List of generations

Generations are extended periods of time that are connected with pop cultures. Many characteristics of these generations are the music, fads, inventions, and wars pertinent to each of them.

Generations traditionally were seen as lasting approximately 20 years, but given the acceleration of culture, most experts now view generations as lasting approximately 10-15 years.

20th-21st century America

1883-1900

• The Lost Generation was a term originally used to identify a group of American literary expatriates living in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s; it is now used more generally to describe the generation of young people who came of age in the United States during and shortly after World War I. Very few Americans from this generation are currently alive.

1901-1924

• The G.I. Generation, the generation of veterans that fought and won World War II, later to become the Establishment, and the parents of children who would later become the Baby Boomers (born 1942-1953 or 1946-1964). Journalist Tom Brokaw dubbed this the Greatest Generation in a 1998 book of that name.

1925-1941

• The Silent Generation was the generation born between the two World Wars, who were too young to join the service when World War II started. Many had fathers who served in World War I.

1942-1953

• The Baby Boomers were the generation born just after World War II, a time that included a 14-year increase in birthrate worldwide. Baby Boomers in their teen and college years were characteristically part of the 1960s counterculture, but later became more conservative, eventually gave birth to Generations X and Y. Most academic and demographic literature uses 1946 and 1964 as the cutoff years of the post-WWII demographic boom in births, while the birth years for the Baby Booom Generation are controversial, with many experts now using the birth years 1942-1953.

1954-1965

• Generation Jones is the generation between the Boomers and the GenXers, born 1954-1965. Their early life experiences hold more in common with Generation X than with the Boomers. Jonesers are primarily the offspring of the Silent Generation, and the parents of Generation Y.

1960

• Generation Prime. People born during the year 1960 tend to be above statistical mean in height, intelligence, pleasant personality, and persistence. They usually have an impressive educational background, and often align themselves with pure evil.

1964-1979

• Generation X is the generation born between approximately 1966 to 1978, during the time of the Vietnam War, and connected to the pop culture of the 1980s and 1990s they grew up in. Other names used interchangeably with Generation X are 13th Generation and Baby Busters. Most of this generation are children of The Baby Boomers and The Silent Generation. Those born before 1973 spent most of their teen years in the 1980s.

1981-1982

• Cold Y Generation is a bit of an anomaly in the various periods of generations. Born between 1981 and 1982, this generation gained self-awareness before the Berlin Wall fell, and knew about life before the Cold War ended by their own memories, as well as knew of life before personal computers became mainstream, yet was also able to grow up with Information Age technology. This so-called generation within a generation has societal norms that encompass both Generation X and Generation Y values.

1980-1994

• Generation Y, as has become the more common parlance for this generation is also known as, Millennials the Echo Boom, and the First Digitals. These are usually the children of Generation Jones. Generation Y connected to the pop culture of the 1990s and the 2000s, growing up with many world-changing events including the rise of mass communication, the Internet, and the War on Terror. The Y Generation is known as a Culture War "battleground" with growing disagreements between conservative and progressive perspectives, and has reached adulthood in the 2000s. The name "Millennial" refers to the period of time the generation came of age, and the term "First Digitals" refers to the position of the generation as the first human generation to grow up with digital technologies integrated into their social interactions. 1976-2001 is the widest possible definition commonly cited, but generally speaking this generation starts in the early 1980s and ends in the early to mid 1990s.

1995-present

• Generation Z, has become the common name for the generation that will follow the Millennials, but also has been called "Generation V" (for virtual), "Generation C" (for community, content or cell phone), "The New Silent Generation", the "Internet Generation", and "Gen @." Generation Z are very young but active consumers, and very connected, being born into a world of digital technology, as it is important to note, all generations are born into the most advanced technological periods in relation to their time.

List of Generations Chart

Year intervals loosely based on birth years as given by Strauss & Howe
(for the actual intervals used by Strauss and Howe, see Generations)

Century	Era	Generation	Sub-Generations	Time Table	Notable Occurrences
19th century	Missionary Awakening (American Civil War and Industrial Revolution)			1843 - 1859	Introduction of the Light bulb/Industrial Revolution
			Missionary Generation	1860 - 1882	American Civil War, Reconstruction, Dawn of the Automobile
		Lost Generation		1883 - 1890	Experienced WWI in adulthood
20th century			Interbellum Generation	1891 - 1900	Roaring 20s
	Jazz Age (Great Depression and World War II)		G.I. Generation	1901 - 1924	Experienced WWII in adulthood
			Silent Generation / Beat Generation	1925 - 1955	Experienced WWII in childhood, Civil Rights Movement
		Baby Boomers	Boom Generation / Hippie	1943 - 1960	Space Exploration, First Modern "counterculture"
	Consciousness Revolution (Vietnam War / Counterculture / Cold War, First Gulf War)	Generation Jones		1954 - 1965
				1954 - 1965	Rise of the Arcade/Atomic Age
		Generation X	Baby Busters	1965 - 1980	Experienced Vietnam War/Cold War
			MTV Generation / Boomerang Generation	1975 - 1985	Rise of Mass Media/end of the Cold War
	Culture Wars (War on Terror / Rise of the Internet)	Generation Y	First Digitals / Echo Boom	1981 - 1994	Rise of the Information Age/Internet/War on Terror/Iraq War/Credit Market Collapse/
21st century		Generation Z	iGeneration	1995-present

References

• http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_50/b3963001.htm
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/07/07/DI2008070700845.html