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What good will your 2019 resolutions be if you don’t know what’s coming at you next year no matter what? People in my line of work are fascinated by predictions...but as Yogi Berra once said: “Prediction is very hard, particularly when it’s about the future.”
So, fret no more. Here is a list of the events that are expected to occur in 2019. Mark your calendars (and email me if you think I forgot anything important to you).
- January: The Euro turns 20. MLK would have turned 90.
- February: Facebook is 15. Feb 5 marks the beginning of Chinese New Year. And Nike celebrates with a new pair of sneakers.
- March: The UK leaves the EU at 11pm. The French are unimpressed.
- April: The largest democracy on earth votes. On April 22, we celebrate “Earth Day”.
- May: Earth’s biggest sport kicks off its world cup and England is forecasted to win.
- June: The world’s other big sport has a world cup. Hosted in France. Likely won by the US.
- July: “Summer of 69” turns 50. For some, Woodstock provided a ‘high’. Others will remember the first men on the moon.
- August: Napoleon turns 250. Does anything else matter?
- September: Japan hosts a world cup. New Zealand has won most. But South Africa and Australia are coming in strong.
- October: Mahatma Gandhi turns 150. Should anything else matter?
- November: Mercury puts a dot on the Sun.
- December: An asteroid misses the Earth (hopefully). “Star Wars Episode 9” comes out (most likely).
January 1: Euro or Hero?
The Euro turns 20. Best analysis I’ve found is on Bloomberg. The article’s authors claim that the european currency, now used by 19 countries, has soared. They get extra credit for publishing individual report cards on member countries, a great timeline showing the value of the euro vs. the dollar since inception and, more importantly a great animated picture displaying the euro area growth in size and influence over the past 20 years.
Another thing you’ll hear about in January is the World Economic Forum, hosted in Davos between January 22-25. This year’s theme is “Globalization 4.0”. The event is very exclusive but the good new is that you won’t have to travel to Switzerland to find out what the 100+ governments and 1,000+ companies are debating during that week. Follow the event live here.
Finally, if you live in the US, you’ll celebrate Martin Luther King’s Day on January 21 . If MLK was still alive, he would have been 90 years old on 15 January.
February 4: Facebook-ed?
Facebook turns 15. I wrote about Facebook’s value about 8 years ago (Why LinkedIn is More Valuable than Facebook) and the topic was pretty hot then. I bet that if I authored a piece today about “Why LinkedIN might be more secure that Facebook”, it would spark some interesting debate. Regardless, Facebook’s story and growth have been fantastic. I hope that they can successfully transition to become a true enterprise player. And I also hope that the US government better prepares for hearings of technology companies in the future so they can’t become an easy target of public mockery.
On another note, February 5 marks the beginning of Chinese New Year: the Year of the Pig. Curious about what 2019 will have in store for you? You can count on Nike to ship a special shoe “Chinese New Year Edition”. This isn’t a joke. See more here.
March 29: Brexit. Oui or Non?
The UK is scheduled to leave the EU at 11pm on March 29, unless a surprising reversal of fate occurs between now and then. One thing will happen for sure: International Francophonie Day will be celebrated on March 30 (no connection with events occurring the previous day). It’s worth noting though that French is spoken by over 360M people around the world and that, depending on how fluency is estimated France is #3 or #6 on the list of most spoken language on earth.
April: 800 Million Votes
India’s general election takes place between April and May. Much will be talked about it between now and then: from the logistical aspects involved in letting that many people vote to the consequence a reversal of power will have on the financial markets. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is Modi’s party (India’s current Prime Minister). He’s perceived as a pro-business leader and his party controls 17 of the country’s 29 states. So far, it appears the country has a favorable view of his work...but things can always change.
May 30: Click it or Cricket!
It will be hard to click your TV remote control away from cricket in May. Cricket is the world’s most popular sport: 250M play it in over 200 countries and an estimated 2.2B watched the 2015 Cricket World Cup...Let’s see what kind of crowd the 2019 Cricket World Cup will bring. The event will be hosted by England and Wales from May 30 to July 14. Participants include 10 nations (England, India, Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and the West Indies). Who will win? I’m no Cricket expert so I’ll refer to the latest ICC poll...here
June 7
You might remember that France men's soccer team won the World Cup last year. The controversy around that win got me pretty riled up in fact.
Well, now it’s up to France women’s team to show what they’re made of. While the French will claim field advantage (all games are hosted in France between Jun 7-Jul 7), they will face formidable competition. Sports Illustrated predicts the US will win...again. See all of SI’s sports predictions for 2019 here.
If you find yourself visiting France during the World Cup, you might want to take part in some of Normandy’s activities as it will celebrate the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy.
July 20
There will be many things to celebrate during the 50th Birthday of the “Summer of 1969”. But many will argue that the summer’s most significant event was when, on July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin landed on the moon. For more on the details of the Apollo 11 mission, read on here. For the video, click here.
August 15
The Woodstock Music Festival turns 50 on August 15. Woodstock made history: the festival saw music lovers celebrate “Peace, Love and Music” on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, for a three-day event. Fun facts: three days turned into four, and while the organizers expected 100,000 fans to show up, about 500,000 attended…
Another fun fact: August 15, 2019 will mark Napoleon Bonaparte’s 250th birthday. He wasn’t too big on Peace, Love or Music...
September 20
The 2019 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be held in Japan, with matches in 12 cities. The opening match will be in the Tokyo and the final in Yokohama. ESPN says it’s way too early to predict the winner...but I’m betting it all on France, of course! For more information on the groups, games and schedule, go here.
October 2
Mahatma Gandhi (October 2, 1869 - January 30, 1948, Delhi) was an Indian lawyer and social activist who became the leader of the nationalist movement against the British rule of India. On his birthday, over 190 countries observe an “International Day of Non-Violence”, in remembrance of Gandhi’s single most important principle of resistance without bloodshed. This year will be extra special: Oct 2, 2019 celebrates Gandhi’s 150th birthday.
If you’re not so inclined to celebrate protest without violence, and are more the type who gets in your car and engages in road rage, the good news for you then is that Oct 2 is apparently also “Name Your Car Day”.
November 11
If you felt that your Thanksgiving dinner wasn’t tense enough before, wait for November 2019. The controversy around the “original Thanksgiving” will reach a high as 2019 marks a significant year for this celebration. As it turns out, the Pilgrims might not have been the first to celebrate Thanksgiving...in fact, Virginia claims the first Thanksgiving took place on the banks of Virginia's James River on Dec. 4, 1619 (more from the Library of Congress here).
So, while you and your family might celebrate the holiday on Thursday, November 28...remember that, technically, the first Thanksgiving might have been celebrated 400 years ago, on a different date…
In case this Thanksgiving explanation makes your eyes roll and look up to the sky...stay there a minute to try and catch the “transit of Mercury”. The event describes the passing of Mercury between the Sun and a superior planet. Mercury will become visible during its passing (and hence obscure a small portion of) the solar disk. During a transit, Mercury appears as a tiny black dot moving across the disk of the Sun. The passing will occur on November 11, 2019 and will last a couple hours. If you miss it this year, you’ll just have to wait until November 11, 2032.
December
If we’ve all made it to the end of December, it means that the theory claiming an asteroid was going to collide with Earth and destroy the planet in February, simply wasn’t true (as confirmed by space.com).
However, if you are into planets, asteroids and stars...December 20 is the current date for the release of “Star Wars Episode 9”. More on all upcoming 2019 movies here….
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Sources include History Channel, Wikipedia and The Library of Congress.
