Explore Your Life in History
March 1, 2017 12:00 PM Subscribe
Tell us your birthday, and we’ll show you how the world has changed during your lifetime. The Atlantic has released a tool that highlights generational experiences by walking through world events that shaped the thoughts and memories of Americans worldwide. All you need is a birthday.
I turn 40 in 2 days. I'm not sure I'm ready for that much information about how the world has changed in my lifetime.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:10 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by jacquilynne at 12:10 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
It didn't seem very detailed to me. Nothing relating to my actual birth day or month so you're probably free to fudge those.
posted by srboisvert at 12:12 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 12:12 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
All you need is a birthday.
Does it have to be *my* birthday? I have an internet birthday I like to use for places/sites/entities that ask for my birthday with no good reason; can I use that instead?
posted by Rob Rockets at 12:13 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Does it have to be *my* birthday? I have an internet birthday I like to use for places/sites/entities that ask for my birthday with no good reason; can I use that instead?
posted by Rob Rockets at 12:13 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Apparently, absolutely nothing happened between 1995 and 2010. At least according to my timeline. Which is odd because I remember a whooooole lot of the world during those years.
posted by teleri025 at 12:13 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by teleri025 at 12:13 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
TIL, Heidi Klum is my age.
Didn't learn much else from this. Still.
posted by oddman at 12:17 PM on March 1, 2017
Didn't learn much else from this. Still.
posted by oddman at 12:17 PM on March 1, 2017
This one is more informative: http://you.regettingold.com/
posted by srboisvert at 12:17 PM on March 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 12:17 PM on March 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
Internet birthday's should be fine. The date is in clear text in the URL, if people like to tweak that. And there's a fair bit of pop culture and internet culture in the time line.
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:17 PM on March 1, 2017
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:17 PM on March 1, 2017
Apparently I have never lived in a world without color TV broadcasting (which began--on a very small scale--in 1951). This was news to me. I remember when I was 12 or so mounting an intense campaign to get my parents to buy a color television. Most people seemed to have one by the mid-60's. We were holdouts, I guess.
posted by kozad at 12:18 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by kozad at 12:18 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is your life... in several Wikipedia pages!
posted by not_the_water at 12:19 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by not_the_water at 12:19 PM on March 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
It kind of uncomfortably blew my mind when it said that half my life was before the euro and half after; I was living in Europe for a year during the switchover so that year was also divided into half before/half after.
posted by jeweled accumulation at 12:21 PM on March 1, 2017
posted by jeweled accumulation at 12:21 PM on March 1, 2017
Man, stop posting these birthdayist posts, okay?
#InceptDatesMatterToo
posted by Samizdata at 12:23 PM on March 1, 2017
#InceptDatesMatterToo
posted by Samizdata at 12:23 PM on March 1, 2017
Apparently I am one of the first people to have never lived in a world without Microsoft Windows. But as a reminder that it takes a while for technological change to propagate, we used DOS on a green-screened computer until I was 10 or 11. Kind of like how there are still people using dialup today.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 12:34 PM on March 1, 2017
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 12:34 PM on March 1, 2017
The technological change stuff is interesting because we're all having the same experience, it seems. I was apparently one of the first people to not live in a world without cell phones, but I didn't get my own first cell phone until my late 20s. I had never in my life even seen one until I was nearly a teen. Cell phones may have existed in some DARPA lab somewhere when I was born, but definitely not in my realm of experience.
(I once blew a much younger friend of mine's mind by telling her that I had no capability to rewatch a beloved movie or TV show as a child. My family didn't get a VCR until I was 12.)
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:37 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
(I once blew a much younger friend of mine's mind by telling her that I had no capability to rewatch a beloved movie or TV show as a child. My family didn't get a VCR until I was 12.)
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:37 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
I have an internet birthday I like to use for places/sites/entities that ask for my birthday with no good reason; can I use that instead?
Man, a lot has changed since 1 Jan, 1900.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:38 PM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
Man, a lot has changed since 1 Jan, 1900.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:38 PM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
My experience echoes Kozad's. Just sayin' that not everyone had color tv YET! But we did
get it eventually and I remember the tiny roundish picture tube (what's a picture tube, Nana?)
and how my parents had to keep setting the colors to keep it from being either too green or too red.
Fun times.
posted by Lynsey at 12:39 PM on March 1, 2017
get it eventually and I remember the tiny roundish picture tube (what's a picture tube, Nana?)
and how my parents had to keep setting the colors to keep it from being either too green or too red.
