Make your fellow Dopers feel old! Or young! Or the same age as you! Or whatever!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I got this idea from the “Kids starting college this year…” thing that keeps popping up on the Internet and in my email inbox every couple of weeks. I’m sure you’re familiar with it. They “have no idea what ‘You sound like a broken record’ means;” they “have no memories of the Reagan administration,” etc. I thought a fun thing to do (“fun thing to do” to me = thread sinks like a stone) would be to talk about the events surrounding each of our individual birthdates. For example:

My favorite rock group of all time, The Beatles, didn’t even exist during my lifetime. They broke up three months before I was born.

I was born two months after the Kent State tragedy.

The first Earth Day occured three months before I was born.

You can’t suspect that I conceived between two hippies at Woodstock. Woodstock took place 13 months before I was born. That would be an awfully long gestation period for a human.

I had no concept of a Presidency until the race between Carter and Ford.

I had no idea that the Watergate scandal was going on at the time. I learned about it later in school.

Until I learned about it in school, I had thought that the Viet Nam war ended in 1968, when my dad came home.

One of my favorite songs, “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” was the song of the year for the year I was born.

One of the most amazing feats of mankind (IMO), Neil Armstrong’s and Buzz Aldrin’s first steps on the moon (Apollo 11), took place a year before I was born. Three months before I was born, James Lovell, John Swigert, and Fred Haise (Apollo 13) experienced a near catastrophe when the number 2 oxygen tank blew up, causing failure of the number 1 oxygen tank and disrupting the command modules normal supply of electricity, water, and light.

The Tate/LaBianca murders took place 11 months before I was born. Several members of the Manson family, including Charles Manson, were convicted 1 1/2 years later.

Ed Sullivan was cancelled the year I was born. So were cigarette ads on TV.

2

Richard Nixon stepped down from the Presidency exactly three weeks before I was born.

I can recite practically every ABBA lyric in existence. It was their albums and 8-tracks that my parents played repeatedly in the earliest years of my life.
To this day twitch I have not shown any twitch adverse effects twitch.

3

Amazing what a little research can do. :slight_smile:

On My Birthday, Police and Protesters clashed at the Democratic National Convention

William Dana goes up to 80km in the last x-15 flight.

“Night of the Living Dead” premieres in Pittsburgh in October

Apollo 7 (Schirra, Eisele & Cunningham) made 163 orbits in 260 hours

At age 29, Ralph Lauren (né Lifshitz) founds what will become a fashion empire.

An overwhelming North Vietnamese attack on South Vietnamese cities called the Tet Offensive is a turning point in the war. In the South Vietnam village of My Lai, American soldiers kill over 300 men, women, and children. Thus far, the United States has lost over 10,000 planes over Vietnam.

Democratic Senator Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles by Jordanian-American Sirhan Bishara Sirhan after making a bid for the presidency.

Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, by James Earl Ray, an ex-convict from the Mississippi Penitentiary.

The Beatles try to save Pepperland from the Blue Meanies in the movie Yellow Submarine. Other Hollywood releases include Zefirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Night of the Living Dead.

and finally

The first cash dispensing machine is installed by First Philadelphia Bank, with Chemical Bank in New York following one year later.

4

Havoc said “Richard Nixon stepped down from the Presidency exactly three weeks before I was born”.

Geez I voted for the first time in 72 when Nixon ran.
Dang I am feeling old now

5

I was born on the day Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon for the first time…

Now my house is full of NASA crap that my family keeps giving me, as if I personally had something to do with the Moon Walk.

Ooo! Age reference! In this case, “Moon Walk” does NOT refer to Michael Jackson’s dance steps, circa 198something.

6

I was born on the day that the imfamous Watts riots started in L.A.(1965). Coincidence? You decide.

7

Hours after I was born, my father left the maternity clinic in which my mother and I had to stay for a few days. He got into his car and drove home in a huge snow storm. When he switched on the radio, the DJ announces the national premiere of the latest Golden Earring song.

Radar Love, kids.

8

On my birth date Pope Paul VI succeeded John XXIII.
Nobody noteworthy died or was born then.

Musical Chart toppers included
Sukiyaki - Kyu Sakamoto
You Can’t Sit Down - The Dovells

I Love You Because - Al Martino

Still - Bill Anderson

Keith

9

This happened the month I was born:

April 3, 1975 - Bobby Fischer stripped of world chess title

April 6, 1975 - (The day after I was born) Bundy victim Denise Oliverson disappears from Grand Junction, Colo

April 15, 1975 - 1st appearance of the San Diego Chicken

April 18, 1975 - John Lennon releases “Stand by Me”

I also found out today that my boss joined the army 32 years ago today. It made him feel really old to think that he graduated from college and joined the army 7 years before I was born!

10

One of my earliest memories is of being sat in front of the tiny black & white TV set with my brother and sister to watch a man hopping around on the moon. I didn’t quite understand it, but knew it must be very important for my mom to sit me in front of the TV.

I was a preschooler when Sesame Street first aired on PBS.

The book “Little Black Sambo” was not available, but you could find one called “Little Brave Sambo”. (Now it’s back to the original.)

We played our preschool songs on phonographs on little 45’s. The only audio tape there was was reel-to-reel.

There were only AM radios in cars.

Every family put their kids in the back of their station wagons and traveled 70 mph with no one wearing seat belts.

11

Um, put a was between I and conceived.

12

Some quick Internet research around my birthday reveals:

  • Elvis and Priscilla Presley were wed in Las Vegas the day before I was born.

  • Vietnam protests were hitting their stride. Black students seized the finance building at Northwestern University the day after I was born. Four hundred students seized the administration building at Cheyney State College four days after my birth. And Muhammed Ali was indicted for refusing induction into the U.S. Army six days’ after I arrived.

  • Rolling Stones Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones were arrested on drug charges eight days after I got here.

  • The 100 millionth U.S. phone was connected nine days later (wonder how many billion there are now?).

  • Mickey Mantle hit his 500th career home run off the Orioles’ Stu Miller 11 days after I was born.

  • Tennessee Governor Ellington repealed the “Monkey Law” banning the teaching of evolution in school classrooms 16 days after I got here.

13

-I don’t remember b&w tv. (But I remember the Original Muppet Show, and I want it back.)

-I have had my own computer since I could read. (not that it helps my typing ability…)

-My second grade class wrote letters to one of the only guys to die in Desert Storm. (there is trauma.)

14

Two and half months after I was born, a cease-fire agreement was signed at P’anmunjom, effectively ending the Korean War.

Two (model) years after I was born, Chevrolet brought their first overhead valve V-8 engine to market.

The Corvette was introduced the year I was born and Ike became President that same year.

General George C. Marshall was the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Josef Stalin died, as did Django Reinhardt, the year I was born.

Entries on The History of Rock’n’Roll website begin the year after I was born.

15

Yeah SHE-RA!! He-Man’s twin sister. common you college girls, don’t pretend you forget or have no idea what I mean. As for when I was born, I really don’t remember, I think I was doing something a little more important, like coming into this world.

