Back in Our DayA picture magazine about one day

The Day
You Were
Born

Type a birthday. We'll make the magazine for that day: the front page, the weather, the song on the radio, what things cost, and how the world changed while you grew up.

Your own birthday.

Sample issue: a girl named Linda, born in Chicago on October 4, 1957

1957
Friday, October 4, 1957
Chicago, IL
Halsted Street at Maxwell Street, Chicago, 1958Halsted Street at Maxwell Street, Chicago, 1958

The day Linda was born

Friday, October 4

Top story that day

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite, beginning the Sputnik crisis and the Space Age.

The news

What else the papers said

More of what people were reading on Friday, October 4, 1957.

That day

The sitcom Leave It to Beaver premieres on CBS.

That day's New York TimesOctober 4 in history1957 in the US

The Times archive (TimesMachine) needs a New York Times subscription. Stories from English Wikipedia's current-events pages and year articles (CC BY-SA 4.0), shortened to a sentence or two.

That day · WorldThe first prototype Avro Arrow is presented to the media. The rollout is completely overshadowed by the flight of Sputnik I the same day.
That day · WorldThe Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow delta wing interceptor aircraft is unveiled.
That day · WorldSanta Mercedes, a Grace Line freighter, became the 200,000th vessel locked through the Panama Canal.
The day

That morning

The weather

59° high · low 51°

Overcast. It was a mild day in Chicago.

Reconstructed from the ERA5 climate record for the Chicago area. A model of past weather, not a station reading. Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

The moon that night

Waxing gibbous
Waxing gibbous

About 10 days into its cycle.

Calculated from the moon's 29.5-day cycle, accurate to about a day. Image: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.

The #1 song that week

“Honeycomb”

Jimmie Rodgers with Hugo Peretti and His Orchestra. Play it on YouTube

Billboard, week of September 30, 1957 (Best Sellers in Stores; the Hot 100 began in August 1958). Chart history via Wikipedia.

In the White House

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower

The president the day Linda was born.

Inauguration dates · Official portrait via Wikimedia Commons

Your birthday twins

Born the very same day

Same birthday, other years

Wikidata (CC0): Americans born on October 4, ranked by how many Wikipedia languages cover them. Names link to Wikipedia.

Class of 1957

Born the same year

Famous Americans who arrived in 1957, like you.

Michael Clarke Duncan
Michael Clarke DuncanActor · Dec. 10
Frances McDormand
Frances McDormandActress · June 23
Steve Buscemi
Steve BuscemiActor · Dec. 13
Gloria Estefan
Gloria EstefanCuban-American singer · Sept. 1
Melanie Griffith
Melanie GriffithActress · Aug. 9
Spike Lee
Spike LeeFilmmaker · March 20
Dan Castellaneta
Dan CastellanetaActor · Oct. 29
Dani Rodrik
Dani RodrikTurkish economist and publicist · Aug. 14
Hans Zimmer
Hans ZimmerGerman film composer · Sept. 12
Dolph Lundgren
Dolph LundgrenSwedish actor and martial artist · Nov. 3

Wikidata (CC0) and Wikipedia. Photos via Wikimedia Commons, credited below.

The year

What things cost in 1957

Then, in big red. Now, in gray underneath.

One dollar in 1957$11.46is what it takes to buy the same today
Loaf of white bread (1 lb)19¢Now $1.83
Dozen eggs57¢Now $2.27
Milk, delivered to the door50¢a half gallonNow $4.11 a gallon at the store
Pound of ground beef42¢Now $6.79
Pound of coffee$1.02Now $9.33
Pound of sugar11¢Now $1.02
Pound of bananas17¢Now 66¢
First-class stamp3¢Now 78¢
Gallon of regular gas31¢Now $3.26
Minimum wage, per hour$1.00Now $7.25
Median family income$4,966Now $110,500

Bureau of Labor Statistics average prices (U.S. city average) and its historical retail food prices via the Census Bureau · USPS · Dept. of Labor · EIA · Census · Movie tickets: National Association of Theatre Owners, and The Numbers for today's price. “Now” is the latest figure available.

At home

The way you lived

Ford Fairlane

The car everyone was buying

Ford Fairlane

Ford's full-size line (Custom, Fairlane) outsold Chevrolet in 1957.

Sales: source · Ford Fairlane on Wikipedia · Photo via Wikimedia Commons

In the house when Linda was born

Regency TR-1 transistor radio
Regency TR-1 transistor radioThe Regency TR-1, the first commercial transistor radio, went on sale in 1954 for $49.95
Western Electric 302 telephone
Western Electric 302 telephoneThe 302 was the Bell System's standard desk phone until the 500 began replacing it in 1949
RCA 630-TS television
RCA 630-TS televisionTV was brand new: in 1948 just 1 percent of U.S. homes had a set; by 1955, 75 percent did

Museum and collection pieces via Wikimedia Commons, credited below. Names link to Wikipedia.

