You're one of the first people who's never lived in a world without CD players.
In October 2012, Megan Garber wrote about the CD player turning 30 years old.
You were born in December of 1983. This year, The Atlantic celebrates its 160th birthday, making it 4 times as old as you.
The year you were born, James Fallows wrote about the economic, demographic, and social effects of U.S. immigration.
Around the time you were born, Brunei became an independent nation free of British rule after nearly 100 years.
In April 2014, Lucy Westcott wrote about Sharia law being enacted in Brunei.
Everett Collection
This is what Hollywood thought teenagers looked like the year you became one.
The Craft was released in 1996.
Your life can be divided into two halves: before and after the euro.
In December 2011, Jim Tankersley wrote about how the euro's failure could cause another American recession.
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 People's Republic of China was granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States.
In March 2013, Graham Allison wrote about China's economic power.
Mario Anzuoni / Reuters
In 2010, Aziz Ansari, who was born the same year as you, released his debut comedy album and stand-up special on Comedy Central.
In June 2010, Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote about how awesome Aziz Ansari is.
Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
When you turned 27, 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 48, the collective GDP of the four leading developing countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) is likely to match that of today's leading Western nations.
In February 2012, Charles A. Kupchan wrote about the world's emerging economies, and how the world will look by 2050.
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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