My Dad's Birthday
Dec. 22nd, 2011 10:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wwcitizenYesterday morning, I woke up thinking about all that my father has experienced in his lifetime and what world events have taken place during the 88 years of his being on earth. Today is his 88th birthday and here's a short list (quickly off the top of my head) of things that have happened in his lifetime:
Wars:
WWII, Korean War, The Cold War, Vietnam War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Desert Storm, Afghan & Iraq Wars
Economic Turmoil:
Great Depression, The Marshall Act (Germany/Europe), Reaganomics
Social Topics/Change:
Baby Boomers (he and my mom had 4), McCarthyism, Equal Rights Movement, Hippies, Abortion Rights, Prohibition (born during it and witnessed its end), KKK (membership peaked in 1920!), Gay Rights, Generation X-ers (he and my mom had one - ME!), the 80s
Governmental Forms:
Democracy, Socialism, Communism, Apartheid
Notable Leaders' Times:
15 US Presidents' terms (Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush (1), Clinton, Bush (2), Obama)
UK governmental leaders - Winston Churchil, Margaret Thatcher, he probably watched Queen Elizabeth get crowned
Social Leaders: Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Sinn Fein (IRA), Rosa Parks
US Constitutional Amendments:
#19-27 - includes Women's Suffrage, presidential term limit, legal voting age, and removal of the poll tax.
Various Factoids:
- Las Vegas, NV, is only 18 years older than my dad.
- Israel was formed as a modern state in 1948.
- Man landed on the moon in 1969.
- The NYC Twin Towers were built and destroyed during his life.
- The Iron Curtain was erected and torn down in his lifetime.
- My dad is as old as the institution of Social Security.
Notable Inventions/discoveries during my dad's life:
The TV (1923 - 1927), penicillin, FM (frequency modulator) radio, The Mayan Calendar stone (1960), transistors, Teflon, LSD, Barbie, many advancements in photography (including the advent of Polaroid photography and the speedy decline of film cameras), the hydrogen bomb, computers (yes, my dad emails!), the Internet, nuclear energy, robots, the microwave oven (1946), and 1000s more!!
Around my dad and throughout his lifetime, the world has experienced massive change - some good, some bad, and all expressive of the human experience, which I find fascinating. My dad has touched and experienced much of it. Good on you, Dad!
Wars:
WWII, Korean War, The Cold War, Vietnam War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Desert Storm, Afghan & Iraq Wars
Economic Turmoil:
Great Depression, The Marshall Act (Germany/Europe), Reaganomics
Social Topics/Change:
Baby Boomers (he and my mom had 4), McCarthyism, Equal Rights Movement, Hippies, Abortion Rights, Prohibition (born during it and witnessed its end), KKK (membership peaked in 1920!), Gay Rights, Generation X-ers (he and my mom had one - ME!), the 80s
Governmental Forms:
Democracy, Socialism, Communism, Apartheid
Notable Leaders' Times:
15 US Presidents' terms (Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush (1), Clinton, Bush (2), Obama)
UK governmental leaders - Winston Churchil, Margaret Thatcher, he probably watched Queen Elizabeth get crowned
Social Leaders: Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Sinn Fein (IRA), Rosa Parks
US Constitutional Amendments:
#19-27 - includes Women's Suffrage, presidential term limit, legal voting age, and removal of the poll tax.
Various Factoids:
- Las Vegas, NV, is only 18 years older than my dad.
- Israel was formed as a modern state in 1948.
- Man landed on the moon in 1969.
- The NYC Twin Towers were built and destroyed during his life.
- The Iron Curtain was erected and torn down in his lifetime.
- My dad is as old as the institution of Social Security.
Notable Inventions/discoveries during my dad's life:
The TV (1923 - 1927), penicillin, FM (frequency modulator) radio, The Mayan Calendar stone (1960), transistors, Teflon, LSD, Barbie, many advancements in photography (including the advent of Polaroid photography and the speedy decline of film cameras), the hydrogen bomb, computers (yes, my dad emails!), the Internet, nuclear energy, robots, the microwave oven (1946), and 1000s more!!
Around my dad and throughout his lifetime, the world has experienced massive change - some good, some bad, and all expressive of the human experience, which I find fascinating. My dad has touched and experienced much of it. Good on you, Dad!
Happy birthday!
