It’ll Be a Good Year for Milestones

They’re calling it Boomer Power, and they don’t mean raised fists.

This is the year the Don’t-Trust-Anyone-Over-30 generation turns 50. That means boomers are beginning their 25-year reign over America’s boardrooms and back rooms. And even if they’ve lost interest in turning the country into a giant incubator of peace and love, you’ll still be able to tell that this is the dawning of the age of Aquarius--it’s just coming a little later than originally expected.

“They have a different mind-set,” says Gerald Celente, director of the Trends Research Institute in Rhinebeck, N.Y. “It’s more open, less authoritarian. They really haven’t lost their social consciousness. They’re spiritual. They believe in community. They’re self-oriented, but not selfishly. They want to improve their health, their mind, their spirit. It’s a holistic approach to life.”

Boomer Power won’t kick in for another five years, when that generation edges closer to the average age of board members in the country’s 1,000 biggest corporations--60. Then, watch out.

“They’ll control the discretionary income and the seats of power and they’ll lead the nation into the new millennium,” says Celente, who’ll turn 50 in 1996. “This is the kick-off year.”

Here are some other historical milestones for 1996.

100 Years Ago

They found gold in them thar hills of Canada’s Yukon Territory. The discovery along the Klondike River ignited gold rush fever when prospectors toted their booty to Seattle and Portland. The “Klondike Stampede” of 1897-’98 roped in 100,000 aspiring sultans, who endured arduous journeys in their bid to strike it rich.

50 Years Ago

Two explosions hit the American consciousness. One was the first detonation of an atomic bomb underwater, off the Pacific coral reefs of the Bikini Atoll. The 20-kiloton bomb--equal to 20,000 tons of TNT--was dropped 90 feet, blasting up a column of radioactive water and steam a mile high.

That explosion sank nearby ships--and inspired a French fashion craze: the eeny weeny bikini, so dubbed by its creator, designer Louis Reard, because the new two-piece swimsuit detonated the style scene. Jacques Heim, another designer who simultaneously created a two-piece, called his version the atome. Early bikinis were made of crochet or embellished with animal designs and fake flowers. But the bikini wouldn’t dip into the American fashion mainstream for two more decades.

25 Years Ago

Lt. William Calley Jr. was found guilty of premeditated murder in connection with the My Lai massacre. An Army court-martial jury of six officers convicted Calley of murdering 22 South Vietnamese civilians in 1968. He was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor. The decision sparked a public outcry, charging higher-ranking officers with using Calley as a scapegoat, and the White House was peppered with 5,000 telegrams in less than 24 hours. The verdict was overturned in 1974 by a federal court.

A violent earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale rocked Southern California, killing 62 people and causing more than $1 billion worth of damage. Heaviest hit was the Veterans Administration hospital in Sylmar, where two wings collapsed and killed 40 patients and staff.

Jim Morrison died in Paris of a heart attack at the age of 27. The Doors’ lead singer had been on a decline for two years, ever since being busted by Miami authorities for explicit gestures onstage. The name of the iconic ‘60s rock group alluded to Aldous Huxley’s search for hallucinogens and referred to the doors of perception that opened onto the surreal.

Charles Manson and three of his followers were convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of actress Sharon Tate, hairstylist Jay Sebring, Silver Lake residents Rosemary and Leno LaBianca, and three others. During the trial, the defendants posed for news photographers and hooted at the descriptions of their homicidal rampage. They were sentenced to die in the gas chamber, but when California abolished the death penalty the next year, their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. Even though Manson has come up for parole every seven years, Tate’s sister Patti has successfully led campaigns to keep him behind bars.

Det. Frank Serpico testified before the Knapp Commission about corruption in the New York Police Department. Serpico talked about ways officers collected “the nut,” police jargon for payoffs. He left the force after being shot in the head that year during a drug raid, prompting speculation that he’d been set up by his colleagues. The whistle-blower moved to the Netherlands for five years and now works as a massage therapist in New York. Meanwhile, corruption continues to be a problem at the NYPD.

10 Years Ago

The space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff, killing six crew members and Christa McAuliffe, the 37-year-old schoolteacher selected as the first private American citizen to journey into space. Challenger’s launch had been postponed several times, twice that morning alone because of concern over mechanical problems and ice formations. NASA officials blamed the tragedy on the failure of a joint on a solid-fuel booster rocket. It was four more years before civilians were allowed to travel in space again: In 1990, two astronomers joined the crew of the space shuttle Columbia to operate ultraviolet telescopes.

The most serious accident in the history of nuclear energy plagued the Soviet Union when the core of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant melted down, producing gas that blasted off the roof of the reactor building. Twenty-three people died within the month, nearly 200 were hospitalized and 40,000 people were evacuated from the area. U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) called Chernobyl “by far the worst nuclear reactor accident known to mankind . . . beyond even the worst nightmares of nuclear scientists.” The Soviet Union attributed the accident to human error.

Britain’s Prince Andrew, a helicopter pilot for the Royal Navy, wed the saucy commoner Sarah Ferguson, who took her vows in an ivory satin gown with a 17-foot train. The festivities, watched on television by an estimated 300 million people, included Andrew’s assumption of the title of the 14th Duke of York. The couple’s auspicious beginning later crumbled under the weight of reports of Fergie’s dalliances. But rumors of reconciliation have been fueled by recent joint appearances on Spain’s Costa del Sol and at the Hampshire wedding of two of Andrew’s former staffers.

Financier Ivan Boesky pleaded guilty to insider trading and was slapped with the biggest fine ever for the offense--$50 million, plus another $50 million in returned profits. The Securities and Exchange Commission barred Boesky from working in the securities industry ever again, although he could still trade for his own account. After spending two years behind bars, Boesky reportedly now manages close to $1 billion on Wall Street through a Netherlands Antilles company.

* Times research librarian Mary Edwards contributed to this report.