SO we all know what’s going to happen this year don’t we? We’ve got a general election and with any luck we’ll see the back of the Cameron/Clegg coalition, though I dread to think what we’ll get in its place, because, frankly, they’re all a bunch of not-in-my-names…

We've got the York council elections at the same time, which if the past year’s comments on The Press website are an accurate barometer of citizens’ feelings, will mean the banishment of anyone wearing a red rosette far beyond the city’s bar walls.

And then there’s another cycle race, providing yet another chance to showcase Yorkshire to the world, even if it’s one inhabited by competitive cycling enthusiasts.

But did you know that January 24 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Winston Churchill, who led the nation to victory in World War Two?

It was in 1965 that arguably the nation’s most iconic statesman died at the age of 90 and his death was followed by a full state funeral with his Union Flag bedecked coffin being drawn through the streets of London on a gun carriage.

We’ve also got another significant anniversary too – this year it will be 800 years since the signing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede on June 19, 1215. It was the first formal document that gave a nod to democracy, guaranteeing the rights of individuals and stating that a monarch had to follow the laws of the land.

In fact, there are all sorts of significant milestones during 2015, some of which will be very much in the public eye, such as the Magna Carta anniversary. But some will be less so – I mean, not that many people are going to get excited by the fact that Angelina Jolie celebrates her 40th birthday in June. Or that in the following month J K Rowling will be 50. Well, whoopee do…

But anniversaries aside there will be lots of new stuff going on to make 2015 a year to remember.

Like the first solar powered aircraft will circumnavigate the globe over a period of five months from the beginning of March to the end of July using no fuel whatsoever to cover a distance of 22,000 miles.

Called Solar Impulse, the Swiss aircraft has the wingspan of a Boeing Jumbo and uses 17,000 solar cells to charge lithium batteries during daytime, allowing it to fly with virtually unlimited autonomy. But it’s hardly progress – from April 1 to July 31 is a grand total of 122 days, which makes Jules Verne’s trip around the world in 80 positively racy…

Also in July, after travelling more than four billion kilometres through space on a journey that began way back in 2006, the NASA probe New Horizons finally arrives at the planet Pluto from where it will send back the first close range, high resolution pictures of its frozen world, along with its five moons.

And sometime during the year a Japanese drink maker will deliver a can of soft drink to the moon, making it the first commercial advertising to be carried out on the lunar surface. But this is no ordinary can of soda – it will be made from titanium to withstand swingeing shifts in temperature and the drink itself will be in powdered form to be diluted at some future date with water from the moon itself.

In the second half of the year on a date yet to be determined, Microsoft will release its new operating system, Windows 10. Which is fine if you’re a non-Apple user, but you really couldn’t care less if your heart’s been captured by i-whatever.

September 10 will be a landmark and not just because it will be my son’s 22nd birthday. For on this day the Queen will become the longest reigning monarch in British history, surpassing the record held by her great-great granny Queen Victoria.

It was on February 6, 1952 that Elizabeth II became queen, which means that on that date in September she will have fulfilled in spades the sentiment of the national anthem by reigning for 63 years and 217 days. And the next milestone – assuming she lives that long – will be her platinum jubilee in 2022, which will naturally be the signal for one hell of a party... a year to remember, in fact….

Let’s hope 2015 is a year to remember too. But for all the right reasons, please…