Life Timeline

For those born September 23, 1959.

Not your birthday? Find your timeline here.

1958
Before you were born

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

In March 2015, Cari Romm wrote about the technological impact of NASA on everyday life.

1959
Year 63

You were born in September of 1959. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 3 times as old as you.

The year you were born, Grover Loening wrote about the history of the development of American planes, and what can be learned from the missed opportunties of the past.

1959
Beginnings

Around the time you were born, Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States.

In July 2002, Constance Hall wrote about the Hawaiian art form of hula.

1969

NASA

Man on the Moon

At 9 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.

1972

Bettmann / Getty

The teenage years

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

The Brady Bunch premiered in 1972.

1977
Coming of age

Around your 18th birthday, the Voyager 1 space probe was launched after a brief delay.

In September, 2013, Megan Garber wrote about the gold record aboard the probe.

1987
Half a life ago

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

In February 2012, Hampton Stevens wrote about what The Simpsons had left to say after airing its 500th episode.

1993

Blake Sell / Reuters

Contemporaries

In 1993, Emma Thompson, who was born the same year as you, earned her Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film Howards End.

In December 2013, Esther Zuckerman wrote about Thompson's publicity push for the 2014 Oscars.

2007

NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute

Across the Universe

When you turned 47, 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.

2025
Forecasts

By the time you turn 65, 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: