# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/81 "2010-08-05T09:03:19Z")
When I was a kid there was a Bob Dylan UK hit “The Hurricane” - all remember at the time was that it was about a boxer a “champion of the world” who was “framed” by the authorities. > **[Hurricane (disambiguation)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_(song))** > > A hurricane, also called a tropical cyclone, is a rapidly rotating storm system. > An Atlantic hurricane is a strong tropical cyclone that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean. > Hurricane may also refer to: ---
**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 5, 2010, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/82 "2010-08-05T09:20:30Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I only know about Nero fiddling while Rome burned because of Bugs Bunny. Not really history, as the violin hadn’t been invented at that time, and it’s a corruption of something that was only a rumour anyway. ---
**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 5, 2010, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/83 "2010-08-05T10:50:30Z")
I doubt many people would remember the [Great Mississippi Flood of 1927](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mississippi_Flood_of_1927) if it weren’t for the [Randy Newman song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGs2iLoDUYE)(one of his best, IMHO). Of course, he’s had other reasons to sing it recently. ---
**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 5, 2010, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/84 "2010-08-05T12:28:57Z")
Not a song, but I’m sure most people have only heard of the [Charge of the Light Brigade](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_of_the_Light_Brigade) from Alfred Tennyson’s poem. Iron Maiden later wrote a song about it (The Trooper). I expect many people only heard of the [Battle of the Beanfield](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_beanfield) from the Levellers song. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/85 "2010-08-05T15:56:05Z")
> [@multimediac17](#): > > I wouldn’t have known about Frances Farmer if it wasn’t for Culture Club and their 1984 single ‘The Medal Song’. Apparently you missed the movie about her that came out about two years earlier, _Frances_. Jessica Lange got an Oscar nomination for the title role. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/86 "2011-04-20T17:12:55Z")
The Arlo Guthrie thread inspired me to bump this one. Nobody would know about the Alice’s Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement if Arlo hadn’t written a song about it! ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/87 "2011-04-20T20:00:40Z")
I’ll always remember that it was the third of june (another sleepy, dusty delta day) that Billy Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchee bridge. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/88 "2011-04-20T20:12:27Z")
I know most of these (The Battle of Borodino is a crucial event in **War and Peace** , after all – maybe it belongs in a thread about things I know from literature), but I know about the **Edmund Fitzgerald** from the song. On the other hand, why would it be important to know about one more shipwreck? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/89 "2011-04-20T20:40:17Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I learned that in the year of 1941, when the war had just begun, that the Germans had the biggest ships and they had the biggest guns. The Bismark was the fastest ship to ever sail the seas, with guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees. > > All thanks to Johnny Horton. But, as historical facts, nearly every line in that song is wrong. (_Cause somewhere on that ocean I know she’s gotta be_ is about the only line without a factual error, and it’s really rather obvious, and meaningless.) Still, I do like the song, and it is probably part of the reason the Bismarck is such a well-known battleship. But it’s ironic that this historical event is known mostly because of a song filled with historical inaccuracies! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/90 "2011-04-20T23:59:25Z")
Has anyone written a song about the [Great Molasses Flood](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molasses_Flood)? [Cecil’s column on the matter](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2577/was-boston-once-literally-flooded-with-molasses) does not mention any. The story has everything, death, injury, alledged corruption, alledged terrorists, velocity calculations, and a lingering sweet smell. If there are no songs about it, we should hire a songwriter. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/91 "2011-04-21T00:37:53Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > edmund fitzgerald for sure. but the obvious answers come from most of the things mentioned in Billy Joel’s We didn’t start the fire. > > i mean, just off the top of my head: edsel was a no go, panmunjom, children of thalidomide, and bernie Goetz would have all been unexposed to me had it not been for the song. I thought it was children of Dolemite. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/92 "2011-04-21T02:14:24Z")
_Bluenose, the ocean knows her name Sailors know how proud a ship was she Bluenose, leading in the wind Racing ev’ry way on the sea_ There was this fishing boat, see… ---
**Author:** ![Hap\_Shaughnessy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecc23a/32.png) [@Hap\_Shaughnessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hap_Shaughnessy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/93 "2011-04-21T07:32:49Z")
Bill Barilko disappeared that summer; he was on a fishing trip. The last goal he ever scored, won the Leafs The Cup (in overtime.) They didn’t win another until 1962, the year he was discovered. The Tragically Hip – 50 Mission Cap ---
**Author:** ![allice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@allice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/allice)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/94 "2011-04-21T07:45:22Z")
What comes to the original list I can sign for Edmund Fitzgerald. In general this topic is rather interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/95 "2011-04-21T09:21:14Z")
I only know about John Henry (historical or not) because of Johnny Cash. Boney M taught me about Ma Baker - at least, the popular depiction of Ma Baker. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/96 "2011-04-21T13:11:22Z")
Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/97 "2011-05-05T13:50:52Z")
97 posts to mention [American Pie?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pie_(song)) The event that is so seared into folklore as [The Day The Music Died](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died)? One of the few events in musical history so immortalized in a song? Sheesh! ---
**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:** [May 5, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/98 "2011-05-05T13:59:26Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > And also Don McLean and “the day the music died.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/99 "2011-05-05T15:08:09Z")
Never would have heard of [Stephen Biko](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Biko), if not for Peter Gabriel. (Has anything historically important ever happened on Solsbury Hill?) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882/100 "2011-05-05T15:11:57Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > :smack: Even better, you started the thread. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-events-most-people-only-know-of-because-a-song-was-written-about-them/548882.md?page=6)