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What generation is someone born in 1961?

Someone born in 1961 belongs to the Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964). In 2026 they are 65 years old.

Notable people born in 1961

Major events in their lifetime

How old someone born in 1961 was when each defining event happened.

Year Event Their age Life stage
1973 Roe vs Wade: the right to have an abortion 12 school
1974 Nixon resigns over Watergate scandal 13 school
1980 John Lennon is killed on the streets of NYC 19 college
1981 MTV is launched 20 college
1985 Live Aid concert 24 working
1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster 25 working
1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall 28 working
1990 The movie Home Alone hits the screens 29 working
1995 Microsoft launches the Windows95 OS 34 working
2001 September 11 attacks 40 working
2004 Nipplegate: Janet Jackson's indecent exposure 43 working
2005 Google buys Android mobile OS 44 working
2007 Apple launches the first iPhone 46 working
2009 The first Avatar movie hits the screens 48 working
2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster 50 working
2012 Psy releases "Gangnam Style" 51 working
2016 Donald Trump wins the US elections 55 working
2020 WHO declares COVID-19 a global pandemic. Start of a wave of lockdowns. 59 working

Last updated: 2026-06-04