The decade of the 70s has seen a lot of activity and saw some of the more earthshaking events in Philippine and world history. Although the decade marked the darkest years in our country's history, it also witnessed some of its finest moments. Let's review some of those events we've been lucky (or otherwise) to be witnesses to.

1970

The decade opened ominously for the Philippines with what came to be known world-wide as the First Quarter Storm. It began on January 26, 1970 when a crowd of about 20,000 jeered President Marcos and his wife, Imelda, and threw rocks and bottles at their car. The police scattered the mobs. Four days later chanting demonstrators numbering in the thousands marched to Malacañang Palace. The crowd rammed the gates using a commandeered fire truck, entered the Palace grounds and burned automobiles, all the while chanting about the revolution. The police fought off the demonstrators up to nearby Mendiola bridge (the first battle of Mendiola) killing six people in the process. The following day, the demonstrators attacked the US Embassy using molotov cocktails and in the succeeding days, they attacked the Hilton hotel and other symbols of US presence in the Philippines.

Meanwhile students barricaded the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman and established a "Diliman Commune".

The First Quarter Storm was a turning point for the revolutionary movement. The violent response of the government transformed the students, workers and intellectuals into radicals who vowed to topple the government. The movement was further strengthened by a steady stream of young recruits who joined the movement in the rural areas as a result of the recruitment and propaganda of the Kabataang Makabayan and the Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan, the two major youth organizations of the Party.

In March, Class 74 graduated from their elementary years and entered high school. KulItobaBelat, the group, germinated and formed.

On May 1 U.S. troops invaded Cambodia to destroy North Vietnamese (Viet Cong) sanctuaries.

On November 26, Pope Paul VI visited the Philippines, and survived a slay try by a Bolivian painter named Benjamin Mendoza.

On the early morning of December 29, a young Constabulary lieutenant by the name of Victor Corpus entered the gates of the Philippine Military Academy riding on a military jeep. He was accompanied by two cars on which rode nine guerillas whom he earlier met at Baguio City's Burnham Park. The group proceeded to the Academy's armory where they hogtied the guards and loaded 21 automatic rifles, 14 carbines, 6 machine guns, several grenade launchers, a bazooka and some 5,000 rounds of ammunition into their cars. The group drove all night to Cauayan town in Isabela province where they linked up with the group of Commander Dante in an NPA camp deep in the Sierra Madre mountains.

Nelia Sancho won the Queen of the Pacific title in 1970. She would subsequently join the revolutionary movement as an amazon fighter until she was captured in the mid-70s. (I had the good fortune of meeting this principled beauty queen inside the Bicutan Detention Center in May of 1977.)

It was also in this year when Aurora Pijuan was crowned Miss International.

In the U.S., students from the Kent State University and Jackson State University were killed while protesting the Vietnam War involvement of the U.S.

Other Interesting Historical Tidbits: Jimi Hendrix died; IBM introduced the floppy disk; Paul McCartney left the Beatles, leading to the disbanding of the group.

1971

The escalated violence which coincided with the 1971 elections precipitated the secessionist war in Mindanao. The violence and bloodshed between Muslim groups (the Barracudas and Blackshirts) and Christians (the Ilagas) was pronounced in Cotabato and Lanao del Norte. Political and not religious reasons drove the violence as the Christian majority, the result of years of migration, threatened Muslim political leaders and their personal interests. The two most publicized incidents were the Manili Massacre on June 1971 and the ambush of some 200 Muslims lured by "safe conduct" passes. In the Manili Massacre, some 150 Muslim men, women and children were gathered in a Mosque by Christian mercenaries accompanied by Philippine Constabulary officers. There, the Muslims were killed with grenades and gunfire.

Class 71 led a walkout and protest march in PCC. I (and most probably many other KulItobaBelats) joined my first protest rally. Personally I don't remember exactly what we were protesting about. Upon return to our classes, we were berated by our teachers for joining the march without understanding what it was all about. This event made a deep and lasting impression on me and influenced how I would develop politically later in life.

On March 8, one of the most exciting boxing events ever, the first of the epic Muhammad Ali - Joe Frazier three-part series, billed the "Fight of the Century", was staged. This was the first time in boxing history that two undefeated champions fought for the same title. Frazier (the slugger) sealed the victory over Ali (the boxer) with a knock-down in the 15th round and went on to win the decision.

On April 19, the Soviet Union launched Salyut I, the world's first space station.

In June, over the protests of the majority, a Constitutional Convention convened to replace the 1935 Constitution.

On August 21, two hand grenades were thrown at the stage of a Liberal party rally at Plaza Miranda. Several Liberal party stalwarts were seriously injured, among them Jovito Salonga and Gerardo Roxas. On this same day, President Marcos suspended the writ of habeas corpus.

Other Interesting Historical Tidbits: U.S. astronauts drove on the moon in a "Moon rover"; the first VCR was launched by Philips.

1972

In January, Constitutional Convention delegate Eduardo Quintero exposed President Marcos’ briberies. He said Marcos had been bribing the other convention delegates to make them vote against a Rama resolution which would bar him from running for a third term and his relatives from seeking the presidency.

On April 1, Nixon responded to the North Vietnamese drive across the DMZ by ordering the mining of North Vietnam ports and heavy bombing of the Hanoi-Haiphong area.

On June 17, the US plunged into a political scandal and constitutional crisis that came to be popularly known as Watergate, with the arrest of five burglars who broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C.

On the dawn of July 4, a fishing trawler named "Karagatan" arrived off Digoyo Point in Palanan Isabela where three NPA platoons composed of some 80 men commanded by Victor Corpus were waiting. The group had traversed the Sierra Madre mountain for 21 days to reach the point. The Karagatan was loaded with some 1,200 rifles, thousands of ammunition and other war materiel from China. While the NPAs were unloading the precious cargo, a plane carrying a logging company personnel spotted the ship. He reported the mysterious ship to the military authorities. Compromised, the Karagatan was moved towards the mouth of the river to speed up the unloading. As the rebels were dragging the crates into the jungle, two air force planes appeared and fired upon them. The NPAs quickly scattered and hid the crates in the jungle. The Karagatan was grounded on a sandbar as it tried to move out of the river. Coordinated air and naval bombardment, together with ground attacks, forced the rebels to withdraw and abandon the area, leaving behind much of the cargo of the Karagatan. The Army was able to recover 900 firearms, six M-40 rocket launchers and 160,000 rounds of ammunition.

Bombings rocked Metro Manila in September. The targets were department stores and government buildings. At this time, Senator Benigno Aguino, Jr. denounced in the Philippine Congress "Oplan Sagittarius", which he said, aimed to place certain areas of the country under Martial Law. Finally, on September 22, the car of Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile was ambushed. No one, however, was killed.

On September 21, the dictator Marcos plunged the country into its darkest years by issuing Proclamation No. 1081, placing the entire country under Martial Law (although he announced it only on September 23). On the pretext of an imminent danger of rebellion, he had all his political opponents rounded up and imprisoned, closed Congress and all media outlets except those subservient to him, and put the entire country under his absolute control. He alone ruled the country by issuing letters of instructions, general orders, and presidential decrees. His dictatorship would last for 14 years, until he was toppled and kicked to exile in Hawaii by the People Power "Revolution" of 1986.

Nixon ordered the “Christmas bombing” of North Vietnam to get the North Vietnamese back to the conference table.

Boris Vasilievich Spassky lost his world chess championship title to Robert James "Bobby" Fischer in Reykjavik, Iceland with 3 wins, 11 draws and 7 losses. This most publicized world championship in chess history took place during the Cold War. When Fischer won, he ended 35 years of Soviet domination of the world championship.

Other Interesting Historical Tidbits: Mark Spitz won 7 gold medals for swimming in the Olympics; the pocket calculator was invented by Texas Instruments; "The Godfather" film was released.

1973

On January 17, Marcos announced the ratification of what came to be known as the "Marcos Constitution" of 1973. The apocryphal story of how it was ratified goes this way: Marcos ordered his Barangay and Kabataang Barangay officials to convene barangay meetings, in which the attendees were asked, "Who wants a ganta of rice and a can of sardines?" Of course everyone raised their hands. Pictures were taken, and the next day the subservient press published the pictures with the corresponding headline, "People Approves Constitution!".

On January 27, representatives of North and South Vietnam, the U.S., and the N.L.F. signed the peace pacts in Paris, ending the longest war in U.S. history.

On February 12, Operation Homecoming airlifted 566 U.S. POWS from Gia Lam Airport, Hanoi, to Clark Air Base and then to the U.S. where they boarded C-9s for transfer to various military hospitals. The last American troops departed in their entirety on March 29.

The U.S. launched its first space station, Skylab I, on May 14.

On July 22, the Miss Universe pageant was broadcast live worldwide via satellite for the first time. The beautiful broadcast from the Parthenon in Athens, Greece began a tradition of televising Miss Universe Pageants from exotic locales around the globe. In this edition of the pageant, our very own Ma. Margarita "Margie" Moran was crowned Miss Universe, thus becoming only the second Filipina Miss Universe (the first being Gloria Diaz, in 1969).

On July 27, Marcos conducted a national referendum to find out whether or not the people would approve the continuance of martial law. The voting was conducted by barangays throughout the country. For the first time in the history of Philippine voting, fifteen-year-olds were allowed to vote (and thus, I voted for the first time). A single question was asked: "Do you want President Marcos to continue beyond 1973 and finish the reforms he has initiated under martial law?". According to the official results an overwhelming majority (90.67%) answered "Yes".

On October 6, the Jewish holy day Yom Kippur, the Arabs launched a two-pronged assault on Israel. Egyptian forces struck eastward across the Suez Canal and pushed the Israelis back, while the Syrians advanced from the north. Iraqi forces joined the war and, in addition, Syria received some support from Jordan, Libya, and the smaller Arab states. The attacks caught Israel off guard, and it was several days before the country was fully mobilized; Israel then forced the Syrians and Egyptians back and, in the last hours of the war, established a salient on the west bank of the Suez Canal, but these advances were achieved at a high cost in soldiers and equipment. Through U.S. and Soviet diplomatic pressures and the efforts of the United Nations, a tenuous cease-fire was implemented by October 25. Israel and Egypt signed a cease-fire agreement in November, but Israeli-Syrian fighting continued until a cease-fire was negotiated in 1974. The 1973-74 War brought about a major shift of power in the Middle East and ultimately led to the signing of the Camp David Accords.

On October 29, Cecilia Munoz-Palma made history by becoming the first female supreme court justice.

In late 1973 and on into 1974, the Arab oil producers cut their production and imposed an embargo on the U.S. and the Netherlands for their pro-Israeli position. On November 12, gasoline rationing started in the Philippines. Memories of long lines at the gas pump, rationing and a crisis atmosphere are still fresh in my mind.

The militants of the First Quarter Storm, under the leadership of the CPP, created the National Democratic Front counting among its members revolutionary organizations such as the Kabataang Makabayan, Makibaka, Christians for National Liberation, Cordillera People's Democratic Front, and other organized sectoral organizations on both legal and underground levels.

Other Interesting Historical Tidbits: The disposable lighter was invented.

1974

On January 25, Msgr. Jaime Sin became Manila's archbishop.

On January 28, Ali won a 12-round decision in the Ali-Frazier Rematch.

In February, the MNLF launched an attack on the headquarters of 1/4 Brigade based in Jolo. Army units doggedly repelled the attack and the rebels withdrew to the hills but not before burning the town of Jolo to cover their retreat. Pursuit operations were conducted which resulted to the destruction of numerous rebel strongholds in various parts of Jolo island. After the "burning of Jolo", the MNLF rebels staged attacks on Army camps and detachments and police outposts in nearby Basilan island and in the Zamboanga peninsula. Meanwhile, in mainland Mindanao, Zamboanga del Sur was virtually under MNLF control.

In March, KulItobaBelat graduated from high school. On to college for most of them.

On June 27, Eugene Torre became Asia's first grandmaster in the Chess Olympiad held at Nice, France.

August 9, 1974 made history in the US when President Richard Nixon became the first US chief executive to resign, under threat of House impeachment and Senate conviction for his involvement in the Watergate scandal.

In this year, the Philippines first hosted the Miss Universe beauty pageant. Imelda Marcos spared no expense to host the pageant, only to have the event threatened by an approaching typhoon. Marcos called in the military to seed monsoon clouds in an effort to diffuse the storm. Miss Spain, Amparo Munoz, won the crown. She had the dubious distinction of being the only Miss Universe to star in soft porn movies. She did not finish her term and was stripped of her title. She made one movie in the Philippines and was involved in a slapping incident and a scandal involving money. Shown here are her pictures when she won the Miss Universe title and shortly thereafter when she became a porn star.

Other Interesting Historical Tidbits: The disposable plastic razor was invented by Gilette; scientists proved that CFCs (Chloro-Fluoro-Carbons) destroy the ozone layer.

1975

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) was formed by nine member franchises: Toyota, Crispa, Royal Tru Orange, U-Tex, Noritake, Carrier, Tanduay, Seven-Up and Presto. Gregorio "Joy" Dionisio scored the first basket on April 9.

Toyota won the first two championships while Crispa bagged the other title, signalling the birth of the greatest basketball rivalry in PBA history, akin to the Nora-Vilma rivalry. William "Bogs" Adornado was chosen as the first MVP by the PBA.

In UP Diliman, Class 74 and 75 alumni from the PCC, CBC and RHS formed the socio-civic organization UP Pandayan with Karel Garcia (of Ito Ba?) as its first president.

On April 21 South Vietnam Premier Nguyen Van Thieu resigned. On April 30 the South Vietnamese government surrendered to North Vietnam, thus decisively ending the Vietnam War. U.S. Marine Embassy guards and U.S. civilians and dependents were evacuated . More than 140,000 Vietnamese refugees left by air and sea, many to settle in the U.S. Hundreds of these refugees were evacuated to the Philippines. A Refugee Processing Center was set up in Morong, Bataan.

Also in April Fischer, considered by many to be the greatest chess player of all time, was stripped of his championship title. FIDE refused to meet Fischer's conditions for a World Championship match with Anatoly Karpov and Fischer refused to play. Consequently FIDE awarded the title of World Champion to Karpov. After this dispute Fischer vanished from public eye for twenty years and moved to Europe.

On June 15-24, the Apollo (Apollo 15) and Soyuz spacecrafts linked up 140 miles above the earth. This was the first joint U.S./Soviet space mission. On September 30, the greatest heavyweight (boxing) championship fight of all times, the Thrilla in Manila, was staged at the Araneta Coliseum. The fight proved decisively Ali's superiority over Frazier. Ali won this fight when Frazier couldn't come out for the 15th round. Ali thus won their series, 2-1. This fight is generally regarded as the greatest boxing match of the last half of the past century. Other Interesting Historical Tidbits: The VHS and Betamax video were introduced; the first woman climbed Mt. Everest.

1976

On July 13-22, the Philippines hosted the strongest chess tournament (Category 15) in history. The Marlboro-Loyola King's Challenge was held in Manila/Batulao wherein the Asian king (Eugene Torre), the North American king (Walter Shawn Browne), the European king (Ljubomir Ljubojevic), and the world champion (Anatoly Karpov) played a double round-robin tournament. Torre made history in this tournament by beating all the other three to win first place. He even made his win over Karpov while playing the black pieces. Before this, Karpov has been beaten only once (by the Swedish GM Ulf Andersson, who was also playing black then).

Rosendo Balinas, Jr. also made chess history this year by becoming the first foreigner since Capablanca in 1936 to win a tournament in Soviet soil by taking top spot in the Odessa International Tournament that opened on July 29. In recognition of his record-breaking feat he was awarded the much coveted International Grandmaster title, thus giving the Philippines its second grandmaster. (This will only be followed much much later, in the 90s, by Rogelio Antonio).

On August 17, an earthquake and the resulting tidal waves killed 8,000 in Mindanao.

On August 26, Bernabe Buscayno alias Commander Dante, the supreme commander of the New People's Army, was arrested. Rodolfo Salas, his second-in-command, succeeded him as new NPA supreme commander.

On the same date, Paeng Nepomuceno (only 19 then) won his first Bowling World Cup in Tehran, Iran. (He'd distinguish himself later as the only three-time world bowling champion, winning his second in 1980 and his third in 1992).

In October, the people approved the amendments to the 1973 Constitution, among which is a provision for a so-called Parliamentary system. Marcos appointed himself Prime Minister, becoming both President and Prime Minister. This gave rise to a ridiculous situation where there is a Prime Minister without a Parliament (the elections for the Interim Batasang Pambansa would only be held in April 1978), a Prime Minister whose tenure has no limit, who is not elected by the law-making body and cannot be replaced by said body, who can veto the enactments of the BP, dissolve it at will and take over absolute power to legislate at his own will.

On December 23, the Tripoli Agreement was signed. Among the provisions was the creation of Autonomy in Southern Philippines and a ceasefire which was to take effect after the signing of the agreement. For the next ten years following the Tripoli Agreement, the secessionist problem slowly receded.

Crispa (my team!) scored a Grand Slam, the first in league history. Gil Cortez of Toyota was chosen as the first Rookie of the Year awardee.

Other Interesting Historical Tidbits: The phrase "junk food" entered the English language; Concorde made its first commercial flight (London-Bahrain); Apple Computers was founded by Steven Jobs; the Viking I probe landed on Mars.

1977

The arrest and detention of two UP Pandayan members (the organization's then current president, Boy Villar, and the author of these pages --- both from Ito Ba?) on April 25 by the Marcos military goons from the MISG caused an organizational crisis that led to the dissolution of the UP Pandayan. It was subsequently reorganized as the UP Sandigan on July 24 (see related account under "Memoraphilia") with Wini Lati (another Ito Ba? alumnus) as the organization's first president.

On October 10, 35 soldiers which included the commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division, Brigadier General Teodulfo Bautista and some of his senior staff, were killed at a marketplace in the village of Danag in the Patikul district of Jolo. General Bautista was on a mission to meet MNLF chieftain Usman Sali to discuss enforcement of the ceasefire or to come over to the folds of the government.

CPP Chairman Jose Maria Sison was captured in La Union on November 10. Rodolfo Salas alias Kumander Bilog succeeded Sison as CPP Chairman and thus became both NPA supreme commander and CPP chairman. Salas was CPP chairman from 1977 to 1986.

In a major racial breakthrough, Janelle Commissiong of Trinidad-Tobago, became the first black woman to win the coveted Miss Universe title. The historic moment was televised live by satellite from the Dominican Republic.

Manny Paner signed up with Presto for a hefty (at that time's standards) P8,000 per month salary, marking the start of megabucks contracts. Meanwhile, Seven-Up disbanded after only three seasons. Ramrod of Australia and Emtex of Brazil became the first foreign teams to compete in the PBA.

Other Interesting Historical Tidbits: The U.S. space shuttle prototype "Enterprise" flew for the first time; Elvis Presley died at age 42; "Star Wars" broke all box office records.

1978

On April 7, the Philippines held it's first election after almost a decade, for the Interim Batasang Pambansa. The opposition formed the Lakas ng Bayan (Laban) coalition and fielded a slate of 21 opposition stalwarts, headed by Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, for Metro Manila. The eve of the election saw the biggest noise barrage ever in Metro Manila and the rest of the nation, exposing how widespread and strong the resistance to Martial Law is. After the election, counts at the precint level showed that Laban had buried the KBL (Kilusang Bagong Lipunan) candidates, headed by Imelda Marcos herself. However, official results showed otherwise. Massive fraud and the nefarious machination of "block voting" ensured that none of the opposition candidates would win.

Many KulItobaBelat alumni took active participation for the opposition in this election. (I wrote the following commentary/analysis for the Sandigan Newsletter before the election.) Personally, this was certainly one of the most memorable periods in my life. The weeks immediately after the election saw me on the run and in hiding because of that participation.

On July 17, Marcos inaugurated the Baguio Convention Center. It initially gained international prominence when it became the venue of the World Chess Championship series between Anatoly Karpov and Victor Korchnoi. The series started on the day of the inauguration.

In a surreal moment in pageant history, the first black Miss Universe, Janelle Commissiong, crowned her successor, Margaret Gardiner, a white Miss South Africa.

	Jaworski, shown here holding his MVP trophy, with fellow cagers Emer Legaspi, Danny Florencio, and Nick Bulaong.
	After three seasons, U-tex broke the Crispa-Toyota monopoly by winning the Open Conference. Robert Jaworski (our now "Hon." Senator of the Republic) won the MVP.
	Other Interesting Historical Tidbits: The first multi-functional food processor was launched; the world's first test-tube baby was born; "Superman" starring Christopher Reeve was released; "Grease" starring John Travolta was released; "Space Invaders", the first ever arcade video game, was launched.

1979

On January 16, Muhammand Reza Shah Pahlevi, the Shah of Iran, departed Iran, paving the way for the return of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on February 1 and for the takeover of Muslim fundamentalists. The Shah was one of Marcos' contemporary dictators. His overthrow added inspiration to our own struggle for freedom from the Marcos dictatorship.

In March, KulItobaBelat marked the end (for most, anyway) of its formal education. Finally we graduated from college and earned that degree that would assure us of a headstart in the rat-race of life.

On March 31, the Three Mile Island (Pennsylvania) nuclear power plant accident occurred in the U.S. This highlighted the idiocy of Marcos' Bataan Nuclear Power Plant project and sealed its fate forever.

On April 15, an earthquake in Yugoslavia left 230 dead, 350 injured and 80,000 homeless.

"Her head bowed reverently, her fingers fondling a diamond rosary, the woman is celebrating a special mass on the anniversary of her marriage to the man who promised 25 years ago to make her first lady of the land." Life, July 1979

In May, the conjugal dictators celebrated their Silver Wedding Anniversary by holding a 12-hour bash at the palace. "Life" magazine gave an account of it as follows: "The silver anniversary party for President and Mrs. Marcos at Malacañang Palace in Manila began at seven on a May evening and ended 12 hours later. It was the kind of regal celebration that Imelda Marcos loves -- more than 500 guests, including a planeload of European royalty, music by the Manila Symphony Orchestra, dancing until the fiery tropical sunrise the next day. In a country clamped tightly under martial law, declared seven years ago, where annual per capita income is about $500, none of this opulence was shown on TV or even reported by the carefully monitored press."

In July, the Sandinistas installed a Marxist government in Nicaragua after ousting the Anastacio Somoza dictatorship. This further raised the hope of Filipino nationalists of eventually overthrowing the Marcos dictatorship very soon.

On October 15 civil war broke out in El Salvador.

On November 4, a crowd of about 500 militant students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 63 American hostages and sparking the "Iran hostage crisis" that would last for 444 days.

On December 20 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.

Melanie Marquez was crowned Miss International in this year. She was also a finalist for the face of the 80s (Supermodel of the World) contest.

Olivia "Bong" Coo won the Women's FIQ Bowling Championship. Another Filipina, Lita de la Rosa, also won the Women's World Bowling Championship sometime in the 70s.

La Tondena Distillery joined the PBA. Fortunato "Atoy" Co became the first player to score 5,000 points. Fort Acuna led Toyota to the All-Filipino crown, becoming the first former player to win a championship as a coach.

Other Interesting Historical Tidbits: The Sony Walkman was launched; Margaret Thatcher became the first woman Prime Minister of Britain; Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize; Y.M.C.A. became the top selling hit of the year.

As you can see the decade has been a very tumultuous and revolutionary (in all its meanings) period in history.

For most of the KulItobaBelats, the decade saw us graduating in all three stages of our formal education; meeting our first love and romance; and entering the serious business of life.

In this decade, the Philippines saw the reign of (so far its only) two Miss Universe and two Miss International beauty queens (aside from other beauty pageant titles); had its first two chess Grandmasters and the Men's and Women's World Bowling champions; hosted a World Chess Championship series; first staged the Miss Universe pageant; and staged the best heavyweight boxing championship match of all times. Although the decade ended with the Philippines failing to see the end of Martial Law and the Marcos dictatorship, that event would not be long in coming. Marcos would free Ninoy Aquino in 1980 and "officially" declare the end of Martial Law in 1981, triggering the inevitable course of his downfall.

The world saw the emergence of many progressive movements and the fall of many dictatorships, the humbling of the greatest imperialist power, and the numerous firsts in science and technology that would shape life as we know it now. It was in this decade when that ubiquitous machine, the desktop computer, first originated, evolving from the game computers (Atari, Commodore, etc.), although the Personal Computer as we know it was to come only in 1981. Varius other gadgets that make life easier or entertaining for us, like the VCR, VHS, Betamax, Walkman, etc. were introduced in this decade.

It was a very exciting period to live in. For me they certainly were "The Wonder Years."