Life Timeline

For those born June 17, 1961.

Not your birthday? Find your timeline here.

1960
Before you were born

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

In the July/August 2014 issue, Joshua Wolf Shenk wrote about the collaborative genius of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

1961
Year 61

You were born in June of 1961. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 3 times as old as you.

The year you were born, Eleanor Roosevelt demanded a national recommitment to the American Dream.

1961
Beginnings

Around the time you were born, the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Mapp v. Ohio strengthened protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

In October 2000, Stephen Budiansky wrote about a Yale Law School professor who argued unreasonable search and seizure protections had been stretched far beyond their intent.

1969

NASA

Man on the Moon

At 8 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.

1974

Everett Collection

The teenage years

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

The Lords of Flatbush was released in 1974.

1979
Coming of age

Around your 18th birthday, Pope John Paul II arrived in his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country.

In July 1994, Robin Wright wrote about Pope John Paul II's past and his political impact.

1988
Half a life ago

Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after Shark Week.

In August 2012, Ashley Fetters traced the history of cable television's longest-running programming event.

2007

NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute

Across the Universe

When you turned 46, 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.

2008

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

Contemporaries

In 2008, Barack Obama, who was born the same year as you, was elected the 44th president of the United States.

In April 2016, Jeffrey Goldberg wrote about Barack Obama's approach to foreign policy.

2025
Forecasts

By the time you turn 63, 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: