Anniversaries...

[tagryn]

I found this post about the tenth anniversary of 9/11 deeply moving. This is the last major anniversary of 9/11 where it is living memory for almost everyone marking it. In fifteen years, when the twenty-fifth anniversary occurs, there will be a whole generation for whom 9/11 will be something that happened to their parents, not them, just as Pearl Harbor has drifted from something people lived through to being a date in history. In that sense, as Allahpundit says, this was the last anniversary which was truly "ours" as a people all present at a point in time which divided everything into "before" and "after."

And in a very real sense, we do walk hand in hand through history with the others of our generation, and that can be a comforting thought. We have common frames of reference. No one today can speak about "Nine-eleven" or "Ground Zero" and have to explain what she means, but there will come a day when that does happen, just like "December seventh" doesn't automatically register with many folks today the way it would have with the World War II generation. Such is the way of the world.

Anyway, I got to thinking about what anniversary dates in history will be coming up in our lifetimes, and here's the list I came up with, below the cut:

January 1, 2013: 150th anniversary of issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, end of slavery in United States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation

July 1, 2013: 150th anniversary of Battle of Gettysburg, turning point in American Civil War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg

June 28, 2014: 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, unofficial start of World War I (actual hostilities did not begin until August of 1914)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I

April 9, 2015: 150th anniversary of Confederate surrender at Appomattox, end of American Civil War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_at_Appomattox

June 18, 2015: 200th anniversary of battle of Waterloo, final end of Napoleon's reign. (added 7/2012)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo

October 25, 2015: 600th anniversary of battle of Agincourt (added 7/2012)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt

October 26, 2017: All remaining records from the JFK assassination due to be released (added 12/2013)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_John_F._Kennedy_Assassination_Records_Collection_Act_of_1992

November 11, 2018: 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, end of World War I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_Day

July 21, 2019: 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11

December 30, 2022: 100th anniversary of establishment of USSR in Russia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union#Revolution_and_foundation

July 4, 2026: 250th anniversary of United States Declaration of Independence, "America's birthday"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War

September 11, 2026: 25th anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

Sometime in 2027: transcripts of depositions by Columbine shooters' parents released. http://www.columbine-online.com/ (added 4/29/12)

October 19, 2031: 250th anniversary of surrender at Yorktown, end of American Revolutionary War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktown#British_surrender

January 28, 2036: 50th anniversary of Challenger disaster
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenger_disaster

April 12, 2036: 75th anniversary of first manned space flight (Vostok 1, Yuri Gagarin)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vostok_1

September 1, 2039: 100th anniversary of German invasion of Poland, start of World War II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_invasion_of_Poland

October 3rd, 2040: 50th anniversary of German reunification
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_reunification

December 25th, 2041: 50th anniversary of dissolution of USSR, end of Cold War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union

December 7th, 2041: 100th anniversary of Pearl Harbor attack, American entry into World War II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor

November 1, 2043: 50th anniversary of formation of European Union
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union#1973.E2.80.931993

June 6, 2044: 100th anniversary of D-Day landings in France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings

July 16, 2045: 100th anniversary of Trinity explosion, world's first nuclear detonation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki

August 6, 2045: 100th anniversary of nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, Japan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki

September 2, 2045: 100th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day - end of World War II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_over_Japan_Day

October 24th, 2045: 100th anniversary of founding of United Nations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations#History

July 1, 2047: 50th anniversary of transfer of Hong Kong to China, Hong Kong's transitional period as a Special Administrative Region of China expires
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_of_sovereignty_over_Hong_Kong

September 11, 2051: 50th anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

May 29, 2053: 600th anniversary of final fall of Constantinople, end of Byzantine Empire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Constantinople

July 8, 2053: 200th anniversary of Perry's arrival in Japan, opening of Japan to the external world
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_C._Perry#The_Perry_Expedition:_Opening_of_Japan.2C_1852-1854

December 17, 2053: 150th anniversary of first powered flight (by the Wright brothers)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers#Flights

October 4, 2057: 100th anniversary of launch of Sputnik 1, first artifical satellite
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1

July 28, 2061: next perihelion of Halley's comet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley%27s_comet

October 14, 2066: 1000th anniversary of the battle of Hastings, Norman conquest of England (added 7/2012)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hastings

According to my estimated life expectancy, I've got a fairly decent shot at living into the 2050s. Should be exciting to see many of these.
Are there any I'm missing?

Comments

[idea-fairy.livejournal.com]

How about November 22, 2013: 50th anniversary of JFK getting shot?

[tagryn]

JFK's assassination was one that I was borderline about. I think you're probably right about the 50th, its something that will command attention in the media and popular culture around its time. I suspect it'll also end up being like Challenger and the death of Princess Di: a big deal at the time if you lived through it, but by the 100th anniversary when everyone who remembers it is deceased, I wonder how much notice it will generate. I'm guessing the WWI anniversaries coming up will be like that in the U.S., also.

[idea-fairy.livejournal.com]

Another thought: The JFK thing may be one of the first major historic events that we all more or less lived through "live".

Radio was a novelty during WWI. Most people read about news in the newspapers or got it by word of mouth from friends and such. That does't give quite the same feeling of being part of it.

Likewise, I think most people heard about Pearl Harbor after the fact, although some of the ensuing speeches and Congressional action may have been broadcast live.

Maybe the end of WWII? That may have had a feeling of public participation.

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in the early 1950's was starting to get there. Audio was carried live, and still photos were in effect faxed from England to be shown on American TV a few minutes after the fact.

But the JFK thing may have been the first major one where the public (after the initial surprise) was able to watch the proceedings more or less live.

There were political conventions and maybe some sports events before that, but they may not really count.

[erikred.livejournal.com]

Tom, this was a very interesting and thought-provoking post. Thank you for that.

Can't remember if I shared this with you or not, but I found this (long) essay on WW2 and how it's passed out of living memory to be of intense interest.