As we eagerly await the new class of freshmen entering this fall, it’s time for a reality check for those of us who are a bit older than 18. We need to update our tried and true examples–some of you, like myself, used to use news of JFK’s assassination as an example of “flashbulb memories.” Hmmm.
Keep checking back to Beloit College, and their sobering yet hilarious “mindset” collections. They tell us what changes have taken place in the lifespans of our new students.
In the meantime, here is my personal list of interesting things that happened in 1989, the birth year of our entering class:
George H.W. Bush succeeded Ronald Reagan as President of the United States.
The Soviet Union left Afghanistan.
Ted Bundy was executed.
A $3 million bounty was placed on Satanic Verses author Salmon Rushdie by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran.
The Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil after running aground.
Dilbert, Seinfeld, and The Simpsons debut.
Protests take place in Tiananmen Square.
Pete Rose agrees to a lifetime ban from baseball.
East Germany opens its checkpoints in the Berlin Wall.
U.S. troops deploy to Panama to oust Manuel Noriega.
Michelle Wie and Daniel Radcliffe are born.
Emperor Hirohito, Lucille Ball, and Konrad Lorenz die.
Corvette does not have its finest hour.
The University of Miami won the NCAA football national championship, and the San Francisco 49ers beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl.
Feeling old yet?
5 Comments
Emon · August 9, 2007 at 11:58 am
Two of my favorites, Irving Berlin – at 101- and Samuel Beckett (83) died the same year. Who knows – and ay dios mio, if so – if Berlin came back as Sanjaya Malakar, born the same year. Nah…Berlin died 12 days later.
Laura Freberg · August 9, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Could be close enough, Emon…but that’s a scary idea!
denatz · October 6, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Thank you for the blast to the past. It triggered many memories of what I was doing in 1989. I was two years into my military career, statinoned at a Marine Corps base that is no longer in existence today. I recall the change of command from former President Reagan to President George H. W. Bush, who later commanded us into the Gulf War. I also recall the 49ers superbowl. As for the Corvette, do they still even make that car.
University Update - Daniel Radcliffe - Welcome, Class of 2011! · August 9, 2007 at 12:59 pm
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[…] So to supplement what my Professor bride discussed in her blog ( about what incoming college freshman know from their lives), her is a few other things that happened in the birth year (1989) of today’s college freshman: […]
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