You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without texting.
In August 2011, Jamie Holmes wrote about how SMS is the driving force behind technology-enabled changes in commerce, crime, political participation, and governing in the developing world.
You were born in December of 1993. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 6 times as old as you.
The year you were born, Stanley Fish wrote about the American political vocabulary and "racism" being detached from its historical conditions.
Around the time you were born, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the North American Free Trade Agreement into law.
In January 2016, Alana Semuels wrote about labor unrest in Juarez, Mexico, in the midst of ongoing debates about U.S. trade policy.
Jason Redmond / AP
At 7 years old, you were part of the generation most shaped by 9/11.
The conflicts and displacements touched off around the world by the attacks have been reverberating for the majority of your life. “This ‘war’ [on terrorism] will never be over,” wrote James Fallows, a few years after the towers fell.
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after Facebook.
In May 2012, Stephen Marche wrote about how Facebook and other social-media platforms were making people lonely, even as they connected them to others more than ever before.
Fred Hayes / Disney Channel
This is what Hollywood thought teenagers looked like the year you became one.
High School Musical was released in 2006.
Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
When you turned 17, you witnessed the revolutionary fervor that transformed the Arab world in 2010, a movement led by your generation.
When 26-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire, he ignited a tinderbox of protests that continue to roil the Middle East, and kindled the beginnings of democracy in Tunisia.
Around your 18th birthday, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. military forces in Pakistan.
In May 2011, Nicholas Jackson provided an infographic breakdown of the assault on bin Laden's Abbottabad compound.
Mark Makela / Reuters
In 2013, Chance the Rapper, who was born the same year as you, released his critically acclaimed mixtape Acid Rap.
In May 2016, Spencer Kornhaber wrote about the profound use of faith and nostalgia in Chance’s Grammy-winning album Coloring Book.
By the time you turn 56, China is predicted to be the world's largest economy.
In February 2012, Charles A. Kupchan wrote about the world's emerging economies, and how the world will look by 2050.
History is happening all around you, every day.
The Atlantic is here to help you process it, in stories like these:
Tell your story.
