Being a member of the Class of '11 myself (UK- not USA), I've got to say that the list's not as out of touch as it might seem.

The majority of folks nowdays just don't *care* about these things. The USSR's the most significant part of that list, I'd say - out of my entire year at school, I'd say that perhaps less than a half have even the faintest inkling of just what the Soviet Union was, what it stood for, and what it meant to the Western World. The "There were two Germanys?!" question that seems to come up whenever a reference to the GDR/FDR split is made just highlights how little most people care about the history of the world.

Perfectly natural, if somewhat sad.

I can only speak from the perspective of the United Kingdom, though. The situation in America might be rather different.