Looking back on our recent trip to Scotland and England, one of the things that make it so enjoyable is the place is dripping with history.
Around every corner is some major historical site. You can't escape the days of old. Even beyond old, like ancient.
So as a bit of review, I wanted to look back at how history is made. I have a brief list here to illustrate a few key points. If your goal is to make history, follow some of these pointers.
Start Early
When we visited the Roman Ruins in Bath England, I casually mentioned that they go back several hundred years. Fiona corrected me on this - it's more like two thousand years.
The Romans showed up in Great Britain (it wasn't called that at the time) around 55BC when Julius Caesar invaded the place and named it Britannia. He and his army defeated the Picts and Celts and made a settlement in southwest England near a bend in the River Avon because of the hot springs there. The town became known as Bath. The rest is history (sorry, couldn't resist)
On our trip, we visited several churches that are hundreds of years old. In fact, many of the old churches are a thousand years old. An historic house we visited was originally built circa 1290. The lineage of the royal families goes back hundreds of years. Heck, the ruins at Stonehenge? - originally built 5,000 years ago.
This is part of how history is made. The best way to make history is to start really early on, and try to make it last. That way, people will wonder about it a thousand years later.
Do something significant ... like discover something
History is a record of people who set records, or discovered things, or invented things. Take Sir Isaac Newton, the guy who discovered gravity. Actually he didn't "discover" it, he just recognized its existence.
You come across this stuff often completely unaware that it even exists. For example, I was jogging one morning in Jedburgh Scotland and I came across these displays in a park telling us about James Hutton, the Father of Geology. Who's this? I thought.
You come across this stuff often completely unaware that it even exists. For example, I was jogging one morning in Jedburgh Scotland and I came across these displays in a park telling us about James Hutton, the Father of Geology. Who's this? I thought.
He was a "scientist" about three or four hundred years ago who was pondering the nature of a river bank. It had sedimentary rock, which was not only level, but shot up in a perpendicular fashion. Sedimentary layers were rather easy to explain, but what made those same rocks vertical? The ancient forces of the earth's moving crust. Over breakfast with our traveling group of relatives, I described the guy as the Father of Rocks.
And no mention of history would be complete without recognizing Jesus as a powerful figure. Regardless of your religious orientation or avoidance thereof, you can't deny that Jesus was significant. He influenced history. For Christ's sake, we even define our year by his birth, either before (BC) or after (2017).
People build stuff out of the available materials where they live. In much of Europe, the available material is stone, or marble, and it lasts a long time. In the Pacific Northwest, where we live, the abundant building material is wood, and historically speaking it doesn't last very long.
During our recent trip, we visited the home of two of the most famous literary figures in history. Certainly for the English speaking world. The reason they are still known today is that they wrote stuff down. Just talking is not going to get you anywhere. If you have something to say, put it on paper.
Or in the case of really ancient writings, carve it in stone. See rule number two above. Or paint it on the inside of a cave wall. Or better yet, carve it into the desert floor, as in the Nazca Lines in Peru (below), visible from the air.
In our trip to the UK, we spent time near the home of William Shakespeare, at Stratford-upon-Avon. His impact on the written word is unmistakeable. So much of our literary culture is influenced by his plays. Even if you don't understand how he says things (I don't), you can't deny his importance.
And Sir Walter Scott was also a famous and prolific writer living in Scotland. He basically invented the modern day Novel. Prior to his books, most of the written word was prose or poetry or verse or song, etc. He gave us Robin Hood and Ivanhoe and Rob Roy and the Lord of the Isles and almost countless other written words.
A War is a surefire way to make history. Hey, you don't even have to win. In fact, the worse the carnage, the greater the history. I don't mean to make light of war, it's the worst method to use if you want to make history.
But think about it. The reason we know about many of the most famous people in history is because of War. The more battles the better.
Or still better yet, go off and conquer a major geographic region. Alexander the Great (what a cool name, he wasn't just "above average") was a Greek who conquered most of the known world back in his day. He built the greatest empire the world has ever seen.
Genghis Khan was no slouch either. We went to Kazakstan last year (click this wish you were here), and that place has his name written all over it. Mr Khan's conquest included incredibly vast territories reaching from what is modern day Korea to Poland to Syria to Vietnam.
He was so ruthless and feared that when people heard he was coming - rather than face his wrath - they marched out and surrendered, or even killed themselves, to save him the trouble.
