POP CULTURE Anniversaries come, once again, in 2005

Flash back into the past with these anniversaries.
By ANDY EDELSTEIN
LONG ISLAND NEWSDAY
They say time flies when you're having fun. And even when you're not, time does have a way of moving way too fast. That reality is driven home to us every year when we are deluged by hype surrounding the 25th anniversary of this or the 10th anniversary of that. So to give you a heads-up on what we'll be facing in the year ahead, here's a clip-and-save guide of some of the notable pop culture anniversaries we'll be "celebrating" in 2005.
50TH ANNIVERSARY (1955)
UJuly 9: "Rock Around the Clock" -- Bill Haley and His Comets' hit (used as the theme for the film "Blackboard Jungle") becomes the first rock 'n' roll song to reach No. 1.
USept. 10: "Gunsmoke" debuts -- The "adult Western" would run another 20 years.
USept. 30: James Dean's death -- The star of "Rebel Without a Cause," 24, was killed in a car crash at the height of his popularity.
UOct. 1: "The Honeymooners" -- The year Jackie Gleason and Co.'s "classic 39" episodes aired. They're just as funny today.
40th anniversary (1965)
UMarch 2: "The Sound of Music" -- The hills are still alive with the songs from this movie classic.
UJune 15: Bob Dylan records "Like a Rolling Stone" -- The folk singer plugs in, ticks off his fans but kicks off a revolution. (Rolling Stone magazine recently declared it to be the greatest song of all time.)
UJune 19: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" enters the Top 40 -- The rebellious anthem that defined the Rolling Stones, then and forever. (It's also No. 2 on that Rolling Stone list of the greatest songs of all time)
USept. 15: "I Spy" -- Bill Cosby becomes the first African-American lead in a TV series.
30TH ANNIVERSARY (1975)
UMay 31: "The Hustle" hits No. 1 -- Disco fever begins to break out with Van McCoy's dance hit. Sales of polyester shirts triple.
UJune 20: "Jaws" -- The birth of the summer blockbuster.
UOct. 11: "Saturday Night Live" -- Still running strong, now watched by the grandchildren of the original viewers.
UOct. 27: Boss-mania breaks out -- As "Born to Run" launches Bruce Springsteen in the national consciousness, he becomes the first entertainer to appear simultaneously on the covers of Time and Newsweek.
25TH ANNIVERSARY (1980)
UJune 1: CNN launches -- All TV news all the time? That concept will never work.
UJuly 25: "Caddyshack" -- Who knew the country-club farce would become a cult classic?
UNov. 21: "Who Shot JR?" episode on "Dallas" -- The biggest TV audience to date tuned in to see whodunit (it was Kristin).
UDec. 8: John Lennon murdered -- "Fan" Mark Chapman guns down the Beatle outside his Central Park West residence.
20TH ANNIVERSARY (1985)
UFeb. 15: "The Breakfast Club" -- The Brat Pack at its height.
UMay 22: "Rambo First Blood, Part 2" -- Sylvester Stallone gets gung-ho as he re-fights the Vietnam War.
UJuly 13: Live-Aid -- Two massive concerts (in London and Philadelphia) televised worldwide, raise millions for African famine relief.
UOct. 2: Rock Hudson's death -- The handsome leading man becomes the first major personality to die from AIDS.
10TH ANNIVERSARY (1995)
USept. 2 -- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum opens, and Cleveland becomes known for more than being the "mistake by the lake."
UOct. 3: O.J. Simpson criminal case verdict -- He's still looking for the person who killed his wife and her friend. Right.
UDeaths of Selena (March 31) and Jerry Garcia (Aug. 9) -- The world's most popular Tejano singer is shot to death by her former personal assistant in a Corpus Christi, Texas, Days Inn. The Grateful Dead leader, 53, dies of a heart attack in his room at a California rehab facility.
UNov. 22: "Toy Story" -- Computer-generated animation comes of age.