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 67 people alive today was born in 1980.
World Leaders
Who was in charge
United States President
Jimmy Carter
President
UK Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
Prime Minister
UN Secretary-General
Kurt Waldheim
United Nations
World Events
Defining moments of 1980
US hostage rescue mission in Iran (Operation Eagle Claw) fails, killing eight American servicemen
Mount St. Helens volcano erupts in Washington state, killing 57 people in the deadliest volcanic event in US history
Solidarity trade union founded by Lech Walesa in Poland, challenging Soviet-backed communist rule
Iraq invades Iran, beginning the Iran-Iraq War that will last eight years and kill over a million people
Ronald Reagan wins US presidential election in a landslide over incumbent Jimmy Carter
Baby Names
Most popular names in 1980 (US)
Boys
Michael, Christopher, Jason
Girls
Jennifer, Jessica, Amanda
Atmosphere
CO₂ in the air you first breathed
CO₂ concentration (Keeling Curve)
+83.8 ppm since your birth
CO₂ has climbed 25% since 1980. It's one of the few numbers that only goes up.
Act II
What Things Cost
Average Annual Salary
What workers took home
$17.7k US median household incomeAdjusted for inflation, that's worth about $67k in today's dollars.
Today: $80kPurchasing Power
Are we actually better off today?
What $18k in 1980 is worth right now
16% 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 1980
life expectancy at birth in 1980
A 30.5-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 2.7x the average annual salary
Median home now costs 5.3x the average annual salary
Housing has gotten 2.0x 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
Call Me
Blondie
Oscar Best Picture
Kramer vs. Kramer
Directed by Robert Benton
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
Philadelphia Phillies
Baseball
F1 Champion
Alan Jones
Formula One
Super Bowl
Pittsburgh Steelers
31-19 vs Los Angeles Rams
NBA Champion
Los Angeles Lakers
Basketball
Screen & Page
What everyone was watching and reading
Most-Watched Show
Dallas
Television
Fiction Bestseller
The Covenant
James Michener
Box Office #1
The Empire Strikes Back
Film
Act IV
The State of Technology
Technology Milestone
Where technology stood
CNN launches as the world's first 24-hour cable news network; Pac-Man debuts in arcades
Notable Tech Releases
What launched that year
CNN launches on June 1 as the world's first 24-hour cable news network
Pac-Man arcade game released by Namco, becoming a global phenomenon
IBM begins development of its first personal computer
Usenet, an early internet discussion system, launched
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
227M
people in United States
GDP per Capita
$13k
per person per year
Your Birth Cohort
123M
babies born worldwide that year
Your birth year is closer to the fall of the Berlin Wall than to today.
Notable Births
Born the same year as you
Kim Kardashian·Venus Williams·Christina Aguilera·Jake Gyllenhaal·Macaulay Culkin
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
8.4 million times more powerfulComputing power has roughly doubled every two years since you were born. That adds up to 8.4 million×.
23 doublings since 1980Milestone Years
Your milestone birthdays
You turn 65 in 2045 · You turn 100 in 2080
Language
Words that didn't exist when you were born
Still Alive
Jonathan the tortoise was already 148 years old
a Seychelles giant tortoise living on Saint Helena island. He was already 148 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. Call Me by Blondie was on the radio. You're part of the last generation that remembers a world without the internet.
In 1980, your voice lived on answering machines and camcorder tapes.
Today, you can clone your own voice with a few minutes of audio.
Hear what that sounds like →keep exploring