There are statues and monuments built to great soldiers and battles of the past. In fact, it seems like we celebrate this part of history more than others. When we were in Scotland, there was a monument to William Wallace around every corner (like the one at the top of this blog). He was the knight who defeated the English at the Battle of Sterling in 1297, bringing about Scottish independence. He was made famous to a modern audience and rest of the world by the movie Braveheart.
The history making technique of war goes back to the beginning of civilization, with people like Spartacus, Attila the Hun, and Charlemagne. However, this method is the most costly in terms of misery and loss of life. Not recommended.
So there you have it, my top five ways to make history. In a nutshell: Start Early, Discover It, Build It, Write It, and Kill It (or at least fight about it).
Build things out of stone
I mentioned this before in a blog post. If you want a building or structure to go down in history, build it out of stone. A well built castle will last a really long time, like 1,500 years or more.
Look at the Pyramids of Egypt, there were built sometime in the year 2,500 BC. And they're still holding up pretty good.
And nothing beats a nice castle to hold up to the elements if it's built right.
Look at the Pyramids of Egypt, there were built sometime in the year 2,500 BC. And they're still holding up pretty good.
And nothing beats a nice castle to hold up to the elements if it's built right.
People build stuff out of the available materials where they live. In much of Europe, the available material is stone, or marble, and it lasts a long time. In the Pacific Northwest, where we live, the abundant building material is wood, and historically speaking it doesn't last very long.
And in Senegal, West Africa, where we are active with our Andando Foundation, the only abundant material is sand. So they make buildings out of a sand and a little cement, into cinder blocks, or an adobe type substance. But it doesn't really last long, especially if it rains much.
If you build something out of real stone in the dry desert, it's gonna last a really long time.
If you build something out of real stone in the dry desert, it's gonna last a really long time.
We know about the ancient Mayans and Incas in Central and South America because they built magnificent fortresses out of rock. They were good at it, and those edifices still stand today.
Write it down
During our recent trip, we visited the home of two of the most famous literary figures in history. Certainly for the English speaking world. The reason they are still known today is that they wrote stuff down. Just talking is not going to get you anywhere. If you have something to say, put it on paper.
Or in the case of really ancient writings, carve it in stone. See rule number two above. Or paint it on the inside of a cave wall. Or better yet, carve it into the desert floor, as in the Nazca Lines in Peru (below), visible from the air.
In our trip to the UK, we spent time near the home of William Shakespeare, at Stratford-upon-Avon. His impact on the written word is unmistakeable. So much of our literary culture is influenced by his plays. Even if you don't understand how he says things (I don't), you can't deny his importance.
And Sir Walter Scott was also a famous and prolific writer living in Scotland. He basically invented the modern day Novel. Prior to his books, most of the written word was prose or poetry or verse or song, etc. He gave us Robin Hood and Ivanhoe and Rob Roy and the Lord of the Isles and almost countless other written words.
Fight a War
A War is a surefire way to make history. Hey, you don't even have to win. In fact, the worse the carnage, the greater the history. I don't mean to make light of war, it's the worst method to use if you want to make history.
But think about it. The reason we know about many of the most famous people in history is because of War. The more battles the better.
Or still better yet, go off and conquer a major geographic region. Alexander the Great (what a cool name, he wasn't just "above average") was a Greek who conquered most of the known world back in his day. He built the greatest empire the world has ever seen.
Genghis Khan was no slouch either. We went to Kazakstan last year (click this wish you were here), and that place has his name written all over it. Mr Khan's conquest included incredibly vast territories reaching from what is modern day Korea to Poland to Syria to Vietnam.
He was so ruthless and feared that when people heard he was coming - rather than face his wrath - they marched out and surrendered, or even killed themselves, to save him the trouble.
There are statues and monuments built to great soldiers and battles of the past. In fact, it seems like we celebrate this part of history more than others. When we were in Scotland, there was a monument to William Wallace around every corner (like the one at the top of this blog). He was the knight who defeated the English at the Battle of Sterling in 1297, bringing about Scottish independence. He was made famous to a modern audience and rest of the world by the movie Braveheart.
The history making technique of war goes back to the beginning of civilization, with people like Spartacus, Attila the Hun, and Charlemagne. However, this method is the most costly in terms of misery and loss of life. Not recommended.
So there you have it, my top five ways to make history. In a nutshell: Start Early, Discover It, Build It, Write It, and Kill It (or at least fight about it).
