There was this guy? Called Hitler?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

Do you mean this Brett Butler or this one? :smiley:

Between 1989 and 1993, I read a newspaper commentary credited to Dan Quayle. After the article appeared an explanatory sentence: “Quayle is Vice-President of the United States.” I wondered why anyone who was perusing that page would need to be informed of that fact, but I guess there could be two famous Dan Quayles, or a visitor from overseas wouldn’t necessarily know the identity of the USA’s veep any more than I would know who, for example, the deputy prime minister of Norway was.

When I was in Philadelphia last month, I noticed that the Inquirer (city’s major newspaper) referred to the chief executive of the city as “Mayor Street” on first reference. I guess I don’t really need to know his full name is John F. Street in order to comprehend a review of his actions and policies, but I would have appreciated the extra tidbit of information just the same…

42

Actually, it’s Lucian. :wink:

43

Seconding ErinPuff here.

Most of the history classes I took in high school didn’t even get us into the 20th century (and this includes AP US History, though that might have been because the teacher liked to get lost on tangents). Too much material, not enough time.

Obviously, I know who Hitler is, and I know who Dorothy Parker is, and I know about Watergate, and once I even looked up Estes Kefauver (?? - it’s been a while) after listening to a certain PDQ Bach piece - but I’m curious in a way that the average person isn’t.

Writing towards people who’ve been under a rock for the last century is annoying to those of us who haven’t, but it’s still a good idea, just to cover yourself as a journalist.

44

But it’s pronounced Fronk-en-steen. :wink: :smiley:

45

Now, come on, we all know Clement is by far the most important of the bunch :stuck_out_tongue:

46

Recently, I read an interview with an 80+ year-old woman who was a court reporter at the Nuremburg Trials. She suffered from horrific nightmares afterwards, so she made a conscious decision not to think about it anymore, put away all her notes and such, in order to go on with her life. Until recently, when a teacher friend told her that some of her students didn’t know who Hitler was. So shocked was she that she dove back into her notes and memories to put together a lecture series for high schoolers about the atrocities. I’ll search for the name.

47

Here 'tis

48

Sigh. I was listening to “The Connection” on NPR this morning and a caller made the statement that he felt the best thing that could have happened with Saddam was that he was treated “like Moussilini at the end of the war.” The host of the show rather snippily indicated that she didn’t have any idea of what happened to him, implying that such a subject was too obscure to be bothered with.

49

Why? What happened to Moussilini? Don’t leave me hanging here, Man.

50

Quite frankly

ahem

I weep for the future!

51

Quit stringing us along.
You’re just trying to rope us in.

Everyone knows what happened to him, that’s old noose.

52

[George Formby]
I’m leaning on a lamppost
At the corner of the street
In case a certain little lady comes by.
Oh me! Oh my!
[/George Formby]

53

Dude, he wasn’t, ya know, leaning.

54

HAH! I was discussing this very phenomenon with a group of three friends. Two were in their mid-thirties, and one was just a couple years younger than moi. (this is where I disclose that I’m within spitting distance of 30 myself)

I commented, "So, yeah, I feel old these days. You know, it’s like that old joke about Paul McCartney – ‘Paul McCartney, you know him?’ ‘Yeah, wasn’t he in a group called Wings?’ "

At this point… the youngun piped up, “Um. Who are they? Wings, I mean.”

We all stared at her. I was actually pounding the table and howling with laughter as my other friends desperately tried to educate her in the ways of Wings and the Beatles.

Back on topic. I still remember the Holocaust survivor who came and spoke to us in middle school about her experiences. The school also showed us footage of the liberation of one of the camps. (We also visited a local version of the Holocaust museum in DC, with a reproduction of a train car. I still remember one of our Jewish classmates breaking down in tears at the museum.)

It’s been more than a decade, and I still remember the Holocaust survivor’s presentation clear as day. Quite possibly one of the most powerful experiences that I’ve ever been privy to.

Before the presentation, a bunch of boys in my grade were up to their usual shenanigans, laughing and being typical dorks.

Afterward, one of them stood up in the audience, and in the dead silence, publicly apologized to her for laughing, then thanked her for sharing with us. That’s stuck with me ever since.

Knowing that this won’t be an opportunity for newer generations to share makes me sad. In a hundred more years, the Holocaust is probably going to be like, say, the Thirty Years’ War. “Lots of people died. And I have to remember names and dates and, like, take a test on this crap. Aaarg!”

55

The end of Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, courtesy of Wikipedia (full article)

56

Nah, got to be Emma. Four Weddings and a Funeral, come on!

57

I similar thing happened with my high school history (History IB) no less (grad '97). We did tons of European history from the Reformation onwards, but never got past WWII (although my teacher did a pretty thorough job on that).

Same thing in university. I took an class on “20th Century Warfare.” Same story. Russo-Japanese war, TONS of time on WWI, TONS AND TONS on WWII, a week maybe on Korea, and then one class on Vietnam, the Middle East, Iran-Iraq and Desert Storm.

We spent longer on the WWII North African Campaign and El Alamein than on all warfare from 1975 to 2003.

I thought it was also pretty sad that the class curriculum didn’t include any African civil wars.

58

Anyone who has taken history courses in the 70’s and 80’s knows that history ends with the JFK assassination. Nothing happened after 1963.

59

I think his tongue was planted firmly in his cheek, judging by the ‘hanging’ remark.