You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without commercial bar-code scanning.
In November 2014, Sarah Laskow described the decades-long development of the modern bar code.
You were born in September of 1975. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 4 times as old as you.
The year you were born, Midge Decter wrote about what went wrong for a generation that was supposed to be the brightest and most gifted in American history.
Around the time you were born, 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.
Everett Collection
This is what Hollywood thought teenagers looked like the year you became one.
Heathers was released in 1988.
Patrick Hertzog / AFP / Getty Images
At 14 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.
Around your 18th birthday, the trading card game Magic: the Gathering was released.
In fall 2011, Spencer Kornhaber wrote about the controversy that erupted when a man was publicly insulted for being a Magic: the Gathering champion.
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after Toy Story.
In June 2014, Megan Garber wrote about the complicated creative process that shaped the film.
Mike Blake / Reuters
In 1997, Tiger Woods, who was born the same year as you, became the youngest man and the first African American golfer to win the U.S. Masters.
In April 2014, Jake Simpson wrote about the bleak future ahead of the sport of golf after Tiger Woods fades from contention.
Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
When you turned 35, 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.
By the time you turn 59, 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.
History is happening all around you, every day.
The Atlantic is here to help you process it, in stories like these:
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