Life Timeline

For those born September 16, 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, U.S. troops guarded black children as they entered a school in Little Rock, Arkansas.

In September 2014, Noah Gordon wrote about school integration, past and present, in the United States.

1957
Year 65

You were born in September 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 11 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, Gerald Ford narrowly survived an attempted assassination at the hands of Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme.

In September 2005, Michael Slenske wrote about assassination attempts on American presidents.

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 49, 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.

2025
Forecasts

By the time you turn 67, the World Bank predicts that the U.S. dollar will lose its global dominance.

In February 2012, Charles A. Kupchan wrote about the world's emerging economies, and how the world will look by 2050.

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: