You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without the World Wide Web.
In October 2015, Adrienne LaFrance wrote about the disappearance of published content—including a Pulitzer finalist's 34-part investigative series—from the internet.
Around the time you were born, Mengistu Haile Mariam resigned as ruler of Ethiopia and fled the country, capping more than 16 years of brutal civil war.
In August 2012, Armin Rosen wrote about the legacy of Meles Zenawi, the dictator who helped overthrow Mariam's government before ruling Ethiopia for more than twenty years.
You were born in May of 1991. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 5 times as old as you.
The year you were born, Witold Rybczynski wrote about the history of work and leisure time.
Jason Redmond / AP
At 10 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 the iTunes Store.
In January 2013, Rebecca Greenfield wrote that the future of the iTunes Store lies not in music, but in apps.
Paramount
This is what Hollywood thought teenagers looked like the year you became one.
Mean Girls was released in 2004.
David Allio / Reuters
In 2004, Emma Roberts, who was born the same year as you, began starring in the Nickelodeon series Unfabulous.
In September 2014, Kevin O'Keeffe wrote about Roberts's role as Addie in the series.
Around your 18th birthday, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck near the city of L'Aquila in central Italy.
In November 2014, Nicholas St. Fleur wrote about the acquittal of Italian seismologists who were blamed for the fatalities in the quake.
Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
When you turned 19, 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 38, 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:
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