Brent,
This is quite interesting. It reminds me that I knew my great grandfather
who was the grandson of two Revolutionary War veterans
HBG.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tarter, Brent (LVA)" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 9:14 AM
Subject: [VA-HIST] How Long Ago Was History?
> This morning's newspaper, 12 April 2011, contained two articles that
> together made me think about how long ago history really was.
>
>
>
> One article recalled that 150 years ago today men in Charleston, South
> Carolina, fired on Fort Sumter, beginning the American Civil War. The
> other article recalled that 50 years ago today Yuri Gagarin made the
> first manned space flight. Some of us can vividly recall first hearing
> the news of Gagarin's flight, but most Americans were born since manned
> space flight began.
>
>
>
> The amount of time that has elapsed since Gagarin's flight is one half
> the amount of time that had elapsed between the beginning of our Civil
> War and that flight. Some people who were alive when Gagarin flew had
> known people who fought in that Civil War. People of my age knew people
> who had known people who fought in that Civil War.
>
>
>
> These curious coincidences allow us to think about and perceive
> connections between the present and events in the past. Gagarin's flight
> is part of my remembered past but is ancient history to people
> considerably younger than I am. Still, there are those connections and
> overlaps of generations that provoke thought about the relationship
> between the present and the past.
>
>
>
> Those thoughts may explain why we are interested in history and our
> place in the continuing human drama. History, the past, may not be so
> long ago.
>
>
>
> Brent Tarter
>
> Student of Virginia's history since September 1971, i.e., 9.53 percent
> of the time since Captain Christopher Newport et alia arrived in April
> 1607
>
>
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Please visit the Library of Virginia's Web site at
> http://www.lva.virginia.gov
>
>
>
>
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