[Ansteorra] World History in High School

[Michael Kahn]

Richard Threlkeld wrote:
> The date is the least important
> part of the things to be learned. Of course, it is the easiest to test.

The date anchors the event in history.  The date tells you the relative
time of the event compared to other events, providing you context to help
understand the world at the time of the event.  No historical event
happens in a vacuum.  That which has gone before and that which is
contemporary have great influence.  Time is the driving force that
determines the who, the what, and the why.

For a trivial example, how do we know William Wallace did not wear a kilt?
 Mel Gibson would have us believe he did.  How do we know he did not
father a child with the princess in question (Princess Isabelle, I
believe)?  You can't just look that stuff up in a book, but you can
research the *dates* of the various events and realize that the Princess'
child was born *years* after Wallace died, or that not even the belted
plaid existed until centuries after Wallace's bones had decayed to dust. 
It is the dates that tell you such things.

Why didn't the Germans use the atomic bomb on London or Moscow?

Why didn't the Crusaders load their cannons with grapeshot and mow down
the Saracens by the bushel?

Why do are the Three Musketeers always depicted as great swordsmen when
the musket played such a pivotal role in wars such as the American
Revolution, the Napoleaonic wars, and even our Civil War?

Why weren't Civil War prisoners (on both sides) given the treatment
required by the Geneva Conventions?

Why didn't the Colonials use Gatling guns against the British and Hessians
who lined up and marched in close order?

Anachronisms.  But you're aware of an anachronism only if you know the
relevant dates.  Here's another date for you, one that means everything to
the date of 1517:  1439.  Without it, Martin Luther's posting of his 95
theses would have been but the forgotten act of an insignificant man that
the world would little note nor long remember.

  Miles Grey