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 November 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 became the second U.S. president to visit China.
In November 2009, James Fallows wrote about presidents' influence in Chinese diplomatic relationships.
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 Maastricht Treaty took effect and formally established the European Union.
In June 2015, Kathy Gilsinan wrote an article explaining the European Union.
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.
Luke MacGregor / Reuters
In 2000, Angelina Jolie, who was born the same year as you, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film Girl, Interrupted.
In September 2016, Spencer Kornhaber wrote about "Brangelina" and public fascination with the celebrity couple.
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 45, 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.
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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