Fun times.
posted by Lynsey at 12:39 PM on March 1, 2017
Game Boy? The halfway point of my entire existence to date hinges on the arrival of the Game Boy?
I am disappoint.
posted by briank at 12:41 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I am disappoint.
posted by briank at 12:41 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
"Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after graphical web browsers."
Seems oddly appropriate.
posted by antiwiggle at 12:46 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Seems oddly appropriate.
posted by antiwiggle at 12:46 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I wonder how old one would have to be to divide life into before and after scanning cats.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:01 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:01 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Somewhat thin material when you dig into it, but some neat connections made. It was remarkable for me to consider that the formative event of my early teens was 9/11, whereas at that age my parents had been watching the moon landing.
posted by Emily's Fist at 1:02 PM on March 1, 2017
posted by Emily's Fist at 1:02 PM on March 1, 2017
You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without the computer mouse.
One of my best friends had a Commodore Pet in his house - the first computer I'd ever seen. I had a VIC-20 and C64; friends had Atari 400s and other early home computers.
I didn't see a mouse until the local Mac shop brought in an Apple Lisa, when I was in my early teens. I might not have lived without a mouse, but their existence was completely unknown to me - and I was pretty tuned in to the early scene (whistling into modems to get a connection, using 8" floppies with no hard drives, punch card programming...).
posted by GhostintheMachine at 1:10 PM on March 1, 2017
One of my best friends had a Commodore Pet in his house - the first computer I'd ever seen. I had a VIC-20 and C64; friends had Atari 400s and other early home computers.
I didn't see a mouse until the local Mac shop brought in an Apple Lisa, when I was in my early teens. I might not have lived without a mouse, but their existence was completely unknown to me - and I was pretty tuned in to the early scene (whistling into modems to get a connection, using 8" floppies with no hard drives, punch card programming...).
posted by GhostintheMachine at 1:10 PM on March 1, 2017
Switching over to a color set in the mid-60s probably put you a bit ahead of the curve, nationally
My grandmother had a color TV as early as 1966 or 1967, and one of my earliest memories is watching "The Lucy Show" in glorious color with her. My parents did not make the move until 1975, IIRC, when she gave us a castoff (not the one from 1966, but it was probably a 1972 model).
posted by briank at 1:12 PM on March 1, 2017
My grandmother had a color TV as early as 1966 or 1967, and one of my earliest memories is watching "The Lucy Show" in glorious color with her. My parents did not make the move until 1975, IIRC, when she gave us a castoff (not the one from 1966, but it was probably a 1972 model).
posted by briank at 1:12 PM on March 1, 2017
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after Pokémon.
This is so true in so many ways.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:14 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
This is so true in so many ways.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:14 PM on March 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
I put in my mother's birthday and got this article, which seems sadly relevant today.
posted by dinty_moore at 1:15 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by dinty_moore at 1:15 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'll be 70 in 19 days.
* Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after MTV.
* You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without It's A Wonderful Life.
* At 22 years old, you were alive to behold people walking on the moon.
posted by jgaiser at 1:26 PM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
* Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after MTV.
* You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without It's A Wonderful Life.
* At 22 years old, you were alive to behold people walking on the moon.
posted by jgaiser at 1:26 PM on March 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
A friend that was born in 1920 died this week. Apparently in her life nothing happened between 1938 and 1968. I'm curious about how the site decided on what to omit.
posted by blue_beetle at 2:07 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by blue_beetle at 2:07 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Pokemon was my halfway point, but Pokemon, up until this summer, was something I had never played once.
Things that were world shaping events that it failed to point out:
Growing up under Reagan, terrified of nuclear war, exemplified by The Fire Next Time, Threads, and all the other fun stuff I probably shouldn't have been watching.
The Challenger exploding. Seriously, any list of important moments that doesn't include this for people who were in elementary school in America fails its basic premise.
Tiananmen Square. Seriously? You felt the need to tell me about my important connection to a cast member of Full House and remind me of Saved by the Bell over the iconic image of a man carrying his groceries facing down a column of tanks? Get fucked.
The impeachment of Clinton? Newt Gingrich formally codifying "take my toys and go home" into government with the shutdowns?
Bush-Gore being decided by a partisan Supreme Court? Fucking 9/11? Hell, the iPod had more of an effect on my life than half the things on their list.
Sorry, I woke up on the angry side of the bed this morning.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:11 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Things that were world shaping events that it failed to point out:
Growing up under Reagan, terrified of nuclear war, exemplified by The Fire Next Time, Threads, and all the other fun stuff I probably shouldn't have been watching.
The Challenger exploding. Seriously, any list of important moments that doesn't include this for people who were in elementary school in America fails its basic premise.
Tiananmen Square. Seriously? You felt the need to tell me about my important connection to a cast member of Full House and remind me of Saved by the Bell over the iconic image of a man carrying his groceries facing down a column of tanks? Get fucked.
The impeachment of Clinton? Newt Gingrich formally codifying "take my toys and go home" into government with the shutdowns?
Bush-Gore being decided by a partisan Supreme Court? Fucking 9/11? Hell, the iPod had more of an effect on my life than half the things on their list.
Sorry, I woke up on the angry side of the bed this morning.
posted by Ghidorah at 3:11 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
I'm 44.
At 17 years old, you saw the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
Around your 18th birthday, East Germany left the Warsaw Pact.
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after Amazon.
Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now!
posted by kimberussell at 3:13 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
At 17 years old, you saw the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
Around your 18th birthday, East Germany left the Warsaw Pact.
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after Amazon.
Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now!
posted by kimberussell at 3:13 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm 45
Your life can be divided in two halves: before and after seeing Cool Runnings in a college town theatre loaded on LSD.
Wow this thing is awesome.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 3:52 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Your life can be divided in two halves: before and after seeing Cool Runnings in a college town theatre loaded on LSD.
Wow this thing is awesome.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 3:52 PM on March 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after Microsoft.
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after graphical web browsers.
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after turn-by-turn cellphone navigation.
My father, me, and my son. Oh, the milestones of life.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 3:59 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after graphical web browsers.
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after turn-by-turn cellphone navigation.
My father, me, and my son. Oh, the milestones of life.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 3:59 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I just turned 47 on Saturday.
You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without Sesame Street.
Around the time you were born, five members of the so-called Chicago 7 were convicted of inciting riots.
Around your 18th birthday, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Hustler magazine and overturned a settlement awarded to Jerry Falwell.
At 19 years old, you saw the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after graphical web browsers.
When you turned 40, you saw the rise of the Arab Spring.
....I give it a mix - yeah, Sesame Street taught me to read at the age of two and I definitely remember the Berlin Wall coming down. But - honestly, the Cold War and nukes had a much bigger impact on me than Hustler.
(I do remember the world pre-Web, tho)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:34 PM on March 1, 2017
You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without Sesame Street.
Around the time you were born, five members of the so-called Chicago 7 were convicted of inciting riots.
Around your 18th birthday, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Hustler magazine and overturned a settlement awarded to Jerry Falwell.
At 19 years old, you saw the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after graphical web browsers.
When you turned 40, you saw the rise of the Arab Spring.
....I give it a mix - yeah, Sesame Street taught me to read at the age of two and I definitely remember the Berlin Wall coming down. But - honestly, the Cold War and nukes had a much bigger impact on me than Hustler.
(I do remember the world pre-Web, tho)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:34 PM on March 1, 2017
This one is more informative: http://you.regettingold.com/
born in 1959 which makes the first important event of my childhood (as opposed to my infancy) The Cuban Missile Crisis. And it's been non-stop apocalypsing ever since.
posted by philip-random at 5:17 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
also ...
29th Nov 1972 - Atari releases the arcade video game Pong (you were 13 years old)
except I distinctly remember playing Pong in early 1972 when I was twelve. It was set up in the recreation area of a hockey tournament I was playing in. I guess it must've been a pre-release demo of some kind, because it was free to play. I remember the line-ups were non-stop huge. I mean, who wanted to play cards or ping pong or whatever when there was this machine in the corner that went beep-boop?
posted by philip-random at 5:25 PM on March 1, 2017
29th Nov 1972 - Atari releases the arcade video game Pong (you were 13 years old)
except I distinctly remember playing Pong in early 1972 when I was twelve. It was set up in the recreation area of a hockey tournament I was playing in. I guess it must've been a pre-release demo of some kind, because it was free to play. I remember the line-ups were non-stop huge. I mean, who wanted to play cards or ping pong or whatever when there was this machine in the corner that went beep-boop?
posted by philip-random at 5:25 PM on March 1, 2017
(born in 1964) This is what Hollywood thought teenagers looked like the year you became one.
