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I always think it's an interesting thought experiment to tie a historical date to the present one and examine history through that lens, because periodization can often blind us to how close events really are to each other.
For example, if 1848 is 2020, than the Bastille was stormed 59 years ago, in July 1961. Not unreasonable for people in Paris in 1848 to have known someone who stormed the Bastille.
The Battle of Waterloo was in 1987, almost everyone would know a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, and the youngest veterans of the Hundred Days would probably be just under 50.
Napoleon and Bonapartism would have been dominant from 1970 to 1986, to many first time French voters in "2020", they would have strong memories of this period- either fond or negative- that will influence their vote for or against Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte
The Orleanist regime that got overthrown in February was established in the Three Glorious Days...back in July 2002. Interesting to think about in the context of many liberals souring on the Orleanists in France, but liberals in the US warming to the Bush administration
Of course, on this side of the pond, the Mexican-American War ended at the beginning of this year. Outgoing congressman Abraham Lincoln (Whig-IL-7) was strongly opposed to it, and advocated for slavery to be banned in the recently acquired Mexican Cession.
Zachary Taylor has just won the Presidency, he won't make it through his term. Neither Whigs nor Democrats were interested in campaigning on slavery, thus causing a lot of voters to choose Martin van Buren, Free Soil candidate. Keep an eye out for the Civil War in 2033!
America itself isn't that old, many old timers were born in British colonies. The Declaration of Independence was 72 years ago, in 1948. The Revolutionary War was in the late 40s, the United States gradually established in the 50s.
Speaking of revolutionaries, Karl Marx was born in 1990. He recently started the Neue Rheinische Zeitung after getting kicked out of Belgium, publishing the Communist Manifesto earlier in the year.
