Life Timeline

For those born September 8, 1942.

Not your birthday? Find your timeline here.

1941
Before you were born

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

In April 2014, Charles Moss wrote about how Captain America became a McCarthy-esque warrior against Communism in the 1950s.

1942
Beginnings

Around the time you were born, a Japanese plane dropped bombs on a site in southern Oregon, the first aerial bombardment to strike the U.S. mainland.

In August 2013, Conor Friedersdorf wrote about how war threatened the basic liberties of Japanese Americans.

1942
Year 80

You were born in September of 1942. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 2 times as old as you.

The year you were born, Bernard Iddings Bell wrote about how the Christian church must adapt to maintain a foothold in mainstream culture.

1960
Coming of age

Around your 18th birthday, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela came together to form OPEC.

In March 1983, four years after the latest global energy crisis, Edward Jay Epstein wrote about the Wizard of Oz-like qualities of the world's largest cartel.

1969

NASA

Man on the Moon

At 26 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.

1975

Andreas Meier / Reuters

Contemporaries

In 1975, Muhammad Ali, who was born the same year as you, beat Joe Frazier and reclaimed the world heavyweight championship in the "Thrilla in Manila" fight—the last in a trilogy of matches between the legend and his biggest rival.

In June 2016, Vann Newkirk II wrote that to understand Ali's greatness as a boxer, one has to understand his identity as a black man and a public intellectual in the wake of his death.

1979
Half a life ago

Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after hip-hop records.

In March 2015, Irvin Weathersby Jr. wrote about what hip-hop can teach Americans.

2007

NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute

Across the Universe

When you turned 64, 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.

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: