[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by SmackFu *
**I bet most people don’t know specific years of events. For instance, here’s three more examples:
Purple.
Monkey.
Dishwasher.
It has always been my opinion that hundreds/thousands of years from now nobody will remember JFK’s assassination, WWI or WWII or for that matter the anything else about the 20th century, except that it was when man first landed on the moon. Of course, they may not know the exact year, unless someone comes up with one of those catchy poems.
if we were meant to memorize trivia (not saying the moon landing wasn’t inportant, just saying dates, times, specifics), we never would have invented paper, printing, books, internet, yada yada yada.
knowing the answer is not as important as knowing how to find the answer, if you ask me. (and you did!)
In all fairness, some of us just don’t have memories for dates and numbers. I can recite a poem I learned 20 years ago, but I can’t tell you what my previous phone number was as of 6 months ago. I’ve been reading this thread, and I didn’t know the dates of anything anyone has put forth as an example, and I’m fairly well-read and intelligent - dates just mean nothing to me. (I kick ass at Jeopardy at home - except for categories with dates in them).
(For an example of how bad at this I am, I have no idea when WWI occurred. Sometime around 1900 is as close as I can get. I think WWII went 1939-1945 for North America, but I wouldn’t bet money on it.)
Well, yeah, sure not everybody has a head for dates, numbers, etc. But, ummm … if you don’t, what are you doing on a quiz show for heaven’s sakes?
Moon Landing - July 20, 1969 - my oldest brother’s ninth birthday. I remember watching it on our little black and white TV in the basement.
JFK - November 1963 (22nd? 23rd?)
Nixon - August 1974 (8th?)
Challenger - this is funny, I am completely guessing on this one and it’s the most recent - summer 1986?
I keep thinking 68 too, for the moon landing
I got Nov. '63 for JFK, but had to stop myself from thinking it was '64
I knew Nixon was in the mid-70s ( I guessed 74, but I really didn’t know - its not a large part of Canadian history 
)
Challenger was 86, I’m almost certain.
I’m not great with dates either, but my recall isn’t too bad - I can usually get it close to a couple of years, and/or associate it with some other “nearby” event in time.
Challenger explosion: January 28, 1986. The day after my mother died.
To be fair, most of these questions have little relevance to those of us non-Merkins (except the moon landing, which I DID know, the year anyway )
I have to say though, I don’t know the dates of many events in Australian history because
- we were never taught in school
- there are hardly any.
Simply one of the most clever references I’ve ever seen. Bonus points for it being about the Simpsons, too, Tretiak/Dave.
Signed,
Cardinal/Dave Swaney (Remember the Dopetoberfest?)