Discovery of a Time Capsule

Introduction 

The 1960s were a pivotal time for America and the world. There were some happenings that took place at the time and shock the entire world for some time, while others were to have major ramifications for decades. In a time capsule set in the 1960s, an exponentially high number of things would be found within it based on cultural changes, the wars that were going on, the Cold War and political Machination. However, the five top most important things in that capsule would be an OPEC flag, an FBI investigation file for the death of John F. Kennedy, an advertisement of the Ford Mustang referencing the price of $2368, a South Vietnamese flag and finally a picture of Neil Armstrong hobbling on the moon. These items highlight not only what was the greatest of news in the 1960s but also how the said era changed the current and future world. 

The OPEC Flag 

Before the 1960s, America was a colossus in the oil industry with the nation being a net exporter of oil and also a major player in the global industry through oil corporations. Therefore, the US controlled both how much fuel was to be available in the market as well as the pricing thereof. At the very advent of the 1960s, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was formed (Griffin & Teece, 2016) . At its inception in Bagdad, Iraq between the 10 th and the 14 th day of September 1960, the organization had only 5 members; Iran the hosts, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela which was the only country outside the Middle East. The nations signed an accord in which they agreed to control oil production in their respective countries and, therefore, oil pricing. 

By working together and negotiating terms with countries and corporations as a singular entity, OPEC had a lot of clout in the oil industry thus whittling away American control (Griffin & Teece, 2016) . OPEC was a significant happening in the whole of the 1960s as it kept on growing both in geographical areas as more countries joined in as well as in power. The transition of America from a net oil exporter to a net oil importer within the same period augmented the importance of OPEC to the energy world. By 2015, OPEC had 13 members and controls 42% of global oil production as well as 73% of all available reserves (Griffin & Teece, 2016) . This makes the formation of OPEC a monumental happening in the 1960s and the ensuing years. 

The FBI investigations file for the death of John F. Kennedy 

Several things make the assassination of President Kennedy a landmark event in the 1960s. The first is based on who he was; a man, politician, and president as well as how his presidency would have changed the world had it been allowed to continue. The second is based on the circumstances surrounding his death, the investigations led to the murder of his alleged killer Lee Harvey Oswald (Belzer & Wayne, 2013) . Finally, and more relevant to the future is how the death of President Kennedy contributed to the advent of parallel history, commonly referred to as conspiracy theory. The totality of these factors makes the death of Kennedy a major world happening in the 1960s and qualifies it to be in the list. 

At the age of 43, Kennedy became the youngest president to be sworn in on the 20 th day of January 1961. He was to be president for only two years but within that short period, his presidency would have global ramifications. The most important of this is the peaceful resolution of the crisis in Cuba that involved the then two world superpowers; the USA and the Soviet Union. The crisis began with what came to be called the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 that not only failed to dislodge Fidel Castro from power but also made him a closer ally of the Soviet Union (Belzer & Wayne, 2013) . On the basis of this friendship, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev at the request of Castro placed ballistic missiles in Cuba, creating the capability of an easy attack n continental USA. This crisis is said to have been the closest that the Cold War came to being a real war. A war between two nuclear powers would have been catastrophic and the peaceful resolution of the impasse indeed saved the world. Among other achievements of Kennedy is the expansion of democratic space that culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the enactment of the Trade Expansion Act (Belzer & Wayne, 2013) . 

On the 22 nd day of November 1963, as Kennedy traveled alongside his wife near the Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, several shots rang out and the president received three gunshot wounds. These wounds proved to be fatal and the president passed on soon thereafter. After a massive investigation spearheaded by the FBI, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested as the alleged killer. Among the facts released about the alleged assassin was that he had close ties to the Soviet Union. However, before Oswald could be charged with the murder, he was shot dead, while in custody and in the presence of the world media ostensibly by Jack Ruby, a local nightclub owner and a fan of President Kennedy (Belzer & Wayne, 2013) . Therefore, no one was ever tried for the death of Kennedy. Further, the death of Oswald was extremely suspicious and this created many versions of the events that took place. It was these versions that led to the advent of conspiracy theories that have been very prominent in national discourse as well as in the media. 

The Ford Mustang Selling at of $2368 

By 2017, the average cost of a Ford Mustang ranges from $26,085.00 to $57,045.00 due primarily to inflation and the loss of value for the US dollar. Indeed, the vehicles produced in 2017 were considered to be exponentially cheaper than those produced in 1960 due to technological advancements and mass production. A 1969 Ford Mustang in 2017 would sell for over $100,000! The cited price for the Mustang is very significant historically since it was in the 1960s that runaway inflation and currency devaluation began in America and across the world (Ball, 2014) . Indeed, history records that a gallon of gasoline in 1960 went for 25 cents while in 1969 it went for 35 cents; a 40% increase in price. Similarly, a house that would go for $12,700.00 in 1960 was going for $15,500.00 in 1969, which is a 22% increase which is monumental in real estate. This trend in inflation has continued to exacerbate in all areas. Before the 1960s, prices would fluctuate based on economic conditions but the trend through the 1960s was unique (Ball, 2014) . The advent of major inflation in the 1960s makes a specifically priced marker of a commodity in US dollars a significant finding as it showed the advent of the devaluation of world currency. 

A South Vietnamese Flag 

The 1960s is the only complete decade when the Yellow flag of South Vietnam flew as the republic was founded in 1955 and came to an end in 1975. The rise and fall of South Vietnam are definitely significant to the region commonly referred to as Indochina. It is, however, the Vietnam War also called the Second Indochina War that makes the flag an issue of significance to the global history in the 1960s. Geographically, this war was mainly fought in Cambodia and Laos but primarily in Vietnam. It pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against the mainly capitalist government of South Vietnam. Significant players in the war, and perhaps the ones who turned the tide within it were the communist movement in South Vietnam that fought against their own government (‘Embers of War’, 2012) . This came to be known as the Vietcong as well as the National Liberation Front (NLF). 

On a global scale, however, the Vietnam War pitted forces that supported communism in the area including Russia and China against forces that supported capitalism including America, South Korea, Australia, and Thailand (‘Embers of War’, 2012) . So committed was America to the War that eventually, it came to be referred locally as the American War. The concentration of so much belligerence, energy, and resources in one place was devastating for the nations directly involved. So many bombs were dropped, many locals killed and the land destroyed including some ancient cities with heritage significance. Further, over fifty thousand American soldiers were killed with almost thrice the number wounded in the war (‘Embers of War’, 2012) . It is the massive nature of the engagement and casualties, the secondary interests involved and the unfortunate ending of the war with the ending of South Vietnam that makes the flag significant enough to be in the time capsule. 

The picture of Neil Armstrong hobbling on the moon 

On the 20 th day of July 1969, just as the 1960s decade was coming to an end, the entire world witnessed the marvelous spectacle of Commander Neil Armstrong hobbling out of the Lunar Module named Eagle, which had been released by the spacecraft Apollo 11. The significance of this hobbling out and taking a few steps lies in the fact that at this moment in time, the Eagle had landed on the surface of the moon a few hours earlier. This made Armstrong the first known man to walk on the surface of the moon (Howard, 2016) . The actual significance of this landing may not be properly understood since nothing valuable or important was actually brought back from the said mission. The 47.5 pounds of lunar material collected from the moon was mainly only useful for academic study. 

However, from a historical perspective, the landing of Armstrong on the moon and his subsequent safe return brought to a close a significant episode of the Cold War. From the 1950s, America and the Soviet Union had been embroiled in a war on who would create the best spacecraft to venture into the moon. Throughout the race, Russia seemed to have been winning with America mainly playing catch up. In 1962, it was Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who became the first man in space with American Alan Shepard playing second place months later. The first landing on the moon was made in 1966 by a Soviet unmanned craft Soviet Union's Luna 9 (Howard, 2016) . However, landing actual human beings on the moon by NASA as aforesaid broke the Soviet fighting spirit in the space race and perhaps contributed to the eventual loss of the Cold War by the Soviet Union. 

Conclusion 

The capsule had five different objects that had a massive impact in the world in the 1960s. These objects, as shown above, tell great historical narratives about what was happening in the world in the 1960s, how it would affect the world in the immediate future after the end of the 1960s. Whereas all these historical events are significant, the main lesson learned with the benefit of hindsight is that those things that seem so important to the world at a certain moment in time may seem insignificant later and vice versa. For example, the entire world took notice of the date and time when an assassin felled President Kennedy. Further, the landing of Armstrong on the moon was streamed live globally. Less than half a century after these events, a new generation developed whose majority have only vaguely heard about Kennedy and Armstrong. However, few people noticed the formation of OPEC or the advent of inflation in the 1960s yet decades later, every living soul in the world would be directly and continually affected by these happenings. The retrospective true mark of a historical event lies in how much the event changes later history. 

References 

Ball, L. (2014). The Case for a Long-Run Inflation Target of Four Percent.  IMF Working Papers, 14 (92), 1. doi:10.5089/9781498395601.001 

Belzer, R., & Wayne, D. (2013).  Hit List: An In-depth Investigation into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination . New York. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. 

EMBERS OF WAR. The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam. (2012).  Kirkus Reviews ,  80 (14), 1473-1475. 

Griffin, J. M., & Teece, D. J. (2016).  OPEC behavior and world oil prices . New York. Routledge 

Howard, B. (2016).  The Last Men to Walk on the Moon: The Story behind America's Last Walk on the Moon . BookCaps Study Guides