Speaking of mobs (though a pretty mellow one in this case), the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair is coming up next week.

Various pop-culture historians have argued over whether this was the high-water mark of the counterculture or the beginning of its move into mainstream culture.
Personally, I think the counterculture was in decline as any kind of authentic phenomenon by the time of Woodstock. It was, however, the point at which middle America first really became aware of how prevalent the counterculture had become. I was a little surprised at their surprise.