The year

At the movies

The #1 movie of 1957

The Bridge on the River Kwai

The year's #1 box-office film in the US.

Watch the trailer

Box office via Wikipedia (Box Office Mojo totals from 1977). Trailers on YouTube.

The year

Everybody was talking about

  • July 6WorldFifteen-year-old Paul McCartney met John Lennon and his band, the Quarrymen, at a church fete in Woolton, England.
  • Oct. 4The family sitcom Leave It to Beaver premiered on CBS.
  • Oct. 4WorldThe Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, and the Space Age began.
  • Oct. 10The Milwaukee Braves beat the New York Yankees 4 games to 3 to win the World Series.
  • Nov. 1The Mackinac Bridge, then the world's longest suspension bridge between anchorages, opened to traffic linking Michigan's two peninsulas.

Wikipedia: “1957 in the United States” and “1957” (CC BY-SA 4.0)

4,300,000Babies born in 1957

You were one of them. The US had 3,606,400 in 2025.

72.7 yrsLife expectancy

For a baby girl born in 1957, at that year's death rates.

#3The name Linda

44,517 baby girls got it in 1957, the 3rd most popular.

CDC National Center for Health Statistics · Social Security Administration · Selective Service System

Growing up

Your first years

The song on the radio, the movie, the new show and the big news, year by year.

1957
Age 0
1958
Age 1
Philco Predicta television
Philco Predicta television
1959
Age 2
Western Electric Princess telephone
Western Electric Princess telephone
1960
Age 3
Sony TV8-301 portable television
Sony TV8-301 portable television
1961
Age 4
1962
Age 5
1963
Age 6
Kodak Instamatic 100
Kodak Instamatic 100
1964
Age 7
1965
Age 8
1966
Age 9
1967
Age 10
  • NewsThe Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 in the first Super Bowl, played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
  • #1 song“I'm a Believer” by The Monkees
  • MovieThe Jungle Book
  • New on TVMannix
  • NewBattleship
1968
Age 11
  • NewsApollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders became the first people to orbit the Moon and took the Earthrise photograph.
  • #1 song“Hey Jude” by The Beatles
  • MovieFunny Girl
  • New on TVColumbo
  • NewHot Wheels
1969
Age 12

Wikipedia · Billboard (most weeks at #1) · Wikidata (CC0)

Milestones

The big days after

Sweet 16 · 1973

The #1 song: “We're an American Band” by Grand Funk.

Gas for that first drive: 39¢ a gallon.

The car to want: Chevrolet Impala / Caprice.

A first job paid at least $1.60 an hour.

Class of 1975

At graduation, the #1 song was “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” by Freddy Fender.

Gerald Ford was president.

Mailing the graduation cards: 10¢ a stamp.

Billboard · EIA · Dept. of Labor · USPS · Census

The story after

Your life, decade by decade

Wabash Avenue under the L, Chicago, 1978Wabash Avenue under the L, Chicago, 1978

The 1970s

Ages 13 to 22
  • 1970. An oxygen tank exploded on Apollo 13, forcing astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert to abort their Moon mission and head home.
  • 1975. Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
  • 1979. The Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania had the most serious nuclear power accident in American history.
  • The song of 1975: “Love Will Keep Us Together,” Captain & Tennille.
  • The best-selling car: Chevrolet Impala / Caprice.
  • New at home: the RCA XL-100 color television.
Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, 1981Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, 1981

The 1980s

Ages 23 to 32
  • 1980. Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington State, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
  • 1985. Coca-Cola changed its recipe and released New Coke; the response was so negative the original formula returned in less than three months.
  • 1989. The 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake shook the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Coast, killing 63 people.
  • The song of 1985: “Like a Virgin,” Madonna.
  • The best-selling car: Chevrolet Cavalier.
  • New at home: the Sony Walkman TPS-L2.
The Loop, Chicago, 1997The Loop, Chicago, 1997

The 1990s

Ages 33 to 42
  • 1990. Space Shuttle Discovery placed the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit around Earth.
  • 1995. Toy Story, the first full-length computer-animated feature film, was released by Pixar and Walt Disney Pictures.
  • 1999. The cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants made its debut on Nickelodeon.
  • The song of 1995: “Fantasy,” Mariah Carey.
  • The best-selling car: Ford Taurus.
  • New at home: the Nintendo Game Boy.
Michigan Avenue at Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 2007Michigan Avenue at Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 2007

