# Which events of the past 50 years will be remembered in 100 years? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 2, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009 "2012-07-02T15:30:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/1 "2012-07-02T15:30:49Z")
Inspired by the McKinley assassination thread and some talks with frienda about JFK, MLK, & RFK’s assassinations. I think all three of them will be minor memories in 100 years, more like McKinley & Garfield’s than Lincoln’s assassinations. So what will be remembered? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/2 "2012-07-02T15:44:41Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > more like McKinley & Garfield’s than Lincoln’s assassinations. I can’t get behind that - it seems like every town in America has a school named after JFK and a street named after MLK. Their accomplishments are easy to articulate and point out, and idle speculation on what they could have accomplished is easy to ponder. Not so for McKinley. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/3 "2012-07-02T15:48:06Z")
Moved Cafe Society --\> IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/4 "2012-07-02T15:49:06Z")
The moon landing in 1969 and the Sept 11 2001 WTC attack, certainly. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/5 "2012-07-02T15:49:25Z")
The manned Moon landings. \ Bah, ninjaed! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/6 "2012-07-02T17:09:56Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I can’t get behind that - it seems like every town in America has a school named after JFK and a street named after MLK. Their accomplishments are easy to articulate and point out, and idle speculation on what they could have accomplished is easy to ponder. Not so for McKinley. Martin Luther King, yes, he was a figure of genuine historical significance. John Kennedy? Not so much, in my opinion. A really charismatic guy but there wasn’t a lot of substance underneath. He deserves credit for handling the Cuban Missile Crisis well but after that it’s a short list. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/7 "2012-07-02T17:13:32Z")
The fall of the Berlin Wall. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/8 "2012-07-02T17:58:28Z")
The oil crisis of 1973. The Kyoto protocol and the ensuing failures. The GATT and WTO accords. The rise of China as a superpower. The development of the Internet. Corporations becoming increasingly independent of nation-states. ---
**Author:** ![L.mo5rg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f475e1/32.png) [@L.mo5rg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/L.mo5rg)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/9 "2012-07-02T18:02:19Z")
The Arab spring ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/10 "2012-07-02T18:02:44Z")
For comparison, how many events can you remember between 1860 and 1910? I suspect most people’s lists goes something like: - American Civil War - Abraham Lincoln is assassinated - Uh… OK, not that bad, but I looked on wikipedia, and there were things that I knew happened, but could have told you whether it was before or after 1850, so I didn’t think I could count them. I think “cold war” and “first people in space/on the moon” are way up there. MLK seems to have a reasonable chance, as he’s already a byword even by people who don’t know anything else about the period. I’m not sure even 9/11 will be that obvious: can you name the worst terrorist atrocity \before\ 9/11? Will 2060 really be that different, even if you attribute all of the current wars, wars on terror, and anti-Islam sentiment to 9/11? ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/11 "2012-07-02T18:03:25Z")
clinton’s impeachment will be a factoid, but probably not universally known - like andrew johnson’s. additionally: vietnam watergate USSR breaking up iraqi/afghan war(s) i wonder how many sports figures will be remembered. Jordan? Tiger Woods? Phelps? Bolt? politicians? putin? QE2? princess di? ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/12 "2012-07-02T18:10:58Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > For comparison, how many events can you remember between 1860 and 1910? I think you’re either giving people not enough credit, or you’re taking this to mean universally known. Very few things will be UNIVERSALLY known, but certainly if you polled reasonably educated people… they would know seward’s folly suez canal bell invents telephone edison invents light bulb jim crow panama canal custard’s last stand as well as certain buzzwords like: teapot dome druyfess affair chief joseph geronimo etc. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/13 "2012-07-02T19:39:15Z")
Custer, not Custard. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/14 "2012-07-02T22:44:54Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > I’m not sure even 9/11 will be that obvious: can you name the worst terrorist atrocity \before\ 9/11? I don’t know, \*was \*there one, on anything near the same magnitude as 9/11? You’re also forgetting just how much a part the media played in making 9/11 so memorable. Every part of it was recorded and broadcast as it was happening, from many many different sources & angles. By professional videographers and just regular people on the street. (Hell, even footage I shot has been used in some documentaries.) And then played over and over and over on TV in the years since. You can’t really compare something like that to events that happened before video. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/15 "2012-07-02T23:04:12Z")
Only one person has mentioned the breakup of the Soviet Union, but that will be seen as significant as Waterloo. I suspect that will be #1. If the US is going downhill as I think, I think Dubya will be known as the architect of that decline. “If”, I said. The internet, computers, and all that. ---
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/16 "2012-07-03T04:22:16Z")
> [@Shade](#): > > For comparison, how many events can you remember between 1860 and 1910? I suspect most people’s lists goes something like: > > - American Civil War > - Abraham Lincoln is assassinated > - Uh… > > OK, not that bad, but I looked on wikipedia, and there were things that I knew happened, but could have told you whether it was before or after 1850, so I didn’t think I could count them. > > I think “cold war” and “first people in space/on the moon” are way up there. MLK seems to have a reasonable chance, as he’s already a byword even by people who don’t know anything else about the period. > > I’m not sure even 9/11 will be that obvious: can you name the worst terrorist atrocity \before\ 9/11? Will 2060 really be that different, even if you attribute all of the current wars, wars on terror, and anti-Islam sentiment to 9/11? You seem to have a big “it was this way in the past so it will work that way in the future” thing which frankly just doesn’t hold up at all. 9/11 won’t be “that obvious?” You kidding me? The “biggies” will include: man on the moon in 69 60s “cultural revolution” fall of USSR 9/11 JFK assassination (despite him being a so-so president) Middle East wars/“conflicts” Vietnam current economic crises, which I fear will get worse before they get better and could ultimately have quite a severe impact world-wide custard’s last stand. pudding has dominated ever since. 😉 Happily, sports and other media celebs will be little more than a footnote, if that. Which frankly is more than most deserve (and I’m a big sports fan). ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/17 "2012-07-03T04:39:37Z")
I submit Martin Luther King will be remembered 100 years from now. We have a national holiday to observe his birthday, after all. Even if it doesn’t fall on the exact date every year. ---
**Author:** ![MG-42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@MG-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MG-42)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/18 "2012-07-03T04:45:42Z")
end of the Cold War 9/11 ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/19 "2012-07-03T05:03:50Z")
one thing that is a factor is that there is so much more to know. in 100 years there will be so much more history that lots will be discarded. in Waterworld there may no longer be books, only verbal stories passed on. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009/20 "2012-07-03T05:29:45Z")
What has happened in China, in the past 50 years? That’s what’ll be remembered. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-events-of-the-past-50-years-will-be-remembered-in-100-years/627009.md?page=2)