Life Timeline

For those born April 12, 1975.

Not your birthday? Find your timeline here.

1974
Before you were born

You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without commercial bar-code scanning.

In November 2014, Sarah Laskow described the decades-long development of the modern bar code.

1975
Year 48

You were born in April of 1975. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 3 times as old as you.

The year you were born, Midge Decter wrote about what went wrong for a generation that was supposed to be the brightest and most gifted in American history.

1975
Beginnings

Around the time you were born, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 occurred in Haicheng, China, killing 2,041 people.

In June 2011, Judith Lewis Mernit wrote about new techniques for predicting the next big earthquake.

1988

Everett Collection

The teenage years

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

Heathers was released in 1988.

1989

Patrick Hertzog / AFP / Getty Images

After the Fall

At 14 years old, you saw the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

“It was thought that all borders between men had similarly disintegrated, and we were all destined to be free and empowered individuals in a global meeting place,” wrote Robert Kaplan 20 years later.

1993
Coming of age

Around your 18th birthday, the United States Air Force lifted its ban on female combat pilots.

In December 2015, Marina Koren wrote about the Pentagon opening all combat jobs to women.

1995
Half a life ago

Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after Toy Story.

In June 2014, Megan Garber wrote about the complicated creative process that shaped the film.

1997

Mike Blake / Reuters

Contemporaries

In 1997, Tiger Woods, who was born the same year as you, became the youngest man and the first African American golfer to win the U.S. Masters.

In April 2014, Jake Simpson wrote about the bleak future ahead of the sport of golf after Tiger Woods fades from contention.

2010

Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

After the Spring

When you turned 35, you saw the rise of the Arab Spring.

People across the world rediscovered the power and peril of revolutions, as Laura Kasinof found in Yemen.

2030
Forecasts

By the time you turn 54, humanity's water requirements will exceed its supplies by 40 percent.

In May 2012, Stewart M. Patrick wrote about the Intelligence Community's report on global water scarcity, and the plan to combat 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: