2026 Anniversaries (Lots of 'em!)
Including the synthesis of Angel Dust (PCP)
I’m surprised by how many big anniversaries and milestones there are in 2026:
250 yrs (1776): US declares independence
200 yrs (1826): First known photograph: View from the Window at Le Gras (France), invention of the internal combustion engine (U.S. patent), Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both die on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
180 yrs (1846): Congress declares war on Mexico, US captures San Francisco (Yerba Buena) and Monterey, Liberty Bell cracks while ringing for George Washington’s birthday, Smithsonian created
175 yrs (1851): California statehood established, California’s first governor Peter Burnett officially declares a "war of extermination" against natives, New York Times published, anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin published, first baseball uniforms (NY Knickerbockers), first photograph of a total solar eclipse captured
150 yrs (1876): First telephone call (Bell), Tom Sawyer published, National League Baseball founded, Budweiser founded, Battle of Little Bighorn/defeat of Lt. Col. Custer and the 7th Cavalry
125 yrs (1901): Ford Motorsports first victory, Indian Motorcycle (America’s 1st motorcycle company), Oakland Athletics/American League, Spindletop oil strike in Texas (birth of US petroleum industry), McKinley assassinated/Teddy Roosevelt youngest President, First Nobel Prizes
120 yrs (1906): SF Earthquake & Fire
100 yrs (1926): Births of Queen Elizabeth II, Marilyn Monroe, Hugh Hefner, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Chuck Berry; First liquid rocket (Goddard), Negro History Week (precursor to Black History Month), 5-day/40hr work week (Ford), Route 66 founded, TV publicly demonstrated (Baird), NBC TV launched, Walt Disney Studios (renamed from Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio), Aerosol spray patented, Phencyclidine (PCP) synthesis (later became a street drug known as Angel Dust)
80 yrs (1946): Bikini debuted in Paris, US begins nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll, Cannes Film Festival, It’s a Wonderful Life premiere, SF 49ers formed
75 yrs (1951): Diary of Anne Frank published in English, I Love Lucy, Dennis the Menace, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, Hydrogen Bomb developed
70 yrs (1956): Elvis Presley debut album (1st rock ‘n roll album to hit number 1 on Billboard charts), Elvis appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, American Bandstand first episode
60 yrs (1966): First Star Trek episode, Slurpee available at 7-11, Haight-Ashbury district becomes the epicenter of the counterculture (an estimated 15,000 young people move there), LSD made illegal
50 yrs (1976): American Bicentennial, Apple Computer founded, NBA/ABA merger, Naval Academy admits women, Viking 1 on Mars, Taxi Driver premiere, AC/DC's US debut album
40 yrs (1986): Chernobyl, Challenger disaster, Iran-Contra scandal breaks, Pixar founded
30 yrs (1996): Dolly the Sheep (first cloned mammal), The Ramones’ final concert (Hollywood), Tupac Shakur assassinated in Las Vegas, Jon Benet Ramsey murdered, Fox News Channel launched
25 yrs (2001): Fast & Furious, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Shrek franchises launched, 9/11 terrorist attack
10 yrs (2016): Kaepernick anthem protest, deaths of Bowie, Prince, George Michael
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “I am an avid reader of mob and true crime novels. This is one of the best I have ever read.” - Amazon review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “What a page turner! This story is an amazing piece of investigative work—both compelling and heartbreaking.” - Amazon review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “I’d seen the author’s work in OZY but was blown away by this book. It’s SUCH a great read, written from the heart! Full of interest for those historians of the hippie generation, North Beach, corrupt cops, mobbed up pols, and San Francisco in general. Very well written and paced up to the last pages. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. Buy this book now!” - Amazon review