20015--A YEAR OF NOTABLE ANNIVERSARIES

It’s 2015. Are you feeling old? If you’re of a certain age, keep reading, and you surely will because 2015 is the year of many notable cultural anniversaries. Here are a few that had me asking, “Has it really been that long?”:

60^th Anniversary

Remember “Rock Around the Clock”? Most of you will remember the Bill Haley and the Comet’s song from “Happy Days,” but it began life as the theme to the 1955 movie “Blackboard Jungle.” And who hasn’t caught reruns of Jackie Gleason’s “Honeymooners” at some point? The show’s classic 39 episodes began 60 years ago on October 1, 1955.

50^th Anniversary

1965 was a year of cultural phenomenon. We had the release of “The Sound of Music” in the movies and the musical release of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones. In addition, the Beatles played Shea Stadium, and we were introduced to Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 on TV.

40^th Anniversary

1975 introduced the disco dance craze (and—unfortunately—the pastel polyester leisure suit) with the release of “The Hustle.” We also saw the debut of “Saturday Night Live” and the release of “Jaws,” a movie that kept us all out of the ocean that summer. New Jersey native Bruce Springsteen also made the leap from The Stone Pony in Asbury Park to national prominence with the launch of “Born to Run.”

30^th Anniversary

In 1985 we were introduced to Marty McFly and a time-traveling DeLorean in “Back to the Future.” We also met “The Golden Girls.”

20^th Anniversary

The first full-length Star Trek movie, “Star Trek: Voyager,” had us sitting through the longest, most boring opening scene of any movie ever made. In 1995 we also said goodbye to Jerry Garcia and hello to Buzz Lightyear and Woody.

10^th Anniversary

February 14^th, 2005 was the launch of YouTube. How many cat videos have you viewed in the past ten years?

Happy anniversary!