lines and fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and gravely injured Gaige Grosskreutz at a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin, sparked by the police shooting of unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake.
Rittenhouse–who was viewed as a "hero" among Republicans and far-right conservatives–was acquitted by a 12-person jury after 25 hours of deliberation.
He had been charged with five felonies—first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety.
Thunberg, on the other hand, launched a global climate activism campaign–starting with the School Strike for Climate in 2018 when she was 15-years-old–and famously called out world leaders for not doing better and demanded immediate action for climate change mitigation.
She was recognized as the youngest TIME "Person of the Year" and for her inspirational activism with Nobel Peace Prize nominations in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
People took to Twitter and weighed in on the study of stark contrasts.
It appears the zodiac has some explaining to do.
@WhiteHouse/X
