Ask me a Real Question

DAILY PROMPT RESPONSE

When it comes to historical figures, there are too many people to name. That’s just the people we know all about. This doesn’t include the people who conveniently wrote out the annuals of history. I once met a man who worked as an engineer at NASA during the space race. I’ve never heard or read his name anywhere, but he was there. I saw the pictures and remembered the stories. Stories that were confirmed years later in books and motion pictures. But to ask someone about their favorite historical figure? Oh, come on, ask me a real question.

Who decided who is historic anyway? Who makes that determination? I don’t know them, do you know them? You pick up five different history books and have five different accounts of an event or person. Who knows the real truth. However, I love the journey of discovering more information about a person or a topic. There is nothing better for me. Well, until I incorporate that information into one of my stories and sit back, waiting for a local know-it-all to tell me I got my facts wrong. It’s always a pleasure to watch their forehead crinkle and their bunk. Then, they clear their throat to inform me of my error. Followed by this now historical line of conjecture.

“Hmm… this isn’t really historically accurate, but since it’s fiction, I’ll give it a pass.”

Like I give a flying f_ [beep]!

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The history taught in schools makes me shudder. I remember asking one of my granddaughters about the history of the computer. Their response “Why does that matter?” I thought I was going to blow a gasket. Neither my children nor grandchildren understood my reaction. Which just increased my fury. They certainly didn’t have a problem. “Peepaw, I need a new laptop.”, “Peepaw, my laptop broke. Can you fix it?” How could something so instrumental to our existence not be taught in schools? They were still teaching Colonial America and the people who shaped it but weren’t teaching about the people who created the instrument they used to teach it.

Ada Lovelace isn’t taught in the history books. If it wasn’t for figuring out that computers could be used for more than calculations, we as a society wouldn’t be where we are now. Lovelace algorithm was built by countless inventors. So when I tell Alexa to play a playlist or ask Siri to set a reminder, perhaps they should have been Ada. Why not? I’m listening to a lecture on physics as I write this post on a pair of Bluetooth headphones. Thank god for Bluetooth; I could never find a pair of headphones with a long enough cord. Well, you can thank Hedy Lamarr for the algorithm. Yep, the beauty queen and movie star from back in the day.

Lamarr co-invented a frequency-hopping torpedo for the Allied forces during WWII, but it was never used. However, Lamarr’s frequency-hopping technology was later used throughout the U.S. military. I had used the tech for years before I knew Lamarr had a hand in its development. I was researching the Olympic games for a post and discovered something interesting. We have heard of Jesse Owens’s legendary exploits during the 1936 Olympics. He won four gold medals during the event and pissed off Hilter for good measure. So, he is always a cool person in history. However, have you heard of Cornelius Johnson?

Cornelius Johnson won the gold medal in the high jump, setting the record. Johnson was 23 years old when he accomplished this feat. Unfortunately, Johnson died in 1946, six months before his 33rd birthday. The United States did a podium sweep that day, meaning the gold, silver, and bronze were won by U.S. athletes. Dave Albritton, silver medalist, and Delos Thurber, bronze medalist, both outlived Johnson but were also left out of the history books.

We are who we are because of history, whether it be good, bad, or ugly. Each known or unknown event has helped you develop, no matter where you form. We need to appreciate what we can and learn from all of it.