Leo Liu
The same years, written down in order. Work, school and family show first. Switch on the rest if you're curious.
2000
- World, January 1, 2000The Y2K bug fails to end the worldComputers were supposed to choke on the year 2000. Midnight came and almost nothing happened.
- World, June 26, 2000First draft of the human genomeAnnounced at the White House after a decade of work.
- LearningA computer science student in BeijingI was studying Computer Science and Technology at Beijing University of Chemical Technology when the millennium turned.
- World, November 2, 2000People move into the International Space StationSomeone has been living in orbit every day since.
2001
- World, January 15, 2001Wikipedia goes onlineAn encyclopedia anyone can edit.
- World, July 13, 2001Beijing wins the 2008 OlympicsThe city celebrated in the streets that night.
- World, December 11, 2001China joins the World Trade Organization
2002
- World, June 4, 2002China plays its first men's World Cup matchAgainst Costa Rica, in Gwangju, South Korea.
- LearningGraduated in Computer Science and TechnologyBeijing University of Chemical Technology.
- PeopleBoboA friend. We met this year.
- LearningStarted an English major at Beijing Normal University
2003
- World, April 14, 2003The Human Genome Project is declared complete
- World, July 16, 2003eBay completes its purchase of EachNet and enters ChinaIt had bought a third of the Shanghai auction site the year before.
- WorkOne of the first sellers on eBay ChinaeBay came to China in 2003. I opened my store the same year.
- PeopleXiaoxiaoA new colleague. Warm and thoughtful, and a huge help to me.
- World, October 15, 2003Yang Liwei becomes China's first astronaut in orbitShenzhou 5 circled the Earth 14 times.
- WorkeBay PowerSeller, featured on eBay's global homepageBoth in that first year.
- Workupnb.com goes onlineFor years it was the most influential B2C site in China's IBM laptop niche.
2004
- World, January 4, 2004Spirit lands on Mars; Opportunity follows three weeks laterBuilt to last 90 days. Opportunity worked for more than 14 years.
- PeopleDing LiA new colleague. Great fun, quick with a joke, and big-hearted.
- World, August 27, 2004Liu Xiang wins Olympic gold in the 110 m hurdlesIn Athens, equalling the world record of 12.91 seconds.
2005
- World, April 23, 2005The first video is uploaded to YouTubeNineteen seconds long, filmed at the San Diego Zoo.
- WorkCustomer Service Manager at MJYI joined MJY and built its customer service team from the ground up. That's where my B2C years began.
- LearningGraduated in EnglishBeijing Normal University.
- WorkChina's first laptop wiki goes online
2006
- World, July 1, 2006The Qinghai–Tibet railway opensThe highest railway in the world.
- PeopleDa Niu"Big Ox." We met at work this year. One of the most positive people I know. His encouragement rubbed off on me.
2007
- World, June 29, 2007The first iPhone goes on sale
- Work, July 2007The iPhone goes on sale at upnb.comA few weeks after its U.S. launch.
- Workupnb.com reaches the Alexa global top 10,000Built on search, content and a community of laptop owners.
2008
- WorkDirector of OperationsBuying from brands and distributors, supplier terms, inventory, shipping and after-sales service.
- LifeBecame a father
- World, August 8, 2008The Beijing Olympics openOn the eighth day of the eighth month of 2008. Eight is a lucky number in China.
2009
- WorkGeneral ManagerP&L and daily operations for the whole business: three sales teams, twelve people, selling on eBay, Taobao, our own site and in brick-and-mortar retail.
- World, November 13, 2009NASA confirms water on the MoonFound in a permanently shadowed crater near the south pole.
2010
- World, February 12, 2010The Vancouver Winter Olympics openCanada went on to win 14 gold medals, a Winter Games record at the time.
- World, May 1, 2010The Shanghai World Expo opensMore than 70 million visits in six months.
2011
- World, January 21, 2011WeChat launches
- Flights, January 31, 2011The flight log opensThe day my flight records went digital. Goodbye, paper. Every flight on record since is drawn as a stitch in the floor below.
2012
- World, July 4, 2012A particle consistent with the Higgs boson is foundCERN announced it on 4 July. Physicists had been looking since it was predicted in 1964.
- World, August 6, 2012Curiosity lands on MarsLowered to the surface on cables from a hovering rocket crane.
2013
- Work, September 2013Director of Operations at ECFrom consumer laptops to servers, networking and data center equipment for companies. I led sales, key accounts, purchasing and technical services. Over ten years the team grew to 30, and several clients we supplied from their early days became unicorns.
