A Great Game

How Old was Mr./Ms. 60 When…?

The guest of honor is turning 60 years old but what does that really mean? An age like that is too abstract. People need to think about it in terms they understand. Many people, especially the young, tend to confuse events that occurred a decade ago with things that happened at the turn of the century. Also, learning that the guest of honor was 21 when long-forgotten events took place is reminder of just ancient he really is.

Create a questionnaire with significant events listed (but not the dates, obviously), and let people guess the guest of honor’s age when each occurred. Mix in some personal facts along with more national events.

Here’s a few to get you started. Many more are easily available online.

Moon landing

July 20, 1969

Challenger Disaster

January 28, 1986

Columbine Massacre

April 20, 1999

Dr. Martin Luther King assassinated

April 4, 1968

First “test tube baby”

July 25, 1978

Beginning of Tet Offensive in Vietnam

January 30, 1968

Date last troops left South Vietnam

March 29, 1973

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

June 2, 1953

(Extra credit: She ascended to the throne on death of her father, King George VI, February 6, 1952)

Watergate Break in

June 17, 1972

Summer of Love

1967

Death of Malcolm X

February 21, 1965

Admission of Hawaii as the 50th state

August 21, 1959

Berlin Wall Erected

August 13, 1961

Cuban Missile Crisis

October 15-28, 1962

IBM Personal Computer introduced

August 12, 1981

Pong first installed in a bar

September 1972

Sputnik I launched

October 4, 1957

First successful heart transplant

December 3, 1967

Death of first heart transplant recipient

December 21, 1967

Kidnapping of Patricia Hearst

February 5, 1974