‽istis reclaims this week in ‘history’ (weekending October 24th 2020)
‽istis reclaims this week in ‘history’ (other histories
and history websites[i]
are available - that just perhaps, possibly maybe can bring other perspectives?),
when, apparently – and with some apparent relevance (?):
‽ Soviet missile sites
were revealed in Cuba and the then President refused to capitulate to Russia
and other Soviet Socialist Republics (1962)
‽ Pope John Paul II was
inaugurated (1978)
‽ the first Parliament of
Great Britain meets (1707)
‽ US President Wilson is
satisfied that Germany has accepted the terms of the armistice (1918)
‽ Palestinian Chairman
Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a
‘land-for-peace’ agreement (1998)
‽ the match is patented
(1836)
‽ Selman A. Waksman is
awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for the discovery of an effective
treatment for tuberculosis (1952)
‽ Anna Edson Taylor is the
first woman to go safely over the Niagara Falls in a barrel (1901)
‽ Henry Ford awards equal
pay to women (1916)
‽ the first day of the
stock market crash which began the Great Depression (1929)
‽ the UN comes into
existence with the ratification of its charter by the first 29 nations (1945)
‽ the creation of the
world (at 9am on Sunday October 23rd 4004 BC!) as calculated by Archbishop
James Ussher and Dr John Lightfoot
So ‽istis wonders what this week will
be remembered for – and by whom:
·
Pope Francis backing same-sex civil unions[ii] (other Popes and other
infallibilities have been available)
·
Jacinda Ardern’s re-election (other ways of
governing are thus available)
·
The last 2020 US election debate (another President
is potentially soon available)
·
The passing of another UK/EU trade negotiation
deadline (other Prime Ministers and governments will be available one day)
·
Marcus Rashford’s goal v PSG[iii] - or his campaign for
school meals (other unexpected heroes are available all over the place)
·
…your own situations and experiences: perhaps remembered
by you alone; or possibly remembered by friends and family; or maybe remembered
by colleagues or neighbours; or even, for some, (perhaps, possibly, maybe)
remembered in an ‘official record’ or caught in the yet-to-be-spun trawl-net of
a future historian’s account, thesis or ‘story’… by which time ‘who was the 45th
President of the US?’ or ‘when did a small majority of the UK vote to leave the
EU?’ may not even be quiz questions!
© Pistis
NB: further reflections and comments linked to this
week’s theme and past blog
entries to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily
indicate approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders
Please do consider following on Twitter and engaging or commenting positively whether you agree or disagree!
[i] These ‘facts’
are taken from: https://www.historynet.com/today-in-history which,
its search profile claims, is ‘a
timetable of everything that happened on this date in the areas of politics,
war, science, music, sport, art, entertainment, and more.’ (!?!?) Some other
sites (stumbled upon today, the latest ‘this day in history’) to explore might
include: https://www.britannica.com/browse/World-History;
https://www.blackfacts.com/; https://www.thefactsite.com/world/; https://time.com/5816482/research-missing-history/ (reference does not
imply endorsement )
[ii] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/21/pope-francis-backs-same-sex-civil-unions
“Homosexual people have a right to be in a
family. They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be
thrown out or be made miserable over it. What we have to create is a civil
union law. That way they are legally covered. I stood up for that.”
