Any History Buffs?

[Feral Phoenician]

I enjoy reading about history but I wouldn't consider myself a buff or really knowledgeable. Right now I'm reading this book about WWII.

https://www.amazon.com/Inferno-Worl...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467593848&sr=1-2

Really good book. Gives lots of accounts from participants that were written in letters, journals, etc. I had studied about WWII some because of a class I took in college about Germany but this book goes over areas of the war that I had little to no knowledge about before.

"Inferno" is a fantastic read. If you're interested in the history of warfare, I also recommend "Guns, Germs, and Steel".

Whether you consider yourself a "buff", or even knowledgeable, the fact that you have an interest in history in wonderful.

 

[Feral Phoenician]

On this day, 153 years ago, The Battle of Gettysburg concluded with a Union victory. Tomorrow, though, would see a "nail in the coffin" for the CSA.

 

[Feral Phoenician]

Also on this day in 1035AD, William the Bastard would become Duke William of Normandy. You might better know him as William the Conqueror, First Undisputed King of England. He would lose his ignoble title (he was the illegitimate son of the Duke of Neustria, now Normandy), and gain his glorious title in 1066AD after the Battle of Hastings.

Minor battle, absolutely no effect on world history [emoji12]

Edit - While Alfred the Great (only English King known as "The Great") referred to himself as "King of all English" (Anglkyn), this was merely a self-bestowed title, with no legal bearing. At his height, Alfred's rule stretched from modern day Mercia, Wessex, and into parts of modern day Norfolk and Sussex. William had Lords and Ladies as far north as Yorkshire, and south as Exeter swearing fealty.

 

[kmoney]

"Inferno" is a fantastic read. If you're interested in the history of warfare, I also recommend "Guns, Germs, and Steel".

Whether you consider yourself a "buff", or even knowledgeable, the fact that you have an interest in history in wonderful.

So you've read Inferno? Is warfare your main interest in history?

I actually have read Guns, Germs, and Steel and I read Diamond's Collapse as well. It was a major factor in me becoming more concerned about environmental causes.

 

[Feral Phoenician]

So you've read Inferno? Is warfare your main interest in history?

I actually have read Guns, Germs, and Steel and I read Diamond's Collapse as well. It was a major factor in me becoming more concerned about environmental causes.

Actually, I like studying all aspects of history, though I thoroughly enjoy learning about East Asia. In 256 BC, Rome was a city-state surrounded by enemies, and had a precarious alliance with the Latin League. At the same time, China was a unified empire under the Han dynasty.

I also enjoy learning about how people lived in the past; food, family dynamics, things like that.

 

[Feral Phoenician]

Tambora did a fantastic job in this thread http://theologyonline.com/showthread.php?118588-The-Story-of-the-4th-of-July with a history lesson on the 4th of July.

 

[Feral Phoenician]

153 years ago today, The Siege of Vicksburg (Mississippi) concluded with a Union Victory.

The loss was so devastating, the residents of Vicksburg would not celebrate the 4th of July until 1963, a full 100 years later.

 

[Feral Phoenician]

Also on this day, in 1826, *both* John Adams and Thomas Jefferson would die, within hours of each other. Again, in 1831 on July 4th, James Monroe would die. All were signers of the Declaration of Independence, and all were Presidents of the United States.

 

[ok doser]

Also on this day in 1035AD, William the Bastard would become Duke William of Normandy. You might better know him as William the Conqueror, First Undisputed King of England. He would lose his ignoble title (he was the illegitimate son of the Duke of Neustria, now Normandy), and gain his glorious title in 1066AD after the Battle of Hastings.

and he spoke french! :darwinsm:


:mock: William the French speaker

 

[Feral Phoenician]

On this day in 1959 AD, George Grosz, a German painter and illustrator, would pass away.

Grosz was so condemning of the NSDAP (Nazi Party), and his artwork attacking them so fiercely, that Adolf Hitler named Grosz "Cultural Bolshevik Number One". Grosz would finally leave Germany when a very close friend showed up at his studio, wearing a SA (Sturmabteilung, "Brown Shirts") uniform, and warned Grosz to "get out of Dodge". Grosz came to the US, and became an art professor.

 

[ok doser]

we had a kind of cult of walter gropius fans among the art students at one of the colleges i went to



gropius followed a similar path

 

[Feral Phoenician]

On this day, 1928 AD, sliced bread was sold for the very first time.

Does beg a question; before sliced bread, what was the greatest thing since?

 

[Feral Phoenician]

There were also more serious matters occurring on July 7th in the past.

