"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is a short story about a man who ages in reverse, from senescence to infancy, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Benjamin Button is born in Baltimore in 1860 with the physical appearance of a 70-year-old man and already capable of speech.

Hildegarde mistakes Benjamin for a 50-year-old brother of Roger Button and, as she prefers older men, she marries him six months later.

Years later, Benjamin's business has been successful, but he is tired of Hildegarde because her beauty has faded and she nags him.

Bored at home, he enlists in the Spanish–American War in 1898 and achieves military triumphs, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.