Life Timeline

For those born March 12, 1985.

Not your birthday? Find your timeline here.

1984
Before you were born

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

In June 2012, Megan Garber wrote about how Apple computers, once thought to be virus-immune, can now get PC viruses.

1985
Beginnings

Around the time you were born, Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organization signed the Hussein-Arafat Accord for a joint Middle Eastern peace effort.

In September 2005, David Samuels argued that accord signatory Yasir Arafat destroyed Palestine.

1985
Year 38

You were born in March of 1985. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 4 times as old as you.

The year you were born, John Keegan wrote about the history and geopolitical significance of the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.

1998

Everett Collection

The teenage years

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

Can't Hardly Wait was released in 1998.

2000
Half a life ago

Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after the International Space Station.

In our January/February 2015 issue, Charles Fishman wrote about the oddity of daily life on the station and the value of its continued operation.

2001

Jason Redmond / AP

The 9/11 Attacks

At 16 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
Coming of age

Around your 18th birthday, the war in Iraq began.

In the January/February 2004 issue, James Fallows wrote about the failures of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

2003

Phil Noble / Reuters

Contemporaries

In 2003, Keira Knightley, who was born the same year as you, starred in the first Pirates of The Caribbean film.

In December 2013, Christopher Orr wrote about why the Keira Knightley scene is the worst part of Love Actually.

2010

Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

The Arab Spring

When you turned 25, 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.

2025
Forecasts

By the time you turn 39, experts at the Pew Research Center warn that there will be no "surveillance-free spaces."

In December 2014, Adrienne LaFrance wrote about how the way we see privacy will change over the next decade.

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: