Life Timeline

For those born May 5, 1957.

Not your birthday? Find your timeline here.

1956
Before you were born

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

In August 2014, Caetlin Benson-Allott wrote about the innovative history and evolution of the remote control.

1957
Beginnings

Around the time you were born, Britain tested its first hydrogen bomb, which failed to detonate properly.

In December 2006, William Langewiesche wrote about how a terrorist might go about obtaining a nuclear weapon.

1957
Year 65

You were born in May of 1957. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 3 times as old as you.

The year you were born, Nora Johnson wrote about the inaccurate criticisms and unrealistic expectations college-educated woman faced in America.

1969

NASA

Man on the Moon

At 12 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.

1970

Bettmann / Getty

The teenage years

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

The Partridge Family premiered in 1970.

1975
Coming of age

Around your 18th birthday, Alaska partially decriminalized cannabis after hearing Ravin v. State.

In December 2014, Josh Kramer published an illustrated history of Alaska's legalization of marijuana.

1986
Half a life ago

Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after The Oprah Winfrey Show.

In January 2011, Sharmin T.M. Kent wrote about Oprah launching her own television network, Oxygen.

2007

NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute

Across the Universe

When you turned 50, 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.

2013

Faith Ninivaggi / Reuters

Contemporaries

In 2013, Caroline Kennedy, who was born the same year as you, became the first female U.S. ambassador to Japan.

In January 1994, Steven Stark argued that the Kennedys had transformed from political figures into cultural icons.

2021
Forecasts

By the time you turn 63, scientists estimate it will no longer be possible to keep global temperatures from rising at least 1.5 degrees Celsius.

In December 2015, Robinson Meyer wrote about why scientists had accepted this fact.

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: