You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without the Disney Channel.
In July 2015, James Parker wrote about the insidious messages tweens pick up from the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.
Around the time you were born, NASA launched its 10th Space Shuttle mission.
In July 2011, Alan Taylor published a retrospective photo essay on Space Shuttles.
You were born in January of 1984. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 4 times as old as you.
The year you were born, Benjamin Spock wrote about why schools should emphasize active learning and empathy for students.
Everett Collection
This is what Hollywood thought teenagers looked like the year you became one.
I Know What You Did Last Summer was released in 1997.
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after the International Space Station.
In our January/February 2015 issue, Charles Fishman wrote about the oddity of daily life on the station and the value of its continued operation.
Jason Redmond / AP
At 17 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.
Around your 18th birthday, the UN Security Council agreed to freeze the assets of Osama bin Laden.
In May 2011, Tim Fernholz and Jim Tankersley wrote about the price of bringing bin Laden to justice.
Joel Ryan / AP
In 2008, Katy Perry, who was born the same year as you, released the hit song "I Kissed a Girl."
In December 2012, Noah Berlatsky wrote about Katy Perry's aversion to feminism.
Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
When you turned 26, 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.
By the time you turn 51, 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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