{"id":209233,"date":"2014-05-28T01:02:50","date_gmt":"2014-05-28T01:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/05\/28\/dippity-do-not-touch-me-1949-harry-truman-was\/"},"modified":"2018-09-19T14:59:27","modified_gmt":"2018-09-19T14:59:27","slug":"dippity-do-not-touch-me-1949-harry-truman-was","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/05\/28\/dippity-do-not-touch-me-1949-harry-truman-was\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href='http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_mxpdy7ZAGs1r57mun.mp3'>tumblr_mxpdy7ZAGs1r57mun<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/rogersultrey.co.vu\/post\/69797260404\/1949-harry-truman-was-inaugurated-as-u-s\" target=\"_blank\">dippity-do-not-touch-me<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3><strong>1949<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Harry Truman<\/strong>\u00a0was inaugurated as\u00a0U.S. president\u00a0after being elected in 1948 to his own term; previously he was sworn in following the death of\u00a0Franklin D. Roosevelt. He authorized the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during\u00a0World War II, on August 6 and August 9, 1945, respectively.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Doris Day<\/strong>\u00a0enters the public spotlight with the films\u00a0<em>My Dream Is Yours<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>It\u2019s a Great Feeling<\/em>\u00a0as well as popular songs like \u201cIt\u2019s Magic\u201d; divorces her second husband.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Red China<\/strong>: The\u00a0Communist Party of China\u00a0wins the\u00a0Chinese Civil War, establishing the\u00a0People\u2019s Republic of China.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Johnnie Ray<\/strong>\u00a0signs his first recording contract with\u00a0Okeh Records, although he would not become popular for another two years.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>South Pacific<\/strong><\/em>, the prize-winning musical, opens on\u00a0Broadway\u00a0on April 7.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Walter Winchell<\/strong>\u00a0is an aggressive radio and newspaper\u00a0journalist\u00a0credited with inventing the\u00a0gossip column.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Joe DiMaggio<\/strong>\u00a0and the\u00a0New York Yankees\u00a0go to the\u00a0World Series\u00a0five times in the 1940s, winning four of them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1950<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Joe McCarthy<\/strong>, the\u00a0US Senator, gains national attention and begins his anti-communist crusade with his\u00a0Lincoln Day\u00a0speech.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Richard Nixon<\/strong>\u00a0is first elected to the\u00a0United States Senate.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Studebaker<\/strong>, a popular car company, begins its financial downfall.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Television<\/strong>\u00a0is becoming widespread throughout Europe and North America.<\/li>\n<li><strong>North Korea<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>South Korea<\/strong>\u00a0declare\u00a0war\u00a0after Northern forces stream south on June 25.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Marilyn Monroe<\/strong>\u00a0soars in popularity with five new movies, including\u00a0<em>The Asphalt Jungle<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>All About Eve<\/em>, and attempts suicide after the death of friend\u00a0Johnny Hyde\u00a0who asked to marry her several times, but she refused respectfully. Monroe would later (1954) be married for a brief time to Joe DiMaggio (mentioned in the previous verse).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1951<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>Rosenbergs<\/strong>, Ethel and Julius, were convicted on March 29 for\u00a0espionage.<\/li>\n<li><strong>H-Bomb<\/strong>\u00a0is in the middle of its development as a nuclear weapon, announced in early 1950 and first tested in late 1952.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sugar Ray<\/strong>\u00a0Robinson, a champion welterweight boxer.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Panmunjom<\/strong>, the border village in Korea, is the location of truce talks between the parties of the\u00a0Korean War.<\/li>\n<li>Marlon\u00a0<strong>Brando<\/strong>\u00a0is nominated for the\u00a0Academy Award for Best Actor\u00a0for his role in\u00a0<em>A Streetcar Named Desire<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>The King and I<\/strong><\/em>, musical, opens on\u00a0Broadway\u00a0on March 29.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>The Catcher in the Rye<\/strong><\/em>, a controversial novel by\u00a0J. D. Salinger, is published.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1952<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Dwight D.