In any nation, there tend to be a handful of events that are of such prominence that not just the event, but its date, is remembered for decades or centuries to come. Those who lived through them can usually tell you what they were doing that day.
The dates vary by country, but have included:
March 15, 44 BC
July 4, 1776
July 14, 1789
November 11, 1918
September 1, 1939
June 22, 1941
May 8, 1945
November 22, 1963
September 11, 2001
February 24, 2022
And December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy", to quote FDR.
It's now the 82nd anniversary of that date, at least in Hawaii, and it had me thinking about the permanence and impermanence of these dates and anniversaries.
Some of them are national holidays, of either the celebration or commemoration variety. These tend to live the longest in public consciousness; who in the U.S. is going to forget about the 4th of July?
Others are perhaps not quite so permanent. I had to check that I had November 22, 1963 correct (JFK), but I suspect my elders who lived through it would not have. And that relates to December 7th as well. My subjective opinion is that it is not as prominent as it was, say, 25 years ago.
It makes sense. Far fewer of those who were alive at the time are still alive now. And in 9/11, there's a more recent event of a generally similar nature. But it's still interesting to me. It's not inherently a bad thing; so much has changed since then, not least Japan being an ally of the U.S. rather than an enemy. I've argued for years that the more recent 9/11 has too prominent of a place in the public consciousness, though it seems to be somewhat lighter than it was ten years ago as well; that U.S. policy and society has moved so far beyond 1941 is better than the alternative.
Did you think of Pearl Harbor today (/yesterday)? Had you thought about it in recent years? If you're young enough not to have had living relatives who served in the Pacific Theater, was it ever a date that had meaning for you?
The dates vary by country, but have included:
March 15, 44 BC
July 4, 1776
July 14, 1789
November 11, 1918
September 1, 1939
June 22, 1941
May 8, 1945
November 22, 1963
September 11, 2001
February 24, 2022
And December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy", to quote FDR.
It's now the 82nd anniversary of that date, at least in Hawaii, and it had me thinking about the permanence and impermanence of these dates and anniversaries.
Some of them are national holidays, of either the celebration or commemoration variety. These tend to live the longest in public consciousness; who in the U.S. is going to forget about the 4th of July?
Others are perhaps not quite so permanent. I had to check that I had November 22, 1963 correct (JFK), but I suspect my elders who lived through it would not have. And that relates to December 7th as well. My subjective opinion is that it is not as prominent as it was, say, 25 years ago.
It makes sense. Far fewer of those who were alive at the time are still alive now. And in 9/11, there's a more recent event of a generally similar nature. But it's still interesting to me. It's not inherently a bad thing; so much has changed since then, not least Japan being an ally of the U.S. rather than an enemy. I've argued for years that the more recent 9/11 has too prominent of a place in the public consciousness, though it seems to be somewhat lighter than it was ten years ago as well; that U.S. policy and society has moved so far beyond 1941 is better than the alternative.
Did you think of Pearl Harbor today (/yesterday)? Had you thought about it in recent years? If you're young enough not to have had living relatives who served in the Pacific Theater, was it ever a date that had meaning for you?
