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A time capsule buried in a Sydney house has recently been opened, and guess what, it foresaw China's rise as a world economic super power over twenty years ago.
"Hello whoever you are," the letter reads. "This letter was put into this stud wall on Easter Saturday, 15th April 1995. It is pissing down and so a good day to be renovating."
Typed using Word for Windows V5.0 on a 486 laptop by a 39-year-old Greg Wilkinson, who was building his home in the hope that it would be a time capsule and "not reopened for 50-80 years unless developers get hold of the street of houses and demolish the lot before then".
In the letter, Mr. Wilkinson made a list of predictions, including families returning to one parent working and the other looking after the kids, and China gearing up as a world economic super power.
The letter was uncovered by a group of tradesmen this month, 22 years after being sealed into the wall.
"I was sent to the house in Rozelle, Sydney for a kitchen renovation, which later also added to a full bathroom renovation because of Greg's lack of water proofing," Sasha Ilic, one of the tradesmen said. The wall lining came off, and a laborer found the letter hidden inside the bathroom stud wall. He read it and passed it around.
"When I saw the letter and read it, I thought it was pretty cool - I've only ever come across old newspapers hidden in walls. I wasn't sure it was real until I saw the photo."
Accompanied by the letter was a picture of Greg and his new bride, Roslyn Green, on their wedding day.
Mr. Ilic posted the find on social media to give others ideas of doing the same and in the hope of finding Greg.
Mr. Wilkinson, who is currently on holidays sailing around Croatia, has been found.
"At first when I saw the letter up on Facebook I felt a little violated... Then having thought about it and with the predictions, it highlighted the progress of the internet in 22 years and, without it, how would they ever have found me?" the now 61-year-old said.
"I received a Facebook messenger request, and a very nice guy asked if I was the right guy and pointed me to it.... and there it was. It almost brought me to tears."
In the letter, Mr. Wilkinson mentioned his wife Roslyn predicted the capsule would be uncovered in the year 2020 but, disagreeing, he wrote 'I built the wall, and I reckon closer to 2060'.
"I wanted it to stay hidden a lot longer but so happy it was here and was around to see it. My beautiful Ros almost picked the time it would be revealed."
Greg and Roslyn bought the uninhabitable house in 1987 for just $170,000. During that period, Mr. Wilkinson was building his own company while renovating the home. He came across the idea of leaving a time capsule while living in London.
"I renovated a few places in London, and they almost always had old newspapers under the old lino. I found them fascinating and hatched the plan to do it properly when I next renovated."
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
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