.1971

Magic is born in 1971

After suffering more than 50,000 casualties, the US reduces troops in Vietnam to 200,000 • In an attempt to put an end to rapid inflation, President Nixon announces 90 day wage freeze • Prison riot at Attica and the retaking of control by authorities leaves 49 dead • Roberto Clemente is the World Series Most Valuable Player, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates past Baltimore • The FDA approves soft contact lenses • Life expectancy is 71.1 years • The Hard Rock Café, the microprocessor, NASDAQ, and Disney World are born, and so am I

1970 • 1972

…..1985

A call that lives in infamy in St. Louis. Fortunately for me, it happened before I was really paying attention to baseball.

Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the leader of USSR’s Communist Party • Musical “Les Miserables” debuts in London • First all-Missouri World Series since 1944 pits Kansas City Royals against the Cardinals • Madonna kicks off the Virgin Tour • Coca Cola debuts a new taste, and reintroduces a classic • My poem about potholes is put in the time capsule at Hixson Junior High School, and before long the problem street I walk home on is repaired

1984 • 1986

……1987

Col. Oliver North testifies in the Iran-Contra affair, in which the US illegally sold arms to Iran to fund Nicaraguan rebels · Nazi leader Klaus Barbie convicted of World War II crimes against humanity · Consecutive shutouts in NLCS games six and seven send the Cardinals back to the World Series · I get my driver’s license, and soon afterward receive my only speeding ticket

1986 • 1988

…………2004

“Low-Carb” is the new diet trend • The state of Florida wins its first Stanley Cup when Tampa Bay beats Montreal, continuing Canada’s 10-year drought from Hockey’s championship • The world says goodbye to two truly super men, Former President Ronald Reagan and actor/crusader Christopher Reeve • Cursed no more after a stunning defeat of the Yankees, the Boston Red Sox sweep past the Cardinals in the World Series • Jen and I make our first trip together to the west coast, spending a couple days in a cloudy and cold San Diego

2003 • 2005

…………2005

“Heeeeeere’s Johnny!” The gates of Heaven welcome Rosa Parks and two notable Johns: Pope John Paul II, and late night television king Johnny Carson • Eighty-seven years after winning their last World Series titles–in consecutive seasons–the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox do it again • Hurricane Katrina lays waste to parts of New Orleans and elsewhere in the US South, leaving questions about disaster preparedness and racial inequality in its wake • I help make a superstar, as I dedicate my winter and spring to voting for Carrie Underwood on American Idol

2004 • 2006

…………2006

Once excited to find “Wahld hawyeena pooh,” wildlife expert and “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin is killed by a stingray • Former leaders accused of war crimes, Saddam Hussein is hanged in Iraq, while Serbia’s Slobodan Milosevic dies of a heart attack while awaiting trial • Abuses at a coalition military prison in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, call attention to troop leadership and interrogation practices • College sports’ Florida Gators win men’s basketball and football titles • The Cardinals win their division on the last day, with barely a winning record in the regular season , then net their 10th World Series title • I spend time in a prison cell when Jen and I take an audio tour of Alcatraz

2005 • 2007

…………..2011

A massive earthquake-generated tsunami wreaks havoc at nuclear plants in Japan, while another temblor closes the Washington Monument in the US • Riots erupt around the globe as leaders are ousted in the Middle East, economic crisis hits Greece, Wall Street executives are targeted, and Vancouver loses the Stanley Cup • A tornado devastates Joplin, Missouri • The war in Iraq comes to a quiet end • NASA retires the remaining space shuttle fleet • I give up on the Cardinals during spring training, late summer, and again in game six of the World Series, before watching them win another title in game seven

2010 • 2012

……………2013

Everyone does the Harlem Shake • Disgruntled brothers bomb the Boston Marathon • South African and international hero Nelson Mandela dies • Jimmy Fallon announced as the new host of the Tonight Show • The Cardinals win game 3 on an obstruction call, a World Series first, but fall to the Red Sox in six • I pet exotic creatures from the ocean, in the middle of a city and the heart of the Midwest, when Jen and I visit Sea Life Aquarium in Kansas City

2012 • 2014