# What was happening about the time you were born? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 28, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362 "2003-07-28T02:48:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/61 "2003-07-29T04:18:39Z")
**Kyla! Happy Birthday!** I noticed in the news the other day that Luci (or is it _Lucy_?) is celebrating her 25th. **Sassy** , 1956 was absolutely the perfect time to be thirteen years old. That won’t do most of you any good, but it really was a memorable year for me. I probably remember that year more vividly than any other. I think the movie _The Man in the Moon_ with Reese Witherspoon is set the following summer and captures the feelings that I had. My favorite song is from 1956. It’s a combination of two songs – _Moonglow and Theme from Picnic_. The perfect music for the perfect summer… ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/62 "2003-07-29T05:07:46Z")
Watergate. Two weeks after my birthday, Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby. Six weeks later, he won the Belmont by 31 in world record time (that still stands), becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. You can see what interests me more, but hey, I at least prioritized the national, political news on top. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SnugTheJoiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@SnugTheJoiner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnugTheJoiner)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/63 "2003-07-29T06:28:59Z")
I was born in Phoenix a few hours after Ira Hayes died of exposure in the nearby desert. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/64 "2003-07-29T07:41:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KRC \* > Well, my mom went into labor and my dad took her to the hospital and then the doctor put the anasthetic mask on her face and grabbed the forceps– Took my idea. I was going to post “coincidentally, my mother happened to be in the hospital with a midwife…” I have no idea history-wise. I’m sure I’ve read about various things, but I just dunrememba. If anyone feels like looking up the history of the September-November period of 1981, knock yerself out. ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/65 "2003-07-29T07:57:21Z")
[Vivienne van den Assem](http://www.tvbabes.com/vivienne.html) was born on my birthday. Must have been a good day to be born attractive. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/66 "2003-07-29T09:58:18Z")
Yeesh. You guys keep bringing up supposedly famous Dutch people, but I don’t know any of them. Perhaps I need to watch more TV. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/67 "2003-07-29T10:03:23Z")
December 12, 1985 I don’t think much happened around then, except General Electric bought NBC. ---
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/68 "2003-07-29T10:11:23Z")
In October 1988, the first Nirvana single, Love Buzz/Big Cheese was released with a print amount of only a 1000. On October 30th 1988, Kurt Cobain smashed his first guitar at Evergreen Stae University, Oregon. October 11th 1988, here. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/69 "2003-07-29T10:14:19Z")
1901 Marconi sends first transatlantic radio signal 1913 Mona Lisa recovered in Florence 1915 Frank Sinatra born 1917 Father Flanagan establishes Boys Town 1923 Bob Barker’s Birthday 1937 USS Panay sunk by Japanese 1941 United States seizes French liner Normandie 1968 Tallulah Bankhead dies ---
**Author:** ![thatDDperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@thatDDperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thatDDperson)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/70 "2003-07-29T10:56:50Z")
Try this site: [http://dmarie.com/timecap/](http://dmarie.com/timecap/) to find out your birthday info. Ike was elected 2 days after my birthday. ---
**Author:** ![bayonet1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/71 "2003-07-29T12:46:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoe \* > I think this is a reference to the Cuban Missle Crisis in October 1962. For three days we really thought that Cuba was going to nuke us. Well, yeah, I got that. But he did say > [@](#): > > Cuba **launches** “A-Bomb” attack on Miami. I’m kinda wondering if **wakimika** really thinks Miami was nuked. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/72 "2003-07-29T13:05:31Z")
Elvis Presley appeared on national TV for the first time the day I was born. This was on “The Dorsey Brothers Show”, and he sang “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Blue Suede Shoes”. I share a birthday with Alan Alda, Peter the Great, and Henry Stanley (of “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” fame). Could I be any more boring? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![RedNaxela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ad7895/32.png) [@RedNaxela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedNaxela)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/73 "2003-07-29T13:53:00Z")