\u00a0<strong>Eisenhower<\/strong>\u00a0is first elected as U.S. president, winning by a landslide margin of 442 to 89\u00a0electoral votes.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>vaccine<\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0polio\u00a0is privately tested by\u00a0Jonas Salk.<\/li>\n<li><strong>England\u2019s got a new queen<\/strong>: Queen\u00a0Elizabeth II\u00a0succeeds to the throne upon the death of her father,\u00a0George VI, and is\u00a0crowned\u00a0the next year.<\/li>\n<li>Rocky\u00a0<strong>Marciano<\/strong>\u00a0defeats\u00a0Jersey Joe Walcott, becoming the world\u00a0Heavyweight champion.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Liberace<\/strong>\u00a0has a popular 1950s television show for his musical entertainment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Santayana goodbye<\/strong>:\u00a0George Santayana,\u00a0philosopher,\u00a0essayist,\u00a0poet, and\u00a0novelist, dies on September 26.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1953<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Joseph Stalin<\/strong>\u00a0dies on March 5, yielding his position as leader of the\u00a0Soviet Union.<\/li>\n<li>Georgy Maksimilianovich\u00a0<strong>Malenkov<\/strong>\u00a0succeeds Stalin for six months following his death. Malenkov had presided over Stalin\u2019s purges of party \u201cenemies\u201d, but would be spared a similar fate by Nikita Khrushchev mentioned later in verse.<\/li>\n<li>Gamal Abdel\u00a0<strong>Nasser<\/strong>\u00a0acts as the true power behind the new\u00a0Egyptian\u00a0nation as\u00a0Muhammad Naguib\u2019s minister of the interior.<\/li>\n<li>Sergei\u00a0<strong>Prokofiev<\/strong>, the composer, dies on March 5, the same day as Stalin.<\/li>\n<li>Winthrop\u00a0<strong>Rockefeller<\/strong>\u00a0and his wife Barbara are involved in a highly publicized divorce, culminating in 1954 with a record-breaking $5.5 million settlement.<sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-12\">[12]<\/sup><\/li>\n<li>Roy\u00a0<strong>Campanella<\/strong>, an African-American baseball catcher for the\u00a0Brooklyn Dodgers, receives the\u00a0National League\u2019s\u00a0Most Valuable Player\u00a0award for the second time.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Communist bloc<\/strong>\u00a0is a group of\u00a0communist\u00a0nations dominated by the Soviet Union at this time. Probably a reference to the\u00a0Uprising of 1953 in East Germany.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1954<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Roy Cohn<\/strong>\u00a0resigns as\u00a0Joseph McCarthy\u2019s chief counsel and enters\u00a0private practice\u00a0with the\u00a0fall of McCarthy. He also worked to prosecute the\u00a0Rosenbergs, mentioned earlier.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Juan Per\u00f3n<\/strong>\u00a0spends his last full year as\u00a0President of Argentina\u00a0before a September 1955 coup.<\/li>\n<li>Arturo\u00a0<strong>Toscanini<\/strong>\u00a0is at the height of his fame as a conductor, performing regularly with the\u00a0NBC Symphony Orchestra\u00a0on national radio.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dacron<\/strong>\u00a0is an early artificial fiber made from the same plastic as\u00a0polyester.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dien Bien Phu falls<\/strong>. A village in North Vietnam falls to\u00a0Viet Minh\u00a0forces under\u00a0Vo Nguyen Giap, leading to the creation of\u00a0North Vietnam\u00a0and\u00a0South Vietnam\u00a0as separate states.<\/li>\n<li><strong>&ldquo;Rock Around the Clock&rdquo;<\/strong>\u00a0is a hit single released by\u00a0Bill Haley &amp; His Comets\u00a0in May, spurring worldwide interest in\u00a0rock and roll\u00a0music.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1955<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Albert\u00a0<strong>Einstein<\/strong>\u00a0dies on April 18 at the age of 76.<\/li>\n<li><strong>James Dean<\/strong>\u00a0achieves success with\u00a0<em>East of Eden<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>Rebel Without a Cause<\/em>, gets nominated for an\u00a0Academy Award for Best Actor, and dies in a car accident on September 30 at the age of 24.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Brooklyn\u2019s got a winning team<\/strong>: The\u00a0Brooklyn Dodgers\u00a0win the\u00a0World Series\u00a0for the only time before\u00a0their move to Los Angeles.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Davy Crockett<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is a\u00a0Disney\u00a0television\u00a0miniseries\u00a0about the legendary frontiersman of\u00a0the same name. The show was a huge hit with young boys and inspired a short-lived \u201ccoonskin cap\u201d craze.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Peter Pan<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is broadcast on TV live and in color from\u00a0the 1954 version of the stage musical\u00a0starring\u00a0Mary Martin\u00a0on March 7.