# Historical events most people only know of because a song was written about them **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 2, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882 "2010-08-02T13:35:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/41 "2010-08-03T06:16:29Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#): > > I knew all about the Edmund Fitzgerald, because I remember when it happened. The newspaper we got in our town was The Times-News from Thunder Bay. That city, being a Great Lakes port, naturally had in-depth coverage whenever any big ship went missing on the Lakes. I’m betting the newspaper article was shorter than the song… (Oh, maaaan. I once listened to a street performer sing the entire song. He lost most of his audience after the fourth lonnnng verse). I knew about that shipwreck, too, because afterwards my mom took care of the owner of the ship, Ed Fitzgerald himself, in a nursing home in Milwaukee. He just sat looking out the window. “Sort of went down with his ship…” everyone would say. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/42 "2010-08-03T06:20:37Z")
Not a song, but a poem: I doubt many people would have heard of the Battle of Balaclava if it weren’t for Tennyson. ---
**Author:** ![GHO57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df788c/32.png) [@GHO57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GHO57)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/43 "2010-08-03T06:27:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Not a song, but a poem: I doubt many people would have heard of the Battle of Balaclava if it weren’t for Tennyson. I doubt all that many people have read the charge… but true; probably more people have read it than there are people who know for some other reason 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/44 "2010-08-03T06:29:57Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#): > > I knew all about the Edmund Fitzgerald, because I remember when it happened. The newspaper we got in our town was The Times-News from Thunder Bay. That city, being a Great Lakes port, naturally had in-depth coverage whenever any big ship went missing on the Lakes. Where are you from originally? Im in Thunder Bay, and yes I remember as a kid living in Longlac only the morning paper (Times News) was available. I remember the Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald, because I was sleeping over at my Grandma’s that night. My grandfather was on anothe lake boat, far from danger but she was a complete wreck. IIRC that was the last season he worked. (He did this for a few years after retiring from the paper mill, because he had been a sailor long before he settled down and got a land job) ---
**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:** [August 3, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/45 "2010-08-03T06:36:48Z")
We sang this poem in elementary school. I’ve never forgotten Columbus sailed in 1492. There was another song that we used to learn the ships names. I can’t recall what it was. In fourteen hundred ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He had three ships and left from Spain; He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain. He sailed by night; he sailed by day; He used the stars to find his way. A compass also helped him know How to find the way to go. Ninety sailors were on board; Some men worked while others snored. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/46 "2010-08-03T07:26:46Z")
> [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](#): > > Where are you from originally? Im in Thunder Bay, and yes I remember as a kid living in Longlac only the morning paper (Times News) was available. > > I remember the Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald, because I was sleeping over at my Grandma’s that night. My grandfather was on anothe lake boat, far from danger but she was a complete wreck. IIRC that was the last season he worked. (He did this for a few years after retiring from the paper mill, because he had been a sailor long before he settled down and got a land job) Originally, from Fort Frances, but at the time, we were living in Ignace. Longlac…ah, that’s the place where all the nickles fell off the train… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/47 "2010-08-03T10:18:56Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I watched as Nova show yesterday about Manfred von Richthofen a/k/a [The Red Baron.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_von_Richthofen) I’ve had to explain to someone who’d recently watched a movie about him that no, the match between von Richthofen’s nickname and a Spanish metal group was not a coincidence. You would have thought that the covers with images of biplanes and [WWI-pilot closeups](http://www.google.es/images?q=metalmorfosis) might be a hint. I may have heard The Royal Guard, but don’t recognize the name at all. Otoh, everybody knows that the Pinzon brothers were sailors who went to the Indies to look for some fruit and the Motilon indians cut off their line of retreat. With appropriate pauses to make the song dirty, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/48 "2010-08-03T11:40:23Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I may have heard The Royal Guard, but don’t recognize the name at all. You may have heard [the song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxzg_iM-T4E), though. The chorus, at least, is pretty well-known. \*Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more The bloody Red Barron kept rolling up the score Eighty men died trying to end the spree Of the bloody Red Baron of Germany. \* ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/49 "2010-08-03T13:26:37Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Some people found out about Buddy Holly when Weezer did a song named for him. And also Don McLean and “the day the music died.” Nobody would know about Hurrican Cater but for [Bob Dylan](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bob+dylan/hurricane_20021332.html) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/50 "2010-08-03T14:32:55Z")
The 1948 Boston mayoral campaign would have surely faded into obscurity if not for [this song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHx4_uPv0K8). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/51 "2010-08-03T14:36:33Z")
And there’s [Casey Jones](http://www.lyrics007.com/Johnny%20Cash%20Lyrics/Casey%20Jones%20Lyrics.html), but NOT the one in the Grateful Dead song. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/52 "2010-08-03T14:43:22Z")
[James K. Polk’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BK5r_-Vh3Y) illustrious presidential career. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/53 "2010-08-03T14:48:47Z")
I knew the name of James K. Polk, but I didn’t know much about “our 11th President/Young Hickory, Napoleon of the Stump” until I heard the They Might Be Giants song about him. ETA: Beaten by five minutes! Augh! ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/54 "2010-08-03T15:38:04Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > And there’s [Casey Jones](http://www.lyrics007.com/Johnny%20Cash%20Lyrics/Casey%20Jones%20Lyrics.html), but NOT the one in the Grateful Dead song. Ooh - that’s good. Also the murder committed by [Stagger Lee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagger_Lee_%28song%29). Or the murder perpetrated by [Tom Dooley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Dooley_%28song%29) (Dula). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/55 "2010-08-03T16:11:02Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The 1948 Boston mayoral campaign would have surely faded into obscurity if not for [this song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHx4_uPv0K8). Even before I clicked the link, I shouted “ **Vote for George! O! Brien!** ” ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/56 "2010-08-03T16:20:00Z")
I hadn’t heard of [Frances Farmer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Farmer) until the Nirvana song. From it’s title, I imagine her to be a 100 ft tall Godzilla like entity. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/57 "2010-08-03T16:20:19Z")
I surprised no one has mentioned Joe Hill yet. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/58 "2010-08-03T16:27:49Z")
I remember him! I saw him last night, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/59 "2010-08-03T16:35:48Z")
Maybe you were “drivin’ that train/high on cocaine”… What? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/60 "2010-08-03T17:43:26Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > And there’s [Casey Jones](http://www.lyrics007.com/Johnny%20Cash%20Lyrics/Casey%20Jones%20Lyrics.html), but NOT the one in the Grateful Dead song. What do you mean, not the one? The Dead’s song is a rewriting of the long-standing mythic story. It’s the same Casey Jones that inspired every other song in which Casey (or Kassie, or K.C.) is driving a train. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882.md?page=4)