Perhaps only MIT would celebrate the anniversary of a theory. This week MIT Sloan School of Management celebrated the work of their faculty members for the Black-Scholes formula to price options. In the story, "Celebrating Black-Scholes-Merton", it is interesting to note that the original paper presenting the theory almost went unpublished because the theory was deemed too "arcane". Eventually the paper was published and Robert Merton and Myron Scholes won the Nobel Prize. Also of interest are the new areas where the inventors believe the theory will be applied, such as central bank management and the management of risk in emerging markets.
Given the world wide, popular use of Black-Scholes to price options, I would point out again the applicability of "academic" theory to real world problems.
For more about MIT, you might enjoy this post, "Inside MIT".