What generation is someone born in 1938?¶

Someone born in 1938 belongs to the Silent Generation (born 1925–1945). In 2026 they are 88 years old.

Major events in their lifetime¶

How old someone born in 1938 was when each defining event happened.

Year	Event	Their age	Life stage
1960	In Japan, NHK and NTV introduces color television	22	college
1963	John F Kennedy is assassinated	25	working
1964	First performance of the Beatles on the US Ed Sullivan show	26	working
1973	Roe vs Wade: the right to have an abortion	35	working
1974	Nixon resigns over Watergate scandal	36	working
1980	John Lennon is killed on the streets of NYC	42	working
1981	MTV is launched	43	working
1985	Live Aid concert	47	working
1986	Chernobyl nuclear disaster	48	working
1989	Fall of the Berlin Wall	51	working
1990	The movie Home Alone hits the screens	52	working
1995	Microsoft launches the Windows95 OS	57	working
2001	September 11 attacks	63	working
2004	Nipplegate: Janet Jackson's indecent exposure	66	retired
2005	Google buys Android mobile OS	67	retired
2007	Apple launches the first iPhone	69	retired
2009	The first Avatar movie hits the screens	71	retired
2011	Fukushima nuclear disaster	73	retired
2012	Psy releases "Gangnam Style"	74	retired
2016	Donald Trump wins the US elections	78	retired
2020	WHO declares COVID-19 a global pandemic. Start of a wave of lockdowns.	82	retired

Last updated: 2026-06-04