WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE PROJECT OVERVIEW History behind the Song: Billy Joel has said, "I'm a history nut. I devour history books. At one time I wanted to be a history teacher." According to his mother, he was a bookworm by the age of seven. I had turned forty. It was 1989 and I said "Okay, what's happened in my life?" I wrote down the year 1949. Okay, Harry Truman was president. Popular singer of the day, Doris Day. China went Communist. Another popular singer, Johnnie Ray. Big Broadway show, South Pacific. Journalist, Walter Winchell. Athlete, Joe DiMaggio. Then I went on to 1950. Directions You are going to continue Billy’s Song by adding your own verses.! • You will start writing your song using historical events from your lifetime. Start at 2005 and stop at 2020. • You will need to research 25-30 items and understand the significance. • Overall, learn what historical event have happened through your life so far! Work Components 1.You will fill in the spaces of the madlib worksheet with an example of your choosing that describes a specific content of that year. 2. Next you will give me a 2-sentence summary of each of your items. (Explain what or who it is and why it is historically important to that year) 3.Answer the two questions in paragraph form (6 sentences). 1. In your opinion, explain what year of your life time has the most “historical” significance? 2. In your opinion, explain what year of your life time has the most “personal” significance? Resources: Video of song: https://youtu.be/m50p-XScreM Research by years http://www.infoplease.com/yearbyyear.html Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" Year by Year (1949-1989) 1949: Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio 1950: Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe 1951: Rosenbergs, H-Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom Brando, "The King and I," and "The Catcher in the Rye" 1952: Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye CHORUS We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning, we didn't start the fire No we didn't light it but we tried to fight it 1953: Josef Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc 1954: Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron Dien Bien Phu falls, "Rock Around the Clock" 1955: Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team "Davy Crockett," "Peter Pan," Elvis Presley, Disneyland 1956: Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev Princess Grace, "Peyton Place," trouble in the Suez CHORUS 1957: Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "Bridge on the River Kwai" 1958: Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball, Starkweather homicide, children of thalidomide 1959: Buddy Holly, "Ben Hur," space monkey, Mafia Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go 1960: U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy Chubby Checker, "Psycho," Belgians in the Congo CHORUS 1961: Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land" Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs Invasion 1962: Lawrence of Arabia," British Beatlemania Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson 1963: Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex J.F.K. blown away, what else do I have to say CHORUS 1964-1989: Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan "Wheel of Fortune," Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide, Foreign debts, homeless Vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law Rock and Roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore We didn't start the fire It was always burning since the world's been turning. We didn't start the fire But when we are gone It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on... .