Act I
The World Stage
World Population
How many people shared the planet
people on Earth when you were born
3.7 billion more people have arrived since
You are part of the last generation born into a world under 5 billion.
1 in 64 people alive today was born in 1981.
World Leaders
Who was in charge
United States President
Ronald Reagan
President
UK Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
Prime Minister
UN Secretary-General
Kurt Waldheim
United Nations
World Events
Defining moments of 1981
52 American hostages released from Iran after 444 days in captivity, moments after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated
President Reagan shot and wounded in assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr. outside a Washington hotel
Pope John Paul II shot and gravely wounded in St. Peter's Square by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca
Charles and Diana's royal wedding watched by 750 million people worldwide in BBC's most-watched broadcast
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat assassinated by Islamic fundamentalists during a military parade in Cairo
Baby Names
Most popular names in 1981 (US)
Boys
Michael, Christopher, Jason
Girls
Jennifer, Jessica, Amanda
Atmosphere
CO₂ in the air you first breathed
CO₂ concentration (Keeling Curve)
+82.4 ppm since your birth
CO₂ has climbed 24% since 1981. It's one of the few numbers that only goes up.
Act II
What Things Cost
Average Annual Salary
What workers took home
$19.1k US median household incomeAdjusted for inflation, that's worth about $66k in today's dollars.
Today: $80kPurchasing Power
Are we actually better off today?
What $19k in 1981 is worth right now
18% 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 1981
life expectancy at birth in 1981
A 30.3-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 3.5x the average annual salary
Median home now costs 5.3x the average annual salary
Housing has gotten 1.5x 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
Bette Davis Eyes
Kim Carnes
Oscar Best Picture
Ordinary People
Directed by Robert Redford
Grammy Album of the Year
Christopher Cross
Christopher Cross
TV Premieres
Shows born the same year as you
Sports
Champions of the year
World Series
Los Angeles Dodgers
Baseball
F1 Champion
Nelson Piquet
Formula One
Super Bowl
Oakland Raiders
27-10 vs Philadelphia Eagles
NBA Champion
Boston Celtics
Basketball
Screen & Page
What everyone was watching and reading
Most-Watched Show
Dallas
Television
Fiction Bestseller
Noble House
James Clavell
Box Office #1
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Film
Act IV
The State of Technology
Technology Milestone
Where technology stood
IBM PC launched, establishing the standard for personal computing; first Space Shuttle Columbia flight
Notable Tech Releases
What launched that year
IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC) launched August 12, setting the standard for the PC industry
Space Shuttle Columbia completes first orbital test flight in April
MS-DOS 1.0 released by Microsoft as the operating system for the IBM PC
MTV (Music Television) launches, transforming the music industry
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
230M
people in United States
GDP per Capita
$14k
per person per year
Your Birth Cohort
128M
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
Beyoncé·Justin Timberlake·Britney Spears·Paris Hilton·Elijah Wood
Life Expectancy
Have we made progress?
United States life expectancy at birth
United States life expectancy today
4 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 1981Milestone Years
Your milestone birthdays
You turn 65 in 2046 · You turn 100 in 2081
Language
Words that didn't exist when you were born
Still Alive
Jonathan the tortoise was already 149 years old
a Seychelles giant tortoise living on Saint Helena island. He was already 149 years old the year you were born. He's still alive today at 194.
You arrived in a world of 4.5 billion people. Ronald Reagan was in the White House. Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes was on the radio. You're part of the last generation that remembers a world without the internet.
In 1981, 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