Act I
The World Stage
World Population
How many people shared the planet
people on Earth when you were born
4.6 billion more people have arrived since
You arrived in a world with fewer than 4 billion. It has more than doubled since.
1 in 67 people alive today was born in 1968.
World Leaders
Who was in charge
United States President
Lyndon B. Johnson
President
UK Prime Minister
Harold Wilson
Prime Minister
UN Secretary-General
U Thant
United Nations
World Events
Defining moments of 1968
Tet Offensive launched by North Vietnam and Viet Cong, shocking Americans and turning public opinion against the Vietnam War
Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, triggering riots across the US
Robert F. Kennedy assassinated in Los Angeles after winning the California Democratic primary
Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia, crushing the Prague Spring reforms
Violent clashes between police and protesters at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago shock the nation
Baby Names
Most popular names in 1968 (US)
Boys
Michael, David, James
Girls
Lisa, Michelle, Kimberly
Atmosphere
CO₂ in the air you first breathed
CO₂ concentration (Keeling Curve)
+99.5 ppm since your birth
The air has 31% more CO₂ now than the day you took your first breath.
Act II
What Things Cost
Average Annual Salary
What workers took home
$8.1k US median household incomeAdjusted for inflation, that's worth about $73k in today's dollars.
Today: $80kPurchasing Power
Are we actually better off today?
What $8k in 1968 is worth right now
9% less purchasing power than today's median
Wages have grown, but housing, healthcare, and education have grown faster. The math isn't in your favor.
The Birth Lottery
Same year. Different world.
life expectancy at birth in 1968
life expectancy at birth in 1968
A 36.4-year gap, decided entirely by where you happened to be born. Same year, different world.
Everyday Prices
What things cost
Housing
Homes vs. salaries - then and now
Median home cost 3.0x the average annual salary
Median home now costs 5.3x the average annual salary
Housing has gotten 1.8x harder to afford relative to income. Your parents weren't exaggerating about how cheap houses were.
Act III
What Was Playing
Billboard Year-End #1
Hey Jude
The Beatles
Oscar Best Picture
In the Heat of the Night
Directed by Mike Nichols
Grammy Album of the Year
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles
TV Premieres
Shows born the same year as you
Sports
Champions of the year
World Series
Detroit Tigers
Baseball
F1 Champion
Graham Hill
Formula One
Super Bowl
Green Bay Packers
33-14 vs Oakland Raiders
NBA Champion
Boston Celtics
Basketball
Screen & Page
What everyone was watching and reading
Most-Watched Show
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Television
Fiction Bestseller
Airport
Arthur Hailey
Box Office #1
Funny Girl
Film
Act IV
The State of Technology
Technology Milestone
Where technology stood
Apollo 8 becomes the first crewed spacecraft to orbit the Moon; Intel founded by Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce
Notable Tech Releases
What launched that year
Apollo 8 becomes first crewed spacecraft to orbit the Moon, astronauts broadcast Earthrise photo
Intel Corporation founded by Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce
Douglas Engelbart demonstrates the computer mouse, hypertext, and collaborative computing
The HAL 9000 computer debuts in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
Social Media Timeline
How old were you when these launched?
The Universe
Worlds discovered beyond our solar system
No exoplanets confirmed yet
confirmed and counting
When you were born, humanity had no proof that planets existed outside our solar system. Now we know they're everywhere.
Act V
Your Place in Time
🇺🇸 United States
Your country the year you arrived
Population
201M
people in United States
GDP per Capita
$4,696
per person per year
Your Birth Cohort
122M
babies born worldwide that year
Your birth year is closer to the moon landing than to today.
Notable Births
Born the same year as you
Will Smith·Owen Wilson·Naomi Watts·Hugh Jackman·LL Cool J
Life Expectancy
Have we made progress?
United States life expectancy at birth
United States life expectancy today
8 years of progress. Steady gains from better medicine, nutrition, and public health.
Computing Power
How much faster the machines have gotten
536.9 million times more powerfulComputing power has roughly doubled every two years since you were born. That adds up to 536.9 million×.
29 doublings since 1968Milestone Years
Your milestone birthdays
You turn 65 in 2033 · You turn 100 in 2068
Language
Words that didn't exist when you were born
Still Alive
Jonathan the tortoise was already 136 years old
a Seychelles giant tortoise living on Saint Helena island. He was already 136 years old the year you were born. He's still alive today at 194.
You arrived in a world of 3.5 billion people. Lyndon B. Johnson was in the White House. Hey Jude by The Beatles was on the radio. You arrived in a decade of upheaval. Civil rights, the space race, a world on the brink. And somehow, here you are.
In 1968, hearing a new voice meant tuning into the radio.
Today, you can clone your own voice with a few minutes of audio.
Hear what that sounds like →keep exploring