Years

Some years are significant to everyone: 1914; 1918; 1939; 1945; 1969. Every year is significant to someone. For example, everyone was born in a particular year. An sf writer should not only tell us that his characters have time travelled from 1980 to 1280 but also encapsulate what was happening in those years. Thus, when Manse Everard and John Sandoval arrive in:

"Anno Domini One Thousand Two Hundred Eighty:..."

-Poul Anderson, "The Only Game in Town" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 129-171 AT 2, p. 133 -

- Anderson spends three quarters of a page summarizing facts about Kublai Khan, Marco Polo, Cathay, Japan, the Hojo family, Bhaghdad, Cairo, Delhi, Pope Nicholas III, Guelphs and Ghibellines in Italy, Emperor Rudolf of Habsburg, King Philip of France, King Edward of England, Dante, Duns Scotus, Roger Bacon and Thomas the Rhymer.

I was reminded of this when Alan Moore's characters travelled from 1985 to:

"FEBRUARY THE TWELFTH, 1963, KENNEDY is in the White House. MACMILLAN is in Downing Street, TELSTAR is in orbit..."

- and:

"FEBRUARY 4TH, 1982, and the world does not rest easy. Many miles below there is SUFFERING and UNREST. There is IRAN, POLAND, NORTHERN IRELAND..."

- Miracleman # 2 (New York, 2014), p. 15, panel 1, p. 18, panel 1.

Different years.