June 15, 1215 -- the day King John signed the Magna Carta. October 12, 1492 -- Christopher Columbus and his crew set foot on land in the Americas. June 28, 1914 -- Archduke Ferdinand, heir to The Austro-Hungarian throne, is assassinated, essentially beginning World War I. August 6, 1945 -- the day the United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. September 11, 2001 -- possibly the worst day in the history of the modern United States.
It may be cliché to say, but everything in history starts on one day. The stories of those days are told over and over again. Over time, it comes to feel likes they're not even real. They never really happened. Even if they're true, they're just stories. It's almost impossible to realize that one day, 600 years ago, Christopher Columbus, the man who we drew pictures of in first grade and whose ships we made models of in fifth grade, actually stepped foot onto land in the Americas for the first time -- radically altering the course of history forever. It may be even harder to realize that for Columbus, that day -- October 12, 1492 -- was just another day. Sure it was special, he thought that he had found a water route to India! But it was just 24 hours of his life. Like I discussed last week, he didn't foresee the pilgrims arrival, or the Triangular Trade, or kids in classrooms signing songs about his three ships.
Usually I profile a person, or group of people, or event in every post. But this week I had to react to another post I've read. So I went on a quest through my Google Reader account. I was going to find a post about something historical, comment historically, and make a very profound historical statement. But, instead, I ended up reading a bunch of posts from a blog that gives you what happened on "this day in history." And obviously that blog filled my mind with these thoughts I've just expressed in a mildly eloquent, but somewhat ranting, fashion.
I don't know exactly why I love history so much. And I get even more lost when I try to visualize ways to transfer my love to others. But I can always say this: today, you could be making history.
I like your post Katie! Very thought provoking! When ever I am reading/hearing the news I often try to think about what will make it into history books. It's odd to think about because when you study history it seems very obvious what is important as you exemplified by listing those important dates and telling how historical events start on one day. But when you look at current events it seems impossible that a history book will be able to condense these events into a few passages and decide what will be deemed as important for today like those blogs you were reading did for the past.
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