\u00a0Disney\u00a0released\u00a0an animated version\u00a0the previous year.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Elvis Presley<\/strong>\u00a0signs with\u00a0RCA Records\u00a0on November 21, beginning his pop career.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Disneyland<\/strong>\u00a0opens on July 17, 1955 as Walt Disney\u2019s first theme park.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1956<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Brigitte\u00a0<strong>Bardot<\/strong>\u00a0appears in her first mainstream film\u00a0<em>And God Created Woman<\/em>\u00a0and establishes an international reputation as a French \u201csex kitten\u201d.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Budapest<\/strong>\u00a0is the capital city of\u00a0Hungary\u00a0and site of the\u00a01956 Hungarian Revolution.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alabama<\/strong>\u00a0is the site of the\u00a0Montgomery Bus Boycott\u00a0which ultimately led to the removal of the last race laws in the USA.\u00a0Rosa Parks\u00a0and\u00a0Martin Luther King, Jr\u00a0figure prominently.<\/li>\n<li>Nikita\u00a0<strong>Khrushchev<\/strong>\u00a0makes his famous\u00a0Secret Speech\u00a0denouncing Stalin\u2019s \u201ccult of personality\u201d on February 25.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Princess Grace<\/strong>\u00a0Kelly\u00a0releases her last film,\u00a0<em>High Society<\/em>, and marries\u00a0Prince Rainier III of Monaco.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Peyton Place<\/strong><\/em>, the best-selling novel by\u00a0Grace Metalious, is published. Though mild compared to today\u2019s prime time, it shocked the reserved values of the 1950s.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Trouble in the Suez<\/strong>: The Suez Crisis boils as\u00a0Egypt\u00a0nationalizes the\u00a0Suez Canal\u00a0on October 29.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1957<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Little Rock<\/strong>, Arkansas is the site of an anti-integration standoff, as\u00a0Governor\u00a0Orval Faubus\u00a0stops the\u00a0Little Rock Nine\u00a0from attending\u00a0Little Rock Central High School\u00a0and President\u00a0Dwight D. Eisenhower\u00a0deploys the\u00a0101st Airborne Division\u00a0to counteract him.<\/li>\n<li>Boris\u00a0<strong>Pasternak<\/strong>, the Russian author, publishes his famous novel\u00a0<em>Doctor Zhivago<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mickey Mantle<\/strong>\u00a0is in the middle of his career as a famous\u00a0New York Yankees\u00a0outfielder and American League\u00a0All-Star\u00a0for the sixth year in a row.<\/li>\n<li>Jack\u00a0<strong>Kerouac<\/strong>\u00a0publishes his first novel in seven years,\u00a0<em>On the Road<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sputnik<\/strong>\u00a0becomes the first\u00a0artificial satellite, launched by the\u00a0Soviet Union\u00a0on October 4, marking the start of the\u00a0space race.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chou En-Lai<\/strong>,\u00a0Premier of the People\u2019s Republic of China, survives an assassination attempt on the charter airliner\u00a0<em>Kashmir Princess<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Bridge on the River Kwai<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is released as a film adaptation of\u00a0the 1954 novel\u00a0and receives seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.<sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-13\">[13]<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1958<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lebanon<\/strong>\u00a0is engulfed in a\u00a0political and religious crisis\u00a0that eventually involves U.S. intervention.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Charles de Gaulle<\/strong>\u00a0is elected first president of the\u00a0French Fifth Republic\u00a0following the\u00a0Algerian Crisis.<\/li>\n<li><strong>California baseball<\/strong>\u00a0begins as the\u00a0Brooklyn Dodgers\u00a0and\u00a0New York Giants\u00a0move to California and become the\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0and\u00a0San Francisco Giants. They are the first major league teams west of\u00a0Kansas City.<\/li>\n<li>Charles\u00a0<strong>Starkweather<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Homicide<\/strong>\u00a0captures the attention of Americans, in which he kills eleven people between January 25 and 29 before being caught in a massive manhunt in\u00a0Douglas, Wyoming.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Children of Thalidomide<\/strong>: Mothers taking the drug Thalidomide had children born with congenital\u00a0birth defects\u00a0caused by the sleeping aid and\u00a0antiemetic, which was also used at times to treat\u00a0morning sickness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1959<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Buddy Holly<\/strong>\u00a0dies in\u00a0a plane crash\u00a0on February 3 with\u00a0Ritchie Valens\u00a0and\u00a0The Big Bopper, in a day that had a devastating impact on the country and youth culture. Joel prefaces the lyric with a Holly signature vocal hiccup: \u201cUh-huh, uh-huh.