In 1960, the world was a different place.

There was no Google yet. Or Yahoo. Or Tek.sapo.pt, for that matter.

In 1960, the year of your birth, the top selling movie was Swiss Family Robinson. People buying the popcorn in the cinema lobby had glazing eyes when looking at the poster.

Remember, that was before there were DVDs. Heck, even before there was VHS. People were indeed watching movies in the cinema, and not downloading them online. Imagine the packed seats, the laughter, the excitement, the novelty. And mostly all of that without 3D computer effects.

Do you know who won the Oscars that year? The academy award for the best movie went to The Apartment. The Oscar for best foreign movie that year went to The Virgin Spring. The top actor was Burt Lancaster for his role as Elmer Gantry in Elmer Gantry. The top actress was Elizabeth Taylor for her role as Gloria Wandrous in Butterfield 8. The best director? Billy Wilder for The Apartment.

In the year 1960, the time when you arrived on this planet, books were still popularly read on paper, not on digital devices. Trees were felled to get the word out. The number one US bestseller of the time was Advise and Consent by Allen Drury. Oh, that's many years ago. Have you read that book? Have you heard of it?

In 1960... The state of emergency is lifted in Kenya, officially ending the Mau Mau Uprising. A major insurrection occurs in Algiers against French colonial policy. In Greensboro, North Carolina, four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. Although they are refused service, they are allowed to stay at the counter. The event triggers many similar nonviolent protests throughout the Southern United States, and 6 months later the original 4 protesters are served lunch at the same counter. Joanne Woodward receives the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The United States launches the first weather satellite, TIROS-1. The Kenyan African National Congress Party is founded in Kenya, when 3 political parties join forces. U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy wins the California Democratic primary. The newly named Beatles begin a 48-night residency at the Indra Club in Hamburg, West Germany. The 1960 Summer Olympics open in Rome. Sammy Davis, Jr. marries Swedish actress May Britt.

That was the world you were born into. Since then, you and others have changed it.

The Nobel prize for Literature that year went to Saint-John Perse. The Nobel Peace prize went to Albert Lutuli. The Nobel prize for physics went to Donald Arthur Glaser from the United States for the invention of the bubble chamber. The sensation this created was big. But it didn't stop the planets from spinning, on and on, year by year. Years in which you would grow bigger, older, smarter, and, if you were lucky, sometimes wiser. Years in which you also lost some things. Possessions got misplaced. Memories faded. Friends parted ways. The best friends, you tried to hold on. This is what counts in life, isn't it?

The 1960s were indeed a special decade. The Swinging Sixties saw the rise of counterculture. There was recreational drug use and casual sex. Many countries gained independence from their colonial rulers. Several governments turned to the left. In Britain, the Labour Party gains power. The Vietnam War continues. The Algerian War comes to a close. In the US, Hispanics fight to end racial discrimination and socioeconomic disparity. Feminism keeps rising. Art House films make it to theaters. The Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones play their music. The US and Soviet Union come close to a military confrontation during the Cuba missile crisis. Nixon becomes US president. Man lands on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission of the United States. The first heart transplantation occurs. The first computer game, Spacewar, is created.

Do you remember the movie that was all the rage when you were 15? Three Days of the Condor. Do you still remember the songs playing on the radio when you were 15? Maybe it was Fly, Robin, Fly by Silver Convention. Were you in love? Who were you in love with, do you remember?

In 1960, 15 years earlier, a long time ago, the year when you were born, the song It's Now or Never by Elvis Presley topped the US charts. Do you know the lyrics? Do you know the tune? Sing along.

It's now or never,
come hold me tight
Kiss me my darling,
be mine tonight
Tomorrow will be too late,
it's now or never
My love won't wait.
...

There's a kid outside, shouting, playing. It doesn't care about time. It doesn't know about time. It shouts and it plays and thinks time is forever. You were once that kid.

When you were 8, there was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... it's 1960. There's TV noise coming from the second floor. Someone turned up the volume way too high. The sun is burning from above. These were different times. The show playing on TV is Bozo the Clown. The sun goes down. Someone switches channels. There's Gunsmoke on now. That's the world you were born in.

Progress, year after year. Do you wonder where the world is heading towards? The technology available today would have blown your mind in 1960. Do you know what was invented in the year you were born? Laser.

How 'bout a tear for the year of 1960
I watched the fins of the Cadillac fall
I remember Dad explained about the Berlin Wall
How 'bout a tear for the torment and the trouble
That was brewing in the Asian way
I wore a smile like the faces that surround L.A.
...

That's from the song America by 1960.

In 1960, a new character entered the world of comic books: Aqualad. Bang! Boom! But that's just fiction, right? In the real world, in 1960,Michael Stipe was born. And Neil Gaiman. David Duchovny, too. And you, of course. Everyone an individual. Everyone special. Everyone taking a different path through life.
It's 2017.

The world is a different place.

What path have you taken?

http://whathappenedinmybirthyear.com/