Act I
The World Stage
World Population
How many people shared the planet
people on Earth when you were born
3.4 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 1985.
World Leaders
Who was in charge
United States President
Ronald Reagan
President
UK Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
Prime Minister
UN Secretary-General
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
United Nations
World Events
Defining moments of 1985
Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader, beginning reforms of glasnost and perestroika that will reshape the world
TWA Flight 847 hijacked by Hezbollah; 17-day hostage ordeal grips the world
Live Aid concerts held simultaneously in London and Philadelphia, raising $127 million for Ethiopian famine relief
Wreck of the Titanic located by Robert Ballard at the bottom of the North Atlantic, 73 years after sinking
Reagan and Gorbachev hold their first summit in Geneva, easing Cold War tensions after eight years of no US-Soviet summits
Baby Names
Most popular names in 1985 (US)
Boys
Michael, Christopher, Matthew
Girls
Jessica, Jennifer, Ashley
Atmosphere
CO₂ in the air you first breathed
CO₂ concentration (Keeling Curve)
+76.4 ppm since your birth
CO₂ has climbed 22% since 1985. It's one of the few numbers that only goes up.
Act II
What Things Cost
Average Annual Salary
What workers took home
$23.6k US median household incomeAdjusted for inflation, that's worth about $69k in today's dollars.
Today: $80kPurchasing Power
Are we actually better off today?
What $24k in 1985 is worth right now
14% 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 1985
life expectancy at birth in 1985
A 31.4-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 3.5x 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
Careless Whisper
Wham! featuring George Michael
Oscar Best Picture
Amadeus
Directed by Milos Forman
Grammy Album of the Year
Can't Slow Down
Lionel Richie
TV Premieres
Shows born the same year as you
Sports
Champions of the year
World Series
Kansas City Royals
Baseball
F1 Champion
Alain Prost
Formula One
Super Bowl
San Francisco 49ers
38-16 vs Miami Dolphins
NBA Champion
Los Angeles Lakers
Basketball
Screen & Page
What everyone was watching and reading
Most-Watched Show
Dynasty
Television
Fiction Bestseller
The Mammoth Hunters
Jean M. Auel
Box Office #1
Back to the Future
Film
Act IV
The State of Technology
Technology Milestone
Where technology stood
Microsoft Windows 1.0 released; the Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link (WELL) online community launches
Notable Tech Releases
What launched that year
Microsoft Windows 1.0 released on November 20
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) launches in the US, reviving the home video game market
Aldus PageMaker released, pioneering desktop publishing
CD-ROM drives begin appearing in personal computers
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
239M
people in United States
GDP per Capita
$18k
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
Cristiano Ronaldo·Michael Phelps·Keira Knightley·Lewis Hamilton·Bruno Mars
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
2.1 million times more powerfulComputing power has roughly doubled every two years since you were born. That adds up to 2.1 million×.
21 doublings since 1985Milestone Years
Your milestone birthdays
You turn 65 in 2050 · You turn 100 in 2085
Language
Words that didn't exist when you were born
Still Alive
Jonathan the tortoise was already 153 years old
a Seychelles giant tortoise living on Saint Helena island. He was already 153 years old the year you were born. He's still alive today at 194.
You arrived in a world of 4.8 billion people. Ronald Reagan was in the White House. Careless Whisper by Wham! featuring George Michael was on the radio. You're part of the last generation that remembers a world without the internet.
In 1985, 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