Life Timeline

For those born August 18, 1976.

Not your birthday? Find your timeline here.

1975
Before you were born

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

In February 2000, James Fallows wrote about the time he spent at the company the previous year, designing an updated release of Microsoft Word.

1976
Year 46

You were born in August of 1976. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 4 times as old as you.

The year you were born, David Halberstam wrote about how American centers of power had been affected by science, technology, and modern communications.

1976
Beginnings

Around the time you were born, President Gerald Ford was nominated for a second term in Kansas City.

In April 2016, Ronald Brownstein wrote about how presidential primary fights are reverting to their old form.

1989

NBCU Photo Bank / Getty

The teenage years

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

Saved by the Bell premiered in 1989.

1989

Patrick Hertzog / AFP / Getty Images

After the Fall

At 13 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.

1994
Coming of age

Around your 18th birthday, Howard Stern dropped out of New York's gubernatorial race.

In June 2004, Ross Douthat wrote about Stern's political clout.

1996
Half a life ago

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

In July 2016, David Sims described the path from Pokémon Red and Blue to Pokémon Go.

2010

Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

After the Spring

When you turned 34, 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.

2016

Mark J. Rebilas / USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

Contemporaries

In 2016, Peyton Manning, who was born the same year as you, led the Denver Broncos to a victory over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 shortly before announcing his retirement.

In October 2015, Robert O'Connell wrote about the decline in Manning's performance.

2021
Forecasts

By the time you turn 44, 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: