The machine knows up to 107 things about you that you should know.

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Born In · 1950 to 1959

Born in the 1950s? You arrived at the peak of the baby boom.

What was it like to be born in the 1950s?

Being born in the 1950s meant arriving at the height of the baby boom, when US births passed 4 million a year from 1954 and peaked at 4.3 million in 1957. Every 1950s baby is a Boomer. Television arrived in most homes, and Sputnik started the space race in 1957.

What it was like to arrive

You were born into a crowd. US births went from 3.6 million in 1950 to over 4 million in 1954, the first year they passed that mark, and peaked at 4.3 million in 1957. Schools, suburbs and later colleges had to grow to fit your generation. 1

You were born into the first television households. About 9 percent of American homes had a TV in 1950; by 1960 it was 46 million out of 53 million. A 1950s baby grew up with the set already in the living room. 2

Your parents were mostly young: the Silent Generation, who married earlier than any generation since, and the younger end of the Greatest Generation, many back from the war with G.I. Bill degrees and home loans. 3,4

And you were born into the Cold War. The Korean War armistice was signed in July 1953, and Sputnik flew over in October 1957. 5,6

The generations born this decade

Which label you get depends on the year, and on who is counting.

The Baby Boomers. Every year of the decade, by every source: Pew, the Census Bureau and Strauss and Howe all put 1950 to 1959 inside the boom. 7,8

The decade, year by year

The headlines, the inventions and the money, with sources.

  1. War1953The Korean War armistice was signed at Panmunjom on 27 July 1953. 36,576 Americans died in Korea. 5
  2. Schools1954On 17 May 1954 the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that separate schools are "inherently unequal". 9
  3. Youth1954A Senate subcommittee set up in 1953 to investigate juvenile delinquency held hearings on comic books in April and June 1954. By October the publishers had adopted the Comics Code. 10
  4. Births1957US births peaked at 4.3 million, with a general fertility rate of 122.9 per 1,000 women, the highest in the century-long series. 1
  5. Space1957The Soviet Union launched Sputnik on 4 October 1957: a 58-centimetre ball that circled the Earth every 98 minutes. 6
  6. Money1954The stock market finally got back to its 1929 high in November 1954, a quarter-century after the crash. 11

The decade's sky: ten Lunar New Years

The Chinese zodiac year starts at the Lunar New Year, not January 1, so early-year birthdays belong to the year before. Dates worked out by the machine.

  1. 1950

    Year of the Tiger (Metal) from February 17, 1950. Birthdays from January 1 to the day before belong to the Ox (Earth).

    Generation: The Baby Boomers

    Then vs now for 1950: coming soon.

  2. 1951

    Year of the Rabbit (Metal) from February 6, 1951. Birthdays from January 1 to the day before belong to the Tiger (Metal).

    Generation: The Baby Boomers

    Then vs now for 1951: coming soon.

  3. 1952

    Year of the Dragon (Water) from January 27, 1952. Birthdays from January 1 to the day before belong to the Rabbit (Metal).

    Generation: The Baby Boomers

    Then vs now for 1952: coming soon.

  4. 1953

    Year of the Snake (Water) from February 14, 1953. Birthdays from January 1 to the day before belong to the Dragon (Water).

    Generation: The Baby Boomers

    Then vs now for 1953: coming soon.

  5. 1954

    Year of the Horse (Wood) from February 3, 1954. Birthdays from January 1 to the day before belong to the Snake (Water).

    Generation: The Baby Boomers

    Then vs now for 1954: coming soon.

  6. 1955

    Year of the Goat (Wood) from January 24, 1955. Birthdays from January 1 to the day before belong to the Horse (Wood).

    Generation: The Baby Boomers

    Then vs now for 1955: coming soon.

  7. 1956

    Year of the Monkey (Fire) from February 12, 1956. Birthdays from January 1 to the day before belong to the Goat (Wood).

    Generation: The Baby Boomers

    Then vs now for 1956: coming soon.

  8. 1957

    Year of the Rooster (Fire) from January 31, 1957. Birthdays from January 1 to the day before belong to the Monkey (Fire).

    Generation: The Baby Boomers

    Then vs now for 1957: coming soon.

  9. 1958

    Year of the Dog (Earth) from February 18, 1958. Birthdays from January 1 to the day before belong to the Rooster (Fire).

    Generation: The Baby Boomers

    Then vs now for 1958: coming soon.

  10. 1959

    Year of the Pig (Earth) from February 8, 1959. Birthdays from January 1 to the day before belong to the Dog (Earth).

    Generation: The Baby Boomers

    Then vs now for 1959: coming soon.

The slow planets

The outer planets move so slowly that everyone born within a few years shares their signs, which is why astrologers read them as a generational layer. Which signs they were in on your birthday, and what that is said to mean, is worked out on your card and sealed there.

