Days to Remember: Anniversaries of 2011

As we mark the sesquicentennial of each southern state’s secession, it might seem like the year ahead is shaping up to be wall-to-wall Civil War. But there’s so much more in the way of ‘Anniversary Journalism’ for us to rehash over the next twelve months. Here’s a look ahead at what we’ll be looking back on, in 2011.

Events are arranged by month, regardless of year, to reflect the order of expected media onslaught.

Above is a Civil War recruiting poster from 1862. I couldn’t hold it for next year—by then we’ll be on to the bicentennial of the War of 1812.

January 17, 1961

I know. You’ve heard the phrase “military industrial complex”

enough this year, to last you a lifetime. But if you haven’t watched

the actual clip, you MUST.

January 20, 1961
John F. Kennedy inauguration.


January 28, 1986
It's hard to believe that it's been 25 years since
the Challenger exploded.


February 4, 1911
Centennial of Ronald Reagan’s birth.

March 1, 1961
The Peace Corps is established. Poster, above(date unknown), Help Peace the World Together.

March 25, 1911
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire is depicted in this detail of History of the Needlecraft Industry, 1938, by Ernest Fiene.

March 26, 1911
Numerous festivals and events are planned for the centennialof the birth of Tennessee Williams. Above, covers designed byAlvin Lustig, for two of Williams’s plays .

April 17, 1961
The Museum of Playa Giron at Matanzas, Cuba, commemoratesthe failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba by exiles and the CIA 50 years ago.

April 26, 1986
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster.


May 11, 1811
Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker are born in Siam.

May 14, 1961
The Freedom Riders bus is firebombed.

May 23, 1911
The first Indy 500 was held at the Speedway on Memorial Day.

May 24, 1941
Bob Dylan, here on a “poster dress” from 1967, turns 70.

July 2, 1961
Hemingway’s death, by self-inflicted gunshot wound,
rated a front-page New York Times obit.

July 3, 1971
Jim Morrison dies in Paris at the age of 27. At the time of his death there were reportedly as many as 20 paternity actions pending against him. (Wikipedia)

August 4, 1961

President Obama might not have much else to celebrate

this year, but he does have a big birthday coming up.

September 11, 2001

October 5, 1961

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is released.

October 7, 2001

The U.S., launching Operation Enduring Freedom,

invades Afghanistan.

October 18, 1961

West Side Story is released.

December 2 , 2001

Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. For a detailed

account of Paul Rand’s “crooked E,” read Michael Bierut’s

The Smartest Logo in the Room on Design Observer.

December 11, 1961

The Vietnam War officially begins, as the first American

helicopters arrive in Saigon along with 400 U.S. personnel.