# Apparently around half of American Millennials haven’t heard of The Hindenburg **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 13, 2024, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225 "2024-09-13T18:59:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/101 "2024-09-17T13:00:50Z")
And that’s why we still put hydrogen in our zeppelins. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/102 "2024-09-17T13:06:55Z")
Which was the wrong lesson anyway\*, so maybe better to forget? \*No, seriously, some groups are trying to bring back hydrogen as a lifting gas - if constructed and operated properly, it’s not inherently the sort of danger people seem to think ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/103 "2024-09-17T13:16:35Z")
Um … I’ll pass, but thanks anyway. The key phrase, “if operated properly”, lends me to believe that it would be a catastrophe waiting to happen. LOL ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/104 "2024-09-17T13:21:41Z")
And so go internal combustion engines, nuclear power plants, deepwater submersibles, near earth orbit spacecraft, etc. All those have at least one, if not more, disasters caused by poor design or operation. You can learn the right lessons from those and improve your engineering and operations. Or you can learn the wrong lessons and decide not to advance technology or even leave your home. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/105 "2024-09-17T13:23:33Z")
Betcha most millenials would be hard pressed to name a single major Civil War battle. For that matter, what percentage of Dopers know (without Googling), the significance of the [Battle of Dranesville](https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/dranesville) in 1861, which was triggered by foraging parties looking for feed for their hungry horses? > [@](#): > > Though the battle was small, of no strategic importance and resulted in only light casualties, it marked the first time in the east that a Union force had bested their Confederate enemy and was able to drive them from the field. On a more serious note, knowledge of history in general seems to have been a casualty of modern education. Hard to learn from the past when you’re ignorant of it. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/106 "2024-09-17T13:30:01Z")
I suspect most would be able to name Gettysburg, if only because of the Address. I don’t really blame modern education as much as modern education policy. And even then, kids these days don’t seem like they’re any more ignorant than in age’s past. Just ignorant of different things than their forebears. I would not be shocked if they were surprised by some similar bit of “obvious” or “well known” trivia that Boomers or Gen-Xers did not know. A lot of this thread seems to go that way - the kids (or I guess young to middle aged adults, since Millenials are no younger than mid-20s now and the oldest are over 40) are on our lawns, gosh darn it and such aggression won’t stand! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/107 "2024-09-17T14:00:12Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > A lot of this thread seems to go that way - the kids (or I guess young to middle aged adults, since Millenials are no younger than mid-20s now and the oldest are over 40) are on our lawns, gosh darn it and such aggression won’t stand! I have noticed lumping in “kids these days” with Millennials even though older Millennials could be grandparents now. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/108 "2024-09-17T14:16:36Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > History provides perspective and lessons that shouldn’t be forgotten. The less history people know, the greater the chance that they will repeat the same patterns of behavior and make the same awful mistakes that were made in the past. The common retort is “as are those who do”. People have plenty of history to study but still repeat the same patterns of behavior and awful mistakes of the past. It doesn’t seem to be an effective strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/109 "2024-09-17T14:22:10Z")
As a kid I vaguely remember an album pushed on TV (possibly _Remember the Golden Days of Radio Volume 2_, Longines Symphonette Society, 1968) which included the famous audio of the Hindenburg disaster. Pretty sure they used a film and audio clip in the commercial. Probably where I was first exposed to the Hindenburg. I think they also pushed their recording of the “War of the Worlds” broadcast in the same commercial. I guess half of millennials are whooshed when Indiana Jones and his father board a dirigible and the camera pans back to reveal “Hindenburg” on the side… > [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > I suspect most would be able to name Gettysburg, if only because of the Address. Pretty sure the address is somewhere along Gettysburg Pike… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/110 "2024-09-17T14:33:26Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > I guess half of millennials are whooshed when Indiana Jones and his father board a dirigible and the camera pans back to reveal “Hindenburg” on the side… I think you’re misremembering here. There is no such reveal. The zeppelin that Indy and his dad rode in was the **D-138** (Fans are obsessive about this stuff), with mounts for two biplanes. The Hindenburg ( **LZ 129** )had no such mounts. And, besides, it had crashed in May 1937, while the events of _Last Crusade_ take place in 1938 [D-138 | Indiana Jones Wiki | Fandom](https://indianajones.fandom.com/wiki/D-138#:~:text=D%2D138%20)(also%20registered%20as,dropping%20from%20the%20massive%20airship. ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/111 "2024-09-17T14:36:17Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Of course, there was an oblique reference to the Hindenburg and its fate in the fictional movie **The Rocketeer** , in which the (fictional) German zeppelin _Luxembourg_ is similarly destroyed by fire. Any discussion of that film would almost inevitably bring comparison with the real-life _Hindenburg_, with its similar name and fate. > > The problem, of course, is that **The Rocketeer** came out in 1991. It’s probably just as obscure to a lot of Millennials and Gen Zs as the actual Hindenburg is. I watched **The Rocketeer** dozens of times growing up but I was 6/7 in 1991. I was probably a teenager the first time I consciously associated the zeppelin destruction with the real-life Hindenburg. > [@Loach](#): > > I have noticed lumping in “kids these days” with Millennials even though older Millennials could be grandparents now. This is an important point to keep in mind. My Millennial peers have kids ranging in age from newborns to low 20s. It’s pretty amusing that some elder Millennials are grandparents now but we’re still getting lumped in with Gens Z and Alpha. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/112 "2024-09-17T14:41:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I think you’re misremembering here. There is no such reveal. I was probably so expecting such a reveal that I remember it that way… ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/113 "2024-09-17T15:10:59Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > In the grand scheme of things, I don’t know how important the Hindenburg disaster really was. As mentioned, it was important because it effectively ended the era of airships. Germany was particularly invested in airship development, and had to use hydrogen in them because they had no access to helium, which was almost exclusively produced in the US and export was banned under the Helium Act of 1925. The Hindenburg disaster was a significant event in the course of aviation history, ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/114 "2024-09-17T15:29:55Z")
The Hindenburg crash happened when my mom was in 1st grade. I didn’t learn about it until Cable TV in the 1980’s. I can’t recall specifically. It was overshadowed by the Great Depression and WWII. I don’t remember it being covered in school. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/115 "2024-09-17T15:32:17Z")
The thing about history is that there are new things that could be taught added to it every day; but the amount of time children have to learn it doesn’t grow correspondingly. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/116 "2024-09-17T15:36:40Z")
I too expected that the dirigible in _Last Crusade_ was going to turn out to be the Hindenburg (and briefly thought that Indy and James Bond were going to be responsible for the explosion). Of course that didn’t happen, which is probably why I don’t write movies. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/117 "2024-09-17T15:40:26Z")
Yup. I learned a lot of pre-20th century history in school. Almost nothing in the 20th because we’d run out of time by the end of the school year. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/118 "2024-09-17T15:41:17Z")
I remember American History Class was spotty. There was a lot of focus on the founding of the Colonies and revolution. Then War of 1812, Civil War, Indian wars and American West. Spanish American War (late 1890’s), WWI, and the Great Depression were it for the 20th century. Our parents and some older teachers fought in WWII and Korea. It wasn’t taught in any depth. World Civilization was even spottier. Jumping around with the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/119 "2024-09-17T15:41:37Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The Hindenburg crash happened when my mom was in 1st grade. > > I didn’t learn about it until Cable TV in the 1980’s. I can’t recall specifically. It was overshadowed by the Great Depression and WWII. > > I don’t remember it being covered in school. My father was 10 when it crashed. He remembered it flying overhead. He was in Jersey City. He remembered his grandmother shaking her fist at the swastika on the back of it. I’ve been on Lakehurst NAS multiple times. The massive Hanger 1 is still there and in use. The Hindenburg barely fit in the hanger. The Goodyear blimp takes up one corner. Seeing that massive thing in the air had to be very impressive. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225/120 "2024-09-17T16:13:59Z")
My favorite personal Hindenburg anecdote is what led to this OP. I was telling my friend the following story. In the 90s my then wife was the business manager of a very high end retirement community. She became friends with a woman in her late 90s. She was a cute little flapper in the 1920s and married an older and very wealthy man whose family was in publishing. She lived quite the life. The Hindenburg had been back and forth across the Atlantic several times before the disaster. She and her husband would have been on the next flight to Europe had the explosion not happened. She still had the ticket stubs which were stamped “CANCELLED”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-around-half-of-american-millennials-haven-t-heard-of-the-hindenburg/1007225.md?page=7)