Defining events in the life of the Silent Generation¶
Events grouped by the life stage the Silent Generation cohort (born 1925–1945) was in when they happened.
Childhood (ages 6–12)¶
- 1941 — The movie "Citizen Kane" is released
- 1941 — Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
- 1944 — D-Day: Allied Forces land in Normandy
- 1945 — Hitler commits suicide
- 1945 — The first atomic bomb falls on Hiroshima
Teenage years (ages 13–20)¶
Adulthood (ages 21–60)¶
- 1960 — Berry Gordy Jr launches Motown Records
- 1960 — The movie "Psycho" was released
- 1960 — In Japan, NHK and NTV introduces color television
- 1962 — Marilyn Monroe dies
- 1963 — John F Kennedy is assassinated
- 1964 — First performance of the Beatles on the US Ed Sullivan show
- 1966 — Color television in Canada was launched on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) English language TV service
- 1967 — BBC2 starts transmittin TV in color
- 1972 — Brazil began TV broadcasting in color using PAL-M
- 1972 — Francis For Coppola release the first Godfather movie
- 1973 — Roe vs Wade: the right to have an abortion
- 1974 — Nixon resigns over Watergate scandal
- 1977 — The first Star Wars movie is released
- 1977 — Elvis Presley dies
- 1979 — The shah leaves Iran and the Revolutionary Guard takes
- 1979 — the Movie "Apocalyse Now" is released
- 1979 — The Buggles release "Video Killed The Radio Star"
- 1980 — CNN is launched
- 1980 — John Lennon is killed on the streets of NYC
- 1981 — First news story on AIDS
- 1981 — MTV is launched
- 1982 — Michael Jackson releases the album "Thriller"
- 1983 — Nena releases "99 Luftballons"
- 1984 — The first Terminator movie is released
- 1984 — The Bhopal disaster exposes 500000 people to highly toxic gas
- 1985 — Live Aid concert
- 1985 — Rock Hudson dies of AIDS
- 1986 — Chernobyl nuclear disaster
- 1988 — The movie Die Hard is a surprise hit and becomes an even bigger surprise Christmas classic
- 1989 — The tanker Exxon Valdez spills its oil in the ocean
- 1989 — Fall of the Berlin Wall
- 1990 — The movie Home Alone hits the screens
- 1994 — Genocide in Rwanda kills more than 500000 people
- 1994 — Pulp Fiction wins Palme D'Or at Canne Film festival
- 1994 — The TV series "Friends" launches
Later life (ages 61–80)¶
- 1996 — Los Del Rio & Bayside Boys release "Macarena" - english version
- 1997 — The book "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" is published, the first of a very successful series
- 1997 — "Titanic" launches and will grow to the biggest boxoffice ever
- 1998 — Bill Clinton denies affair with Monica Lewinsky
- 2001 — Daft Punk releases the album Discovery
- 2001 — September 11 attacks
- 2001 — The movie "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" is released
- 2002 — Europeans starts using the EURO currency
- 2004 — Nipplegate: Janet Jackson's indecent exposure
- 2004 — Google files for IPO
- 2005 — Google buys Android mobile OS
- 2006 — Amazon launches Prime Video streaming
- 2006 — Youtube is sold to Google
- 2007 — Apple launches the first iPhone
- 2009 — The first Avatar movie hits the screens
- 2011 — Fukushima nuclear disaster
- 2012 — Facebook files for IPO
- 2012 — Instagram is sold to Facebook
- 2012 — Psy releases "Gangnam Style"
- 2013 — Waze is sold to Google
- 2013 — Orange is the New Black launches on Netflix
- 2014 — Whatsapp is sold to Facebook
- 2014 — 2014 celebrity nude photo leak
Last updated: 2026-06-04