Life Timeline

For those born January 25, 1939.

Not your birthday? Find your timeline here.

1938
Before you were born

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

In March 2016, Carmen Petaccio wrote about the changes in recent history to comic-book heroes, and how they correlate with times of despair in America.

1939
Year 87

You were born in January of 1939. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 1.9 times as old as you.

The year you were born, we published an anonymous contributor's account of her experience as a German-American woman who wed a Jewish man amid a less-then-accepting social climate.

1939
Beginnings

Around the time you were born, Adolf Hitler ordered into effect Plan Z, a five-year plan to increase Germany's naval abilities to rival those of Britain's Royal Navy.

In March 1999, David M. Kennedy wrote about the naval warfare during World War II.

1957
Coming of age

Around your 18th birthday, Dwight D. Eisenhower was inaugurated for a second term as president of the United States.

In August 1964, Eisenhower wrote about George Catlett Marshall.

1969

NASA

Man on the Moon

At 30 years old, you were alive to behold people walking on the moon.

Over the years, the moon landing has come to be lauded as the pinnacle of human achievement, although it was often derided at the time. In 1963, NASA astronauts took to The Atlantic to plead the case for landing on the moon.

1978
Half a life ago

Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after "test-tube babies."

In October 2010, Cristine Russell wrote about the practice of in vitro fertilization (IVF) becoming more common.

1981

Kieran Doherty / Reuters

Contemporaries

In 1981, Ian McKellen, who was born the same year as you, won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in Amadeus.

In December 2013, David W. Brown wrote about the Broadway plays No Man's Land and Waiting for Godot. McKellen starred in both opposite his good friend Patrick Stewart.

2007

NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute

Across the Universe

When you turned 68, you watched humankind reach the outer solar system.

With NASA's Cassini-Huygens mission in 2005, humans landed a probe in the outer reaches of the solar system for the first time, a moment Ross Andersen called the most glorious mission in the history of planetary science.

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: