The Top 5 May 20ths Ever

Five years ago today, The Last Word On Nothing was born. I’ve been Googling around, trying to figure out why anniversaries are a thing, but most of what pops up is drivel from couples counselors. Wikipedia offers some facts about Latin names. But what I’m really looking for is why we celebrate anniversaries, why they make us feel so many feels.Every day, newspapers and websites the world over publish “this day in history” lists. And every morning, Facebook sends me a “You have memories with” so-and-so notification, accompanied by old photos of so-and-so and me that were posted on this day in years past. These photos make me feel happy, and sad, and somehow…special?It’s arbitrary specialness, of course: Every day is an anniversary for a long list of personal and historical events, significant and trivial. But we love to remember them regardless. It’s nostalgia, sure, but more analytical than that. We’re looking for patterns, connections with the past — either in the way that things have changed, or haven’t.As it turns out, May 20 has historically been pretty important for science and technology, and not just because of LWON’s arrival in 2010.Read more at...The Last Word On Nothing, May 2015.