Valentines Day stuff! Also, BRAND NEW EXPERIMENTAL HISTORY MEME!

[beboots]

 Good evening, everyone! Happy Valentines day, for those of you who celebrate it!

First, a brief link recommendation. If you've never heard of Postsecrets, you should definitely check them out: essentially, people send in anonymous postcards with their secrets on them. Some are sad, some are quirky, some are touching, and all are absolutely awesome

Comments

[beckyh2112]

If you were going to do a World History course of two university semesters, what would you cover to make it truly world history? Why?

/probably not quite history but it is something I am curious about

[beboots]

You know, that's a really tricky question. I was once in a seminar class that spent three hours straight discussing this question. It's difficult to cover "all" world history in even a 1,000 page textbook, and even then you skip over so much stuff... Hmm

[beckyh2112]

That is very interesting. Thank you!

(I think you answered the question just fine. It is something I have mulled over for a while, since I am annoyed at how much my world history courses seem to be centered on two continents.)

[beboots]

Exactly! I wholeheartedly agree. If you want world history "done right", the closest thing I've found recently was an amazing podcast by the BBC called "A History of the World in 100 Objects." I think that in the first 50 objects there were only like 3 from Europe, because again, not much was going on there for the longest time. I would highly recommend a listen. The producer essentially picked 100 objects from the British Museum and told a history of the world through them. Super interesting.

[dark_puck]

"What do you think is the silliest reason a war ever started?"

How can I do anything BUT ask this now? :D

[beboots]

Have you ever heard of the War of Jenkins' Ear? I actually don't know much about it (it's notorious, though). Essentially, the British were just WAITING for an excuse to go to war with Spain in the early 18th century, and when a merchant sailor named Jenkins reported being boarded by some Spaniards and having part of his ear cut off (not even the entire thing! Like the bottom lobe) he brought it up with parliament and THERE YOU HAD IT. Even contemporaries thought that he was whiny, though, apparently

PART TWO

[beboots]

Thirdly, and finally, I love telling the story of the Defenestration of Prague. I ran across this story while reading an exceedingly boring textbook for my History of the Habsburgs class. It was the only interesting two pages in that entire 300 page textbook - boring right before, then BAM super cool story, then continued on with men with long German names and confusing accounts of Christian politics and theology

Re: PART TWO

[dark_puck]

....I think the Defenestration of Prague is my favourite.

Just because A) Defenestration is an awesome word and B) Someone actually did that. <3

[spyridona]

Who is your favorite historical leader? :D

[beboots]

My favourite historical leader? I was going to say KING CHARLES I again but I already answered that to another question and besides he wasn't exactly the best LEADER anyway, considering how he ended up... AKA headless. ;_

[beboots]

Anyway, they had some trouble with the anglo populace, and they ended up court-marshialling and executing a young man by the name of Thomas Scott (who was, by all accounts a racist and a really, really rude rabble-rouser), which pretty much made Prime Minister MacDonald and others in Ottawa FLIP OUT. There are all of these nasty political cartoons from the era which show a dark and angry looking Riel like personally shooting a blindfolded and pitiful-looking Scott in the face, like it was murder, but things didn't go down that way at all

[avocado_love]

What was the last historical fact that really amazed you? Share the love!

And I'll bite: Your favorite European monarch?

[beboots]

The last historical fact that amazed me? Hmm... good question. Everything is amazing to me! ;) I guess I recently had an epiphany for my thesis, regarding Civil War amputation and why surgeons of the era had such a bad reputation even amongst contemporaries. I was trying to get into their heads and figure out people's perceptions of amputation and amputees and such. I then read this really interesting article on amputee veterans after the war, and I was shocked at how overwhelmingly POSITIVE so many of them were. In that article there was an account of a nurse who had expressed her sorrow to a young man who had just lost a leg only to get the reply of something along the lines of "I did not lose it: I gave it to my country" and he didn't seem to feel any regret

[anyjen]

History meme, eh?

Well, just to be contrary, and because I like to take people outside their comfort zone, here is my question:

In a hundred words or less, what is it you know about the history of Argentina?

(Depending on your answer, I may ask to elaborate. Yes, I'm evil. I'm also studying to be a teacher. All's fair in war and education! XD)

[beboots]

Oh god what do I know about Argentina... I actually learned absolutely nothing about the country until university, and even then I'm on shaky ground. Forgive me!

Presumably, what is now Argentina was conquered by the Spanish sometime in the 1500s or 1600s. There were silver mines? Bad stuff happened?

After achieving independence from Spain in the early 1800s, the country had difficulty defining its own culture as distinct from the colonizers. It was of utmost importance to write original literature... which was difficult because so little of the populace was literate at the time, the educational system having been neglected by the Spanish overlords.

Um... something about the Quechua language being encouraged? I AM ASHAMED AT MY LACK OF KNOWLEDGE HERE HAVE A VIDEO OF TWO KINDLY OLD MÉTIS PEOPLE HAVING A CONVERSATION IN MICHIF: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFUGfkRQ4RE

[anyjen]

It's ok; that's more than I expected you to know. Most people would have trouble even naming the continent Argentina is in. XD

[beboots]

"Most people would have trouble even naming the continent Argentina is in. XD" For serious? I was ashamed of what little I knew! D