Life Timeline

For those born February 15, 1959.

Not your birthday? Find your timeline here.

1958
Before you were born

You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without NASA.

In March 2015, Cari Romm wrote about the technological impact of NASA on everyday life.

1959
Beginnings

Around the time you were born, Fidel Castro became Cuba's prime minister.

In February 2008, Jonas Clark wrote about a collection of Atlantic articles on Castro and his legacy.

1959
Year 64

You were born in February of 1959. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 3 times as old as you.

The year you were born, Grover Loening wrote about the history of the development of American planes, and what can be learned from the missed opportunties of the past.

1969

NASA

Man on the Moon

At 10 years old, you were alive to behold people walking on the moon.

Over the years, the moon landing has come to be lauded as the pinnacle of human achievement, although it was often derided at the time. In 1963, NASA astronauts took to The Atlantic to plead the case for landing on the moon.

1972

Bettmann / Getty

The teenage years

This is what Hollywood thought teenagers looked like the year you became one.

The Brady Bunch premiered in 1972.

1977
Coming of age

Around your 18th birthday, the Salvadoran activist Oscar Romero was installed as archbishop of San Salvador.

In November 2005, Tyler Cabot wrote about people being considered for sainthood, including Oscar Romero.

1988
Half a life ago

Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after Shark Week.

In August 2012, Ashley Fetters traced the history of cable television's longest-running programming event.

1993

Blake Sell / Reuters

Contemporaries

In 1993, Emma Thompson, who was born the same year as you, earned her Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film Howards End.

In December 2013, Esther Zuckerman wrote about Thompson's publicity push for the 2014 Oscars.

2007

NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute

Across the Universe

When you turned 48, you watched humankind reach the outer solar system.

With NASA's Cassini-Huygens mission in 2005, humans landed a probe in the outer reaches of the solar system for the first time, a moment Ross Andersen called the most glorious mission in the history of planetary science.

2025
Forecasts

By the time you turn 65, the World Bank predicts that the U.S. dollar will lose its global dominance.

In February 2012, Charles A. Kupchan wrote about the world's emerging economies, and how the world will look by 2050.

Today
History in the making

History is happening all around you, every day.

The Atlantic is here to help you process it, in stories like these: