Next Saturday is a hugely important 50th anniversary. But before that global event is revealed as a world exclusive in today’s Sunday Monitor, let us look at other examples of 50th anniversaries.

October 9, 2012 will be a massive 50th anniversary for Uganda, as it will be half a century since the country gained its independence from the colonial power. I wonder how that day will be marked - how the marvellous memory of the birth of Uganda as an independent nation will be celebrated.

From time to time, we see photographs in our newspapers of elderly Ugandan couples celebrating their 50th wedding anniversaries. Around the world, the 50th wedding anniversary is normally referred to as golden, the 25th anniversary as silver, and for the small number of couples that make it to 60 years of marriage, it is their diamond anniversary.

Given Uganda’s low life expectancy, it would be interesting to know what percentage of Ugandan couples actually make it through to their golden anniversary i.e. are still alive and together after 50 years of marriage. For such couples who do stand this challenging test of time, their special anniversary is indeed worthy of celebration.
All sorts of 50th anniversaries come and go. Other 2009 50th anniversaries include: the birth of Motown Records; the Antarctic Treaty; the first successful space flight by a living being (monkeys called Able and Miss Baker); the hovercraft; the recyclable aluminum beer can and the Barbie doll.

I was in Britain recently when the 50th anniversary of its first motorway (the M1 between London and Birmingham) was celebrated. Despite there being countless items on TV and radio, it was an anniversary that barely registered in my brain.
So what is the important 50th anniversary taking place next Saturday, and which has definitely registered in my brain?!

Let me start by telling you what it is not:
For readers who think that I am older than I am, let me confirm that Saturday November 28, 2009 is not my golden wedding anniversary. I have known my wife a long time, but not that long!

And for readers who think I am younger than I am, especially any beautiful ladies, I regret to inform you that I am sufficiently aged to have been in primary school way back in 1959.

So what is this 50th anniversary that will be celebrated next Saturday, from America to China, from the world’s biggest cities to its smallest villages, and on which day our newspapers will be especially thick to accommodate all the extra feature articles, advertising and advertorials? It is this:

On Saturday November 28, 1959, Roving Eye attended his very first football match at Fulham’s Craven Cottage ground! As a small seven-year-old he was held up by his father to see over the heads of the standing crowd. Fulham beat Burnley 1-0, Jimmy Hill scored the goal, and 50 years on, I can still vividly remember the ball hitting the back of the net.

There can therefore be few bigger dates in world history as Saturday November 28, 1959, and that is why humankind attaches such importance to next Saturday’s 50th anniversary.
— kevin@imul.com