How have you been part of history?

[Arkham House]

What history have you seen, or whom have you talked with that saw more than you did? For myself: I was at the March on Washington in 1963, and heard MLK give his "I have a dream" speech; participated in several of the major anti-war rallies of the late 60s and early 70s; was outside the White House the day Nixon resigned; saw the funeral of JFK in DC; once shook hands with Harry Truman when I was six; and saw Reagan's ambulance racing to GW hospital in DC after he was shot. Also: I saw Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Warren Spahn, Stan Musial, and Hank Aaron play. Also Johnny Unitas and Jim Brown. And Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. And Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and Dizzy Gillespie. When I was a very small boy, I talked to a very old man who described the Battle of Concord Bridge, as *he* had heard it when he was a small boy--from an eyewitness. I've talked to many men and women who knew Civil War soldiers, and spoken myself with many veterans of the two World Wars. I've spoken to people who were on the floor of the Stock Exchange on October 29, 1929, and to people who were in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963. And once, I talked to an old man who convinced me that he was part of a group of families with a long history that resembles that of "The Da Vinci Code" and "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". And yet, it seems to me that I've had an uneventful life, and haven't seen that much at all... What have you folks seen?