Happy to learn, from the U.S. Embassy blog in Colombo, that the American Center is celebrating its 60th birthday.

In the eighties, the AC was a part of my growing up. I would ride my bike on Sunday afternoons and settle down in the Communications section of the library. This was where I would catch a week’s worth of pre-recorded ABC News with Peter Jennings. I am sure there are thousands of others to whom this was a portal into a variety of interests.

Happy Birthday, American Center! Read the American Center newsletter here.

So what would it have been like when the American Center opened in Colombo 60 years ago? 1949 was a curious year, with these landmark events:

• George Orwell published Nineteen Eighty-four
• The Soviet Union vetoed United Nations membership of Ceylon (!)
• Signing of the Fourth Geneva Convention
• President Harry Truman introduced the Fair Deal