Act I
The World Stage
World Population
How many people shared the planet
people on Earth when you were born
2.2 billion more people have arrived since
You were born into a world approaching 7 billion. Population growth has begun to slow.
1 in 61 people alive today was born in 1999.
World Leaders
Who was in charge
United States President
Bill Clinton
President
UK Prime Minister
Tony Blair
Prime Minister
UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan
United Nations
World Events
Defining moments of 1999
Euro currency introduced across 11 European nations, the largest monetary union in history
NATO begins bombing Yugoslavia over Kosovo, the first major military action in Europe since WWII
Columbine High School massacre: two students kill 13 and injure 21 before killing themselves in Colorado
Panama Canal officially transferred from US to Panamanian sovereignty, fulfilling the 1977 treaty
World holds its breath for Y2K - feared computer bug causes only minor disruptions as the millennium turns
Baby Names
Most popular names in 1999 (US)
Boys
Jacob, Michael, Matthew
Girls
Emily, Sarah, Hannah
Atmosphere
CO₂ in the air you first breathed
CO₂ concentration (Keeling Curve)
+54.1 ppm since your birth
CO₂ has climbed 15% since 1999. It's one of the few numbers that only goes up.
Act II
What Things Cost
Average Annual Salary
What workers took home
$40.7k US median household incomeAdjusted for inflation, that's worth about $77k in today's dollars.
Today: $80kPurchasing Power
Are we actually better off today?
What $41k in 1999 is worth right now
4% 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 1999
life expectancy at birth in 1999
A 34.6-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
Believe
Cher
Oscar Best Picture
Shakespeare in Love
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Grammy Album of the Year
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
TV Premieres
Shows born the same year as you
Sports
Champions of the year
World Series
New York Yankees
Baseball
F1 Champion
Mika Häkkinen
Formula One
Super Bowl
Denver Broncos
34-19 vs Atlanta Falcons
NBA Champion
San Antonio Spurs
Basketball
Screen & Page
What everyone was watching and reading
Most-Watched Show
ER
Television
Fiction Bestseller
The Testament
John Grisham
Box Office #1
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
Film
Act IV
The State of Technology
Technology Milestone
Where technology stood
Y2K preparations dominate the year; Napster launches; Google Inc. incorporated in a garage; WiFi standard (802.11b) released
Notable Tech Releases
What launched that year
Napster launched by Shawn Fanning in June, transforming music consumption and piracy
Google moves from Stanford to a garage in Menlo Park as a funded startup
Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b) standard released commercially
The Matrix film introduces bullet-time photography and popularizes cyberpunk aesthetics
Social Media Timeline
How old were you when these launched?
The Universe
Worlds discovered beyond our solar system
confirmed exoplanets
confirmed and counting
We've gone from 53 to 5,800. Most of these worlds were found by a single space telescope called Kepler.
Act V
Your Place in Time
🇺🇸 United States
Your country the year you arrived
Population
279M
people in United States
GDP per Capita
$34k
per person per year
Your Birth Cohort
134M
babies born worldwide that year
Your birth year is closer to 9/11 than to today.
Notable Births
Born the same year as you
Lil Nas X·Madison Beer·Hunter Schafer
Life Expectancy
Have we made progress?
United States life expectancy at birth
United States life expectancy today
A small gain, but every year counts.
Computing Power
How much faster the machines have gotten
16,384 times more powerfulComputing power has roughly doubled every two years since you were born. That adds up to 16,384×.
14 doublings since 1999Milestone Years
Your milestone birthdays
You turn 40 in 2039 · You turn 65 in 2064 · You turn 100 in 2099
Language
Words that didn't exist when you were born
Still Alive
Jonathan the tortoise was already 167 years old
a Seychelles giant tortoise living on Saint Helena island. He was already 167 years old the year you were born. He's still alive today at 194.
You arrived in a world of 6.0 billion people. Bill Clinton was in the White House. Believe by Cher was on the radio. You came of age as the internet rewired everything - and you were young enough to adapt.
In 1999, capturing your voice meant a voicemail or a camcorder.
Today, you can clone your own voice with a few minutes of audio.
Hear what that sounds like →keep exploring