Apparently it isn't just me, but other people, when they talk about history, like to talk about the various wars (based on the number of threads on that). Why is that? Are there other topics of history that people like to discuss other than war? Say for example, the robber barons and financiers of the late 1800s, or the expansion of the U.S. over time?
Don't get me started on Robber Barons, and they weren't confined to the late 1800s. My mother's family name is Hagley. The Hagley family came to America in the late 1600s, and had their fortune stolen by the Vanderbilts in the early 1800s. The Hagley Museum in Wilmington, Delaware is owned by the Vanderbilt family. She's also descended from the Meade family, another victim of the Vanderbilts in the 1800s.
(06-09-2014 04:03 PM)bitcruncher Wrote: Don't get me started on Robber Barons, and they weren't confined to the late 1800s. My mother's family name is Hagley. The Hagley family came to America in the late 1600s, and had their fortune stolen by the Vanderbilts in the early 1800s. The Hagley Museum in Wilmington, Delaware is owned by the Vanderbilt family. She's also descended from the Meade family, another victim of the Vanderbilts in the 1800s.
Other than discussing things like Stonehenge, and various pyramids around the world I'm unsure what else there is to talk about. All of your world's defining people in history was a general or a king. I guess it's our violent human nature to look back at various wars because I'm sure nobody gets thrilled about talking about a Leonardo painting unless they're an art major.
(06-09-2014 04:03 PM)bitcruncher Wrote: Don't get me started on Robber Barons, and they weren't confined to the late 1800s. My mother's family name is Hagley. The Hagley family came to America in the late 1600s, and had their fortune stolen by the Vanderbilts in the early 1800s. The Hagley Museum in Wilmington, Delaware is owned by the Vanderbilt family. She's also descended from the Meade family, another victim of the Vanderbilts in the 1800s.
How was it stolen? Not that I'm surprised.
They went into business with the Vanderbilts. Within a decade, the Hagleys were broke, and the Vanderbilts owned everything the Hagleys use to own.
(06-09-2014 04:14 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote: Other than discussing things like Stonehenge, and various pyramids around the world I'm unsure what else there is to talk about. All of your world's defining people in history was a general or a king. I guess it's our violent human nature to look back at various wars because I'm sure nobody gets thrilled about talking about a Leonardo painting unless they're an art major.
You have a rather jaded view of history. One of the most influential people in history may be John Crapper, the inventor of the flush toilet. Without his invention we would be living in a far dirtier and smellier world. A world where the average age of humanity would be considerably lower.
(This post was last modified: 06-09-2014 04:32 PM by bitcruncher.)
(06-09-2014 04:53 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote: I realize that Bit, I'm just saying.
People like war, for some strange reason. And it does have a big effect on society. However most of the effects of war are negative. Think of the Mongols and the Crusades. They burned Arab libraries, which destroyed most of the recorded knowledge of the world, and set civilization back 1000 years.
But more things that happened outside of war improved our lives in ways few people are able to comprehend. Consider the invention of aqueducts and sewers. Some attribute that to the Romans. But there's evidence that they gained that technology from the Minoans, a prior civilization some theorize to be the lost civilization of Atlantis. But those 2 inventions allowed for the growth of large cities, and allowed people to center their lives around something other than farming and hunting.
Leonardo Da Vinci conceived so many ideas in his mind that many weren't realized until the 20th century (like the helicopter).
Benjamin Franklin invented glasses. Without them, a good percentage of the world's population wouldn't be able to see clearly. Or consider his experiments with electricity, which was harnessed nearly a century later by Thomas Edison (DC current) and George Westinghouse (AC current).
Arthur C. Clarke fully described telesatellite communications in 1939, and the space elevator in the 1970s.
I totally understand your point. Without the wheel there would've never been barrels that got the neothlithic revolution off the ground. The Roman's had one of the most effective road systems and it helped them communicate between their cities/towns relatively quickly. Even today there are European freeways either on those old roads or parallel with them. Innovations are the most important things in history, but quickly forgotten.
At one time they said all roads lead to Rome. But they were wrong. All the roads led away from Rome, but Rome was a black hole that forced people to travel in the wrong direction.
(06-09-2014 04:53 PM)ClairtonPanther Wrote: I realize that Bit, I'm just saying.
People like war, for some strange reason. And it does have a big effect on society. However most of the effects of war are negative. Think of the Mongols and the Crusades. They burned Arab libraries, which destroyed most of the recorded knowledge of the world, and set civilization back 1000 years.
But more things that happened outside of war improved our lives in ways few people are able to comprehend. Consider the invention of aqueducts and sewers. Some attribute that to the Romans. But there's evidence that they gained that technology from the Minoans, a prior civilization some theorize to be the lost civilization of Atlantis. But those 2 inventions allowed for the growth of large cities, and allowed people to center their lives around something other than farming and hunting.
Leonardo Da Vinci conceived so many ideas in his mind that many weren't realized until the 20th century (like the helicopter).
Benjamin Franklin invented glasses. Without them, a good percentage of the world's population wouldn't be able to see clearly. Or consider his experiments with electricity, which was harnessed nearly a century later by Thomas Edison (DC current) and George Westinghouse (AC current).
Arthur C. Clarke fully described telesatellite communications in 1939, and the space elevator in the 1970s.
I could go on and on. But you get the idea.
AC current was really the brainchild of Nikolai tesla. Westinghouse used tesla for his ideas.
(06-09-2014 05:21 PM)bitcruncher Wrote: Benjamin Franklin invented glasses. Without them, a good percentage of the world's population wouldn't be able to see clearly. Or consider his experiments with electricity, which was harnessed nearly a century later by Thomas Edison (DC current) and George Westinghouse (AC current).
A bit of history trivia, perhaps particularly appropriate since this is primarily a sports board.
How did Thomas Edison cause the Los Angeles NL baseball team to be nicknamed Dodgers?
(06-09-2014 03:49 PM)NIU007 Wrote: Apparently it isn't just me, but other people, when they talk about history, like to talk about the various wars (based on the number of threads on that). Why is that? Are there other topics of history that people like to discuss other than war? Say for example, the robber barons and financiers of the late 1800s, or the expansion of the U.S. over time?
I agree with some points made by both ClairtonP and bit but will not re-quote them to save space. A simple answer is this is a new forum category and I'm sure over time there will be a wider array of history thread subjects.
A more complex response is war is such a part of human (our) history that makes it sad/horrific but fascinating at the same time. It touches us all emotionally (good, bad, indifferent or some combination thereof) in some manner. It's not just the act of war or battle itself, but what were the reasons, policies, circumstances, characters, etc. that led to the conflict? What happened/did not happen during the conflict that changed the outcomes? What strategies, tactics, politics, technological advancements took place? Was there blind luck or chance that factored in to any events? Who rose up to defy the odds or meet insurmountable challenges? Who failed miserably? Who were the heroes and who were the villains? What resulted afterwards in terms of impacts and generational legacies? Long term did society learn, benefit or suffer? You could go on and on...war is as intricate as you want to make it. In many ways, war is an "extreme macrocosm" of the circumstances and conflicts that we can identify with in our daily lives. Bottom line, it does make for some interesting discussion and analysis as a history topic.
(06-09-2014 03:49 PM)NIU007 Wrote: Apparently it isn't just me, but other people, when they talk about history, like to talk about the various wars (based on the number of threads on that). Why is that? Are there other topics of history that people like to discuss other than war? Say for example, the robber barons and financiers of the late 1800s, or the expansion of the U.S. over time?
I agree with some points made by both ClairtonP and bit but will not re-quote them to save space. A simple answer is this is a new forum category and I'm sure over time there will be a wider array of history thread subjects.
A more complex response is war is such a part of human (our) history that makes it sad/horrific but fascinating at the same time. It touches us all emotionally (good, bad, indifferent or some combination thereof) in some manner. It's not just the act of war or battle itself, but what were the reasons, policies, circumstances, characters, etc. that led to the conflict? What happened/did not happen during the conflict that changed the outcomes? What strategies, tactics, politics, technological advancements took place? Was there blind luck or chance that factored in to any events? Who rose up to defy the odds or meet insurmountable challenges? Who failed miserably? Who were the heroes and who were the villains? What resulted afterwards in terms of impacts and generational legacies? Long term did society learn, benefit or suffer? You could go on and on...war is as intricate as you want to make it. In many ways, war is an "extreme macrocosm" of the circumstances and conflicts that we can identify with in our daily lives. Bottom line, it does make for some interesting discussion and analysis as a history topic.
I have a small bookcase full of war books myself, mostly related to WWII or Medieval warfare. It's interesting no doubt.
I've always liked the historical intersections with philosophy and law. I'm a fan of David Hume, Thomas Aquines, and others. The way in which their philosophies impacted the work around them and after them is interesting.
I've read a little about the industrialists, especially the railroad guys, like James J. Hill. Some of that I find interesting. There wasn't any less corruption then, that's for sure.
(06-09-2014 03:49 PM)NIU007 Wrote: Apparently it isn't just me, but other people, when they talk about history, like to talk about the various wars (based on the number of threads on that). Why is that? Are there other topics of history that people like to discuss other than war? Say for example, the robber barons and financiers of the late 1800s, or the expansion of the U.S. over time?
Feel free to post new threads of things you are interested in. I'm sure there's plenty of commentary to go around.
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Non-war topics?
