# People who have not heard of major historical events **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 21, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904 "2018-11-21T17:26:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/1 "2018-11-21T17:26:58Z")
Taking 9/11 as an example (although perhaps any other major event from the 20th or 21st century would work as well) - in which places of the world might people not know what the 9/11 attacks were (other than, say, remote never-yet-contacted tribes in the Amazon)? Any people not know what World War II was, or what nuclear weapons are, or that there have been astronauts on the Moon? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/2 "2018-11-21T18:34:10Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > …other than, say, remote never-yet-contacted tribes in the Amazon… Remote, almost never contacted areas of the Andaman Islands. Remote, almost never contacted areas of Papua New Guinea. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/3 "2018-11-21T19:05:07Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Taking 9/11 as an example (although perhaps any other major event from the 20th or 21st century would work as well) - in which places of the world might people not know what the 9/11 attacks were (other than, say, remote never-yet-contacted tribes in the Amazon)? > > Any people not know what World War II was, or what nuclear weapons are, or that there have been astronauts on the Moon? Some of those things poorly educated people around the world, not limited to ‘tribal’ wouldn’t have I think. I guess some poorer people in poorer countries, focused on surviving and with very young avg age, would not have heard of 9/11. That one would score higher in the US in part because it happened and was such a big deal here recently in terms of the older median age in a country like the US. But for WWII I think you could ask people even on the streets of US cities or towns and you’d come up pretty soon with clips of people with at least no real idea what WWII was, although maybe they’d heard the term. Like Jessie Watters does. I know he does that mainly in left leaning places, but other similar people have done it in right leaning places. Either type of place you can come up with clips of people who basically don’t know anything if you keep at it, though it’s not necessarily a large % of the all the people you try, or especially that walk by. I once walked right by Watters doing his thing on the streets of NY: he sized me up for a second then ignored me. I’m sure it’s the same for a lot of people. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/4 "2018-11-21T19:29:48Z")
sort of related : I visited the Jamestown site in Virginia and a park ranger said it’s not unusual for people to say "where is the rock? " thinking they are at the site of Plymouth rock which is in Mass. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/5 "2018-11-21T19:39:23Z")
Well, after reading [this article that showed up in my news feed today](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiOoIuSnubeAhUgJDQIHTS2CTEQzPwBegQIARAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld-asia-india-46286215&psig=AOvVaw3wLXuPDWIsLMNJe9Dan4jk&ust=1542915463206457), the Sentinelese would be a good bet. You can google “I contacted people” for more examples of such tribes. ---
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/6 "2018-11-21T19:46:14Z")
Having lived extensively in some of the Greek Aegean and Ionian Islands I can say I was astonished as to how little some greeks knew of life outside their country. I also wondered about the reasons for this and noticed that Greeks hardly read newspapers or booksin cafes, trains, work places, bars. Veryfew newspaper vendors too. ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/7 "2018-11-21T19:48:21Z")
What happened on November 9th? Is that when your Thanksgiving is? ---
**Author:** ![uncle\_squeegee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b5e925/32.png) [@uncle\_squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uncle_squeegee)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/8 "2018-11-21T20:05:24Z")
[Tara Westover](https://tarawestover.com/), author of\* [Educated](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072BLVM83) \*, was home schooled by her Mormon Fundamentalist/prepper parents. She was unaware of the Holocaust until she got to college. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/9 "2018-11-21T20:59:08Z")
There are routine complaints from Chinese, Australian and American commentators that the Japanese school curriculum grossly misrepresents the Japanese war effort in World War II and their war in China, particularly the Rape of Nankin. I’m sure they are not alone in glossing over their national shames through careful editing, with subsequent impact on public awareness. More generally different national traditions frame their activity in World War II differently, such as the Soviet Great Patriotic War, with the other bits as essentially side-shows. Just like how the world was plunged into the War of 1812 with nothing much else happening anywhere else. A [poll in 2001](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/742745/posts) asked Britons about the major events of the 20th century and of course the death of Princess Diana came in top. ---
