Does your 'era' define you?

I'm not much for astrology or similar sophistry intended to define a person by when they were born.  However, I do believe that who a person turns out to be is, at least in part, influenced by the era during which he/she came into the world.

Here's a little list I whipped up (call it a meme, if you must) where you can jot down as much or as little era-related data about yourself as you wish.  Your results (or at least the search for the results) should prove interesting.  Mine sure did:

Year you were born: 1961

Generation: 'Baby Boomer'

One or more national leaders that year: JFK (U.S.), David Ben Gurion (Israel), Nikita (no, not 'La Femme') Khrushchev (USSR)

Other big names of the day: Martin Luther King Jr., Roger Maris*, Yuri Gagarin, Alan Shepard, Joseph Heller (who publishes a book with a catchy name)

News headlines from that year: Cold War, Mercury (rocket) program, Freedom Riders, Bay of Pigs, Cuba goes communist, Hemingway dies of 'lead poisoning', Mad Magazine points out that 1961 is the first year since 1881 that looks the same when viewed upside-down.  Barbie gets a boyfriend named Ken, The Marshall Plan expires after having distributed more than $12 Billion in aid to help rebuild Europe, setting a high, but by no means unachievable, goal for an as-yet-unknown people called 'Palestinians' (although without the need for a successful return on investment).  Over in Berlin the Soviets start building some sort of wall...

Books from the crib: 'Curious George', 'The Cat in the Hat', 'Horton Hears a Who', 'Green Eggs & Ham', 'Madeline', 'Babar the Elephant'

Cutting-edge technological of that era: Mercury Space Rockets, Televisions (still mostly B & W, but color is catching on), U-2 spy planes, Polaroid 'Land' camera's that spit out 'instant' photographs, transistor radios that fit in your pocket

Not-so-cutting-edge technology of the era: LP 'vinyl' records, home movies and vacation slides on real film (along with requisite projectors for both), friends footwear divided evenly between Keds and PF Flyers.

Omni-present then... but missing in action now:  Those little round yellow plastic thingies you used to play 45 RPM records, Davy Crockett 'coon skin hats, roller skates that weren't 'in-line'

Odd things in your baby albums:  Cloth Diapers with big pins, Men wore geek glasses and crew-cuts, and women wore cat-eyes and Jackie-O hairdos.  Everyone smoked around babies.

Smells that take you back: Noxzema, popcorn, suntan oil, salmon croquettes

Sounds you were raised on:  Kingston Trio, Peter Paul & Mary, The Weavers, Pete Seeger, Beatles

The electronic babysitter (TV and/or radio): Andy Grifith Show, Leave it to Beaver ("... and Jerry Mathers as 'the Beaver!"), Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, My Three Sons, The Patty Duke Show ("But they're cousins... identical cousins...")

Earliest memories: Standing in my crib with music seepin' through the wall (just like in Paul Simon's tune "Late in the Evening"), watching my mother brush her long hair (100 strokes every day!)

Leave us with a quote:  "Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers, the next day you're gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a place, a town, a house, like a lot of houses. A yard like a lot of other yards. On a street like a lot of other streets. And the thing is, after all these years, I still look back...with wonder."  (This is the last line spoken by Kevin Arnold at the end of the final episode of 'The Wonder Years'.

[Unlike other treppenwitz content which is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without my permission, this one can be passed along freely.  Sure, I'd love a hat-tip and a link... but I know how that stuff goes.  Enjoy!]