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Most defining moments in American history.


rico

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So I am tooling back from Warsaw after a doc appt. and I hit search on my radio.  I caught some interview with an author that says there were/are 3 defining moments in U.S. history.  The three are, in chronological order:

1.  The Civil War

2.  The Great Depression

3.  WWII

The author went on to say that we now have a 4th......Covid-19

Thought?  Opinions?

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The jury is out on Covid.  If a successful vaccine is available in the next few months and the economy recovers, I don't put Covid on par with the rest of those.  

Honestly, the social unrest related to George Floyd may have a more long-term impact on U.S. history than Covid does (assumes the vaccine and economic recovery).

 

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5 minutes ago, rico said:

So I am tooling back from Warsaw after a doc appt. and I hit search on my radio.  I caught some interview with an author that says there were/are 3 defining moments in U.S. history.  The three are, in chronological order:

1.  The Civil War

2.  The Great Depression

3.  WWII

The author went on to say that we now have a 4th......Covid-19

Thought?  Opinions?

A few pages back I asked for documentaries/podcast recommendation for the Spanish Flu. I listened to a few and 1918 sure was an interesting time in history. I'm not sure it rivals the top two but it's worth mentioning. Not only was there a pandemic, it marked the end of WWI and pushed us into the Roaring 20s, one of the most successful economic times in our history. 

It was interesting that in this podcast, a historian who wrote a book about it, said that the Spanish Flu is one of those defining moments in history that we don't talk about. An estimated 50 million world wide and 675,000 in the US died from it. Another interesting fact is that the USA lost more personnel to disease (63,114) than to combat (53,402) in the War. 

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Just now, rico said:

Honestly, I only caught about 15 minutes of the show.  Personally, I would have lumped the Great Depression and WWII into one moment.

I think they are separate.  Yes, the war helped get us out of the depression.  But, the War had some huge moments unrelated to the depression, the most notable being the Atomic Bombs.

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3 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

I think they are separate.  Yes, the war helped get us out of the depression.  But, the War had some huge moments unrelated to the depression, the most notable being the Atomic Bombs.

I would say the depression started the war.

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23 minutes ago, tdhoosier said:

A few pages back I asked for documentaries/podcast recommendation for the Spanish Flu. I listened to a few and 1918 sure was an interesting time in history. I'm not sure it rivals the top two but it's worth mentioning. Not only was there a pandemic, it marked the end of WWI and pushed us into the Roaring 20s, one of the most successful economic times in our history. 

It was interesting that in this podcast, a historian who wrote a book about it, said that the Spanish Flu is one of those defining moments in history that we don't talk about. An estimated 50 million world wide and 675,000 in the US died from it. Another interesting fact is that the USA lost more personnel to disease (63,114) than to combat (53,402) in the War. 

Just because I brought up WWI and this thread may invite history buffs, this is one of the most fascinating stories about the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand called Blueprint for Armageddon by Dan Carlin. Yes, it's 3 hours, but listen to the first 30 minutes. It's insane that the assassination attempt was blundered so many times on that day, and after danger appeared to be avoided it was pure coincidence that brought Ferdinand to his fate. To think (Carlin theorizes and explains), WWI could've possibly been avoided if it wasn't for the assassin's dumb luck. 

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9 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

Exactly...the only differences being advances in technology, medicine, and reaction of the government and populace...

Read an article a few days ago that went into the response to the spanish flu and wouldn't you know, they had mask mandates(and anti - maskers) social distancing guidelines, fines and jail time for non compliance, and closing businesses. Its eerie how history repeats itself.

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35 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

The jury is out on Covid.  If a successful vaccine is available in the next few months and the economy recovers, I don't put Covid on par with the rest of those.  

Honestly, the social unrest related to George Floyd may have a more long-term impact on U.S. history than Covid does (assumes the vaccine and economic recovery).

 

I do think this is going to be a transformative period. Covid is only a small part of it, but one that is accelerating the transformation. Add the social unrest. Lots of businesses closing. A recession would not be a surprise. The old way of doing business is giving way to Zoom and a whole host of other changes. Changes in medicine, technology, logistics and more reshaping the way we function. People moving from North to South changing the power of the states. I think we are in for a tumultuous decade. One that could surpass the changes from 1918-1945. 

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12 minutes ago, mrflynn03 said:

Read an article a few days ago that went into the response to the spanish flu and wouldn't you know, they had mask mandates(and anti - maskers) social distancing guidelines, fines and jail time for non compliance, and closing businesses. Its eerie how history repeats itself.

Also, Woodrow Wilson would refused to talk about it because he didn't want to detract from the war efforts, the initial wave was not that severe and many were downplaying the seriousness it could impose.....and then the second wave slammed them. 

That spike in the summer was not a second wave, by the way...it was still part of the first wave. Obviously no two viruses are identical, but let's hope that history doesn't repeat itself in this instance. 

@mrflynn03, if you didn't lose the link would you mind sharing? I find this stuff interesting. 

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7 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

Kennedy assassination?

 

Certainly was a defining moment in my life.  I did a daily news show on my high school radio station. It was rip an read off a teletype.   And I was allowed to leave study hall to prepare and do the show.  One day (Nov.22) the study hall teacher comes up to me and tells me to get down to station, well before the normal time.  I get there and the teacher/station manager tells me that President Kennedy has been shot.  Get on right now !   As I am reading.... the teacher/station manager hands me a fresh teletype.  I read it on the air.... not knowing what it was about.  Kennedy was dead !

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1 minute ago, milehiiu said:

Certainly was a defining moment in my life.  I did a daily news show on my high school radio station. It was rip an read off a teletype.   And I was allowed to leave study hall to prepare and do the show.  One day (Nov.22) the study hall teacher comes up to me and tells me to get down to station, well before the normal time.  I get there and the teacher/station manager tells me that President Kennedy has been shot.  Get on right now !   As I am reading.... the teacher/station manager hands me a fresh teletype.  I read it on the air.... not knowing what it was about.  Kennedy was dead !

You know what's crazy Mile? You probably are the person so many people in your high school remember for breaking that news. I'll probably never forget who first told me about 9/11. 

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