Subject: Most underrated historical event
Posted by: Arpeggionist
Date: Jun 18 09
Just like the overrated events, underrated or forgotten events take up a disproportionate amount of most people's attention. I like to think of such events sometimes, events such as Apollo 9 (which sported a few firsts in human history and paved the way for the rest of the Apollo program) or the invention of musical notation. What else can people think of?
Posted by: Arpeggionist
Date: Jun 18 09
Just like the overrated events, underrated or forgotten events take up a disproportionate amount of most people's attention. I like to think of such events sometimes, events such as Apollo 9 (which sported a few firsts in human history and paved the way for the rest of the Apollo program) or the invention of musical notation. What else can people think of?
19 replies. On page 1 of 1 pages. 1
REDVIKING57
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Often neglected or forgotten - Jean-Francois Champollion's translation of the three rings of the Rosetta Stone.As is often said - 'You can't see where you're going until you know where you've been'. Understanding History is key to the development of mankind's future - IMHO. Reply #1. Jun 19 09, 4:22 AM |
Rowena8482 
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The day 'Ug the Caveman' dropped his meat in the fire, and decided to pull it out and eat it anyway. The day the first person with a thumping headache decided to chew willow bark to see if it helped. The day someone thought "I wonder what will happen if I grind these grass kernels up fine and mix them with water, and pop it all on a hot stone beside the fire..." Reply #2. Jun 19 09, 4:44 AM |
tnrees
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When someone decided to fix a roller under his (or her) sledge & invented the wheel. When someone decided if you see this mark you make a certain sound & invented writing. Reply #3. Jun 19 09, 5:49 AM |
Arpeggionist
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All well and good. But I was thinking more about events from recorded history, which people can attribute to a single time, place or person, which often get short shrift (if any consideration). Recorded history means that all of these events have to have come after the invention of writing... (Though I would argue that writing wasn't "invented" so much as "developed" or "evolved" by cultures around the world.) Another "event" that I will say is often overlooked and underrated was when Edward Jenner got the test results on his smallpox inocculation experiments. From then on people have been able to prevent, and later all but completely wipe out, this terrible and often deadly disease. It can be argued that billions of human lives were saved in the process of certainly the greatest undertaking in the history of human medicine. Another underrated event was the publication of a few short findings by one Abraham Vasquez of Portugal, who wrote about how to calculate latitude when one is south of the equator. It was the first time anyone native to the northern hemisphere had done that, and the writings provided sailors with easier ways to get around Africa, and eventually around the world. Reply #4. Jun 19 09, 12:26 PM |
paco18
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The invention of beer, Mmm beer. Reply #5. Jun 19 09, 2:58 PM |
stuthehistoryguy
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The US-Mexican War. Honestly, I don't think a lot of people realize how the US came to posess all this western land with Spanish place names. Reply #6. Jun 19 09, 10:15 PM |
| REDVIKING57
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Good one,Stu! 'Not many realise'....particularly outside the U.S.! Along the same lines,The Louisiana Purchase? Reply #7. Jun 20 09, 5:43 AM |
mjws1968
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Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25th September 1066. If the Saxon army had not been forced to defeat the Vikings and a fair number of Scots and Flemish mercenaries and Harold's disgruntled brother Earl Tostig of Northumbria (ousted) then they would not have been tired and understrenght when they had to march back south again on hearing of William's landing at Bulverhythe in Sussex three days later. Who knows, a full strength fully fit Saxon army may have been able to defeat the Norman invaders, and we would still be living under King Alfred's laws and modern English would be as different from Anglo-Saxon as modern Icelandic is from Old Norse (i.e. not very much at all). Reply #8. Jun 22 09, 10:39 PM |
keithkomodo
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How about these items in the late 19th/early 20th century: 1) Invention of the light bulb by Edison 2) Refining of gasoline, which had previously been a waste product of oil 3) The Wright Brothers flight 4) The assembly line by Henry Ford Reply #9. Jun 24 09, 10:55 AM |
| keithkomodo
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The American Civil War- had the Confederate States succeeded, America would have been a third rate power, probably fighting over the western territories for decades, and possibly there would be 4 or 5 countries instead of one. Reply #10. Jun 24 09, 10:57 AM |
Cymruambyth
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1) The fact that Protestantism changed the political face of Europe, and consequently the rest of the world (the colonized world, anyway). 2) The demise of the feudal system. 3) Universal suffrage. 4) The creation of Middle Eastern states after World War I. 5) The women's movement of the 1960s. Reply #11. Jun 28 09, 12:21 PM |
| tnrees
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Swan invented the light bulb at the same time as Edison (many inventions were invented almost simultaneously by several people - someone once said something like 'when its steamboat time people build steamboats'. 2 major developments - The invention of canning as a preservative The invention of the production line to produce blocks for the rigging of Royal Navy ships. Reply #12. Jun 29 09, 6:08 AM |
| papasmurf13
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this might sound silly, but the invention of television. so many people over watch television (me included) and it has such a major influence on billions of people on an everyday basis Reply #13. Jul 15 09, 9:47 AM |
nick888
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I would probaly have to say the enternet. Reply #14. Jul 16 09, 10:52 AM |
| david1975
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I would have to go with the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. Reply #15. Sep 09 09, 9:00 PM |
Pejikr
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Alexander the Great's conquests. Reply #16. Sep 10 09, 7:04 PM |
| Arpeggionist
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What's this about the strike in Winnipeg? What was that about? (In the US, that year will always be remembered for its notorious world series...) Reply #17. Sep 10 09, 7:53 PM |
Anton
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Distortion in rock music. Wasn't it Chuck Berry who used it first? Reply #18. Sep 10 09, 8:25 PM |
| david1975
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Arpeggionist, the Winnipeg General Strike was one of the most influential strikes in history. It started when the city's electrical workers went on strike and other unions joined in out of sympathy. On May 15, 1919, virtually the entire working population of Winnipeg had gone on strike. On June 21, when the strikers met in Market Square, the mayor read the Riot Act and the Royal North West Mounted Police rode into the crowd on horseback, hitting them with clubs and firing their weapons, which caused one death. The strike ended on June 26. Reply #19. Sep 12 09, 10:19 PM |
19 replies. On page 1 of 1 pages. 1
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