The History Thread

[sidcow]

7 hours ago, HanoiVillan said:

Shame about the picture quality, but I thought this was quite good. Essentially, Wired magazine did an article in 1997 in which they predicted (very much in the spirit of the time) that the next 25 years would be a 'long boom', a period of peace, prosperity, and amazing human advancements. However, they also ran a sidebar, in which they outlined 10 possible risks that might prevent this golden age. Here it is:

EDIT: I can't find the article sidebar online, but you can read the positive article on the 'long boom' here: https://www.wired.com/1997/07/longboom/

To be fair most of those things are on the list because they could easily have been foreseeable even in 1997.  Indeed many of them were showing their heads even then. 

The pandemic one is pretty prophetic but even then it's been on record for many years that the world was well overdue a major pandemic. 

[villakram]

4 hours ago, sidcow said:

To be fair most of those things are on the list because they could easily have been foreseeable even in 1997.  Indeed many of them were showing their heads even then. 

The pandemic one is pretty prophetic but even then it's been on record for many years that the world was well overdue a major pandemic. 

Exactly, e.g., loads of Europeans (Old Empires) were worried about American economic hegemony long before the calendar struck 1900 A.D.

Edited November 19, 2021 by villakram

[Xela]

On 18/11/2021 at 13:32, HanoiVillan said:

Shame about the picture quality, but I thought this was quite good. Essentially, Wired magazine did an article in 1997 in which they predicted (very much in the spirit of the time) that the next 25 years would be a 'long boom', a period of peace, prosperity, and amazing human advancements. However, they also ran a sidebar, in which they outlined 10 possible risks that might prevent this golden age. Here it is:

EDIT: I can't find the article sidebar online, but you can read the positive article on the 'long boom' here: https://www.wired.com/1997/07/longboom/

Pretty much nailed it! 

[Chindie]

Jeremy Clarkson's surprisingly great documentaries from 20 odd years ago still stand up.

The first is effectively 2 documentaries intertwined, a study on the Victoria Cross, how it came to be, examples of winners, thoughts on what (who?) it takes to win it, and the awe inspiring story of 1 particular winner from Operation Market Garden.

The second is the brilliant story of 'the greatest raid' and the commando divisions in WW2, a near unbelievable story of incredible, audacious bravery and sacrifice.

They're both well worth an hour of your time.

[BOF]

Watching Eggheads and wondering how Brits in quizzes are generally terrible at their own monarchs. Surely you're taught them at least to a level that you know the general eras.

[Seat68]

10 minutes ago, BOF said:

Watching Eggheads and wondering how Brits in quizzes are generally terrible at their own monarchs. Surely you're taught them at least to a level that you know the general eras.

Nope. Can't speak for everyone but didn't learn any monarchs at school. I know Elizabeth 1 and 2 and also Victoria. Couldn't tell you who came before. 

[bickster]

12 minutes ago, BOF said:

Watching Eggheads and wondering how Brits in quizzes are generally terrible at their own monarchs. Surely you're taught them at least to a level that you know the general eras.

Grammar School behaviour that is

[chrisp65]

2 minutes ago, BOF said:

Watching Eggheads and wondering how Brits in quizzes are generally terrible at their own monarchs. Surely you're taught them at least to a level that you know the general eras.

Out of curiosity, would you know the kings and queens between 1169 and 1921?

Personally, I wouldn’t have a bloody clue who was before or after Victoria or before the current one.

 

 

[sidcow]

16 minutes ago, BOF said:

Watching Eggheads and wondering how Brits in quizzes are generally terrible at their own monarchs. Surely you're taught them at least to a level that you know the general eras.

There is no extensive teaching of former monarchs,  not like US presidents which seems to be drilled into US kids. 

I would have left school only really knowing about a select number of monarchs we were actually taught about.  Henry VIII, Queen Vic for example. 

I've probably got far more knowledge now through watching TV and doing quizzes, but no way could I work my way through them.  I'd probably pinpoint very roughly in history when a certain monarch was. 

Obviously there are lots of them, and so many with the same name too, gets well confusing unless you are a proper quizzer and study them, historian or just very very interested in The Monarchy. 

Should the study start with Will the conqueror or go back further? Then you're opening a whole new can of worms. 

Edited November 25, 2021 by sidcow

[BOF]

3 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

Out of curiosity, would you know the kings and queens between 1169 and 1921?

I should hope not, given I was in the Irish education system

[bickster]

3 minutes ago, BOF said:

I should hope not, given I was in the Irish education system

Most of them were your monarchs too *Runs very fast*

[BOF]

2 minutes ago, bickster said:

Most of them were your monarchs too *Runs very fast*

True yet for some strange reason they're not on the syllabus

[Chindie]

27 minutes ago, BOF said:

Watching Eggheads and wondering how Brits in quizzes are generally terrible at their own monarchs. Surely you're taught them at least to a level that you know the general eras.

British history school teaching basically goes

Romans

...

Tudors

...

WW1

WW2

We basically don't do the monarchy outside of the Tudors. And pre-Tudor the might as well not have been a monarchy from education's perspective.

[chrisp65]

8 minutes ago, BOF said:

I should hope not, given I was in the Irish education system

So do you only do the last 100 years? 

By my reckoning, (and a quick google) up to and including George 5th they were part of your history?

 

 

[chrisp65]

There’s also no ‘british’ education curriculum.

 

[BOF]

18 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

So do you only do the last 100 years? 

By my reckoning, (and a quick google) up to and including George 5th they were part of your history?

 

 

It's so long since I wasn't old I can scarcely remember in detail. No we do more than the last 100 and it definitely involves a fair bit of learning how much of a dick Britain was to us (shout out to Oliver). It certainly doesn't involve learning off lists of British monarchs. I just found it curious that actual UK quizzers are regularly poor on their own ruling families. 

[Stevo985]

1 hour ago, BOF said:

Watching Eggheads and wondering how Brits in quizzes are generally terrible at their own monarchs. Surely you're taught them at least to a level that you know the general eras.

 

56 minutes ago, bickster said:

Grammar School behaviour that is

I went to a grammar school and we weren’t taught about the monarchy at all apart from the odd specifics here and there. 

I generally have absolutely no idea about kings and queens and when they reigned. I couldn’t even tell you the monarchs in the 20th century outside of Elizabeth II

 

(but fwiw if I was going on a quiz show you can bet your bottom dollar id learn them all)

[Chindie]

You can see why they don't bother with much of it in fairness.

[mjmooney]

28 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

 

I went to a grammar school and we weren’t taught about the monarchy at all apart from the odd specifics here and there. 

I generally have absolutely no idea about kings and queens and when they reigned. I couldn’t even tell you the monarchs in the 20th century outside of Elizabeth II

You're too young. I was at primary and then grammar school in the 1960s, and our history syllabus was not only mega-'trad', it was strictly chronological. None of this 'Victorians one year, Vikings the next' nonsense. I appreciate that, because I feel we got - albeit a bit sketchily - the whole story. It makes sense, without any gaping holes. Of course, if you're not into history, you'll just think 'booooring'. 

OK, I'm a history geek (I went on to do it at university), but I'm not bad on British monarchs from Henry VII onwards. Before that though (mediaeval era), it's all very vague. 

[AVFC_Hitz]

A-Level History back in early 2000's was. WW2 - Corn Laws - Cold War - Vietnam - 1920/30's USA and seeing Mr Gaunt pop out for a fag half way through a lesson.