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 May of 1975. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 3 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, Alaska partially decriminalized cannabis after hearing Ravin v. State.
In December 2014, Josh Kramer published an illustrated history of Alaska's legalization of marijuana.
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 International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was established.
In December 2012, Rikard Jozwiak published an interview with one of the tribunal's top attorneys.
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.
Mike Blake / Reuters
In 1997, Tiger Woods, who was born the same year as you, became the youngest man and the first African American golfer to win the U.S. Masters.
In April 2014, Jake Simpson wrote about the bleak future ahead of the sport of golf after Tiger Woods fades from contention.
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 54, humanity's water requirements will exceed its supplies by 40 percent.
In May 2012, Stewart M. Patrick wrote about the Intelligence Community's report on global water scarcity, and the plan to combat it.
History is happening all around you, every day.
The Atlantic is here to help you process it, in stories like these:
Tell your story.
