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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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BeesEelsAndPups
Community Member
1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is the Treaty of Windsor, which creates a code of mutual protection between the two nations, and is the oldest military alliance in the world. It was born out of a similar treaty signed between France and Castile. The French wanted access to Castile's large naval fleet in their never ending wars with England, and the Castilians were interested in expanding their growing kingdom into Lusitania and the Islamic Caliphates. Basically, the Treaty of Windsor was born out of mutual fear of a common enemy. It was not actually the first or last treaty between the two nations, but the guarantees in the treaty helped solidify Portuguese independence, and established a long history of mutual defense, that still holds today. This included England's assistance to Portugal during the Napoleonic Wars, and the joint Anglo-Portuguese army that drove the French out of the Iberian Peninsula.

Richman “Richman” Aust
Community Member
1 week ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

England also helped remove Napoleon from Spanish and Portuguese lands after they French invaded in the early 1800s. Reference "The Peninsula Wars"

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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.

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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