By ME!


Starting with the year you were born, list either a major event in your life or a National/World events.

1973 I was born.

1974 President Nixon resigned. We moved for the first time. I turn one.

1975 Saturday Night Live premieres. I turn two.

1976 It's the US Bicentennial. I turn three.

1977 Elvis dies. Star Wars premieres. I am no longer an only child; my brother is born. I turn four.

1978 We move for the second and third time in my life. Norman Rockwell dies. I turn five.

1979 We move for the fourth time. The nuclear reactor accident occurs at Three Mile Island. I begin kindergarten.

1980 Ronald Regan is elected president. My dad won't get a raise for the next 12 years. John Lennon is shot.

1981 Regan is shot in an assasination attempt. Later he nominates Sandra Day O'Connor to be the first female US Supreme Court Justice.

1982 Michael Jackson's "Thriller" is released. Princess Grace and John Bellushi die. "ET: The Extra Terrestrial" is released.

1983 Sally Ride becomes the first US woman in space. The last episode of "M*A*S*H" airs. My grandmother dies on my parents wedding anniversary.

1984 "The Cosby Show" debuts. "Do They Know It's Christmas" is released. President Regan is re-elected.

1985 Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the leader of the USSR. Rock Hudson dies of AIDS. Live Aid concerts are performed simultaniously in Philadelphia and London.

1986 The space shuttle Challenger explodes after lift off in Cape Canaveral, killing all seven aboard including civillian teacher Christa McAuliffe. William H. Rehnquist is named Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The Oprah Winfrey show is syndicated nationally. Nintendo hits the US stores.

1987 Oliver North testifies in the Iran-Contra Affair hearings. Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol dies. Prozac comes on the market. I discover music beyond Top 40 with the release of U2's "The Joshua Tree."

1988 George H.W. Bush is elected president. Roy Orbison dies. For the first time, CD's outsell vinyl records, signaling the decline of vinyl as the dominate music format. A Pan Am flight bound for New York City explodes over Lockerbie, Scottland killing all on board and 11 on the ground. The hardest four years of my life begin as I start high school.

1989 Iran's Ayatollah Kohmeini declares Salman Rushdie's book "The Satanic Verses" to be offensive and sentences him to death. Thousands killed in Tiananmen Square as Chinese leaders take hard line toward demonstrators. The Berlin wall falls ending the divide between East and West Germany. General Colin Powell is appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Lucille Ball, Samuel Beckett, Salvadore Dali, Bette Davis, Billy Martin die. The Exxon Valdez hits an underwater coral reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound and causes the worst oil spill in US history. I attend my first REM concert and fall in love with Michael Stype and their music. I attend my first prom. The decade of Greed ends.

1990 Manuel Noriega surrenders in Panama. Nelson Mandela is freed after spending 27 1/2 yrs in prison. The "X" rating is replaced by "NC-17" (no children under 17 admitted). The Hubble telescope is launched. "The Simpsons" debuts on the Fox network. Mili Vanilli admit to lip-synching and have their Grammy revoked. "Seinfeld" debuts. B.F. Skinner, Gretta Garbo, Sammy Davis Jr. and Jim Henson die. I was in Florida when it was announced, playing nanny to 5 kids under 5 yrs old and swore I'd never have kids. I decide I want to be a Muppeteer. The Persian Gulf War begins and we wait for my father to be called to active duty (he was a Hazardous Materials specialist in the US Air Force).

1991 The Persian Gulf War end. My father no longer has to report to his superiors any time he leaves the Mahoning Valley allowing my mother to relax a bit. Anita Hill accuses Clarence Thomas of sexual harrasment. Thomas is appointed to the US Supreme Court anyway. Nirvana releases "Nevermind" introducing "Grunge Rock" into the lexicon. Paul Reubens (aka Pee Wee Herman) is arrested for indecent exposure. Jazz master Miles Davis, director Frank Capra and children's book author Theodore Geissel (aka Dr Seuss) die. I attend my junor prom and start thinking about colleges. I discover the band They Might Be Giants by watching an episode of "Tiny Toons" after school.

1992 George H.W. Bush and Boris Yeltzen declare an end to the Cold War. NAFTA is signed. Four police officers are first acquitted then convicted in the beating of LA resident Rodney King. Arkansas govenor Bill Clinton is elected President. CD's surpass cassette tapes as the music medium of choice. Johnny Carson hosts his last night of "The Tonight Show." Authors Alex Hailey and Issac Asimov, actor Anthony Perkins, and musician(?) Lawrence Welk die. I attend my final prom, get my heart broken and graduate within a month's time. I am accepted by my three college choices: Thiel, Hiram an Youngstown State. I chose Thiel b/cs of the financial aid package they gave me. I begin college and meet fasterthanlight and Hubby.

1993 The Branch Davidian religous cult is destroyed by fire in Waco, TX. US Federal agents accused of causing the fire that killed 72. The World Trade Center in NYC is bombed. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is appointed to the US Supreme Court. Actor River Phoenix dies of a drug overdose at 23. Actors Don Ameche, Audrey Hepburn, director Federico Fellini, jazz great Dizzy Gillespie and tennis legend Arthur Ashe die. I pledge a sorority and begin a 3 year relationship that erodes my self esteem to a dangerously low point. fasterthanlight and I get into an argument that causes us to not speak to one another for more than a year.

1994 US Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked in a conspiracy hatched by the ex-husband of fellow competitor Tonya Harding. Major League baseball players go on strike. I write about the strike in one of my first editorials as the Thielensian's editor in chief. Newt Gingrich is names Speaker of the House on my 21st birthday. Kurt Cobain commits suicide at age 27. Tom Hanks wins his second consecutive Oscar for "Forrest Gump." He had won in 1993 for "Philadelphia." "Pulp Fiction" revives the movie career of John Travolta. "ER" and "Friends" debut. Actors Burt Lancaster, Jessica Tandy, John Candy, jazz great Cab Calloway, former first lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and former president Richard Nixon die. The former wife of OJ Simpson and a friend are murdered; Simpson is the accused murderer. I declare the Thielensian to be OJ Simpson free for the rest of the year. Hubby graduates and moves to Washington, D.C. and I never expect to see him again.

1995 The death toll in the Rwanda massacare reaches 2,000. Bosnia and Croatia sign a peace agreement after escalating fighting in the region. The OJ Simpson trial finds him not guilty of the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. A bomb blows up the Oklahoma City Federal building killing 168 and 19 children. The Million Man March draws hundreds of thousands of black men to Washington D.C. For the first time in my life the Cleveland Indians are in the World Series but are defeated by the Atlanta Braves. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland, OH but the induction ceremony continues to be held in Los Angeles or NYC. Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead dies (millions of Deadheads still don't know). Art Modell takes the Cleveland Browns football franchise to Baltimore ignighting anger and hatred in the hearts of Browns fans everywhere. Baseball legend Mickey Mantle and voice of Monday Night Football Howard Cosell die. I start to ponder life after college and apply to several MLIS programs. I end the destructive relationship and don't get out of bed for almost the entire winter break.

1996 Theodore Kaczynski, the suspected Unibomer, is arrested. A Valuejet airplane crashes in the Everglades killing all aboard. TWA flight 800 bound for Paris crashes off the coast of Long Island, NY killing all aboard. Legendary performers Ella Fitzgerald, George Burns, Marcello Mastrianni and Gene Kelly, astronomer Carl Sagan, LSD guru Timothy Leary, and former VP Spiro Agnew die. I am rejected from the MLIS programs I apply to so I get a real job at MBNA and commute 90 minutes every day.

1997 Hong Kong returns to Chinese rule after 100 yrs under British rule. The Heaven's Gate Cult commits mass suicide in California. The Cleveland Indians are in the World Series, only to be defeted by the expansion team Florida Marlins. "Titanic" makes a huge splash at the box office and makes me question the sexuality of the guy I'm dating at the time as he liked the movie a little too much. Musician and friend of the Muppets John Denver, beat poet Allan Ginsburg, authors James Mitchner and William S. Boroughs, designer Gianni Versachi, actor and Indiana, PA native Jimmy Stewart, Princess Diana and Mother Teresa die. Princess Diana's death gets 3 times as much press as Mother Teresa's. I leave job from hell and take a job doing PR for a local YWCA and learn that bored doctors wives are not to be messed with or they'll make your life hell.

1998 President Clinton is accused of having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and is later impeached by the House. The Unibomber is sentenced to 4 life sentences; Terry Nichols is convicted of the Oklahoma City bombings and given a life sentence. Gay Wyoming student Matthew Shepard is fatally beaten to death. Ohio senator John Glenn, 77, returns to space in the space shuttle Discovery. Performers Gene Autry, Frank Sinatra and performer turned politician Sonny Bono, Olympic track star Florence Griffith Joyner die. I am dumped for only the second time in my life. I leave the YWCA and fight depression and unemployment for the better part of a year. Hubby gets my email address from someone we went to college with and we start emailing. We go on our first date to see Adam Sandler's "The Wedding Singer." I don't have the heart to tell him my brother and some of his friends took me to see it the week before in an effort to cheer me up. After a two year absence, fasterthanlight and I get back in touch.

1999 Nelson Mandela, first black president of South Africa, steps down. Students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold storm Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, killing twelve other students and a teacher, then themselves. John F. Kennedy Jr., wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her sister Lauren G. Bessette are lost at sea when a plane he was piloting disappears near Martha's Vineyard. After a three year absence, Cleveland has their Browns back. The world awaits the consequences of the Y2K bug, with more drastic millennial theorists warning of Armageddon. I begin working as a research coordinator at the Cleveland Clinic. Hubby and I move in together and adopt Princess Sophie. Film critic Gene Siskel, director Stanley Kubrick, actor George C. Scott, and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio die.

