Life Timeline

For those born February 15, 1990.

Not your birthday? Find your timeline here.

1989
Before you were born

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

In April 2014, Eric Levenson looked back on the games that popularized handheld gaming.

1990
Beginnings

Around the time you were born, the "Pale Blue Dot" photograph of Earth was sent from the Voyager 1 spacecraft.

In September 2013, Megan Garber wrote about the recording that Voyager 1 carries.

1990
Year 33

You were born in February of 1990. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 5 times as old as you.

The year you were born, Bernard Lewis wrote about the origins of the resentment felt by some Muslims toward the West.

2001

Jason Redmond / AP

The 9/11 Attacks

At 11 years old, you were part of the generation most shaped by 9/11.

The conflicts and displacements touched off around the world by the attacks have been reverberating for the majority of your life. “This ‘war’ [on terrorism] will never be over,” wrote James Fallows, a few years after the towers fell.

2003

Everett Collection

The teenage years

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

Agent Cody Banks was released in 2003.

2003
Half a life ago

Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after the iTunes Store.

In January 2013, Rebecca Greenfield wrote that the future of the iTunes Store lies not in music, but in apps.

2008
Coming of age

Around your 18th birthday, Cuban President Fidel Castro resigned.

In September 1964, James Cameron presented an eyewitness view of Castro's early leadership.

2010

Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

The Arab Spring

When you turned 20, you witnessed the revolutionary fervor that transformed the Arab world in 2010, a movement led by your generation.

When 26-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire, he ignited a tinderbox of protests that continue to roil the Middle East, and kindled the beginnings of democracy in Tunisia.

2013

Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters

Contemporaries

In 2013, Jennifer Lawrence, who was born the same year as you, won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film Silver Linings Playbook.

In October 2015, Bourree Lam wrote about Jennifer Lawrence's criticisms of the wage gap.

2035
Forecasts

By the time you turn 44, NASA says it will send humans to explore Mars.

In August 2015, Alakananda Mookerjee wrote about what new Mars colonists would be able to eat—and how they'd grow it.

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: