Sunday, June 7, 2009

Years to Remember

What was the most important year ever? That’s the question Andrew Marr opens for discussion in an article up now on Intelligent Life, a quarterly sister publication of the Economist.

Marr makes a strong case for 1776, the year American was born. He’s pretty convincing. But many online commentators strongly disagree with good reason in looking over history going as far back as 480 B.C.

In recent decades I tend to think 1989 stands as the most important year historically. The abrupt end of the Cold War certainly reshaped the world as we know it. Before that, 1968 has to rate high, as author Mark Kurlansky shows in his vivid book 1968: The Year That Rocked the World.

Lately I’ve been reading 1421: The Year China Discovered the World by Gavin Menzies. If you have not heard of the book, it’s a fascinating study on how imperial China almost certainly reached the New World with voyages of discovery well before the Europeans did.

I think you can argue that China offered another world-shaping year in 1949, when Mao Zedong established the People’s Republic of China and made himself per capita the most powerful dictator history has ever known. The advent of modern China arguably looks set to shape as many lives around the world now and in the future as the advent of America has, a point Marr stresses in highlighting 1776.

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