A new year means a new set of anniversaries for cultural programmers and journalists to celebrate. Last year was one of the most anniversary-laden in memory – including an inundation of Dvoyrak and Janacek works a century after their deaths, the centennials of the births of jazz greats Fats Waller, Count Basie, Coleman Hawkins, and Jimmy Dorsey and the 100th anniversary of a fictional event, Bloomsday.

To begin in the musical realm, early music aficiandos will be celebrating 500 years since the birth of Thomas Tallis in 1505. Some years later, in 1905, Michael Tippett was born. If death anniversaries are indeed valid occasions for scheduling concert programs, will we see a revival of the works of Franz Strauss, Richard’s father, who died 100 years ago? Debussy’s “La Mer” and Lehar’s “Merry Widow” both premiered that year.

2005 will continue what will be a long run of anniversaries for figures associated with American popular music – both Broadway and jazz. Dorothy Fields was born on July 15, 1905; Jack Teagarden on August 29; and Tommy Dorsey on November 19.

On a more somber note, it will be widely observed in New York City that 25 years have passed since John Lennon was gunned down outside the Dakota on December 8. Others will recall that on May 18, 1980, Joy Division’s Ian Curtis hanged himself.

The infancy of rock ‘n’ roll again may be plausibly commemorated this year, as well, as it was 50 years ago this month that Alan Freed came to New York and began his “Rock ‘n’ Roll Ball.” In 1955, television was also in its infancy, so expect a slew of popular culture celebrations. March will see a new feature-film version of “The Honeymooners,” which began in 1955.

That same year saw the first Saturday morning cartoon show, “Mighty Mouse,” and the premiere of “Captain Kangaroo.” Will baby boomer television executives be able to resist celebrating? Better to note that 1955 also saw the premiere of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” and hope the show’s episodes begin to become available on DVD.

That same year, Hitchcock made both “To Catch a Thief” and “The Trouble With Harry.” It also saw the release of “Blackboard Jungle,” “The Seven Year Itch,” and “The Lady and the Tramp.” The French kicked in with “Rififi” and “Bob le Flambeur.” So expect to see all those films around town, as well as “Raging Bull,” which was made in 1980. Greta Garbo would have been 100 this year.

So, finally, to books and their makers. It was 400 years ago that “Macbeth” was first acted and the first volume of “Don Quixote” printed; 250 years since the Edinburgh Review was founded and Samuel Johnson’s dictionary was published; 150 years since “Song of Hiawatha” and the first edition of “Leaves of Grass”; 100 years since “The House of Mirth” and “The Golden Bowl”; and 50 years since “Lolita” and “Notes of a Native Son.” Joyce finished “Dubliners” in 1905, but it did not see print for nine more years.

Can that really be all? Well, if you are looking to celebrate great ideas and can read German, you might peruse Einstein’s 1905 papers on the theory of relativity.

This year will be an oddly good year for anniversaries of institutions. Sinn Fein will mark 100 years. The Daily Telegraph is 150. And would you believe that Norway is only twice as old as Disneyland? The former celebrates its separation from Sweden in 1905; the latter, its separation from reality in 1955.

Such anniversaries don’t really matter all that much. They can be valuable, especially when they provide occasions to remember those we have already begun to forget. But the best we can hope for is a 2005 that will long be remembered when such pieces as this come to be written in the years ahead.