60 lives · 766 ages with a record
What were they doing at the age you are now?
Pick a life. Every page is one person at one age — dated, sourced, and one tap from your own timeline.
Activism
- Harriet TubmanEscaped slavery at 27, then went back about 13 times15 ages
- Helen KellerDeaf and blind, she graduated college with honors at 2412 ages
- Martin Luther King Jr.Led a bus boycott at 26, won the Nobel at 35, dead at 3914 ages
- Rosa ParksA seamstress of 42 who kept her seat and started a movement13 ages
Arts
- Coco ChanelOrphanage seamstress; remade fashion at 30 and again at 7015 ages
- David BowieFive flop years, then Ziggy at 25 and a new self each decade15 ages
- Elvis PresleyA truck driver at 19, the biggest star on earth at 2114 ages
- Frida KahloStarted painting at 18, flat on her back after a bus crash13 ages
- Julia ChildCould not cook until 37; a TV star at 5015 ages
- Leonardo da VinciPainter, anatomist, engineer. Started the Mona Lisa at 5114 ages
- Ludwig van BeethovenStarted going deaf at 28, wrote the Ninth hearing nothing14 ages
- Stan LeeEditor at 18, invented the Marvel universe at 3813 ages
- Vera WangQuit at 40 to design wedding dresses; built an empire15 ages
- Vincent van GoghStarted painting at 27, left 2,100 works in ten years10 ages
- Wolfgang Amadeus MozartStarted composing at 5, left 600 works, died at 3513 ages
Business & Tech
Film
- Alfred HitchcockTitle-card artist at 20, Master of Suspense by 4014 ages
- Bong Joon-hoFlopped at his debut, won Best Picture 20 years later12 ages
- Bruce LeeKato at 25, box-office king at 31, dead at 3211 ages
- Charlie ChaplinRaised in workhouses, the most famous man alive at 2514 ages
- Oprah WinfreyFrom rural Mississippi to the first Black woman billionaire15 ages
- Samuel L. JacksonBreakout role at 45; now the highest-grossing actor ever14 ages
- Walt DisneyBankrupt at 21, then built Mickey Mouse and Disneyland14 ages
History & Politics
- Abraham LincolnLost race after race, then became president at 5114 ages
- Amelia EarhartNurse's aide at 20, first flying lesson at 23, gone at 3911 ages
- Mahatma GandhiThrown off a train at 24; beat an empire without violence12 ages
- Nelson Mandela27 years in prison, then president at 7515 ages
- Sejong the GreatKing at 21, created the Korean alphabet at 469 ages
- Yi Sun-sinPassed the military exam at 30, won with 12 ships at 5210 ages
Literature
- Agatha ChristieSix rejections, then two billion books sold14 ages
- Anne FrankGot a diary at 13, hid for two years, read by millions8 ages
- Ernest HemingwayWounded at 18, famous at 27, Nobel at 5515 ages
- J. K. RowlingTurned down by 12 publishers, published at 3112 ages
- Jane AustenWrote Pride and Prejudice at 21, published it at 3714 ages
- Maya AngelouMute for five years as a child; the voice of a nation at 6415 ages
Science
- Ada LovelaceWrote the first computer program at 27, a century early10 ages
- Alan TuringDefined the computer at 24, broke Enigma at 27, gone at 4114 ages
- Albert EinsteinA patent clerk who upended physics at 2614 ages
- Charles DarwinBoarded the Beagle at 22, published his big idea at 5013 ages
- Isaac NewtonInvented calculus and gravity theory in a plague year at 2315 ages
- Katherine JohnsonStarted high school at 10, sent men to the Moon at 5013 ages
- Marie CurieThe only person with Nobels in two different sciences17 ages
- Nikola TeslaArrived in America broke at 28, left the world AC power14 ages
- Stephen HawkingGiven two years to live at 21, he worked for 55 more15 ages
Sports
- Babe RuthSent to reform school at 7, hit 60 home runs at 3213 ages
- Jesse OwensFour golds in Berlin at 22, then raced horses for a living10 ages
- Kim YunaOlympic gold and a world record at 1911 ages
- Michael JordanCut from varsity at 15, six NBA titles by 3514 ages
- Muhammad AliChampion at 22, stripped of it at 25, champion again at 3212 ages
- Serena WilliamsFirst major at 17, 23rd at 35, last match at 4012 ages
- Son Heung-minLeft for Germany at 16, Premier League top scorer at 2911 ages
Fictional
- Harry PotterWizard who got his letter at 11 and ended the war at 1711 ages
- Monkey D. LuffyCaptain who lost his rescuer at 7 and sailed alone at 173 ages
- Naruto UzumakiNinja who graduated last at 12 and led his village at 328 ages
- Peter ParkerBitten at 15, bereaved the same week, never off duty since8 ages
- Sherlock HolmesDetective who met Watson at 27, closed his last case at 608 ages
- Son GokuBoy with a tail at 12, Earth's saviour by 30, training at 479 ages