In 1937, Imperial Japanese forces conducted a "false flag operation" known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. Japan would use this as a pretext to invade China. This would set off a drastic series of events that would include The Rape of Nanking (Nanjing), in which hundreds of thousands of Chinese would be butchered, often in the most ghastly of ways.

It also led to a little known event called "World War Two" (Pacific Theatre).

Also on this day, in 1863 AD, the USA (Union) instituted conscription (the draft). This would lead to rioting in major US cities, catastrophic property damage, and lynchings of Free Blacks. But, for a measly $300 (1863, guys), a man could buy his way out of conscription. The Martin Scorsese film "Gangs of New York" depicts the NYC draft riots.

 

[kmoney]

On this day, 1928 AD, sliced bread was sold for the very first time.

Does beg a question; before sliced bread, what was the greatest thing since?

The wheel. :car:

 

[kmoney]

There were also more serious matters occurring on July 7th in the past.

In 1937, Imperial Japanese forces conducted a "false flag operation" known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. Japan would use this as a pretext to invade China. This would set off a drastic series of events that would include The Rape of Nanking (Nanjing), in which hundreds of thousands of Chinese would be butchered, often in the most ghastly of ways.

It also led to a little known event called "World War Two" (Pacific Theatre).

I know you meant that sarcastically but I actually was quite ignorant of just how much happened in that region of the world during WWII. Prior to reading Inferno I'm not sure I even would have said China had any role in the war. :idunno: It's strange to compare China and Japan then to China and Japan now.

 

[Feral Phoenician]

I know you meant that sarcastically but I actually was quite ignorant of just how much happened in that region of the world during WWII. Prior to reading Inferno I'm not sure I even would have said China had any role in the war. :idunno: It's strange to compare China and Japan then to China and Japan now.

The entire Pacific Theatre is largely untaught in school, and even numerous history books focus more on the European Theatre. Because of this, it would appear to many that Pearl Harbor just "came out of nowhere".

Cutting off Japan's oil to a trickle was a very unwise idea. It led to the Sino-Japanese war, as Japan began pushing for China's oil. It's no surprise that during December, 1941, Japan also hit hard in British Malaya (oil and rubber) and The Dutch East Indies (oil), as well as French Indochina (rubber).

The Pacific War truly was a "resources war". Japan's game plan (the entire Japanese high command knew Japan would lose to Western Powers in a prolonged war) was to strike sudden and hard, in more places than the Western Powers could contain.

However, Japan overextend herself, having never been able to fully subdue China. Had Japan not been embroiled in a war in China as well, Japan likely would have won the war.

If you are interested in the Pacific Theatre, Robert Leckie (who was a Marine during the war) wrote a number of books about it.

 

[Feral Phoenician]

Another major challenge was that Japan did not know how to effectively govern conquered territory. "The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" would either be ruled with tyrannical cruelty, or absolute lackluster indifference.

Because of this, Japan also faced fighting from Partisan units (Fernando Marcos would lead one in the Philippines). Part of the challenge was Japan had almost zero experience in such matters.

 

[ok doser]

I know you meant that sarcastically but I actually was quite ignorant of just how much happened in that region of the world during WWII. Prior to reading Inferno I'm not sure I even would have said China had any role in the war. :idunno: It's strange to compare China and Japan then to China and Japan now.

if you have any interest in learning about China's historicity, I strongly recommend Kissinger's On China

 

[Feral Phoenician]

On this day, 1850 AD, US President Zachary Taylor would pass away, from "well no duh" reasons.

On July 4th, 1850, President Taylor gave a speech in Washington DC. At the time, DC was in a major heat wave. Also, a cholera epidemic was running rampant, and Citizens of DC were urged not to drink water unless it had been boiled, not to eat any raw fruit, and to avoid dairy products.

Well, Taylor, "Old Blood and Guts" himself, was hot, hungry, and thirsty. After his speech, he promptly drank a few glasses of unboiled water, ate a huge bowl of fresh cherries, and then to top it off, ate himself some ice milk.

So ended the life of an extremely illustrious military commander, and extremely humble man (he often dressed like a farmer, leading foreign dignitaries to not believe he was the President when introduced).

While there were assassination rumors, no, Taylor would merely die from doing literally the exact opposite doctors had said to do.

 

[ok doser]

While there were assassination rumors, no, Taylor would merely die from doing literally the exact opposite doctors had said to do.

to be fair, doctors of the day were hacks

literally


ca. 1840 Heine's Osteotome