Rewinding to Wednesday, January 28, 1981…

Wednesday · Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States

Elijah, you arrived on January 28, 1981 in Cedar Rapids.

Scroll back in time ↓

01The weather outside

A high of 29°F in Cedar Rapids.

29°F/ -2°C high

Low of 12°F · dry · wind up to 22 mph

The sun rose at 7:23 am and set at 5:16 pm — 9h 53m of daylight.

02The sky that night

A last quarter watched over you.

41% lit · 23 days into its cycle

No bright planets were above Cedar Rapids's horizon that evening — the moon had the sky to itself.

It was winter in your half of the world.

The Moon was 250,614 miles away — farther than usual.

03On every radio

The chart-topper that week: “(Just Like) Starting Over”

by John Lennon — number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for 5 weeks, taking over from “Lady”.

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Make your song a Story ↓

04What a dollar bought

Your first receipt.

GENERAL STORE

CEDAR RAPIDS · 1981-01-28

ITEM1981TODAYLoaf of white breadper lb$0.53$1.83Dozen eggsgrade A large$0.94$2.27Gallon of milkwhole≈$1.06$4.11Gallon of gasregular unleaded$1.30$4.48Pound of coffeeground roast$2.78$9.33Minimum wagefederal, per hour$3.35$7.25Median new homeUS sale price$66,800$393,300Postage stampfirst-class letter$0.15$0.78

BREAD COSTS 3.4× WHAT IT DID

US national averages · ≈ = estimated from inflation

05Your life in numbers

Since that day, you have lived…

0

seconds

and counting, right now

0

heartbeats

at a resting average of 80 a minute

0

breaths

give or take a few yawns

0

sunrises

2,388 weeks of them

0

full moons

have risen since your first night

0.00B

miles traveled

45 laps around the Sun

06Born under

A Wednesday's child, under Aquarius.

Star sign

Aquarius

Air sign

Chinese zodiac

Monkey

Metal Monkey

Birthstone

Garnet

for your month

Birth flower

Carnation

for your month

Generation

Millennials

1981–1996

Day of the week

Wednesday

And so much more you’d never guess or remember.

Unlock the rest of your day · $1.99Every chapter + your certificate

Apple Pay · Google Pay · card · one-time, no account

28,333 people opened their day this month

Keep it

Post your arrival day.

A card for your Story, with the weather, the song and the moon of your first day.

9:16, made for TikTok, Reels and Stories

Give a day

Send someone their day.

A birthday, wedding or new-baby card. Their #1 song plays as the envelope opens, then your message, then their whole day, nothing sealed, with a certificate in their name.

Make a card · $9.99🎄 Or a Christmas card: it opens Christmas morning →

One-time · they never see a price

Compare your day with someone’s →

Your mom, your partner, your best friend: add their birthday and see the world between your two days.

Everything about 1981 in the U.S.: prices, #1 songs, news →