Anniversary Year

It seems like every month I'm reading about another anniversary celebration for this year.

• Mozart: 350th birthday


• Nikolai Tesla: 150th birthday


• Dmitri Shostakovich: 100th birthday


• Janet Gaynor: 100th birthday


• Rembrandt: 400th birthday


• San Francisco Earthquake & Fire: 100th anniversary


• San Francisco Japantown: 100th anniversary


• Samuel Beckett: 100th birthday


• John Huston: 100th birthday


• George Bernard Shaw: 150th birthday


• Bertolt Brecht: 50th anniversary of his death

Is this really such a big year, or are people just in the mood to commemorate?