Events of recent years – from the global recession of the late 2000s, to the Covid-19 pandemic and everything that has occurred in its wake – have been a powerful reminder of how much a rapidly changing world affects human lives: How it leaves people feeling disoriented; how it demands their coping and adaptation; how it exposes inequalities; how it alters opportunities and options in ways that are both dramatic and often unforeseen. This reminder also reinforces one of the central commitments of life course research: to make visible how historical events and social change matter in individual and collective lives. Drawing observations from the last century through today, this presentation explores some of the profound changes that have come to the organization and experience of the life course and aging, and how some of the revolutionary changes of the twentieth century left an imprint on cohorts who experienced them. The presentation also explores lessons for scientists today as we study – and even attempt to contribute or respond to – the events and changes of our own times and try to anticipate the future aging of younger cohorts.