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Ben-Hur<\/strong><\/em>, a film based around the\u00a0New Testament\u00a0starring\u00a0Charlton Heston, wins eleven\u00a0Academy Awards, including Best Picture.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Space Monkey<\/strong>: Able and Miss Baker return to Earth from space aboard the flight\u00a0Jupiter AM-18.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>Mafia<\/strong>\u00a0are the center of attention for the\u00a0FBI\u00a0and public attention builds to this organized crime society with a historically Sicilian-American origin.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hula hoops<\/strong>\u00a0reach 100 million in sales as the latest toy fad.<\/li>\n<li>Fidel\u00a0<strong>Castro<\/strong>\u00a0comes to power after a\u00a0revolution\u00a0in\u00a0Cuba\u00a0and visits the United States later that year on an unofficial twelve-day tour.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Edsel\u00a0is a no-go<\/strong>: Production of this car marque ends after only three years due to poor sales.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1960<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>U-2<\/strong>: An American U-2 spy plane piloted by\u00a0Francis Gary Powers\u00a0was shot down over the\u00a0Soviet Union, causing the\u00a0U-2 Crisis of 1960.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Syngman Rhee<\/strong>\u00a0was rescued by the\u00a0CIA\u00a0after being forced to resign as leader of\u00a0South Korea\u00a0for allegedly fixing an election and embezzling more than US $20 million.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Payola<\/strong>, illegal payments for radio broadcasting of songs, was publicized due to\u00a0Dick Clark\u2019s testimony before Congress and\u00a0Alan Freed\u2019s public disgrace.<\/li>\n<li>John F.\u00a0<strong>Kennedy<\/strong>\u00a0beats\u00a0Richard Nixon\u00a0in the November 8 general\u00a0election.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chubby Checker<\/strong>\u00a0popularizes the dance\u00a0The Twist\u00a0with his cover of the\u00a0song of the same name.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Psycho<\/strong><\/em>: An\u00a0Alfred Hitchcock\u00a0thriller, based on a pulp novel by\u00a0Robert Bloch\u00a0and adapted by\u00a0Joseph Stefano, which becomes a landmark in graphic violence and cinema sensationalism. The screeching violins heard briefly in the background of the song are a trademark of the film\u2019s soundtrack.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Belgians in the Congo<\/strong>: The\u00a0Republic of the Congo (Leopoldville)\u00a0was declared independent of\u00a0Belgium\u00a0on June 30, with\u00a0Joseph Kasavubu\u00a0as President and\u00a0Patrice Lumumba\u00a0as Prime Minister.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1961<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Ernest\u00a0<strong>Hemingway<\/strong>\u00a0commits suicide on July 2 after a long battle with\u00a0depression.<\/li>\n<li>Adolf\u00a0<strong>Eichmann<\/strong>, a \u201cmost wanted\u201d\u00a0Nazi\u00a0war criminal, is traced to\u00a0Argentina\u00a0and captured by\u00a0Mossad\u00a0agents. He is covertly taken to\u00a0Israel\u00a0where he is put on trial for\u00a0crimes against humanityin\u00a0Germany\u00a0during\u00a0World War II, convicted, and hanged.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>Stranger in a Strange Land<\/strong><\/em>, written by\u00a0Robert A. Heinlein, is a breakthrough best-seller with themes of sexual freedom and liberation.<\/li>\n<li>Bob\u00a0<strong>Dylan<\/strong>\u00a0is signed to\u00a0Columbia Records\u00a0after a\u00a0<em>New York Times<\/em>\u00a0review by critic\u00a0Robert Shelton.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Berlin<\/strong>\u00a0is separated into\u00a0West Berlin\u00a0and\u00a0East Berlin, and from the rest of\u00a0East Germany, when the\u00a0Berlin Wall\u00a0is erected on August 13 to prevent citizens escaping to the West.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>Bay of Pigs Invasion<\/strong>\u00a0fails, an attempt by\u00a0United States-trained\u00a0Cuban exiles\u00a0to invade\u00a0Cuba\u00a0and overthrow\u00a0Fidel Castro.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1962<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Lawrence of Arabia<\/strong><\/em>: The\u00a0Academy Award-winning film based on the life of\u00a0T. E. Lawrence\u00a0starring\u00a0Peter O\u2019Toole\u00a0premieres in America on December 16.