Act I
The World Stage
World Population
How many people shared the planet
people on Earth when you were born
3.8 billion more people have arrived since
You are part of the last generation born into a world under 5 billion.
1 in 62 people alive today was born in 1979.
World Leaders
Who was in charge
United States President
Jimmy Carter
President
UK Prime Minister
James Callaghan (to May), then Margaret Thatcher
Prime Minister
UN Secretary-General
Kurt Waldheim
United Nations
World Events
Defining moments of 1979
Iranian Revolution: Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees Iran; Ayatollah Khomeini returns from exile to establish an Islamic republic
Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Pennsylvania - the worst nuclear incident in US history triggers global alarm
OPEC announces another major oil price increase, deepening the energy crisis and stagflation across Western economies
Iranian militants seize the US Embassy in Tehran, taking 66 Americans hostage in a crisis lasting 444 days
Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, beginning a decade-long war that will contribute to the USSR's eventual collapse
Baby Names
Most popular names in 1979 (US)
Boys
Michael, Christopher, Jason
Girls
Jennifer, Jessica, Melissa
Atmosphere
CO₂ in the air you first breathed
CO₂ concentration (Keeling Curve)
+85.7 ppm since your birth
CO₂ has climbed 25% since 1979. It's one of the few numbers that only goes up.
Act II
What Things Cost
Average Annual Salary
What workers took home
$16.5k US median household incomeAdjusted for inflation, that's worth about $71k in today's dollars.
Today: $80kPurchasing Power
Are we actually better off today?
What $16k in 1979 is worth right now
11% 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 1979
life expectancy at birth in 1979
A 30.7-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 3.4x the average annual salary
Median home now costs 5.3x the average annual salary
Housing has gotten 1.6x 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
My Sharona
The Knack
Oscar Best Picture
The Deer Hunter
Directed by Michael Cimino
Grammy Album of the Year
52nd Street
Billy Joel
TV Premieres
Shows born the same year as you
Sports
Champions of the year
World Series
Pittsburgh Pirates
Baseball
F1 Champion
Jody Scheckter
Formula One
Super Bowl
Pittsburgh Steelers
35-31 vs Dallas Cowboys
NBA Champion
Seattle SuperSonics
Basketball
Screen & Page
What everyone was watching and reading
Most-Watched Show
Laverne & Shirley
Television
Fiction Bestseller
The Matarese Circle
Robert Ludlum
Box Office #1
Kramer vs. Kramer
Film
Act IV
The State of Technology
Technology Milestone
Where technology stood
VisiCalc becomes a commercial hit; Sony Walkman introduced, changing how people listen to music
Notable Tech Releases
What launched that year
Sony Walkman introduced in Japan, creating the personal music revolution
Atari 400 and 800 home computers released, bringing color graphics home
Motorola 68000 microprocessor introduced, powering future Macs and game consoles
CompuServe becomes the first consumer online service provider in the US
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
225M
people in United States
GDP per Capita
$12k
per person per year
Your Birth Cohort
133M
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
Heath Ledger·Kate Hudson·Norah Jones·Adam Levine·Pink
Life Expectancy
Have we made progress?
United States life expectancy at birth
United States life expectancy today
5 years of progress. Steady gains from better medicine, nutrition, and public health.
Computing Power
How much faster the machines have gotten
16.8 million times more powerfulComputing power has roughly doubled every two years since you were born. That adds up to 16.8 million×.
24 doublings since 1979Milestone Years
Your milestone birthdays
You turn 65 in 2044 · You turn 100 in 2079
Language
Words that didn't exist when you were born
Still Alive
Jonathan the tortoise was already 147 years old
a Seychelles giant tortoise living on Saint Helena island. He was already 147 years old the year you were born. He's still alive today at 194.
You arrived in a world of 4.4 billion people. Jimmy Carter was in the White House. My Sharona by The Knack 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 1979, 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