- World, December 14, 2013Chang'e 3 lands on the MoonThe first soft landing there since 1976, carrying the Yutu rover.
2014
- World, November 12, 2014A spacecraft lands on a cometPhilae, released by the Rosetta probe after a ten-year journey.
2015
- FlightsBeijing to Shanghai and back, most weeksFive years of it: out on Monday morning, home on Friday. I never set out to be a frequent flyer. The schedule made me one.
- World, July 14, 2015New Horizons flies past PlutoThe first close look, after nine and a half years in flight.
- World, October 5, 2015Tu Youyou wins the Nobel Prize in MedicineFor the malaria drug artemisinin.
2016
- World, February 11, 2016Gravitational waves are detectedRipples from two black holes colliding 1.3 billion years ago.
- World, March 15, 2016AlphaGo beats Lee Sedol four games to one
2017
- World, July 1, 2017Canada turns 150
2018
- World, February 6, 2018Falcon Heavy flies for the first timeTwo of its boosters landed side by side.
- World, October 24, 2018The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge opens to trafficA 55-kilometer bridge and tunnel system across the Pearl River estuary.
2019
- World, January 3, 2019Chang'e 4 lands on the far side of the MoonNo spacecraft had landed there before.
- World, April 10, 2019The first picture of a black holeMade by linking radio telescopes around the world.
- World, June 13, 2019The Toronto Raptors win the NBA championshipTheir first.
2020
- World, May 30, 2020Crew Dragon carries astronauts to orbitThe first crewed orbital launch from the United States since 2011.
- World, December 17, 2020Chang'e 5 brings Moon samples homeThe first lunar samples returned to Earth since 1976.
2021
- World, April 19, 2021A helicopter flies on MarsIngenuity, the first powered flight on another planet.
- World, December 25, 2021The James Webb Space Telescope launchesOn Christmas Day.
2022
- World, July 12, 2022Webb's first full-color images
- World, November 30, 2022ChatGPT is released
2023
- Work, June 2023Ten years at EC come to an endThe company closed after the pandemic.
- LifeMoved to CanadaFrom Beijing to Oakville, Ontario. Starting again in a new country.
- World, August 23, 2023India lands near the Moon's south poleChandrayaan-3, the first landing in that region.
2024
- World, April 8, 2024A total solar eclipse crosses southern OntarioTotality reached the Niagara region, Hamilton and Kingston. Toronto just missed it, with a 99.9 percent partial eclipse.
- World, June 25, 2024Chang'e 6 returns samples from the Moon's far sideThe first ever collected there.
- LearningMaster of Computer Information TechnologyData Analytics emphasis, with distinction. Northern Arizona University.
2025
- World, May 29, 2025China launches Tianwen-2 toward an asteroidChina's first mission to bring back samples from an asteroid.
- Work, June 2025Started Dianshi, a web and marketing studiodianshi.ca helps small and mid-sized businesses build their websites and get found online. Its work is designed for dental clinics, real estate professionals, renovation companies, restaurants, education providers and professional services.
- World, June 23, 2025The Vera C. Rubin Observatory shows its first imagesTaken with a 3,200-megapixel camera in the mountains of Chile.
- LearningDiploma in Interior DecoratingSheridan College, Ontario. Best Graduation Project Award.
- Work, December 2025Amazon Channel Manager, on contractI launched a U.S. brand's Amazon store from zero and ran the channel end to end. A product line that had failed on another marketplace was profitable within two months.
2026
- World, February 6, 2026The Milano Cortina Winter Olympics open
- Learning, February 2026Started learning AI automation
- World, April 6, 2026Artemis II astronauts fly around the MoonFour astronauts, including Canada's Jeremy Hansen. The first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since 1972.
- World, June 12, 2026The first men's World Cup match on Canadian soilCanada drew 1–1 with Bosnia and Herzegovina at BMO Field in Toronto.
- Flights1,087,562 km in the airFar enough to reach the Moon, come home, and get most of the way back. 28 countries along the way.
- WorkRunning bolenorth.comA site that helps newcomers settle into life in Canada faster.
- WorkRunning clb9.winA study tool that helps newcomers raise their English test scores.
Coming up
- Right nowOpen to workLooking for AI-related work. Sales, marketing, operations, key accounts, data analytics or automation: I'm open to all of them. Forward deployed engineering (FDE) is where I want to end up.
- Learning, October 6, 2026First Toastmasters meetingA public speaking club. English is my second language, which is the whole point.
- Work, sometime in October 2026First full-time job in CanadaNot here yet. Could be any day now.