For What It’s Worth, I Wish It Had Turned Out Well Too

It’s as heartening to see a history student so invested in a lesson that you can tell they’re thinking, “I hope this turns out well!” as it is disheartening to be the teacher knowing full well that it doesn’t.

The Implications Behind This Just Chilled Me

The contemporaneous account of the prosecution (taken from Thomas Wintour’s confession) claimed that the conspirators attempted to dig a tunnel from beneath Whynniard’s house to Parliament, although this story may have been a government fabrication; no evidence for the existence of a tunnel was presented by the prosecution, and no trace of one has ever been found; Fawkes himself did not admit the existence of such a scheme until his fifth interrogation, but even then he could not locate the tunnel.

– Excerpt from the Wikipedia: Guy Fawkes-Gunpowder Plot entry

But It’s Open To The Public If YOU Want To Go

There are a number of things that I’m willing to brave (while not necessarily feeling brave) in the name of exploration. I’m not fond of the idea of being trapped underground, for instance, but I’ve explored cave systems under the theory that “they’ve been structurally sound for a long time now, so I like my odds of today not being the day they collapse.”

With that said, if given the opportunity to explore a structure that had catastrophic problems with its construction thousands of years ago, I’m going to pass on that one.

Today’s Fun History Fact

Today I learned that a particular swear word has a pedigree that extends back at least to the times of Ancient Egypt. I won’t say what it is here, but it was (appropriately, at least in English) being sworn at a donkey, and vaguely rhymes with “castle.”

This made me unreasonably happy.

It Certainly Doesn’t Describe All Of Them

As my son and I wrapped up our course on history for the year, we found ourselves talking about the traits common to successful civilizations. Unity was a big one, of course, but flexibility/adaptability was right up there, plus a certain willingness to look at the world beyond their borders.

Do those sounds like words that describe our current civilizations to you?

The Truth Came Out When People Starting Pressing For Details

Today in class my son learned an important lesson about how bias (and arrogance) can influence how one interprets data. Put another way, one person’s religious megalith is another person’s olive press.

I Do, And She Has A Point

Do you know what they did in Rome?

– L’s Mother’s horrified response to being advised to “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

I Think We Might Be Getting Jaded

My son and I continue to study the history of the Roman Empire, and after class I triggered a fit of laughter from him when I said, “I’m going to the bathroom now. Don’t stab me.”

Funny How Often People In Power Become “Ill” When They Have Ambitious Family Members Waiting In The Wings

Recently my son and I started studying the history of the Roman Empire, and it’s already become a running joke between us how often the phrase, “and then they promptly fell ill and died” has shown up, and we’re only to the Flavians.

This Knowledge Is Also Helping Him To Understand Current Events As Well

One thing my son is starting to learn from history is how often it has been said, “How dare somebody do to us what we did to other people!”.