Act I
The World Stage
World Population
How many people shared the planet
people on Earth when you were born
3.1 billion more people have arrived since
The world crossed 6 billion around the time you were born. It will likely never reach 12.
1 in 60 people alive today was born in 1988.
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 1988
Winter Olympics in Calgary feature Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards and the Jamaican bobsled team, captivating the world
Iran Air Flight 655 shot down by US Navy over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 aboard
Iran-Iraq War ends after eight years with over one million dead, with no clear winner and borders unchanged
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 aboard and 11 on the ground
Armenian earthquake kills 25,000; Gorbachev addresses UN, announcing unilateral Soviet troop reductions
Baby Names
Most popular names in 1988 (US)
Boys
Michael, Christopher, Matthew
Girls
Jessica, Ashley, Amanda
Atmosphere
CO₂ in the air you first breathed
CO₂ concentration (Keeling Curve)
+70.9 ppm since your birth
CO₂ has climbed 20% since 1988. It's one of the few numbers that only goes up.
Act II
What Things Cost
Average Annual Salary
What workers took home
$27.2k US median household incomeAdjusted for inflation, that's worth about $72k in today's dollars.
Today: $80kPurchasing Power
Are we actually better off today?
What $27k in 1988 is worth right now
10% 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 1988
life expectancy at birth in 1988
A 32.9-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 3.3x 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
Faith
George Michael
Oscar Best Picture
The Last Emperor
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
Grammy Album of the Year
Joshua Tree
U2
TV Premieres
Shows born the same year as you
Sports
Champions of the year
World Series
Los Angeles Dodgers
Baseball
F1 Champion
Ayrton Senna
Formula One
Super Bowl
Washington Redskins
42-10 vs Denver Broncos
NBA Champion
Los Angeles Lakers
Basketball
Screen & Page
What everyone was watching and reading
Most-Watched Show
The Cosby Show
Television
Fiction Bestseller
The Sands of Time
Sidney Sheldon
Box Office #1
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Film
Act IV
The State of Technology
Technology Milestone
Where technology stood
First worm spreads across the internet; CD-ROM becomes a mainstream computer peripheral
Notable Tech Releases
What launched that year
Morris Worm, the first major internet worm, infects 6,000 computers and causes $10-100 million in damage
NeXT Computer unveiled by Steve Jobs, featuring object-oriented programming and advanced networking
NeXT computer unveiled by Steve Jobs after being ousted from Apple
Kodak develops the first 1.4 megapixel digital camera sensor
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
245M
people in United States
GDP per Capita
$21k
per person per year
Your Birth Cohort
137M
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
Rihanna·Adele·Hayley Williams·Conor McGregor·Rupert Grint
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
524,288 times more powerfulComputing power has roughly doubled every two years since you were born. That adds up to 524,288×.
19 doublings since 1988Milestone Years
Your milestone birthdays
You turn 40 in 2028 · You turn 65 in 2053 · You turn 100 in 2088
Language
Words that didn't exist when you were born
Still Alive
Jonathan the tortoise was already 156 years old
a Seychelles giant tortoise living on Saint Helena island. He was already 156 years old the year you were born. He's still alive today at 194.
You arrived in a world of 5.1 billion people. Ronald Reagan was in the White House. Faith by George Michael was on the radio. You're part of the last generation that remembers a world without the internet.
In 1988, 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