Historical Topics You Find Interesting

[Mourning Dove]

Ancient Egypt. Also family geneaology.

 

[Anchuent Christory]

For me it's the space race, or maybe more specifically the absolutely staggering achievements that were made when you take into account the available technology of the time, I can barely wrap my head around the concept of putting men on the moon and returning them to earth with 1960's technology.
And what's more, that technology is essentially lost, there's nobody alive today who still adequately understands the Saturn V rockets that powered the moon missions and are still the only machines built capable of lifting the loads required for human extraplanetary exploration.
Any future manned missions to the moon or Mars will require us to start from scratch.

Then there's the history of the automata created in the 1700's in Europe. These were mindblowingly complex machines built as playthings and showpieces for the aristocracy. I stumbled across this BBC documentary a few months ago detailing this period and sat enraptured as I learned about what were essentially robots built over 250 years ago.

I highly recommend watching it if you find this sort of stuff interesting. If you don't want to sit through the whole thing, skip to about 28.10 to see the writer, a small mechanical boy who not only write complete sentences, but can be programmed to write any number of things.

 

[Grand Number of Pounds]

I enjoy reading about history, but it's hard to say what I like to read about. From my list below, I might be interested about the history of different countries.

I have books on the history of Latin America and Canada but I haven't read them for awhile. I found them interesting when I read them.

I have two college textbooks on a survey of American history and I want to read them soon because America

Far be it from me to be a weeaboo, but Japanese history is pretty interesting. Chinese history is also interesting.

 

[c-no]

While I may not be much of a history buff, I have some interest in knowing about African history as in the period you had rulers like Mansa Munsa (what makes it interesting is the guy himself: A rich leader who nearly destroyed Egypt's economy via his generosity) and Pre-colonial Filipino history (know of how the people lived and all).

 

[Randall Fragg]

I like the steampunkish era of the 1800s-early 1900s. I just find it interesting.

 

[MY 405]

I mentioned this in the Chris thread on his "Best Prez Evah" essay, I minored in history and military history is a particular hobby of mine. I was actually invited to give a lecture on the role of the Medieval warhorse and the evolution of the modern draft breeds at the Kentucky Horse Park once upon a time (pro tip: no knight ever rode a Clydesdale into battle). Also, history of fashion -- sumptuary laws also extend to the gondolas of Venice, they are licensed by the city and can only be black because of Ancient Venetian douchecanoes who tricked them out like the Dub cars of their day and I can bore you to death about Rome and the status of a color called Tyrian purple.

A few incarnations ago of the board we had a really excellent OT thread on the Space Race and astronauts and such. It would be great to see it make a comeback. I collect a lot of space memorabilia and I definitely remember being a Cold War kid.

 

[Night Terror]

Prehistory. The further back, the better.

 

[FifthColumn]

The counter culture of NYC from the 70s and 80s

CatParty, I thought the counterculture in NYC sort of dried up by the 1980s? Isnt CC more of a late 50s-70s thing?
I thought people in NYC in the '80s were all about making money on wall street, and avoiding the muggers and whores in times square?

Anyway, the midieval period and society I find fascinating, as well as the Cold War and World War 2 ( especially the Pacific campaing now. My granddaddy served in it, and I had no idea how brutal his opponents were!!)

Ancient China/ Japan is cool too!

EDIT: Chandler Cats, were you born in the late 40s to the early 60s?

 

[Rome's rightful successor]

Prehistoric
-Triassic era
-the western interior sea way during the cretaceous
-Hell creek formation
-Oligocene era North America and Asia.
-The pacific ocean during the mid Miocene about 10-5 million years ago.

Historic
-Ancient Mesopotamian history
-The Roman Empire
The Parthian Empire
-Europe during the lifespan of the Holy Roman Empire but you've already knew that.
-Holy Roman Emperor Otto I
-Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
-King Philip of Spain
-King Alfred of England
-Ivaylo the cabbage czar
-Tamerlane
-The rise and fall of the Khmer empire
-Burmese history
-classical era of paleontlogy from 1770s-1950s.
-Russia during the 19th century
-Balkan and Ottoman history during the 19th century
-The first half of the 20th century.
-The far right and far left during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s.
-Fatima and religious movements of the early 20th century.
-Futurism and the avant garde during the first half of the 20th century.
-Pol pot and the Khmer Rouge.
-Iran-Iraq war.
-Francisco Macías Nguema's reign over Equatorial Guinea