Subject:
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Re: Historical fudging...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 17 Dec 2002 23:15:54 GMT
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Viewed:
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391 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, David Koudys writes:
> And in a pure historical context, the ancient Incas and Aztecs had working
> calendars far before most other civilizations. I heard it said that Inca's
> had suspension bridges, 'paved' walkways, and glass, and just about
> everything, except they never 'invented' the wheel.
Actually, that is innacurate; what the pre-colombian civilizations had were
*more complex* calendars, and perhaps slightly more accurate on the long
run. The calendar used in Europe during late Roman times (Julian calendar)
was pretty accurate, and precedes the Inca/Aztec calendars for at least 500 yrs.
Romans also used paved walkways before the Incas, and suspension bridges
were not common in Europe due to the nature of the terrain (not very much
like the Andes for most cases) - it's not as if they were not known, they
just weren't needed (stone bridges were better suited for what the Romans
had in mind).
> /on the soapbox (so you're warned)
>
> Stuff pre 1900 can be subject to scrutiny--Did Columbus sail the ocean blue
> in 1492? Did the Irish get here before him? By a millenium? Sure,
> whatever--change the history books. Let's get right back to the 'land
> bridge' to Alaska and the native Americans were the first to 'discover'
> America--that is not the point.
>
> Again, I have no problem with fixing historically inaccurate ideas--the
> Vikings were in America long before Columbus, but that's not the point--
>
> The point is, in this day and age, when it comes to the matter of powered
> manned flight, coming out today and saying that the Wright brothers weren't
> the first, is historical fudging. Saying that Bell wasn't the first--it's
> like, hey, we had the last 100ish years of historical *documents* to say one
> thing, with witnesses and evidence that are pretty reliable--why now? Why
> didn't Joe Inventor, who read in the local paper, or heard from the Town
> cryer 100 years ago, that someone else is getting the claim, pipe up then?
> I mean why now? Why didn't Miss Cleo say something when she was in school
> and a teacher mentioned KittyHawk? For that matter, why didn't her father,
> or even the guy who supposedly did it--her grandpappy?
>
> It stopped being a big world during the industrial revolution--the steam
> engine I can see a contention for who did it first, for people were not well
> read and such, and populations were separate, but 1903? Preacher? Makes a
> plane and doesn't make a fuss when he hears about KittyHawk? Nor his kids?
> Italian children sit in school just like you and me did when we were kids,
> and they get taught history, just like we were--and yet in the 21st century,
> 100 years after these things, is when some great grandkid who remembers a
> 'story' from their youth, or someone says 'My great grandpappy invented the
> phone before Bell'--I have to question, "Why now? Why not before? Your
> pappa sat thru his history class and said *nothing*. All those witnesses
> and their kids sat thru their history classes and said *nothing*. And now
> his grandkid (or witnesses of this supposed flight and offspring thereof),
> who had ample opportunity before the 100th anniversary, *now* pipes up? And
> somehow all the evidence disappears? Horsefeathers!
>
> /steps off the soapbox
Well said!
> All that said, if there's *proof* that this happened a year of so before
> KittyHawk, I'll rewrite the historical texts myself. 100 years of papers,
> and other forms of distributing info to the masses, and no evidence
> forthcoming, speaks for itself.
I don't think we'll ever come to that drastical need for change...
After all, it has been over 50 years since it was proved that the Vikings
touched Newfoundland way before Columbus reached the Bahamas, and still he
is the one who gets credit. IMO, he *should* be credited: after all, it was
HIS voyage that triggered historical events! The Vikings got a sidenote in
istory books, and that's it.
Same goes to WB - their flight boosted human development. While I do think
it's slightly innacurate to say they were responsible for the invention of
the airplane (see other post in this thread), they were key players in the
Aviation History by using a number of solutions together for the first time
on the same aircraft. Their names stand between those of Otto Lilienthal
(who "invented" the hang-glider) and Santos-Dumond (who used flaps for control)
If this aircraft is proved to have flown earlier, it surely does not deserve
much credit - it was kept locked ever since, and no actual development was
originated by it.
In conclusion: History books should not be changed. Perhaps students could
benefit from a sidenote where more info was given about what is, in fact, a
never-ending chain of events; but the WB deserve all the credit for making
the *decisive step* towards controlled flight.
My €.02,
Pedro
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Historical fudging...
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| (...) And in a pure historical context, the ancient Incas and Aztecs had working calendars far before most other civilizations. I heard it said that Inca's had suspension bridges, 'paved' walkways, and glass, and just about everything, except they (...) (22 years ago, 17-Dec-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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