The addition of 1968 to The Grid means five hundred years of history is complete for two Turnings, the Awakening plus the Crisis. Hopefully the descriptions make each year memorable for at least one reason.
Five hundred years, two Turnings, each repeating every 90-100 years, has resulted in twelve specific years showing up on The Grid. There are roughly 40 years between successive dates. Someone who can keep track of these 12 events should, on average, be able to identify an interesting historical marker within 20 years of any other date of interest. (Similarly, the birthday of anyone reading this can be found no more than 20 years from one of the recent dates - the worst case being 1988, 20 years from both 2008 and 1968.) Knowing when Crisis (4T) and Awakenings (2T) happen should give some general idea of the state of the nation at that time. At least, they should give some indication of whether the country is working together or flying apart.
As the other two Turnings are completed, that distance will be reduced even more.
The next section to be done here is the First Turning. It's also known as the High, in part because of the exuberance felt by those who were directly involved in the great victories of the Fourth Turning. As the Crisis winds down, a nation that is no longer interested in war is still supporting a substantial governmental infrastructure. In the absence of external conflict, this is used to support alternative nation building efforts, such as exploration and infrastructure. Remarkable feats are attempted - towering monuments, exploration across vast empty areas, flights into space. The concentration of resources, however, also enables corruption - which, it will probably be realized, often stretches back to the Crisis period. And there may be efforts to continue the equivalent of war by other means in the form of attacks on perceived enemies of the state - witch hunts, metaphorical or actual.
The next section to be done here is the First Turning. It's also known as the High, in part because of the exuberance felt by those who were directly involved in the great victories of the Fourth Turning. As the Crisis winds down, a nation that is no longer interested in war is still supporting a substantial governmental infrastructure. In the absence of external conflict, this is used to support alternative nation building efforts, such as exploration and infrastructure. Remarkable feats are attempted - towering monuments, exploration across vast empty areas, flights into space. The concentration of resources, however, also enables corruption - which, it will probably be realized, often stretches back to the Crisis period. And there may be efforts to continue the equivalent of war by other means in the form of attacks on perceived enemies of the state - witch hunts, metaphorical or actual.
First Turnings can also be a view into the path that countries take between the Crisis and the Awakening. The first one, for example, is in 1506: 14 years after the Reconquista, 18 years before Henry the Eighth's break with the church - but only 9 before Martin Luther started the Reformation. One of Luther's specific complaints can itself be traced to this very event....
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