Act I
The World Stage
World Population
How many people shared the planet
people on Earth when you were born
4.4 billion more people have arrived since
You arrived in a world with fewer than 4 billion. It has more than doubled since.
1 in 66 people alive today was born in 1971.
World Leaders
Who was in charge
United States President
Richard Nixon
President
UK Prime Minister
Edward Heath
Prime Minister
UN Secretary-General
U Thant
United Nations
World Events
Defining moments of 1971
US and South Vietnamese forces launch Operation Lam Son 719, a large-scale incursion into Laos
New York Times begins publishing the Pentagon Papers, revealing decades of government deception about Vietnam
President Nixon ends the Bretton Woods system by suspending US dollar convertibility to gold, ending the gold standard
The People's Republic of China admitted to the United Nations, replacing Taiwan's Republic of China in the Security Council
Bangladesh Liberation War ends - India defeats Pakistan, creating the new nation of Bangladesh with 75 million people
Baby Names
Most popular names in 1971 (US)
Boys
Michael, James, David
Girls
Jennifer, Lisa, Kimberly
Atmosphere
CO₂ in the air you first breathed
CO₂ concentration (Keeling Curve)
+96.2 ppm since your birth
CO₂ has climbed 29% since 1971. It's one of the few numbers that only goes up.
Act II
What Things Cost
Average Annual Salary
What workers took home
$9.0k US median household incomeAdjusted for inflation, that's worth about $70k in today's dollars.
Today: $80kPurchasing Power
Are we actually better off today?
What $9k in 1971 is worth right now
13% 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 1971
life expectancy at birth in 1971
A 35.0-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
Joy to the World
Three Dog Night
Oscar Best Picture
Patton
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Grammy Album of the Year
Bridge over Troubled Water
Simon & Garfunkel
TV Premieres
Shows born the same year as you
Sports
Champions of the year
World Series
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baseball
F1 Champion
Jackie Stewart
Formula One
Super Bowl
Baltimore Colts
16-13 vs Dallas Cowboys
NBA Champion
Milwaukee Bucks
Basketball
Screen & Page
What everyone was watching and reading
Most-Watched Show
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Television
Fiction Bestseller
Wheels
Arthur Hailey
Box Office #1
Fiddler on the Roof
Film
Act IV
The State of Technology
Technology Milestone
Where technology stood
Intel releases the 4004, the world's first commercial microprocessor; floppy disk introduced by IBM
Notable Tech Releases
What launched that year
Intel releases the 4004, the world's first commercial microprocessor
IBM introduces the floppy disk (8-inch) for data storage
Ray Tomlinson sends the first email between computers on ARPANET
Atari founded by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney
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
207M
people in United States
GDP per Capita
$5,509
per person per year
Your Birth Cohort
125M
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
Tupac Shakur·Winona Ryder·Vin Diesel·Sean Combs·Snoop Dogg
Life Expectancy
Have we made progress?
United States life expectancy at birth
United States life expectancy today
7 years of progress. Steady gains from better medicine, nutrition, and public health.
Computing Power
How much faster the machines have gotten
268.4 million times more powerfulComputing power has roughly doubled every two years since you were born. That adds up to 268.4 million×.
28 doublings since 1971Milestone Years
Your milestone birthdays
You turn 65 in 2036 · You turn 100 in 2071
Language
Words that didn't exist when you were born
Still Alive
Jonathan the tortoise was already 139 years old
a Seychelles giant tortoise living on Saint Helena island. He was already 139 years old the year you were born. He's still alive today at 194.
You arrived in a world of 3.8 billion people. Richard Nixon was in the White House. Joy to the World by Three Dog Night was on the radio. You grew up in the last decade where being unreachable was normal. No pagers, no cell phones, just the world right in front of you.
In 1971, recording your voice meant pressing play+record on a cassette.
Today, you can clone your own voice with a few minutes of audio.
Hear what that sounds like →keep exploring