Today:
You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.
As usual, moderation in this thread will be relatively non-existent -- jokes, anecdotes and light-hearted banter are welcome.
So was walking in DC last week and passed the (relatively) new Eisenhower Memorial... My wife remarked "Why does he deserve one?" to which my catty response was "Because he's the only Republican that century who arguably should, so we gotta throw them a bone" but it then sparked a more serious conversation about *"What President doesn't have a major DC memorial but should!?" and "Who has one but deserves it least?"
By 'Major Memorial' the qualifications were either it needed to be on or near the Mall, or if not on the Mall, very big and done so for meaningful reasons. If it is just a solitary statue it doesn't count. Buildings also don't count.
Thus those who have them are:
Downtown
Elsewhere, but Counts
Doesn't Count:
For who has one but deserves it least, it was literally zero contest, as Buchanan is a pretty 'Wait, why the fuck did he get one!?!?", with JFK being an uncomfortable "Does he?" because the Flame specifically represents the fact he got assassinated, but otherwise... "Does he?!?". (Also fuck Reagan. He probably will get one eventually, and then will immediately take the crown from Buchanan).
For those who don't have one but ought to though, the eventual consensus was that U.S. Grant is the most surprising. I mean heck, Grant Circle doesn't even have a statue for the guy! Sure, his presidency was for awhile there considered sub-par (although opinions of historians have been reevaluating), but even if just for his military accomplishments it seems like a glaring omission! But I'm interested to see if anyone has an argument for others who are missing out on their just laurels...
It appears that Dublin, Ireland has its very own ghostly (Greyfriars) Bobby.
According to city officials, a "ghostly hound dog" is said to roam the Pioneer Cemetery at the Dublin Heritage Park and Museums. Many Tri-Valley pioneers who passed through during the California Gold Rush, including Tom Donlon, are buried in this cemetery, est 1859.
The dog is believed to be a faithful pet of one of the pioneers laid to rest more than a hundred years ago. Donlon, who died after a fall from the church roof, was the first person to be formally buried on the property.
(EDIT: Also, today's my birthday - I share it with Lonnie Anderson, Patrick Ewing, Neil Armstong, Guy de Maupassant, Joseph Carey Merrick, the "Elephant Man", and Tullia, daughter of Cicero.)
Finally out in the field, back doing research on two major projects and a few minor ones. Of course, no sooner did I get here than I got sick! Not covid, but the local antipodean winter flu. Two weeks (and a week and a half of lost work time) later, I'm finally OK again. Ugh, I did not miss being sick, but my younger self never got sick like this.
On the plus side, the archives are as they ought to be. "Winter" here is more pleasant than summer was at home. So that's nice, though I miss being home a lot more as time passes. Where's my hypersonic transport?
Your Weekly /r/askhistorians Recap
Friday, July 29 - Thursday, August 04
###Top 10 Posts
| score | comments | title & link |
|---|---|---|
| 4,693 | 151 comments | "Christianity didn't become a world religion because of quality of its teachings, but by the quantity of its violence" - Eleanor Ferguson. Is this statement historically correct? |
| 4,589 | 74 comments | "This. Isn’t. Sparta.” by historian Bret Devereaux argues that Sparta was a horrible place to live, had poorly educated citizens, was militarily mediocre, culturally stagnant, and was ruled by elites who were pretty crappy too. Anything inaccurate in that assessment? |
| 3,496 | 118 comments | Why did Greek not leave behind a family of languages the way Latin did? |
| 2,317 | 84 comments | In the Bible, the Legendary King Solomon is said to have 700 wives and 300 concubines. With that many wives, what is the purpose of distinguishing the concubines separately? |
| 2,205 | 79 comments | Apparently some people go into abandoned US mines to find and sell old jeans. I get that jeans are hardy workwear but WHY? Why did miners take off their pants INSIDE the mine? Did they leave the mines in their underwear? |
| 2,164 | 91 comments | Why has Puerto Rico never been granted statehood, despite them being annexed long before states like Alaska and Hawaii? |
| 1,847 | 148 comments | Why did the game of bridge lose popularity? |
| 1,553 | 61 comments | Did the "average ancient person" attend public executions, or was it viewed as barbaric? Say Rome announced they planned to behead a valuable POW - how large of an audience could be expected? |
| 1,426 | 54 comments | The prevailing narrative surrounding the collapse of Yugoslavia is that after the death of Tito, the country inevitably dissolved into ethnic chaos without a strongman to "keep everyone in line." Does this match the current scholarly analysis of what happened? |
| 1,303 | 62 comments | in the movie the Green Knight, Gawain receives a pagan and Christian blessing, and receives a pagan magic belt, without any controversy. Was Christian and pagan syncretism common at the time the original epic poem? |
###Top 10 Comments
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