Life Timeline

For those born August 16, 1987.

Not your birthday? Find your timeline here.

1986
Before you were born

You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without The Oprah Winfrey Show.

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

1987
Year 35

You were born in August of 1987. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 5 times as old as you.

The year you were born, Bruno Bettelheim wrote about the importance of play to the development of children.

1987
Beginnings

Around the time you were born, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at more than 2,700 points for the first time.

In May 2016, Bourree Lam wrote about the history of the Dow Jones.

2000

Everett Collection

The teenage years

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

Love & Basketball was released in 2000.

2001
Half a life ago

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

In August 2015, Joe Pinsker wrote about the site's paid editors.

2001

Jason Redmond / AP

The 9/11 Attacks

At 14 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.

2005
Coming of age

Around your 18th birthday, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

On August 26, 2015, 10 years after Hurricane Katrina landed, Laura Bliss sought to discover what had happened to New Orleans' displaced residents in the decade after the flood waters receded.

2006

Max Rossi

Contemporaries

In 2006, Zac Efron, who was born the same year as you, starred in High School Musical.

In August 2010, Benjamin Mercer wrote about the post-Disney pursuits of former child stars Zac Effron and Miley Cyrus.

2010

Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

The Arab Spring

When you turned 23, 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.

2035
Forecasts

By the time you turn 47, NASA says it will send humans to explore Mars.

In August 2015, Alakananda Mookerjee wrote about what new Mars colonists would be able to eat—and how they'd grow 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: