Fascinating History

Steamed Hams

What events in History fascinate you?

I only just found out that penicillin was only discovered as recently as 1928 by Alexander Fleming, I find it shocking that simple infections were such a serious threat until then with the advent of antibiotics. I would have thought they were discovered in the 18th or 19th centuries.

Seachmall

Can't think of any human related historical events that wow or fascinate me (I'm sure there are some, just can't think of any at the moment) but there are plenty of natural historical events that blow my mind (thinking about the beginnings of the universe, or the beginnings of life, or what have you).

Dravokivich

Seachmall wrote: »

Can't think of any human related historical events that wow or fascinate me (I'm sure there are some, just can't think of any at the moment) but there are plenty of natural historical events that blow my mind (thinking about the beginnings of the universe, or the beginnings of life, or what have you).

Wouldn't that be pre-historical?

The Backwards Man

I was in a museum last week, and it always fascinates me how far we have come in a short couple of centuries. I know we complain away like fcuk, but in general we are a hell of a lot better off than our ancestors.

Mr Benevolent

That Ulysses S Grant was a hopeless drunk who couldn't button his own flies without falling over.

That DeValera was an utter nut with no regard for anything except nostalgia and his own sense of importance.

Seachmall

Dravokivich wrote: »

Wouldn't that be pre-historical?

"History is an umbrella term that relates to past events as well as the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about these events. The term includes cosmic, geologic, and organic history, but is often generically implied to mean human history." - Wiki

BeerWolf

Only history I find interesting are ancient history and mythology, such as Egyptian, Greek, Mayan, etc. - more 'recent' history [i.e. - Medieval-1900+] bores the hell out of me.

theLegion

Roman History

I'd love to see a new movie on the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. A Germanic Officer in the Roman army successfully double crossed his commander and led the 20,000 legionaries through a dense forest, where they were ambushed and massacred by German Barbarians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Teutoburg_Forest

force eleven

Mutiny on the Bounty.

The mutiny, the 3000 mile open boat journey by Bligh and the loyalists after being cast adrift, the fate of the mutineers who went to Pitcairn, eventually all except one either killed, died early or committed suicide, on an island thousands of miles from anywhere. And did Fletcher Christian escape from Pitcairn, or was he shot dead as most believe on Pitcairn. Kind of strange, the only survivor, Adams, refused to locate his grave.

Link to Pitcairn History...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Pitcairn_Islands

Steamed Hams

In 18th century London public hangings were common for relatively minor crimes and were popular events.

Cee-Jay-Cee

The wheel. It's amazing something that simple (and round) could have so many uses.

Frank Black

The spoon was only invented in 1983. Prior to this people used to have to stir their tea with a knife or fork.

dodderangler

Condoms go back further than you think.

Karl Stein

The first transatlantic telegraph cables over 150 years ago. Just imagine, communicating across the oceans was done by sending letter on a ship until the first cables were laid.

Seachmall

Frank Black wrote: »

The spoon was only invented in 1983. Prior to this people used to have to stir their tea with a knife or fork.

That's one of those facts that if it weren't for smart-phones you could probably say it with confidence at a party and have half the guests believe you.

McDermotX

dodderangler wrote: »

Condoms go back further than you think.

Not on me they don't. :cool:

o1s1n

Far more recent (but with ties to the past!), the whole Wood Quay debacle has had my interest over the last few days. The more I read about it the angrier I get. It's amazing how we can be so flippant when it comes to our rich heritage in this country

Capt'n Midnight

The Conquest of New Spain - Bernal Díaz / The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo,
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32474
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32475

History of the Conquest of Peru by William Hickling Prescott
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1323
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1209

Dravokivich

Charlie Rock wrote: »

The first transatlantic telegraph cables over 150 years ago. Just imagine, communicating across the oceans was done by sending letter on a ship until the first cables were laid.

They were still done for quite a while after. English ships with the "R.M.S" tag in their name were for mail delivery IIRC.

theLegion

The Phoenix Park Murders of the 19th Century is also really interesting. The top 2 men in Ireland at the time were murdered by Irish Nationalists - the Chief Secretary and the Under-secretary. They lived in what is now Aras an Ueachtarain and the American Ambassadors Residence. The police investigation was like a CSI storyline.

greedygoblin

Greek mythology. Actually, any mythology, be it Norse or Irish or whatever.

Also, the history of ancient Egypt is mind blowing stuff.

iDave

Would love of seen Rome at its height particularly a packed Colloseum

Thud

Prohibition Era: American government once poisoned alcohol supplies; this resulted in the death of over 10,000 American Citizens

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/07/the-american-government-once-intentionally-poisoned-certain-alcohol-supplies-resulting-in-the-death-of-over-10000-american-citizens/

signostic

Good reading of actual court cases from everyday life in London from 1673-1913..the hangmen was a busy fellows in the early years.

http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/The-old-bailey.jsp

Ilyana 2.0

British history from the 1950s onwards, especially life under Margaret Thatcher.

I've been watching The History of the Jews on BBC at the moment, it's really interesting.

Cienciano

dodderangler wrote: »

Condoms go back further than you think.

I put mine to the base of the penis. Are you saying they're supposed to go over your balls too? :eek:

danniemcq

Steamed Hams wrote: »

What events in History fascinate you?

I only just found out that penicillin was only discovered as recently as 1928 by Alexander Fleming, I find it shocking that simple infections were such a serious threat until then with the advent of antibiotics. I would have thought they were discovered in the 18th or 19th centuries.

I dunno if you'd call it "discovered" more realised what this thing actually was.

There are reports from around the time of Alexander The Great some people would notice that the guys who rode on horseback all day didn't get to many sores or rub burns despite being on the saddle all day.

I'm not 100% sure on the exact data behind it (books are at home) but they figured it was the mould on the saddle that is thought to be penicllin that helped.

Lenin Skynard

danniemcq wrote: »

I dunno if you'd call it "discovered" more realised what this thing actually was.

There are reports from around the time of Alexander The Great some people would notice that the guys who rode on horseback all day didn't get to many sores or rub burns despite being on the saddle all day.

I'm not 100% sure on the exact data behind it (books are at home) but they figured it was the mould on the saddle that is thought to be penicllin that helped.

The Ancient Egyptians also used stale mouldy bread to treat infections which is something similar to penicillin as far as my extremely limited scientific knowledge goes.

diomed

Fascinating History.

Am I the only one who is reminded of the Krankies?
Use "fascinate" in a sentence. "I have a cardigan with 9 buttons and can only fascinate."

Savoir.Faire

That up until the early 20th century, Galway kept a different time to the rest of the country. Dunsink Observatory was tasked with controlling the time for the entire country. Trains travelling down the sticks would carry clocks that were matched to the time sent from Dunsink. However, the bould men and women from the Tribes county refused to accept this new fangled Dublin Time, and instead kept their own independent time - approximately 11 minutes behind the ones sent down from the Big Smoke.

danniemcq

Lenin Skynard wrote: »

The Ancient Egyptians also used stale mouldy bread to treat infections which is something similar to penicillin as far as my extremely limited scientific knowledge goes.

Those ancients really knew their stuff.

The romans although newer were also awesome.

Amputations for example. if you had to have a limb amputated the standards and abilities that they had were not matched until the last 150 years or so. Its such a shame that the information was lost for so long.

Also a shame they never realised what lead poisoning was and lined aquaducts with it and used it in all their cups and pretty much anything needed to hold water

who the fug

theLegion wrote: »

The Phoenix Park Murders of the 19th Century is also really interesting. The top 2 men in Ireland at the time were murdered by Irish Nationalists - the Chief Secretary and the Under-secretary. They lived in what is now Aras an Ueachtarain and the American Ambassadors Residence. The police investigation was like a CSI storyline.

Also how their witness protection plan went tits up afterwards

Was anything new released under the 100 years rule about them

--Kaiser--

greedygoblin wrote: »

Greek mythology. Actually, any mythology, be it Norse or Irish or whatever.

I'm not sure if you know what history means

markomuscle

Nine Years War, Aodh Mór Ó Néill, basically any Gaelic Ulster history.

Sleepy

Roman Empire stuff fascinates me as does anything World War 2 related. Used to love the History Channel before it turned into a reality TV channel.

danniemcq

Sleepy wrote: »

Roman Empire stuff fascinates me as does anything World War 2 related. Used to love the History Channel before it turned into a reality TV channel.

you mean you don't care about pawn stars, or that duck show or anything about ancient aliens?

