October 21, 1980
Kim Kardashian is born in Los Angeles, immediately poses for her first photo
April 23, 1985
The Coca-Cola Company debuts New Coke, birthing a shorthand term for a bad idea
October 1991
The Braves’ miraculous “worst to first” season puts Atlanta in the World Series for the first time since ever
May 1992
MTV’s The Real World establishes the modern reality TV genre, teaches kids to overshare on camera
July 1996
The Centennial Olympic Games and not-so-beloved mascot Izzy are overshadowed by a fatal bombing
December 1999
Georgia Tech architecture student Ryan Gravel turns in a master’s thesis on something called the “Belt Line”
September 11, 2001
“Where were you on 9/11?” becomes a defining question for millennials
March 2003
The U.S. invasion of Iraq gives a new generation its own Vietnam War
November 2005
Georgia Aquarium opens, quickly becomes the default place to take visiting relatives
June 2007
Apple introduces the iPhone; FOMO becomes real
September 2010
MARTA tokens become relics; the era of (double) tapping begins
Photography credits: Baseball, fish: iStockphoto.com; BeltLine: Tess Malone
This article originally appeared in our February 2016 issue.