Just a Number

Since turning thirty-two, I've been feeling my age more so than any other year. There's a few gray hairs that mysteriously appeared, and a lot of fine lines have crept in. But every time I mention that I'm getting older, it seems someone is there with the line "it's just a number". That got me to thinking the other day. True it is a number but what if it was more than that? What if it was an important time in history? Instead of "On this date in history"what if it was "While I was this age in history"? So I decided to have a little fun and use the women in my family, or rather their ages, and see what was going on when they were my age.

When We Were Thirty-Two

My Paternal Grandmother:
(born 1910)
1942
Cost of gas per gallon: 15 cents
Women's Coast Guard Auxiliary established
Car makers switch from making cars to making war materials
26 countries agree to create the United Nations
The minimum draft age is lowered from 21 to 18
US gas rationing goes into effect 3 gallons per week

My Maternal Grandmother:
(born 1919)
1951
Cost of gas per gallon: 19 cents
22nd Amendment is ratified which limits Presidential office terms to 8 years (2 terms)
First nuclear bomb tests at Nevada test site
The term "Rock n Roll" is coined
The Dennis the Menace comic strip appears across the US in newspapers for the first time
First oral contraceptive is invented
Direct dial coast to coast telephone service begins in the US
First color television pictures broadcasts from the Empire State Building


My Mother:
(born 1935)
1967
Cost of gas per gallon 33 cents
The federal minimum wage is increased to $1.40 per hour
Thurgood Marshall becomes the first black justice on the Supreme Court
Muhammad Ali is stripped of his heavyweight title for refusing induction into US army
Elvis Presley marries Priscilla
The first Rolling Stone Magazine is published
Interracial Marriage is declared constitutional by the Supreme Court and barred states including Virginia from making interracial marriage a crime
Worlds first heart transplant operation in South Africa


My Sister:
(born 1964)
1996
Cost of gas per gallon: 1.22
Minimum hourly wage raised to $5.15
Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales get divorced
Mad Cow Disease hits Britain
The summer Olympics are held in Atlanta, Georgia in the US and a nail bomb is exploded in Centennial Olympic Park
In 12 Months number of Internet host computers goes from 1 million to 10 million
Ebay started the online auction and shopping website, where people buy and sell goods and services worldwide
Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to be successfully cloned


Me:
(born 1977)
2009

Cost of gas: buy a horse and buggy it'd be cheaper!
The first African American is elected President of the United States
Michael Jackson's death shocks millions and spurs worldwide mourning
Panic over the lethal swine flu or H1N1 pandemic caused at least one nation to eradicate pigs and others to stock pile vaccines
Nintendo launches new version of the DS with the DSi



And this just in:

Kristi turned 32! But hey, who cares?! It's just a number!







All facts provided by thepeoplehistory.com