Rented Mule

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I was in a museum last week, and it always fascinates me how far we have come in a short couple of centuries. I know we complain away like fcuk, but in general we are a hell of a lot better off than our ancestors.

Centuries ? Have a look at how far Ireland came in a few decades.

gobnaitolunacy

Henry Ford didn't always get it right...http://www.damninteresting.com/the-ruins-of-fordlandia/

Karl Stein

Dravokivich wrote: »

They were still done for quite a while after. English ships with the "R.M.S" tag in their name were for mail delivery IIRC.

They've been using undersea communication cables ever since then.


http://www.submarinecablemap.com/

theLegion

Rented Mule wrote: »

Centuries ? Have a look at how far Ireland came in a few decades.

Pfff there was a monorail in Kerry in 1888 and a train to Dalkey powered by vacuum in 1843.

keano_afc

I'm fascinated by the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Shackleton's voyage from Elephant Island to the South Shetland Islands in particular is an incredible feat of endurance and skill.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_of_the_James_Caird

As a Christian, Biblical history fascinates me as well.

--Kaiser--

keano_afc wrote: »

Biblical history fascinates me as well.

What do you mean by biblical history? The vast majority of events in the bible are not remotely historical

gobnaitolunacy

theLegion wrote: »

Pfff there was a monorail in Kerry in 1888 and a train to Dalkey powered by vacuum in 1843.

Both short lived and only fit for short distances or a fairground.

Irish Guitarist

I used to find Nazi Germany fascinating, albeit disgusting. Not the war but the idea that so many people could either be oblivious or just not care about the death camps.

Then there was the fact that Hitler survived as long as he did. There were numerous attempts (over forty) to assassinate him but they all failed due to sheer bad luck (or good luck if you look at it from Hitlers side).

I watched too many documentaries about this subject though and don't feel the need to watch any more.

shanered

What fasinates me most about history is all the warfare and brutality that went on, no need for examples but the shear amount of people who died fighting one cause or another just astounds me.
It just dazzles me how much violence has got us to where we are right now.

Faith+1

That Sigmund Freud was a assh*le

theLegion

shanered wrote: »

What fasinates me most about history is all the warfare and brutality that went on, no need for examples but the shear amount of people who died fighting one cause or another just astounds me.
It just dazzles me how much violence has got us to where we are right now.

I'd love to go back in time and see what a medieval war was like - did they really just line up against each other and charge. Seems crazy!!

Earthhorse

The 2nd Punic War is endlessly fascinating, I find.

In fact, the whole rivalry between Rome and Carthage is pretty incredible from start to finish. I'm surprised with the release of Rome, The Tudors, Spartacus and other TV shows in recent years there hasn't been one covering this rivalry. It's filled with huge amounts of drama and heroic acts. Brilliant stuff.

danniemcq

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

What do you mean by biblical history? The vast majority of events in the bible are not remotely historical

while true there is a lot of stories in the bible that are based on actual events although not maybe in the way they are described at times.

For example crossing of the red sea was actually the crossing of the reed sea due to a mistranslation.

The flood that noah builds the ark for, there are stories very similer to that where a farmer took some of his animals onto a raft to protect them from a flood.

Ditto the first born deaths in egypt, due to how households were the first born slept on the bed closest to the ground and there is the theory that a nearby leak from a volcano created a cloud of gas that was heavier than air and seaped into the houses suffocating those nearest the ground.

So even if you think the bible is a load of fairy tales you have to realise that lots of them are based on fact.

Legs.Eleven

Dictators in Latin (using that term very loosely) countries in the last 100 or so years. Their capacity for having been complete and utter arseholes intrigues me.

--Kaiser--

danniemcq wrote: »

while true there is a lot of stories in the bible that are based on actual events although not maybe in the way they are described at times.

For example crossing of the red sea was actually the crossing of the reed sea due to a mistranslation.

The flood that noah builds the ark for, there are stories very similer to that where a farmer took some of his animals onto a raft to protect them from a flood.

Ditto the first born deaths in egypt, due to how households were the first born slept on the bed closest to the ground and there is the theory that a nearby leak from a volcano created a cloud of gas that was heavier than air and seaped into the houses suffocating those nearest the ground.

So even if you think the bible is a load of fairy tales you have to realise that lots of them are based on fact.

That's fair enough, but those are examples of the origins of a mythology. The words 'biblical' and 'history' should not be so juxtaposed