<\/li>\n<li><strong>British\u00a0Beatlemania<\/strong>:\u00a0The Beatles, a\u00a0British\u00a0rock group, gain\u00a0Ringo Starr\u00a0as drummer and\u00a0Brian Epstein\u00a0as manager, and join the\u00a0EMI\u2019s\u00a0Parlophone\u00a0label. They soon become the world\u2019s most famous rock band, with the word \u201cBeatlemania\u201d adopted by the press for their fans\u2019 unprecedented enthusiasm. It also began the\u00a0British Invasion\u00a0in the United States.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ole\u2019 Miss<\/strong>:\u00a0James Meredith\u00a0integrates\u00a0the University of Mississippi<\/li>\n<li><strong>John Glenn<\/strong>: Flew the first American manned orbital mission termed \u201cFriendship 7\u201d on February 20.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Liston beats Patterson<\/strong>: Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson fight for the world\u00a0heavyweight\u00a0championship on September 25, ending in a first-round knockout. This match marked the first time Patterson had ever been knocked out and one of only eight losses in his 20-year professional career.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1963<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Pope Paul<\/strong>\u00a0VI: Cardinal Giovanni Montini is elected to the\u00a0papacy\u00a0and takes the\u00a0papal name\u00a0of Paul VI.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Malcolm X<\/strong>\u00a0makes his infamous statement \u201cThe chickens have come home to roost\u201d about the Kennedy assassination, thus causing the\u00a0Nation of Islam\u00a0to censor him.<\/li>\n<li><strong>British politician sex<\/strong>: The British Secretary of State for War,\u00a0John Profumo, has a relationship with a showgirl, and then lies when questioned about it before the\u00a0House of Commons. When the truth came out, it led to his own resignation and undermined the credibility of the Prime Minister.<\/li>\n<li><strong>JFK blown away<\/strong>: President\u00a0John F. Kennedy\u00a0is\u00a0assassinated\u00a0on November 22 while riding in an open convertible through Dallas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1965<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Birth control<\/strong>: In the early 1960s, oral contraceptives, popularly known as \u201cthe pill\u201d, first go on the market and are extremely popular.\u00a0<em>Griswold v. Connecticut<\/em>\u00a0in 1965 challenged a Connecticut law prohibiting contraceptives. In 1968,\u00a0Pope Paul VI\u00a0released a papal\u00a0encyclical\u00a0entitled\u00a0<em>Humanae Vitae<\/em>\u00a0which declared artificial birth control a sin.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ho Chi Minh<\/strong>: A\u00a0Vietnamese\u00a0communist, who served as\u00a0President of Vietnam\u00a0from 1954\u20131969. March 2 Operation Rolling Thunder begins bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail supply line from North Vietnam to the Vietcong rebels in the south. On March 8, the first U.S. combat troops, 3,500 marines, land in South Vietnam.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1968<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Richard Nixon\u00a0back again<\/strong>: Former Vice President Nixon is elected President in\u00a01968.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1969<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Moonshot<\/strong>:\u00a0Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing, successfully lands on the moon.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Woodstock<\/strong>: Famous rock and roll festival of 1969 that came to be the epitome of the\u00a0counterculture\u00a0movement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1974\u201375<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Watergate<\/strong>: Political scandal that began when the Democratic National Committee\u2019s headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, DC was broken into. After the break-in, word began to spread that President Richard Nixon (a Republican) may have known about the break-in, and tried to cover it up. The scandal would ultimately result in the resignation of President Nixon, and to date, this remains the only time that anyone has ever resigned the\u00a0United States\u00a0Presidency.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Punk rock<\/strong>: The\u00a0Ramones\u00a0form, with the\u00a0Sex Pistols\u00a0following in 1975, bringing in the punk era.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1976\u201377<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>(An item from 1977 comes before three items from 1976 to make the song\u00a0scan.)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Menachem\u00a0<strong>Begin<\/strong>\u00a0becomes\u00a0Prime Minister of Israel\u00a0in 1977 and negotiates the\u00a0Camp David Accords\u00a0with\u00a0Egypt\u2019s president in 1978.<\/li>\n<li>Ronald\u00a0<strong>Reagan<\/strong>\u00a0was elected\u00a0President of the United States\u00a0in 1980, but he first attempted to run for the position\u00a0in 1976.