The Watergate break-in took place when I was five days old. (Who do you think masterminded it? :D) Coincidentally, my youngest brother was five days old when _Challenger_ blew up. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/74 "2003-07-29T14:21:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by thatDDperson \* > \*\*Try this site: > > [dMarie Time Capsule](http://dmarie.com/timecap/) > > \*\* Ok, according to the site (for 26 Oct 1984): [ul] [li]Someone gets a baboon heart transplant[/li][li]France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island and on the same day: USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk[/li][li]WWF Action Figures were the hot new toys[/li][/ul] Man, that was a happenin’ period. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![misstee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@misstee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misstee)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/75 "2003-07-29T15:01:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Priceguy \* > \*\*Elvis died. > So did Charlie Chaplin. > _Star Wars_ was released. > _Rocky_ won an Oscar for Best Picture. > > That’s about it, I think. Pretty boring year, all round. \*\* 1977, huh? August 27,1977 here. I shared a birthday with Mother Teresa. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/76 "2003-07-30T10:38:55Z")
My mom’s friends made up a scrapbook of newspaper and magazine clippings from the week of March 2nd, 1970. (It was a Monday, so they had all week!) Bless their kind hearts. Let’s see. First of all, the Newark Daily Record cost a dime. Some skaters fell through the ice in Lake Hopatcong, were rescued and recovered. 🙂 A woman in Morristown was stabbed and bludgeoned to death in her home by an unknown assailant. ☹ A couple in New York by the name of Kienast had had quintuplets the previous week. Mia Farrow also gave birth to twins (Andre Previn was the dad). 🆒 There was a solar eclipse on March 7. 🆒 A fifteen-year-old girl stared at it for four minutes and was almost totally blinded. :smack: ☹ At Two Guys (supermarket), .99 would have purchased four cans of cling peaches, or four boxes of tissues, or three jars of spaghetti sauce, or a 5-pound 4-oz jug of detergent, or 5 cans of frozen orange juice, or six 1-pound packages of margarine. A pound of coffee was 59 cents, and eight ounces of cream cheese was a quarter. :eek: Sales tax in New Jersey went up to 5%. 😛 Ann Landers fielded questions from a man whose wife complained that he didn’t say “I love you” often enough, a grandma who couldn’t find an attractive boy doll for her granddaughter, and a woman who was fed up with people arriving early for parties. :dubious: Laugh-In, Here’s Lucy, Mayberry RFD and the Carol Burnett Show were on TV that night. Local movies included **Easy Rider** , **Midnight Cowboy** , **Stolen Kisses** , **The Italian Job** , **Hell’s Angels on Wheels** 🆒, **Three Into Two Won’t Go** , **All the Loving Couples** , and **The Arrangement** 😕. Midi-skirts and maxi-coats were the new fashions. :dubious: Prince Charles, age 21, appeared in a Cambridge University revue. 😃 Tiny Tim and Miss Vicki returned from their honeymoon. :rolleyes: Hubert Humphrey was booed off the stage when he tried to lecture at the University of Massachusetts. :wally “Learning can be fun: **Sesame Street** captures the imaginations of children with its new way of teaching.” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/77 "2003-07-30T15:09:30Z")
_May 3, 1972_ Several significant events in the weeks and months surrounding my date of birth in 1972, including: May 2 - Electrical fire in Sunshine Silver mine - 126 die (Kellogg Idaho) May 5 - Alitalia DC-8 crashes west of Palermo Sicily; killing 115 June 18 - UK’s worst air crash kills 118 (British European Airways flight BE548 to Brussels) Ongoing events during 1972: **Vietnam War** May 1 - North Vietnamese troops occupy Quang Tri City **May 3** : 150,000 evacuating Hue as North Vietnamese troops approach. May 4 - Vietcong forms revolutionary government in Quang Tri May 8 - President Nixon orders the mining of all North Vietnamese ports **Troubles in Northern Ireland** (around 470 deaths in 1972) April 18 - ‘Bloody Sunday’ report excuses Army May 30 - Official IRA declares ceasefire (Provos declare it irrelevant) ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/78 "2003-07-30T16:36:57Z")
JFK gave his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech at the Berlin Wall a couple of weeks before I was born. Zip codes where introduced the month I was born. Don Schollander of Yale became the first swimmer in the world to break 2 minutes for the 200 meter freestyle. He would later go on to win four gold medals at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362/79 "2003-07-30T17:49:38Z")
Well, this isn’t precisely on my birthday, but it’s more interesting than many things that were: Less than 2 months before I was born, Whitman went to the top of the tower on the University of Texas campus in Austin and started shooting people. What makes this one relevant, for me, is that both of my parents and 2 of my grandparents were on campus ducking bullets that day. (Yes, including my pregnant mother.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-happening-about-the-time-you-were-born/191362.md?page=3)