What generation is someone born in 1939?¶

Someone born in 1939 belongs to the Silent Generation (born 1925–1945). In 2026 they are 87 years old.

Major events in their lifetime¶

How old someone born in 1939 was when each defining event happened.

Year	Event	Their age	Life stage
1960	In Japan, NHK and NTV introduces color television	21	college
1963	John F Kennedy is assassinated	24	working
1964	First performance of the Beatles on the US Ed Sullivan show	25	working
1973	Roe vs Wade: the right to have an abortion	34	working
1974	Nixon resigns over Watergate scandal	35	working
1980	John Lennon is killed on the streets of NYC	41	working
1981	MTV is launched	42	working
1985	Live Aid concert	46	working
1986	Chernobyl nuclear disaster	47	working
1989	Fall of the Berlin Wall	50	working
1990	The movie Home Alone hits the screens	51	working
1995	Microsoft launches the Windows95 OS	56	working
2001	September 11 attacks	62	working
2004	Nipplegate: Janet Jackson's indecent exposure	65	retired
2005	Google buys Android mobile OS	66	retired
2007	Apple launches the first iPhone	68	retired
2009	The first Avatar movie hits the screens	70	retired
2011	Fukushima nuclear disaster	72	retired
2012	Psy releases "Gangnam Style"	73	retired
2016	Donald Trump wins the US elections	77	retired
2020	WHO declares COVID-19 a global pandemic. Start of a wave of lockdowns.	81	retired

Last updated: 2026-06-04