What generation is someone born in 1942?¶

Someone born in 1942 belongs to the Silent Generation (born 1925–1945). In 2026 they are 84 years old.

Notable people born in 1942¶

How old someone born in 1942 was when each defining event happened.

Year	Event	Their age	Life stage
1960	In Japan, NHK and NTV introduces color television	18	school
1963	John F Kennedy is assassinated	21	college
1964	First performance of the Beatles on the US Ed Sullivan show	22	college
1973	Roe vs Wade: the right to have an abortion	31	working
1974	Nixon resigns over Watergate scandal	32	working
1980	John Lennon is killed on the streets of NYC	38	working
1981	MTV is launched	39	working
1985	Live Aid concert	43	working
1986	Chernobyl nuclear disaster	44	working
1989	Fall of the Berlin Wall	47	working
1990	The movie Home Alone hits the screens	48	working
1995	Microsoft launches the Windows95 OS	53	working
2001	September 11 attacks	59	working
2004	Nipplegate: Janet Jackson's indecent exposure	62	working
2005	Google buys Android mobile OS	63	working
2007	Apple launches the first iPhone	65	retired
2009	The first Avatar movie hits the screens	67	retired
2011	Fukushima nuclear disaster	69	retired
2012	Psy releases "Gangnam Style"	70	retired
2016	Donald Trump wins the US elections	74	retired
2020	WHO declares COVID-19 a global pandemic. Start of a wave of lockdowns.	78	retired

Last updated: 2026-06-04