Anniversaries...
Sep. 12th, 2011 08:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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
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:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_at_Appomattox
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_John_F._Kennedy_Assassination_Records_Collection_Act_of_1992
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union#Revolution_and_foundation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktown#British_surrender
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenger_disaster
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vostok_1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_invasion_of_Poland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_reunification
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union#1973.E2.80.931993
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_over_Japan_Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations#History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_of_sovereignty_over_Hong_Kong
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Constantinople
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_C._Perry#The_Perry_Expedition:_Opening_of_Japan.2C_1852-1854
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers#Flights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley%27s_comet
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?