Life Timeline

For those born May 13, 1966.

Not your birthday? Find your timeline here.

1965
Before you were born

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

In November 2010, Cailey Hall wrote about the magic that makes the movie resonate decades after its release.

1966
Beginnings

Around the time you were born, Bill Russell became the first African American coach in the NBA.

In June 2016, Eillie Anzilotti wrote about how the NBA is thriving because of its progressive politics and marketing strategy.

1966
Year 59

You were born in May of 1966. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 3 times as old as you.

The year you were born, Mervyn Cadwallader wrote about the mores and mishaps that increasingly afflicted love and marriage among young Americans.

1979

Everett Collection

The teenage years

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

Rock 'n' Roll High School was released in 1979.

1984
Coming of age

Around your 18th birthday, the Soviet Union announced its boycott of the Olympic games in Los Angeles.

In July 2016, J. Weston Phippen wrote about the politics of the Olympics.

1989

Patrick Hertzog / AFP / Getty Images

After the Fall

At 23 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.

1991
Half a life ago

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

In February 2015, Julie Beck wrote about what is lost when websites change or disappear.

2004

Mario Anzuoni / Reuters

Contemporaries

In 2004, J.J. Abrams, who was born the same year as you, began directing the TV series Lost, which won him two Emmy Awards over its six-year run.

In April 2015, David Sims wrote about the use of nostalgia in Abrams's films.

2010

Goran Tomasevic / Reuters

After the Spring

When you turned 44, 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.

2035
Forecasts

By the time you turn 68, 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.

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: