We must learn and appreciate the history that has come before us; or else we are doomed to repeat it. Truth in knowledge. That reason alone makes historical knowledge imperative. It is fascinating to know the drama of life. There are so many turning points that crafted the way we live, it's criminal not to be aware.
Redditor u/Kalehfornyuh wanted to hear from all us history geeks. Let's teach people some lessons. it was asked..... History buffs of Reddit: what historical events dramatically shaped world history but for some reason are nearly forgotten about?In Threes
Come At Me Bring It GIF by Game of ThronesGiphyThe 3rd Battle of Panipat.
Completely winded the Afghans, turned the Mughals into puppets and weakened the Marathas greatly.
This turmoil was astonishingly good fortune to the lucky British who were then able to scrap their way to the top of India.
Once the British had India, the history of Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa was set.
The "Dark Era"
Clouded in darkness for 18 months:
The "dark era" of 536 AD which was also one of the worst years to be alive. A mysterious dust cloud had engulfed Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia into darkness for 18 months!
Temperatures during summers dropped to as low as 1.5° C and it is the coldest decade in the past 2300 years. The "dark" era witnessed snow falling in China, people starving, famine and failure of crops.
The culprit of this phenomenon is a cataclysmic volcanic eruption in Iceland which expelled ash around the Northern Hemisphere. This was followed by two more volcanic eruptions.
The historical event was especially deadly for Europe as it wiped out nearly a third of its population!
Oh Fritz....
Frtiz Haber, in 1910, invented the Haber-Bosch process, which allowed for the production of ammonia from nitrogen gas. This ammonia would end up allowing for increased fertilizer production, allowing millions more people to be fed and clothed by agricultural processes. However, nitrogen compounds are also used heavily in explosive compounds such as artillery shells and smokeless powder. Basically, Haber provided the means for the world powers of the day (And especially Germany) to cheaply produce all the armaments that would be used in WWI and beyond.
the cool
Cool Down Season 2 GIF by FriendsGiphyThe invention of air conditioning.
Fun fact is that it was invented for its dehumidifying ability; cold was just a side effect.
False Alarm
Stanislav Petrov was the Soviet duty officer in charge of an early-warning system on September 26, 1983. The system detected a missile launch from the United States. Then another... and another (up to 6 total). He decided that the reports were false alarms (spoiler... they were), and probably saved humanity from a nuclear holocaust. In an investigation later conducted by the Soviet military it was discovered that the sun's reflection was creating false positives on the warning system.
Being Blunted
Might be too recent to qualify, but James Blunt (the singer) prevented World War Three.
He was the captain in command on the ground leading NATO forces into Kosovo.
They got to an airfield that had been occupied by 200 Russian soldiers, and General Wesley Clark (US) ordered Blunt to attack and take the airfield by force.
Blunt refused. Questioned his orders up two different chains of command until a British general (Mike Jackson) intervened, declaring he would not have his men starting World War Three.
They later agreed to share the airfield with the Russians.
Jonas Salk
That one time when humanity was worth more than money.
Before there was a cure, polio would paralyze as many as 20,000 kids a year. In the US, everyone had at least one relative stricken with it: it was deadly in up to 5% of children and 30% of adults. Enter Jonas Salk who in the early 1950's invented a cure for this scourge. While within his right to take out a patent and charge royalties for it, he passed on the prospect and gave the cure away.
Let me say that again: he didn't lose the window of opportunity to patent, he didn't not know what a patent was or face any form bureaucratic, institutional or political resistance: he knowingly and willingly donated his cure to the world without expecting anything back. By doing so, he lowered the cost of his treatment by as much as 25% and cut the red tape required to manufacture the medicine worldwide. Forbes estimates that Salk could have made as much as 6 billion dollars off his patent: if he had wanted to, he could have easily built and lived in an average 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1600 square ft suburban home... but made of gold.
Because of his outstanding act of kindness and all the suffering he ended, Salk was known nationwide and barbers, shoe shiners, tailors and diner owners would frequently refuse to charge him for their services as an act of gratitude. As of 2018, there have been less than 40 reported cases worldwide, and polio is on track to be eradicated by the end of the decade.
The Fire
revenge of the sith power GIF by Star WarsGiphyThe Reichstag fire in Berlin in 1933. It was basically the catalyst that enabled Hitler to attain unlimited power.
Papal Ways
Battle of Tours. If Charles Martel lost, Christendom would have been destroyed by the Umayyad Caliphate. There would be no Papal States, no Charlemagne, no Holy Roman Empire, No Germany, no third reich. Quite frankly history as we know it would turn out quite different.
The Big C
GiphyThe donation of Constantine, it was a forged document discovered by the midici that gave early Catholics land and power , no one really knows who wrote it, but because of it the Catholics got as powerful as they did.
Mixed Routes
The 1453 Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey). Due to the collapse of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottomans, many Greek scholars fled to Italy and started what is now known as the Renaissance.
Perhaps more importantly, due to the closure of many trade routes to Asia, European powers had to find new ways to trade with India and China.
Enter Christopher Columbus; who's original aim was to do exactly that for the Spanish crown and instead encountered the Americas along the way. The rest, as they say, is history.
Also the 1870 Franco-Prussian War. Which led to the formation of the German Empire (thereby upsetting the balance of power in Europe) and the French vowing revenge on the Germans, which had an impact on the First World War.
The Fog
Cartoon Knife GIF by Scooby-DooGiphyThe Great Smog of London in the 1950's. Killed up to 12,000 and injured thousands more.
A mysterious pea soup fog mixed with coal smog that covered the city for days. In the fog there was a crime wave where criminals were hidden by the fog and police couldn't operate, and there was even one famous serial killer who killed in the fog. John Reginald Christie. A book about it called Death in The Air is very interesting and worth a read.
Hail Mary
Mary Louvestre. She completely helped change the course of the civil war, and yet not many people know about her.
She was a newly-freed slave and worked as a housekeeper for a Confederate engineer who was a part of the group of people building the new confederate ship/vessel.
She intercepted a letter (blueprints) sent to the engineer regarding the secret plans for the confederacy's newest navy vessel, which would be the first ship of its kind. She hurriedly sketched/copied the plans onto another piece of paper and hid it on her before returning the letter back to its previous spot.
Mary Louvestre then managed to get ahold of the Secretary of the Union Navy and showed him the blueprints that she had copied. This was a turning point because this new vessel would be an element or surprise in the war and would've changed the tides had Mary not found out about it.
Mary's bravery led to the Union having the upper hand and the capability to overcome the confederacy's new vessel.
She literally risked her life and, in the end, made a drastic difference in the war. She deserves way more attention and acknowledgement. <333
Revolution
German Revolution (November 1918)
The Russian Revolution was the beginning of the end of WW1. The German Revolution was the actual end. The armistice happened because the German Navy had mutinied and the mutiny was spreading among soldiers. Strikes were widespread.
The fiercest opponents of this revolution were the German officer class. Many of them would join the Freikorps to fight against the revolution. One of them, an officer named Adolf Hitler, would later seek to recruit many of these Freikorps veterans, first in an armed uprising against the post-revolution state, then later into a new type of political party, one that maintained both a 'legitimate' wing (the NSDAP) and a street fighting wing (the SS).
Go Fish
Big Fish GIF by PBS KIDSGiphyThe battle of Fishguard - the last time there was a foreign invasion in the Uk was the french invading Wales in 1797. The french came inland and some fighting was done (33 killed I think) but due to lack of discipline (and boozing) the french were taken aback.
The British then told the french they had until a certain time the next morning to surrender. The next morning the British lined the beach of Fishguard and a women named Jemima Nichols organized the welsh women to dress in the traditional welsh costume, which at the time looked (from afar) like a soldiers uniform. The french thought there were far more soldiers than there actually was and surrendered.
Thao
Pham Ngoc Thao was a high ranking commander in the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) during the Vietnam War. In actuality he was a sleeper agent working for the North Vietnamese. Thao sabotaged the Strategic Hamlet Initiative by having ARVN/US forcibly relocate rural people from their villages causing resentment of the Diem regime in rural areas along the North/South border. Thao also acted as a key player in the coup against Diem.
He was a key player in keeping the junta divided and would be a key player in several more coups. After a failed coup attempt, Thao's rivals in the South found out about his true loyalty and had him killed. However the division he caused in South Vietnam took its toll and was one of the factors that led to the North's successful takeover of the South.
The Occupied
Almost any decision prior to Kursk in Operation Barbarossa; Stalin moving factories north and away from the front lines, German Army treatment of Soviet civilians, Hitler's decision to not go after Moscow, Hitler not stopping Barbarossa after a certain point and negotiating surrender terms when he had enormous chunks of Europe and Asia, the Lend-Lease Program's effects on it all...
And on the other side, the entire Chinese occupation by Japan. China lost a lot of people keeping the largest chunk of skilled, veteran Japanese soldiers in China for years, sapping Japan's strength from the Pacific war with the US, and that sacrifice isn't even mentioned in US history books.
Wash your hands....
Ignaz Semmelweis. Pioneered sterilization procedures after discovering that washing your hands between dissecting cadavers and delivering babies would keep women from dying from infection after childbirth.
It's actually a pretty sad story, and I don't feel like typing it out, so here.
The Elixir
The invention of black powder! And the Mongolians introducing it to the Europeans through war.
It was created trying to make an "Elixir of Life." It is a mixture of charcoal (used for filtering water, soap, and other types of cleaning and filtering). Potassium Nitrate salt basically (was used for killing bacteria and healing infections) And sulfur that well can't remember why they added it but it was used for something.
But they mixed them together and added heat that made it explode.
If that didn't happen then we wouldn't have gotten out of the medieval period and wouldn't have started the industrial revolution.
Think about it, without black powder we would still be using swords, armor, horses, and castles. Still be dying of broken legs, a small cut, or unclean water.
In trying to make immortality and something peaceful they made the most deadly weapon in history.
Drown
There was a pharmacist who saved a boy from drowning. The boys name was Adolf Hitler.
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Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.