2009 Anniversaries

At the start of a new year, you might want to know what events from history will be marked this year. You could always wait for CNN to tell you what happened 50, 100, or 200 years ago, but what if you wanted to check it out yourself by using Wikipedia? How would you do it?

Wikipedia is chock full of dates, so you can use sophisticated category searches to find what you're looking for. You can search a particular year right from the search window. But Wiki categories might be a better option. To move around freely among the years in Wiki categories, click the years category or put Category:Years in the search window. If you happen to be on a year category page, go to the bottom of the page and click the years category. Once you're on the main Years page, you can readily move between centuries using the box at the top, then use the list of years within a century to move about.

So, in our case, click on 1500 in the box on the Years category page. Once you have a list of individual years, select 1509 to see events that will have their 500th anniversary this year. You'll see in 1509 Births that John Calvin was born, certainly a major event that will be celebrated among some Christians this year. Maybe you'll see something in those lists that interests you?

Let's take a look at the Wiki category for the year 1809. Across the top of the page is a convenient time line, which allows you to move between years within the decade 1800-1809, as well as to move one decade either way -- 1790s or 1810s. The 1809 page lists some common subcategories for 200th anniversary events for the coming year.

• On the second page of 1809 Births, for example, you will see a listing for Abraham Lincoln, as well as the father of Oliver Wendell Holmes.
  
• 1809 in Law lists the Treaty of Fort Wayne signed September 30th led to Tecumseh's War. Oklahoma State University hosts a site with the text of Indian Affairs:Laws and Treaties, edited by Charles J. Cappler in 1904, which shows the text of the 1809 treaty. (Someone may wish to add the dates of signature and proclamation to the Wiki article.)

I did a similar search of 1009 to see what might be a millenial event this year. (Note that there are fewer and fewer known events the further back in time you go.) You'll see that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was destroyed in 1009 in a local effort to discourage Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Lands at Easter time. This provoked a backlash in Christian Europe that eventually led to the Crusades in 1099. Don't be surprised if current day terrorists seek to mark October 18th, the day that a Fatimid caliph began carrying out the destruction of the memorial to Christ's tomb by hacking down the edifice to its 4th century foundations.

If you want to try some websites other than Wikipedia, try WordPress's IdeasForWriters blog, which lists forthcoming historic events. (I stumbled upon the April 2009 blog page, but you can dig around on the site for other tools.) The British Society for the History of Science also has a 2009 Anniversaries page. NPR's All Things Considered points out that we're coming upon the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allen Poe's birth and the 50th anniversary of Alaska's statehood. The Washington Post's Travel Log adds Henry VIII's ascension to the throne and the fall of the Berlin Wall as notable anniversaries in 2009. (The Berlin Wall is categorized in Wiki as a 1989 disestablishment, btw.)

I checked my FIOS system after writing yesterday's blog piece and found that I can set up favorite places. There is a cute little heart on the remote that switches Favorites on and off. Unfortunately, FIOS switches the option off at the drop of a hat for who knows what reason, so I have to keep checking to see whether I am plowing through a thousand channels or just the ones I want to check.

Thanks to all you who read my blog. I wish you the best in the coming year. Have fun and work hard in whatever might be your endeavors. Pursue your genealogies and local histories, and be sure to support Wikipedia.

The artwork above is called Celebration 3 and can be found at http://www.abm-enterprises.net/fractals/celebration3wallpaper.html.