**Author:** ![JB99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JB99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JB99)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/10 "2018-11-21T20:59:59Z")
Try visiting Afghanistan some time. There are some people who live a borderline Medieval existence and have never had contact even with the Taliban or the Afghan government. When the US invaded in 2001, they consistently discovered people who had never heard of 9/11. Even in 2018, one survey claimed up to 90% of Afghan respondents did not know what 9/11 was. You’ll hear some other truly astonishing stories about people who have never heard of WW2 or any other historical event, person, or place. One guy told me he met people who had no idea what an “ocean” was. They had never conceived of a body of water larger than their nearest mud puddle. Their isolation is comparable to the Sentinelese or an Amazonian tribe. I was about to write that these people didn’t know about 9/11, despite the fact that it directly precipitated a war, but that’s not actually true. Afghanistan has been in a perpetual state of war for (at least) forty years, and so for many of these people the current war is simply irrelevant and indistinguishable from any other war. ---
**Author:** ![mind\_the\_gap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@mind\_the\_gap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mind_the_gap)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/11 "2018-11-21T21:00:32Z")
IIRC, back when W was the prez, I think it was his press secretary Dana Perino who was asked about the Cuban Missile Crisis. She blanked, then responded that it must have been some sort of crisis involving Cuba and missiles.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/12 "2018-11-21T21:05:32Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > … Any people not know what World War II was, or what nuclear weapons are, or that there have been astronauts on the Moon? As others have said, there are poorly-educated people all around the world, and some number of them won’t know what these various topics are, or have grossly-misinformed understandings of them. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/13 "2018-11-21T21:06:55Z")
> [@mind\_the\_gap](#): > > IIRC, back when W was the prez, I think it was his press secretary Dana Perino who was asked about the Cuban Missile Crisis. She blanked, then responded that it must have been some sort of crisis involving Cuba and missiles.:smack: I think if we could survey even just American adults a depressingly-high percentage of them would not be able to give an accurate summary of what the Cuban missile crisis was. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/14 "2018-11-21T21:13:51Z")
A USian asking if there are any other people in the world who don’t know details of significant events in American history? Who says that merkins don’t get irony. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/15 "2018-11-21T21:14:47Z")
I had a co-worker - not a stupid man - once ask me which came first; the American Revolution or the Civil War? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/16 "2018-11-21T21:18:28Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > A USian asking if there are any other people in the world who don’t know details of significant events in American history? I’m sure almost all Americans would know what 9/11 means. But I bet if you asked a random assortment of Americans what 7/7 means, a majority of them would have no idea. Even if you asked both questions in that order. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/17 "2018-11-21T21:34:17Z")
I’ve met a a few people who went through Christian home schooling that didn’t know basic historical facts. I was living in Florida at the time, in the late 90s. Now, that’s not to say ALL Christian home schooling is like this; just what I experienced. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/18 "2018-11-21T21:47:59Z")
I had to explain, in a way, what the civil war was about to a group of kids. They were highschoolers and supposedly the smartest and brightest of that school. I could not believe that they were taught, or thought the war was started by Britain, France or some other place. One kid said it was because Indians were causing trouble again. I was horrified. Oh, btw, this was a predominantly African/ American group of kids. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/19 "2018-11-21T22:17:21Z")
Where does one start? I have talked to apparently educated people whose views of history are almost entirely shaped by Hollywood. I have met people who think that Britain came into WW2 to help America; I was talking recently to a 20 something (Millennial?) for whom Vietnam was just a holiday destination. On a quiz show this evening a contestant was asked which civil war was the earliest - she decided that the American Civil War was earlier than the English… She was easily able to answer questions about popular culture and fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904/20 "2018-11-21T22:26:32Z")
I chalk it up to a failure of the education complex. Which is not monolithic worldwide, but it is responsible. Or maybe people forget a lot of shit that doesn’t directly, frequently, impact their meager scratching for existence. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-have-not-heard-of-major-historical-events/824904.md?page=2)