You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without The Godfather.
In September 2015, David Sims argued that Martin Scorcese's Goodfellas endures as a more realistic, if not more beloved, portrayal of the mafia than even the Francis Ford Coppola classic.
Around the time you were born, the first handheld mobile call was made by Martin Cooper of Motorola.
In April 2013, Zachary M. Seward looked back at the first time a mobile phone call was placed.
You were born in April of 1973. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 3 times as old as you.
The year you were born, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. wrote about why the powers of the presidency spiraled out of control under Richard Nixon.
Paramount
This is what Hollywood thought teenagers looked like the year you became one.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off was released in 1986.
Patrick Hertzog / AFP / Getty Images
At 16 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.
Around your 18th birthday, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 687 to set post-Gulf War terms for Iraq.
In March 2003, Stuart Taylor Jr. examined the diplomatic legal justification behind the second Iraq War.
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after Amazon.
In March 2016, Ian Bogost wrote about the next stage in Amazon's commercial revolution.
Mario Anzuoni / Reuters
In 2005, Neil Patrick Harris, who was born the same year as you, began starring in the television show How I Met Your Mother.
In October 2014, David Sims wrote about Harris's performance as the host of the 87th Academy Awards.
Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
When you turned 37, 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.
By the time you turn 51, 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.
History is happening all around you, every day.
The Atlantic is here to help you process it, in stories like these:
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