16

On my birthday, 1957, the Soviet Union fired the first shot of the “space race” with the launching of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial earth satellite.
1777 The Battle of Germantown
1909 Airships Race in St. Louis
1965 Pope Visits U.S.
1992 Mozambican Civil War Ends
1993 White House Siege Ends in Moscow
Birthday Board: my birthday:
1822 - Rutherford B. Hayes (19th U.S. President [1877-1881])
1862 - Edward L. Stratemeyer (author: see “Stratemeyer” Day [above])
1884 - Damon Runyan (journalist; script writer: Guys and Dolls)
1895 - Buster (Joseph) Keaton (actor, grandfather of actor Michael Keaton)
1910 - Frank Crosetti (baseball)
1917 - Jan Murray (Murry Janofsky) (TV host)
1924 - Charleton Heston (Charles Carter)
1927 - Rip (John) Repulski (baseball)
1928 - Alvin Toffler (author)
1929 - Leroy Van Dyke (singer)
1932 - Felicia Farr (actress)
1934 - Sam Huff (Pro Football Hall of Famer)
1935 - Jimmy Orr (football)
1941 - Jackie Collins (author)
1941 - Lori Saunders (Hines) (actress)
1941 - Jerrel Wilson (football)
1945 - Clifton Davis (actor)
1946 - Susan Sarandon (Tomaling) (Academy Award-winning actress)
1947 - James Fielder (musician)
1947 - Jim McFarland (football)
1948 - Cedrick Hardman (football)
1949 - Mike Adamle (football, broadcaster: ABC Sports)
1949 - Armand Assante (actor)
1950 - Ed Halicki (baseball)
1951 - Len Robinson (basketball)
1980 - Jimmy Workman (actor)
Chart Toppers: my birthday
1949
You’re Breaking My Heart - Vic Damone
Room Full of Roses - Sammy Kaye Orchestra with Don Cornell
Someday - Vaughn Monroe
Slipping Around - Margaret Whiting and Jimmy Wakely
1959
Sleep Walk - Santo and Johnny
Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin
Put Your Head on My Shoulder - Paul Anka
The Three Bells - The Browns
1969
Sugar, Sugar - The Archies
Jean - Oliver
Little Woman - Bobby Sherman
Since I Met You Baby - Sonny James
1979
My Sharona - The Knack
Sad Eyes - Robert John
Rise - Herb Alpert
It Must be Love - Don Williams

17

In the year I was born:[ul][li]President Truman fired General MacArthur.[]Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of espionage and sentenced to death.[]Actresses Jane Seymour and Patricia Richardson were born.[/ul]I vaguely remember watching a tv show about the opening of Disneyland in Anaheim. I was 4.[/li]
I vaguely remember an announcement that Sputnik had been launched. I was 6.

I was 12 when President Kennedy was assassinated.

18

I was born on the same day as Mary Lou Retton. So far she has accomplished a little more with her life.

19

That is…year of the ox. When you were born. Chinese new year? You know? Like, now is the year of the dragon…? Ah, well. Well, I didn’t know you were my age. So there.

Anyway, factoids about me.

Nixon resigned and was pardoned when I was an infant.

I don’t remember where I was when Kennedy was shot because it was eight years before I was born.

I was 12 when the space shuttle Challenger exploded. All day in school, all we did was watch TV news. Everyone was crying.

I had a record player, and remember seeing an 8-track.

The Beatles are before my time, and I really have never understood their (or The Rolling Stones’) appeal. But, they’re a big deal to a lot of people, so party on.

I remember how excited my family was when we got our first VCR: Betamax. Soon we had two. (I think we still do…as well as a Betamax video camera.)

My initiation to computers, when I was about 10, included playing “Lemonade” and writing with “Bank Street Writer” on various Apple II (e, c, GS, etc.) machines. I also wrote silly little programs in BASIC.

I was in second grade when Reagan (and IIRC, the Pope) were shot.

The Cold War terrified me. The thought of nuclear war kept me from sleeping, even as a very young child. I watched The Day After when I was 12, and had nightmares for years. I still try not to think about it.

I was a senior in high school when Desert Storm occurred.

And most importantly…

Two weeks after I was born, Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby in a record-shattering time that still stands. Two weeks after that, he won the Preakness, and three weeks after that was his legendary 31-length Belmont win (in stakes, track, and world record–two of which still stand) to polish of the third and final jewel of his Triple Crown.

20

I was born in 1968.

The main thing I remember was a family down the street who, I believe it was 1973, the father was shot down in Vietnam and was MIA for several years. It was a big deal that this Air Force Officer/pilot came back home.

I was too young to comprehend the magnitude of his return but I remember the man’s daughter and she later became one of my best friends during grade and junior high school.

I also remember the Bi-Centennial, I believe I was in second grade.

We were one of the first in our area to get cable, only 13 channels back then.