What famous people were doing at 16

At 16, here is where people from history were and what they were doing. Here are 60 of the 127 moments on the site. Pick anyone to see their whole life lined up with yours.

1. Nero October 54 · Rome, Italy
   Becomes emperor at 16
2. Geoffrey Chaucer ~1359 · France
   Captured in the Hundred Years' War and ransomed
3. Charles V ~1516 · Spain
   Becomes king of Spain
4. Ivan the Terrible January 1547 · Moscow, Russia
   Crowned the first Tsar of All Russia at 16
5. Shivaji ~1646 · Torna Fort, India
   Captures his first fort at 16
6. Benjamin Franklin ~1722 · Boston, USA
   Secretly publishes letters as "Silence Dogood" in his brother's paper
7. Jean-Jacques Rousseau ~1728 · Geneva, Switzerland
   Runs away from Geneva at 15
8. Cornelius Vanderbilt ~1810 · Staten Island, New York, USA
   Starts a ferry business at 16
9. Charles Darwin ~1825 · Edinburgh, Scotland
   Starts medical school in Edinburgh, which he finds dull and squeamish
10. Frederick Douglass ~1834 · Maryland, USA
    Sent to a brutal "slave breaker," and eventually fights back
11. Elias Howe ~1835 · Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
    Works in a textile mill
12. Henrik Ibsen ~1844 · Grimstad, Norway
    Apprenticed to a pharmacist at 15
13. Leo Tolstoy ~1844 · Kazan, Russia
    Enters Kazan University; leaves without a degree
14. John D. Rockefeller ~1855 · Cleveland, Ohio, USA
    Lands his first job as an assistant bookkeeper at 16
15. Mary Cassatt ~1860 · Philadelphia, USA
    Studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
16. Thomas Edison ~1863 · Midwest, USA
    Works as a traveling telegraph operator
17. Lewis Latimer ~1864 · USA
    Joins the Navy at 16
18. Emperor Meiji ~1868 · Tokyo, Japan
    Imperial rule is restored and the capital moves to Tokyo
19. Vincent van Gogh ~1869 · The Hague, Netherlands
    Joins an art dealer at 16
20. Booker T. Washington ~1872 · Hampton, Virginia, USA
    Travels about 500 miles, largely on foot, to attend the Hampton Institute
21. Max Planck ~1874 · Munich, Germany
    Told by a professor that physics is nearly complete
22. Henry Ford ~1879 · Detroit, USA
    Leaves the family farm at 16 to become an apprentice machinist
23. Ernest Shackleton ~1890 · Liverpool, England
    Joins the merchant navy at 16
24. Alexander Fleming ~1897 · London, England
    Works as a shipping clerk at 16
25. Robert Goddard October 1899 · Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
    Dreams of space travel while climbing a cherry tree at 17
26. Srinivasa Ramanujan ~1903 · Kumbakonam, India
    Wins a college scholarship, then loses it by ignoring every subject but math
27. Colonel Harland Sanders ~1906 · Cuba
    Lies about his age to join the Army at 16
28. Jascha Heifetz October 1917 · New York City, USA
    His Carnegie Hall debut causes a sensation
29. Estée Lauder ~1924 · New York City, USA
    Helps her uncle, a chemist, sell his skin creams
30. Rosa Parks ~1929 · Montgomery, Alabama, USA
    Leaves school to care for her sick grandmother
31. Orson Welles ~1931 · Dublin, Ireland
    Talks his way onto the stage at Dublin's Gate Theatre at 16
32. Edmund Hillary ~1935 · New Zealand
    Sees snow for the first time on a school trip at 16
33. Ralph Baer ~1938 · New York City, USA
    Flees Nazi Germany with his family
34. Sidney Poitier ~1943 · New York City, USA
    Moves to New York at 16, washing dishes and teaching himself to read better
35. Maya Angelou ~1944 · San Francisco, USA
    Becomes San Francisco's first Black female streetcar conductor at 16
36. Neil Armstrong ~1946 · Wapakoneta, Ohio, USA
    Earns his pilot's license at 16, before his driver's license
37. Yuri Gagarin ~1950 · Lyubertsy, Russia
    Becomes an apprentice at a steel foundry
38. Shotaro Ishinomori ~1954 · Japan
    Begins assisting Osamu Tezuka as a teenager
39. Leiji Matsumoto ~1954 · Japan
    Makes his professional debut as a teenager
40. Wilma Rudolph ~1956 · Melbourne, Australia
    Wins Olympic bronze in the relay at 16
41. Martha Argerich ~1957 · Geneva, Switzerland
    Wins international competitions in Geneva and Bolzano
42. Carl Bernstein ~1960 · Washington, D.C., USA
    Starts as a copyboy at 16
43. Jacqueline du Pré ~1961 · London, England
    Makes her professional debut at 16 at Wigmore Hall
44. Richard Branson ~1966 · England
    Starts a magazine at 16
45. Grigori Perelman ~1982 · Budapest, Hungary
    Wins Math Olympiad gold with a perfect score
46. Nicole Kidman ~1983 · Sydney, Australia
    Makes her film debut at 16
47. Selena ~1987 · San Antonio, Texas, USA
    Named Female Vocalist of the Year at the Tejano Music Awards
48. Neil Patrick Harris September 1989 · Los Angeles, USA
    Stars in Doogie Howser, M.D. at 16
49. Sarah Michelle Gellar ~1993 · New York City, USA
    Joins All My Children
50. Rosario Dawson ~1995 · New York City, USA
    Discovered sitting on her stoop and cast in Kids at 15
51. Beyoncé ~1997 · Houston, USA
    Destiny's Child signs with Columbia Records
52. Roger Federer July 1998 · London, England
    Wins the junior Wimbledon title
53. Britney Spears October 1998 · New York City, USA
    Releases "...Baby One More Time"
54. Bryce Harper June 2009 · Las Vegas, USA
    On the cover of Sports Illustrated at 16
55. Hou Yifan December 2010 · Hatay, Turkey
    Becomes women's world champion at 16
56. Malala Yousafzai October 2013 · London, England
    Publishes I Am Malala
57. Victor Osimhen November 2015 · Chile
    Wins the Under-17 World Cup and its Golden Boot
58. Greta Thunberg September 2019 · New York City, USA
    Gives her "How dare you" speech at the UN
59. Lamine Yamal July 2024 · Berlin, Germany
    Wins the European Championship, its youngest-ever scorer, the day after turning 17
60. Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) ~547 BC · Kapilavastu, Nepal
    Marries Yasodhara at 16