2000 The Y2K madness didn't happen for the most part. Cuban boy Elián González, 6, at center of international dispute, reunited with his father after federal raid of Miami relatives' home. Concorde crash kills 113 near Paris. Charles Shutlz retires from drawing the comic strip "Peanuts" and dies the night before the final strip is published after a bout with colon cancer. Human genome deciphered; expected to revolutionize the practice of medicine. Borche belt comics Steve Allen and Victor Borge, 1970's fashion designer Bonnie Cashin, actors Sir John Gielgud, Alec Guiness, Hedy Lamarr, Nancy Marchand (most recently known as Livia Soprano on "The Sopranos"), Walter Mattheau, and Jason Robards die. Hubby and I buy a condo in April. We get engaged Thanksgiving weekend. George W. Bush is elected President.

2001 Ariel Sharon wins election in Israel. Bill Clinton issues controversial pardons, including one for Marc Rich, billionaire fugitive financier. Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh executed. Hubby and I get married on September 1. On September 11, terrorists attack the US. We are in the middle of the ocean on a cruise ship and watch the horror unfold on CNN. New class of cancer drug announced. Researchers at San Francisco conference report new drug, Gleevec, shows promise in treating patients who do not respond to chemotherapy. Embryos created to harvest stem cells at Virginia clinic. Move breaks medical taboo and stirs national debate. Stem cells show promise in being able to regenerate human tissue of various kinds, with notable success in treating neurological diseases and conditions, such as Parkinson's disease and spinal cord damage. NASCAR legend Dale Ernhart, Beatles member George Harrison, actor Carol O'Connor (Archie Bunker), punk rock pioneer Joey Ramone, and southern author extrodinare Eudora Welty die.

2002 Former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic’s trial on charges of crimes against humanity opens at The Hague. ormer Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic’s trial on charges of crimes against humanity opens at The Hague. One of my cousins joins the Army, another joins the Air Force. Snipers prey upon DC suburbs, killing ten and wounding others (Oct. 2–24). Police arrest two sniper suspects, John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo. Hubby used to live in one of the areas affected by the shootings. Hormone replacement questioned. Study finds that drug therapy for menopausal women can cause increases in rate of breast cancer, heart attacks, blood clots, and strokes. Hubby and I start planning our move from Cleveland to Pittsburgh. I get hired by University of Pittsburgh, Hubby gets to telecommute from home. Author Stephen Ambrose, author/scientist Stephen Jay Gould, mob king pin John Gotti, advice columnist Ann Landers, performers Rosemary Clooney, Milton Berle, Peggy Lee, Dudley Moore, director Billy Wilder, sports legends Johnny Unitas and Ted Williams die.

2003 After a long 4 months of commuting, Hubby and I settle into our new lives in Pittsburgh. In State of the Union address, Bush announces that he is ready to attack Iraq even without a UN mandate. Space shuttle Columbia explodes, killing all 7 astronauts. California governor Gray Davis ousted in recall vote; actor Arnold Schwarzenegger elected in his place. The Pixar team released another animated treasure with Finding Nemo, a fish-out-of-water tale about pair of clown fish who brave dark waters and menacing aquatic creatures to be reunited. The film grossed more than $340 million. The Hubble telescope has detected the oldest known planet—and it appears to have been formed billions of years earlier than astronomers thought possible. Nicknamed Methuselah after the aged biblical patriarch, the planet is an astonishing 12.7 billion years old. Diet doctor Robert Adkins, musicians Johnny Cash, wife June Carter Cash, actors John Ritter, Katherine Hepburn, Gregory Peck, Gregory Hines, Bob Hope, PBS children's program host and Pittsburgh native Fred Rogers, US Senator and known bigot Strom Thurmond die.

2004 Armed rebels in Haiti force President Aristide to resign and flee the country. Yasir Arafat dies in Paris. Bush proposes ambitious space program that includes flights to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. George W. Bush is reelected president, defeats John Kerry. Hurricane Ivan ravages U.S. south. Remnants flood the greater Pittsburgh region. Australian and Indonesian archaeologists have unearthed skeletons of tiny people who are being called Homo floresiensis. These 3-foot-tall people had very long arms, heads the size of grapefruit, and are believed to have disappeared only 13,000 years ago, or perhaps even more recently. All is quiet on the Kitten and Hubby homefront. Performers Marlon Brando, Ray Charles, Alistaire Cooke, Spaulding Gray, Jerry Orbach, Tony Randall, Christopher Reeve, Peter Ustinov, former president Ronald Regan, chef Julia Childs, photographer Helmut Lange, writer and critic Susan Sontag die.

2005 It's not over yet, so who knows what's going to happen.

Wow. I didn't realize how much history I've lived through. And there's a heck of a lot that I've left out. Interesting, eh?