# What historical events have slipped down the memory hole? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 13, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478 "2022-12-13T19:46:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/41 "2022-12-16T02:22:53Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > It was one of those “Well we don’t actively own you, but we will round you up to use as free labor whenever we feel like and if you refuse we’ll kill you” sort of things which in it’s worst case (and most prominent) scenario was in the Belgian Congo of the 1890s but similar stuff to a lesser scale was occuring in other European colonies. Or the [United States occupation of Haiti - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti) for 19 years, during which forced draft labor was employed, overseen by Marines from the southern United States picked specifically because they “knew how to handle n\*\*\*\*\*\*”. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/42 "2022-12-16T02:56:31Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I’m surprised nobody’s mention the Spanish Flu pandemic that followed World War One. It basically fell out of popular memory, at least until the Covid19 pandemic. My family didn’t forget. My grandmother lost schoolmates to it, and it influenced her decision to become a nurse. We heard stories. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/43 "2022-12-16T03:01:10Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > Both Leverage and the older Numb3rs had episodes that mentioned [the 1918-20 Spanish Flu pandemic] (fears of a new, deliberately engineered, strain in those shows). And they were far from the only ones. While it’s not mentioned daily or even weekly, it’s shown up on a significant number of tv shows in this context over the years. FWIW, the Spanish Flu pandemic figures prominently in the backstories of two of the major characters of the vampire series _Twilight_ (both novels and films). ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/44 "2022-12-16T03:16:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I would not call that an invasion, since we were there at the invite of what was considered the Legit government. The Whites were not the “legit government” of Russia at that time, but just one faction among the counterrevolutionary forces. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/45 "2022-12-16T03:34:22Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > The Whites were not the “legit government” of Russia at that time, but just one faction among the counterrevolutionary forces. Nor were the Red. The Whites were the government most of the Allies recognized as the legit government. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/46 "2022-12-16T04:21:32Z")
Someone on another site mentioned “Operation Red Rock” which allegedly happened during the Vietnam War, and the only sources I could find were some self-published books. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/47 "2022-12-16T05:43:50Z")
One of the earliest history-holes I became aware of: Hey kids, we won the War of Independence! Beat the British! So then George Washington was our first President… Umm, waitaminnit, Articles of Confederation? Well, yes, but that didn’t work out so well so we replaced it with the Constitution… Umm, sure, but who was Prez? Or other political leader if the Prez wasn’t the focus? What bad laws or political failures happened? They must not have done too awfully or someone would have invaded or things would have fallen apart…? Or did the states mostly do their own thing, but in that case how about some history of what Georgia and New York and Pennsylvania did during that period? - crickets chirping \* ---
**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:** [December 16, 2022, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/48 "2022-12-16T06:07:38Z")
Just earlier today I heard about the Laconia Incident for the first time. In short, during World War II, a German submarine sank the British ship Laconia, a converted passenger vessel which was carrying soldiers, civilians, and POWs. The submarine’s captain began rescuing the survivors, and summoned other subs to help. They were carrying rescued passengers on deck to safety and flying a Red Cross flag when spotted by an American bomber, which was ordered to attack. The subs had to submerge to avoid destruction. This led German Admiral Dönitz to issue an order that German subs not attempt to rescue anyone and conduct unrestricted warfare for the remainder of the War. > **[Laconia incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconia_incident)** > > 1939 > 1940 > 1941 For those interested in largely forgotten historical events, there was a great podcast called _Futility Closet_ which covered a different event every week. They stopped making new episodes about a year ago, but the backlog is still available. > **[Podcast - Futility Closet](https://www.futilitycloset.com/podcast/)** > > From March 2014 to November 2021, my wife Sharon and I hosted a weekly podcast featuring “forgotten stories from the pages of history” — surprising and curious tales from the past. We’re no longer producing new episodes, but all the old ones are... ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/49 "2022-12-16T11:49:04Z")
[The Longitude Problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_rewards). Determining latitude at sea is pretty easy. Longitude? Up until recently, there was not a simply way to determine it when at sea. The methods that were used were inaccurate. The seriousness of the situation came to the attention of governments when [1700 sailors died because they didn’t know their longitude](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scilly_naval_disaster_of_1707). The problem was finally solved when [John Harrison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harrison#Longitude_problem) built an accurate clock. But no one wanted to give him credit for it because he was not a member of the scientific elite. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/50 "2022-12-16T16:21:50Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > > [@Tzigone](#): > > > > Both Leverage and the older Numb3rs had episodes that mentioned [the 1918-20 Spanish Flu pandemic] (fears of a new, deliberately engineered, strain in those shows). And they were far from the only ones. While it’s not mentioned daily or even weekly, it’s shown up on a significant number of tv shows in this context over the years. > > FWIW, the Spanish Flu pandemic figures prominently in the backstories of two of the major characters of the vampire series _Twilight_ (both novels and films). As well as in **Downton Abbey**. And probably any other period piece set in that time. I hardly think that’s something that’s “been forgotten.” ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/51 "2022-12-16T16:30:15Z")