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Palestine<\/strong>: a United Nations resolution that calls for an independent Palestinian state and to end the Israeli occupation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Terror on the airline<\/strong>: Numerous\u00a0aircraft hijackings\u00a0take place, specifically, the Palestinian hijack of\u00a0Air France Flight 139\u00a0and the subsequent\u00a0Operation Entebbe\u00a0in\u00a0Uganda.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1979<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ayatollah\u2019s\u00a0in\u00a0Iran<\/strong>: During the\u00a0Iranian Revolution\u00a0of 1979, the West-backed and secular\u00a0Shah\u00a0is overthrown as the Ayatollah\u00a0Ruhollah Khomeini\u00a0gains power after years in exile and forces Islamic law.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Russians in Afghanistan<\/strong>: Following their move into\u00a0Afghanistan, Soviet forces fight a ten-year war, from 1979 to 1989.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1983<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Wheel of Fortune<\/strong><\/em>: A hit television\u00a0game show\u00a0which has been TV\u2019s highest-rated syndicated program since 1983.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sally Ride<\/strong>: In\u00a01983\u00a0she becomes the first\u00a0American\u00a0woman in space. Ride\u2019s quip from space \u201cBetter than an\u00a0E-ticket\u201d, harkens back to the opening of Disneyland mentioned earlier, with the E-ticket purchase needed for the best rides.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Heavy metal\u00a0suicide<\/strong>: In the 1980s\u00a0Ozzy Osbourne\u00a0and the bands\u00a0Judas Priest\u00a0and\u00a0Metallica\u00a0were brought to court by parents who accused the musicians of\u00a0hiding subliminal pro-suicide messages in their music.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Foreign debts<\/strong>: Persistent U.S. trade deficits<\/li>\n<li><strong>Homeless\u00a0vets<\/strong>: Veterans of the\u00a0Vietnam War, including many disabled ex-military, are reported to be left homeless and impoverished.<\/li>\n<li><strong>AIDS<\/strong>: A collection of symptoms and infections in humans resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It is first detected and recognized in the 1980s, and was on its way to becoming a\u00a0pandemic.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Crack<\/strong>\u00a0cocaine\u00a0use surged in the mid-to-late 1980s.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1984<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bernie Goetz<\/strong>: On December 22, Goetz shot four young men who he said were threatening him on a New York City subway. Goetz was charged with attempted murder but was acquitted of the charges, though convicted of carrying an unlicensed gun.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1988<\/strong><span class=\"mw-editsection-bracket\"><br \/><\/span><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Hypodermics on the shore<\/strong>: Medical waste was found washed up on\u00a0beaches\u00a0in\u00a0New Jersey\u00a0after being illegally dumped at sea. Before this event, waste dumped in the oceans was an \u201cout of sight, out of mind\u201d affair. This has been cited as one of the crucial turning points in popular opinion on\u00a0environmentalism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>1989<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>China\u2019s under\u00a0martial law<\/strong>: On May 20, China declares martial law, enabling them to use force of arms against protesting students to end the\u00a0Tiananmen Square protests.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rock-and-roller\u00a0cola wars<\/strong>: Soft drink giants\u00a0Coke\u00a0and\u00a0Pepsi\u00a0each run marketing campaigns using\u00a0rock &amp; roll\u00a0and popular music stars to reach the teenage and young adult demographic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Short summaries of all 119 references mentioned in the song, you\u2019re welcome\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>tumblr_mxpdy7ZAGs1r57mun dippity-do-not-touch-me: 1949 Harry Truman\u00a0was inaugurated as\u00a0U.S. president\u00a0after being elected in 1948 to his own term; previously he was sworn in following the death of\u00a0Franklin D. Roosevelt. He authorized the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during\u00a0World War II, on August 6 and August 9, 1945, respectively. Doris Day\u00a0enters the public &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/05\/28\/dippity-do-not-touch-me-1949-harry-truman-was\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[1706,261,22053,4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209233"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209233"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209235,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209233\/revisions\/209235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}