The 2000s

Ages 43 to 52
  • 2000. The final original Peanuts comic strip ran in newspapers, the day after creator Charles M. Schulz died.
  • 2005. Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Mississippi, killing at least 1,836 people and becoming the costliest hurricane in US history.
  • 2009. Pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger landed US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River after both engines failed, and all 155 people on board were rescued.
  • The song of 2005: “We Belong Together,” Mariah Carey.
  • The best-selling car: Toyota Camry.
  • New at home: the Apple iPod.
Michigan Avenue at Madison Street, Chicago, 2013Michigan Avenue at Madison Street, Chicago, 2013

The 2010s

Ages 53 to 62
  • 2010. Apple released the first iPad in the United States.
  • 2015. American Pharoah won the Belmont Stakes to become the first horse in 37 years to win horse racing's Triple Crown.
  • 2019. Marvel Studios released Avengers: Endgame, which broke box office records and became the second highest-grossing film of all time.
  • The song of 2015: “Uptown Funk,” Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars.
  • The best-selling car: Toyota Camry.
  • New at home: the Apple iPhone 4.
State Street, Chicago, 2026State Street, Chicago, 2026

The 2020s

Ages 63 to 69
  • 2020. The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV, with Jennifer Lopez and Shakira headlining the halftime show.
  • 2023. LeBron James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time NBA scoring record, reaching 38,388 points.
  • 2026. NASA launched Artemis II from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending four astronauts past the Moon on the first crewed flight that far since 1972.
  • The song of 2025: “Luther,” Kendrick Lamar and SZA.
  • The best-selling car: Toyota Camry.
  • New at home: the Sony PlayStation 5.
Your mother

The day your mom had you

What it was like in 1957

  • Your mom almost certainly had you in a hospital. By 1955, 95 percent of American babies were born in one.
  • When your mom got to the hospital, she probably went to a 'prep room' first, where nurses shaved her and gave her an enema. Then she spent most of her labor alone, sometimes sedated.
  • When you were born, your dad most likely waited in an all-male waiting room down the hall, pacing and smoking cigarettes until someone came out with the news.
  • Your mom may not remember much of your birth. Many doctors were still giving laboring women scopolamine, the amnesia drug behind 'twilight sleep,' well into the 1960s, and plenty of mothers of that era were fully put under.
  • Around the time you were born, Ladies' Home Journal ran 'Cruelty in Maternity Wards' (May 1958), in which mothers described being strapped down for hours during labor. It caused a national outcry and helped kick off the childbirth reform movement.
  • Right after you were born, you were most likely taken off to the hospital nursery and fed on a strict schedule, while your mom waited in her room. 'Rooming-in,' where babies stayed with their mothers, was still a rare experiment.
  • Your mom probably got a long hospital stay. In the years after World War II, the standard stay for childbirth grew to as many as 10 days.

Sources: History News Network (Judith Walzer Leavitt), How Did Men End Up in the Delivery Room? · Yale University, History of Medicine senior essay (Catherine Gliwa), Out of the Twilight: Continuous Caudal Anesthesia and the Modernization of Obstetric Pain Management in America, 1940-1960 · Journal of Perinatal Education (PMC), Cruelty in Maternity Wards: Fifty Years Later · Intersect: The Stanford Journal of Science, Technology, and Society, Rooming-In: Cold War Consumer Product? · Kaiser Permanente History, Maternity care evolves to embrace family

Ask her, or ask about her

  • Were you awake when I was born, or did they put you to sleep? What's the first thing you remember?
  • Where was Dad while you were in labor? Did he pace the waiting room with the other fathers?
  • How did you find out you were pregnant with me, and who did you tell first?
  • How long did you stay in the hospital after I was born, and what was it like?
  • Did they keep me in the nursery? How often did the nurses bring me to you?
  • Did you nurse me or bottle-feed me? Who gave you advice about it?

If she's still with you, call her and ask. If she isn't, ask the people who knew her then: a sister, an aunt, an old friend. Those answers make the best birthday stories.

Since that day

Counting the days

Send it to someone who remembers

Your mom, your dad, your brother. They'll remember things you can't.

Make it a gift

Their story, told right

Two ways to turn a birthday into something they keep.

Mothers with their babies, 1950s

The tribute film

A life, told on film

Send us as many photos as you like and tell us about the person: where they grew up, what they did for a living, the town they called home. We find real historical photographs from their time and place, bring the pictures to life, and narrate their story in a full-length film made to honor them. A birthday present they'll watch again and again.

Coming soon
1957The Day
You Were
BornLinda · October 4, 1957

The hardcover

This issue, bound

Everything on this page, printed and bound as a hardcover keepsake with the name and birthday on the cover.

Coming soon
Photo credits (26)