(picture of John Travolta dancing in my mother's favorite movie)
Saturday Night Fever was released in 1977.
posted by Bringer Tom at 6:31 PM on March 1, 2017
(picture of John Travolta dancing in my mother's favorite movie)
Saturday Night Fever was released in 1977.
posted by Bringer Tom at 6:31 PM on March 1, 2017
Also: You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
Well I'm also one of the first people who never lived in a world where the Cuban Missile Crisis and JFK assassination hadn't happened.
posted by Bringer Tom at 6:38 PM on March 1, 2017
Well I'm also one of the first people who never lived in a world where the Cuban Missile Crisis and JFK assassination hadn't happened.
posted by Bringer Tom at 6:38 PM on March 1, 2017
I'd have appreciated this a lot more if it hadn't involved Kanye.
posted by elsietheeel at 6:42 PM on March 1, 2017
posted by elsietheeel at 6:42 PM on March 1, 2017
(born in 1964) This is what Hollywood thought teenagers looked like the year you became one.
(picture of John Travolta dancing in my mother's favorite movie)
Saturday Night Fever was released in 1977.
That phrasing actually threw me too - they don't mean "the year you became one" like "the year you turned one year old", they mean "this is what Hollywood thought teenagers looked like the year you became a teenager yourself."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:44 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
(picture of John Travolta dancing in my mother's favorite movie)
Saturday Night Fever was released in 1977.
That phrasing actually threw me too - they don't mean "the year you became one" like "the year you turned one year old", they mean "this is what Hollywood thought teenagers looked like the year you became a teenager yourself."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:44 PM on March 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
EmpressC, the site explained itself; the third line of my post was below the picture on my time thingy. So I knew they had done 1977-1964=TEENAGER. It was just kind of strange to see Saturday Night Fever on that list, considering it actually was my mother's favorite movie and I still have many of the songs on my permanent playlist.
posted by Bringer Tom at 6:49 PM on March 1, 2017
posted by Bringer Tom at 6:49 PM on March 1, 2017
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after Harry Potter.
This is sort of horrifyingly accurate.
posted by jeather at 7:13 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is sort of horrifyingly accurate.
posted by jeather at 7:13 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
They used Freaks and Geeks as the example of what Hollywood thought teenagers looked like the year I became one, except that show was set in 1980.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 7:16 PM on March 1, 2017
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 7:16 PM on March 1, 2017
That was not as good as I thought it would be or as good as The Atlantic could have made it with its rich archive. I checked some other random made up "birthdays" and the results are formulaic, repetitive (just changing the "you were this old when..." for many events), and not that interesting or insightful to me. Doesn't seem like they're really trying.
posted by blue shadows at 7:21 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by blue shadows at 7:21 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I did myself (1972) and then my sister (1968) and the vast majority of the timeline was identical. I felt we had very different childhoods/early adult years myself. The big "this divides your life" was amazon for me (well, ok, I remeber seeing it at ALA in Chicago the year they launched when I was about 22/23 but I've never actually used it so it hasn't really impacted me) but my sister's timeline says TEXTING divided her life - when I feel like we only really started txting four or so years ago (I guess we were late adopters?)
posted by saucysault at 7:51 PM on March 1, 2017
posted by saucysault at 7:51 PM on March 1, 2017
That was pretty interesting! (I saw the Berlin Wall collapse when I was 11 -- REMEMBER SO VIVIDLY! Recall the specific classroom! -- and Clarissa was the model of a teen when I became a teen, TRUTH.) Although I'm currently watching The Craft (on netflix as of today!) and everyone cool is smoking and it is SO GROSS. Although I know when I saw it in the theater, everyone smoking was an indicator of coolness still and I bought it. These days, just, ew. It's so anachronistic as to read as uncool from even back then.
It's fun to pop in your parents. Mine were born during the Korean War, saw men walk on the moon, and had the Disney Channel come into existence half their lifetime ago. I love to watch Moon Landing shit with my parents, that link I got from MetaFilter and we spent a Christmas Eve all watching it as if it was live in real time, it was great.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:05 PM on March 1, 2017
It's fun to pop in your parents. Mine were born during the Korean War, saw men walk on the moon, and had the Disney Channel come into existence half their lifetime ago. I love to watch Moon Landing shit with my parents, that link I got from MetaFilter and we spent a Christmas Eve all watching it as if it was live in real time, it was great.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:05 PM on March 1, 2017
Maybe I'm just pretty aware of the world, or have done similar things so often in my 53 years,but that was underwhelming.
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:05 PM on March 1, 2017
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:05 PM on March 1, 2017
I was born in 1955. I am one of the first people to live in a world without The Lord Of The Rings. This is a delightful fact to me.
posted by lhauser at 9:24 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by lhauser at 9:24 PM on March 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
They used this pic from Clarissa Explains It All for the "how Hollywood thought teenagers looked" bit and, like, Hollywood wasn't exactly wrong with that one, at least in terms of clothes and hair.