Questions people ask

What generation is someone born in the 1950s?

A Baby Boomer. Every year from 1950 to 1959 falls inside the boom by every common definition: Pew and the Census Bureau use 1946 to 1964, Strauss and Howe 1943 to 1960.

How many babies were born in the 1950s?

Births rose from about 3.6 million in 1950 to over 4 million in 1954 and peaked at 4.3 million in 1957, the top of the baby boom.

What happened the year I was born in the 1950s?

The big markers: the Korean War armistice in 1953, Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the peak of the baby boom in 1957 and Sputnik that October.

Millions were born in the 1950s. Your card was written for one.

A decade gives you the headlines. Your card is worked out from your own birthday, minute and place: the sky that night, your numbers and your Chinese year, read together. Sealed until you print it.

What your card covers

Worked out from the day, the minute and the place you were born. Sealed until you print it.

See all six pages, sealedFold the pages back
  1. Page 1 of 6, Who you are, with every line sealed. Sections: Your sign, Your Moon, Your rising sign, Your number, Your strongest traits, Your gifts, Your challenges, Chinese year · stone · flower, Your angel number.1 Who you are
  2. Page 2 of 6, The machine says, with every line sealed. Sections: The machine's reading, The lesson that keeps finding you, Your turning points, The old rhyme, Your days.2 The machine says
  3. Page 3 of 6, Your sky, with every line sealed. Sections: Your placements, Your aspects, The sky the day you arrived.3 Your sky
  4. Page 4 of 6, Love & your people, with every line sealed. Sections: Your love chart, Your love matches, The people in your life.4 Love & your people
  5. Page 5 of 6, Work & money, with every line sealed. Sections: Your work, Your money, Work this year, Money this year.5 Work & money
  6. Page 6 of 6, Your year ahead, with every line sealed. Sections: Your year ahead, Love this year, Month by month, Your lucky charms.6 Your year ahead

Who you are

  • Your sun sign, its decan and any cusp (sealed)
  • Your strongest traits (sealed)
  • Your gifts (sealed)
  • Your challenges (sealed)
  • The lesson that keeps finding you (sealed)
  • The machine's reading (sealed)
  • Your headline (sealed)

Your birth chart

  • Your birth chart wheel (sealed)
  • Your placements: Sun, Moon and planets by sign (sealed)
  • Your Moon with a birth time (sealed)
  • Your rising sign with a birth time and place (sealed)
  • Your Ascendant, Midheaven and houses with a birth time and place (sealed)
  • Your aspects (sealed)

Your love chart

  • Your love chart (sealed)
  • Your Descendant: who you're drawn to with a birth time and place (sealed)
  • Your love matches (sealed)
  • Love this year (sealed)

Your people

  • The people in your life (sealed)

Your work

  • Your work (sealed)
  • Work this year (sealed)

Your money

  • Your money (sealed)
  • Money this year (sealed)

Your numbers

  • Your number (sealed)
  • Your angel number (sealed)

Your year ahead

  • Your year ahead (sealed)
  • Month by month (sealed)
  • Your lucky charms (sealed)

Your sky and your years

  • The sky the day you arrived (sealed)
  • Your days (sealed)
  • The old rhyme for your weekday (sealed)
  • Your Chinese year, birthstone and flower (sealed)
  • Your turning points (sealed)
  • The machine log: every step it took (sealed)
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Sources

  1. NCHS – Births and General Fertility Rates: United States, 1909–2018, CDC, NCHS (data.gov dataset). Read on .
  2. Philo Farnsworth and the Invention of Television, U.S. Census Bureau History, September 2023. Read on .
  3. Millennials in Adulthood, Pew Research Center, 7 March 2014. Read on .
  4. Servicemen's Readjustment Act (1944), U.S. National Archives. Read on .
  5. Armistice Agreement for the Restoration of the South Korean State (1953), U.S. National Archives. Read on .
  6. Sputnik, NASA History. Read on .
  7. The oldest Baby Boomers turn 80 in 2026, Pew Research Center, 9 January 2026. Read on .
  8. Strauss-Howe Generational Theory, Critical Dictionary of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements, Amanda van Eck Duymaer van Twist and Suzanne Newcombe (Inform), 2017, updated 15 January 2021. Read on .
  9. Brown v. Board of Education (1954), U.S. National Archives. Read on .
  10. The Senate Comic Book Hearings of 1954, Law Library of Congress, In Custodia Legis, Emma Brodfuehrer Hastings, 26 October 2022. Read on .
  11. Stock Market Crash of 1929, Federal Reserve History, Gary Richardson and others. Read on .

For entertainment and self-reflection. Astrology and numerology are traditions, not science.

Spotted something wrong, out of date or missing? The corrections page says how we fix it.

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