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The Historical Discussion Thread: All Discussion Pertaining to History is Welcome

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Since I love history, have way too much time on my hands, and have no life, I am going to post an historical event corresponding to the current date every day if I can.

I welcome discussion on the events, so if you disagree with my assertion of the importance and effects of the events, or if you just feel like making posts in my thread, go for it.

January 6:

A.D. 1494: The first Mass is celebrated in the New World, at La Isabela, Hispaniola.

Of course most, if not all, of you don’t give a hoot, so I’ll try to find one that’s more relevant…

A.D. 1893: The Great Northern Railway connects Seattle with the East Coast of the U.S.A.

I don’t care, I’m not American.

A.D. 1912: New Mexico becomes the 47th state of the U.S.A.

Again, I don’t give a [CENSORED] because I’m not American. Hmmm…I’m running out of years and I haven’t found a relevant date…

Oh, I found one:

A.D. 1929: Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta and begins her work among the poor.

There, now we can all have a discussion about Mother Teresa and call her names and so forth.

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Today is Christmas in Armenia, and the Armenians claim it is the original date of Christ's birth.  It is also the Twelfth Day of Christmas, for those who actually celebrate all twelve.  Today is also Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, in countries where they celebrate that, as in Latin America.

I really love Christmas-related history, so that's why the focus on that ;)

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Ah, yes, I forgot to mention the feast of the Epiphany, because in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church it is usually celebrated on the nearest Sunday to the actual date.

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I prefer alternate history myself.

 

1492: Columbus sails the ocean blue. Due to inaccurate calculations, his fleet sails right past Cuba without ever spotting it or another landmass in the Americas. They all eventually die of starvation/thirst.

1732: The Inca and Aztec cultures make first contact. The Aztecs give the Incans their writing system, while the Incans give the Aztecs llamas.

1767: Spanish pirates land on the shores of Newfoundland, and are the first Old Worlders to successfully reach the New World.

1859: Alfred Russel Wallace publishes his book on the theory of evolution before Charles Darwin can publish his. As a result, Darwin becomes a footnote in history, and Young Earth Creationism never comes to exist.

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2014: I don't make this thread and decide to read a book instead...

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The nice thing about this thread is that I have an excuse to bump it every day (and it's educational!). ;)

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January 7:

1610: Galileo discovers the first three moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, and Ganymede.

1714: Henry Mill patents the typewriter.

The evolution of the keyboard began here...(unless you want to start with the invention of the alphabet).

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You're right...I will revise the title. I meant that I will be posting these in 2014, but the title is not representative of that fact.

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Exactly. Except the fact that you can comment on this and have discussions/arguments and it is readily accessible right here on ot.com.

EDIT: And of course redundancy is right in line with my character.

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Today is Christmas...again!  The Russian Orthodox Church still follows the Julian Calendar, in spite of the fact that Russia itself follows the Gregorian Calendar.  The Julian Calendar is 13 days behind the Gregorian.  Thus, to us it is January 7, but to the Russian Orthodox Church (as far as celebrations are concerned), it is December 25th.  So for the third time in two weeks, Merry Christmas!

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I demand Mythbusters test out the bullet resistance of garbage cans now. And what the hell did I just watch?

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

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January 8:

A.D. 1835: The U.S. national debt is $0 for the first and only time.

^LOL

A.D. 1954: Elvis pays $4 to record his first two songs.

I never was a fan of Elvis (not that I've listened to any of his music), so this is meaningless to me, but it may be relevant to some older gentlemen on this forum, like Frink.

A.D. 1992: George Bush vomits on Japanese PM's lap.

I'm glad I won't be famous enough to leave any record of my vomiting behind when I die.

A.D. 2013: 2,130 people imprisoned by the Syrian government are exchanged for 48 Iranians held captive by Syrian rebels.

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January 9:

A.D. 1768: The first modern-style circus is held in London.

A.D. 2001: Apple announces iTunes...

and A.D. 2007: Apple announces the iPhone.

I never did like Apple's products. iTunes stinks--I much prefer Media Monkey myself.

It's amazing how many unimportant dates there are, historically speaking. This thread could get boring (for me--I assume it's already boring for you).

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January 10:

49 B.C.: Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon River, beginning a civil war and resulting in his dictatorship over Rome and its possessions.

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I know a few historical dates this month, we just aren't there yet. ;)

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

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January 11:

A.D. 1693: Mt. Etna, Sicily, erupts.

Important because people died and stuff.

A.D. 1787: Titania and Oberon, moons of Uranus, are discovered by William Herschel.

Not really important, but interesting (for some people).

A.D. 1813: The first pineapple plants are planted in Hawaii.

It's interesting how non-native flora and fauna can so quickly become identifiable with a place.

A.D. 1849: Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first American woman to earn a medical degree.

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RicOlie_2 said:

January 11:

A.D. 1693: Mt. Etna, Sicily, erupts.

Important because people died and stuff.

 Correction. It was the huge earthquake that did it. It shook the entire south east of the island. Roughly 60 thousand people died between friday 9th and sunday 11th. Cities were abandoned, I've visited the ruins of the ancient town of Noto, I've been there twice now. It is bone chilling to walk among those rocks and think that just a few centuries ago people used to live there.

On the other hand, we owe to the earthquake a magnificent collection of baroque art, mostly churches.

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An eruption was caused by the earthquake, though, right?

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RicOlie_2 said:

An eruption was caused by the earthquake, though, right?

Wiki sez:

Link to eruption of Etna

Although there are reports of an eruption at the time of the earthquake, most sources suggest that the volcano had been inactive since the destructive eruption of 1669. Analysis of the relationship between eruptions and earthquakes has found that earthquakes are followed by long periods without activity in the 'rift zones' that extend out to north and south from the summit. Estimates of coulomb stress transfer due to the dyke intrusion in the rift zones associated with the 1669 eruption, suggest that this could have helped to trigger the 1693 earthquake, by increasing stress levels on the faults.

Anyway, the event passed on to history as "The 1693 Earthquake" because that's what caused death and destruction. There was a bloody tsunami, too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1693_Sicily_earthquake

Etna coughs and sputters all of the bloody time, in fact it could be erupting as we speak and we wouldn't notice. Our main concern is the ashes. I've swept black dirt out of my garage lord knows how many times.

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Leonardo said:

Etna coughs and sputters all of the bloody time, in fact it could be erupting as we speak and we wouldn't notice. Our main concern is the ashes. I've swept black dirt out of my garage lord knows how many times.

 Am I to take that to mean you live in Sicily?