I am fairly certain I owned both this headband and t-shirt.
posted by lunasol at 9:25 PM on March 1, 2017
I am fairly certain I owned both this headband and t-shirt.
posted by lunasol at 9:25 PM on March 1, 2017
I'll be 38 in a few days. My timeline included Adam Levine of Maroon 5.
Huh? I think we can all agree "Moves Like Jagger" didn't change the world.
posted by princesspathos at 9:41 PM on March 1, 2017
Huh? I think we can all agree "Moves Like Jagger" didn't change the world.
posted by princesspathos at 9:41 PM on March 1, 2017
By definition, I've never lived in a world--well, at least not this one--in which my people hadn't infiltrated the fossil fuel industry in order to remake the Earth into one more to our liking.
and don't get me started on the whole "birth" thing
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:55 PM on March 1, 2017
and don't get me started on the whole "birth" thing
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:55 PM on March 1, 2017
Born in 1954. No mention of JFK assassination.
Apparently, it's broken.
posted by she's not there at 11:26 PM on March 1, 2017
Apparently, it's broken.
posted by she's not there at 11:26 PM on March 1, 2017
In 2008, Barack Obama, who was born the same year as you, was elected the 44th president of the United States.
I am such an underachiever...
posted by Mogur at 6:52 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
All I know is, kids keep trying to play in my yard.
posted by IndigoJones at 7:38 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by IndigoJones at 7:38 AM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
For my 82-year old mother:
1975
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after Microsoft.
In February 2000, James Fallows wrote about the time he spent at the company the previous year, designing an updated release of Microsoft Word.
First of all, this sentence is a mess. It's explaining the relevance of what happened in 1975 by linking to an article about 1999? Confusing weaksauce. But moreover, what a strange choice to frame this idea of "your life can be dividing into two halves, before and after [foo]. The founding of Microsoft in 1975 did not have any influence over ordinary people's lives. My mother's entire working life -- as a secretary -- was conducted prior to the introduction of desktop computers into the workplace. (And in fact, her entire working life was also already over by the time she was 41, as, like many women, she stopped working once she got married and had a child.) I know that these events are probably chosen by algorithm, but I assume they're also human-checked, and I can't imagine many instances in which the founding date of a company, no matter how culture-changing it winds up becoming, is going to be a good milestone to describe what our lives are like.
Also, interestingly, they didn't include the "this is what Hollywood thought teenagers were like when you became a teenager" thing for my mother's date of birth. A little experimenting with the dates tells me that they include this section only for those born in 1951 or later. I know there's this popular idea that "teenagers" are a post-war concept, but...uh...a quick Google shows me that "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" was one of the top-grossing films in 1947, so the omission of that category is particularly funny.
posted by desuetude at 10:43 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
1975
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after Microsoft.
In February 2000, James Fallows wrote about the time he spent at the company the previous year, designing an updated release of Microsoft Word.
First of all, this sentence is a mess. It's explaining the relevance of what happened in 1975 by linking to an article about 1999? Confusing weaksauce. But moreover, what a strange choice to frame this idea of "your life can be dividing into two halves, before and after [foo]. The founding of Microsoft in 1975 did not have any influence over ordinary people's lives. My mother's entire working life -- as a secretary -- was conducted prior to the introduction of desktop computers into the workplace. (And in fact, her entire working life was also already over by the time she was 41, as, like many women, she stopped working once she got married and had a child.) I know that these events are probably chosen by algorithm, but I assume they're also human-checked, and I can't imagine many instances in which the founding date of a company, no matter how culture-changing it winds up becoming, is going to be a good milestone to describe what our lives are like.
Also, interestingly, they didn't include the "this is what Hollywood thought teenagers were like when you became a teenager" thing for my mother's date of birth. A little experimenting with the dates tells me that they include this section only for those born in 1951 or later. I know there's this popular idea that "teenagers" are a post-war concept, but...uh...a quick Google shows me that "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer" was one of the top-grossing films in 1947, so the omission of that category is particularly funny.
posted by desuetude at 10:43 AM on March 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
I am one of the first people to never have lived in a world without Star Trek. THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING ME SO DEEPLY, THE ATLANTIC.
posted by hanov3r at 2:23 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by hanov3r at 2:23 PM on March 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
The year you were born, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. wrote about why the powers of the presidency spiraled out of control under Richard Nixon.
Plus ça change...
posted by SisterHavana at 9:17 AM on March 3, 2017
Plus ça change...
posted by SisterHavana at 9:17 AM on March 3, 2017
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posted by ZeusHumms at 12:06 PM on March 1, 2017 [9 favorites]