That’s a particularly inflammatory way of describing it. It wasn’t an “invasion”, it was more of a shambolic attempt to help the Whites in the Russian Civil War, which was going on concurrently with WWI. [Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_intervention_in_the_Russian_Civil_War) ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/52 "2022-12-16T18:25:10Z")
**The Entrada and El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro** Before the keel was laid for the Mayflower, there were European settlements in Socorro, Albuquerque and Santa Fe New Mexico. A regional government was established with a system of laws and taxation. When the east coast of the US was a dumping ground for the British prison system, massive cathedrals, in association with large native populations, were being constructed at Salinas, Abo and Quari,. In 1609 the local scientists participated in a project that accurately established the longitude of the New Mexico communities. In 1611 the Socorro mission was completed and consecrated and the mission in Isleta was consecrated in 1613. I believe these events form a more interesting foundation myth for the US than the endless repetition of the trials and tribulations of a few Puritans who considered freedom of religion being the right to hang Quakers. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/53 "2022-12-16T18:58:18Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Remarkably, it was largely forgotten shortly after the pandemic subsided. Psychologists say the reason is that it was too horrible to remember. We remember it in my family. My grandmother died in 1919 from Spanish Flu, and my Sister died in 2020 of COVID; two plagues, a century apart. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/54 "2022-12-16T20:10:14Z")
It’s an interesting hypothesis, but I’m skeptical. It was an extremely dry summer and there were existing wildfires already burning in the region. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/55 "2022-12-16T20:13:07Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I believe that all these 1871 fires were NOT a coincidence - that it was actually a meteorite fall that caused them. Among other things, ore boats on the Great Lakes saw them, and possibly heard them if they exploded in the sky, a la Chelyabinsk. > [@garygnu](#): > > t’s an interesting hypothesis, but I’m skeptical. It was an extremely dry summer and there were existing wildfires already burning in the region. It’s the ultimate conspiracy theory: the Universe is conspiring against us. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2022, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/56 "2022-12-16T23:31:09Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > My family didn’t forget. My grandmother lost schoolmates to it, and it influenced her decision to become a nurse. We heard stories. My father’s mother died of it, the third wave if timing is to be believed. In July, 2018 Extra History had a [six-part series](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ9WX4qVxEo) on the 1918 pandemic. It was my introduction to the term _cytokine storm_. It also covered the [Tulsa race riot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc7lXBL9mng). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/57 "2022-12-17T00:34:18Z")
That actually makes more sense; if it hadn’t been dry, they might not have had multiple fires start simultaneously. ---
**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:** [December 17, 2022, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/58 "2022-12-17T00:40:02Z")
Juminda took place during Operation Barbarossa, the greatest military debacle in history, in which nearly 5 _MILLION_ Soviet troops were killed. By itself, it may have been a horrendous event, but in context it was literally just a drop in the ocean. ---
**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:** [December 17, 2022, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/59 "2022-12-17T00:44:23Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Before the keel was laid for the Mayflower, there were European settlements in Socorro, Albuquerque and Santa Fe New Mexico. A lot of Americans are surprised to hear that Santa Fe was founded twenty years earlier than Boston. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2022, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478/60 "2022-12-17T00:57:08Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > [The Longitude Problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_rewards). > > Determining latitude at sea is pretty easy. Longitude? Up until recently, there was not a simply way to determine it when at sea. The methods that were used were inaccurate. The seriousness of the situation came to the attention of governments when [1700 sailors died because they didn’t know their longitude](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scilly_naval_disaster_of_1707). > > The problem was finally solved when [John Harrison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harrison#Longitude_problem) built an accurate clock. But no one wanted to give him credit for it because he was not a member of the scientific elite. There was a [best-selling book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_(book)) in 1995 and a [miniseries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_(TV_series)) in 2000. So not exactly forgotten. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-historical-events-have-slipped-down-the-memory-hole/976478.md?page=4)