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I graduated high school before Instagram was created, and maybe that’s a good thing. Otherwise, I could've spent entire classes scrolling through accounts like The Historical Meme, laughing at the ineffectiveness of the Maginot Line instead of reading about it in my textbooks. Luckily, today I can indulge in this at 3 AM, so it doesn’t interfere with my life—yay! I invite you to join me, preferably at a more reasonable hour, to revisit what you've learned about our past (or discover it for the first time) in a refreshingly unconventional way.

More info: Instagram

To learn more about history, we contacted Howard Dorre, writer and co-host of the presidential history blog and podcast Plodding Through The Presidents, which he creates with his wife.

"History can offer the average person a better understanding of their world, through real-life stories of conflict and triumph," Howard told Bored Panda.

Indeed, these memes can ignite your curiosity, and that spark can continue to burn even after you're done scrolling through the list. Don't worry—you can continue your studies elsewhere.

Some things, however, may offer the most value for your time and effort, depending on your interests and background, and provide valuable context that will help you get the bigger picture.

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"For Americans, I think it's important to understand the Revolutionary period and the formation of our Constitutional government, the history of slavery in the United States and the events leading up to the Civil War, the Reconstruction period, and the gains for African Americans that were erased with Jim Crow, the fight against fascism during World War II, and the Civil Rights era in the 1960s," Howard Dorre said.

"Together these periods tell the story of America's promise of equality and freedom in a way that makes it clear that we're not on some automatic steady path toward a better world."

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You can choose from a variety of sources to deepen your understanding of history!

In the fall of 2020, a US survey of 1,816 people revealed that the top three were all in video format:

  1. Documentary film/TV — 69%;
  2. Fictional film/TV — 66%;
  3. TV news — 62%.

Interestingly, more traditional sources, such as museums (35%), nonfiction books (32%), and lectures (12%) filled out the middle to lower ranks of this hierarchy.

#12

Funny-Historical-Memes-Jokes

thehistoricalmeme Report

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DaisyBee
Community Member
20 hours ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No, your ancestors were! - Sincerely, the Irish

Apatheist Account2
Community Member
21 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Every western European power was trying to do the same thing. We were just better at it, that's all.

Hidalgo
Community Member
20 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Empires are pretty evil by definition, including the current ones

Pandamonium Pandas Pandie
Community Member
14 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

america: come live here and be free! also America: but if you are any color other than white you r slave -usa, 1920

n75mk9nk2n
Community Member
16 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Every hero is someone's villain, and vice-versa. No one's perfectly good or perfectly evil.

Miranda Veracruz de la Joya Cardenal
Community Member
3 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Please tell me which British colonizer is a hero, seriously. British people should be regretting their mistakes and working towards learning from them, like the Germans. Actually, all colonizer countries should be doing what Germany does

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The Darkest Timeline
Community Member
7 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Has anyone ever heard of a benevolent superpower? It’s like looking for a billionaire that makes it their mission to end poverty and actually puts their money where their mouth is.

Lara Verne
Community Member
12 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, if you study history hard enough, you will probably find that every nation has done something not very nice

Adam
Community Member
8 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well introducing representative democracy, ending the slave trade, fighting alone against fascism, discovering germ theory, vaccines, DNA, sequencing, a huge number of inventions, and giving you your time makes me think we weren't entirely bad.

Ruthie R
Community Member
8 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wait till Americans find out their history of genocide and slavery and discover whose race laws inspired Hitler. Trump' seems keen to take them back to those good old days.

Glix Drap
Community Member
14 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Instead of "What have the Romans done for us" try "What have the British done for us".

Adam
Community Member
7 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well apart from democracy in Europe, ending slavery, jet planes, vaccines, penicillin, DNA, the Internet, radio, time, bicycles, industrialisation, democracy, newtonian physics, steel, tv, movies, the telephone, cement, soda, and the chocolate bar. What have the British ever done for us?

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JimSteve
Community Member
22 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No, people (americans no doubt) just like to pile hate on Britain.

tee-lena
Community Member
14 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, I am Native American. So you will have to forgive my distaste for your ancestors.

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Some much-welcome news is that the public sees clear value in studying history, even relative to other fields.

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Rather than asking whether respondents thought learning history was important—a costless choice—the researchers asked instead how essential history education is, relative to such fields as engineering and business. The results were encouraging: 84 percent of respondents felt history was just as valuable as the professional programs.

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#45

Funny-Historical-Memes-Jokes

thehistoricalmeme Report

Note: this post originally had 73 images. It’s been shortened to the top 45 images based on user votes.