Yeah, That Happened: Topics in History

[Deleted]

Jan 31, 2018 9:09:21 GMT -4 @fitz said:

On this day in Ireland 34 years ago a 15 yr old girl died along with the son she gave birth to alone at a grotto her name was Ann Lovett 

An article from a few years back with samples of letters wriitten to National Radio show at tthe time in Ireland.

Ann and her story imprinted on barely teenage me and I've never forgotten her, her story is only one of too too many tragic stories out Ireland and changes to our laws won't help them in any way but they will never be forgotten. In an ireland in one sense very different Ann Lovett is trending on twitter today in Ireland rightly so, but in another sense nothing has changed at all,  maybe Ireland of Jan 31 2019 on Ann's 35th anniversary will look very different for the Women of Ireland.

Quoting myself, no more maybes, Ireland 2019 will be different, tho we wait for all the legislation to be put in place it feels different, better, safer already.

Rest easy Ann.

[Deleted]

Remembering Omagh 20 years ago today


It was the single biggest atrocity of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Twenty-nine people were killed, including nine children, a woman pregnant with twins and three generations of one family.
It came less than three months after the people of Northern Ireland had voted yes to the Good Friday Agreement.

May we always remember and honour those lost by never letting go of this fragile peace we have.

[Auroranorth]

I just found myself explaining sundown towns and the Green Book to my 70-something landlady and her boyfriend. She lived in Florida during segregation, I'm kind of amazed they never heard of this.

[Carolinian]

I've heard the new documentary by Peter Jackson about WWI, They Shall Not Grow Old, is excellent. Currently it has only been shown in the UK and I haven't found a US release date. If any one comes across one please share the info.

[Deleted]

This day six years ago Savita Halappanavar died in Galway hospital, My thoughts are with her Husband,family and friends today.
Savita.

[chonies]

This is a general WWI/Great War question with a US bias: do Americans know what the poppy symbol means? My sister claims it's not well known in the US*, but I've seen veterans groups in the US hand them out around the country. If it's less well known, I'd think it's a generational thing and not so much a US thing, but I can't provide actual evidence.


*she's a maudlin Anglophile who lives in the US and overuses UK vocab like 'gobsmacked' and 'telly'.

[seat6]

I have an enamel poppy pin that I wore to a WWI event on Mon. (It's a very pretty one that our state commission on the Great War designed and I have long wanted one and FINALLY on Mon. a state parks person gave me one! Then as soon as my friends saw me with it, they all wanted one also).

I think the poppy as a symbol is not as well known in the US, but it's not unheard of. Many people on Mon. were wearing poppy ties and scarves and the table arrangements were poppies.

Of course, it was a gathering of historians and people interested in history, so that may have skewed the demographic sample a bit!

[cocotte]

Nov 9, 2018 12:17:24 GMT -4 chonies said:

This is a general WWI/Great War question with a US bias: do Americans know what the poppy symbol means? My sister claims it's not well known in the US*, but I've seen veterans groups in the US hand them out around the country. If it's less well known, I'd think it's a generational thing and not so much a US thing, but I can't provide actual evidence.


*she's a maudlin Anglophile who lives in the US and overuses UK vocab like 'gobsmacked' and 'telly'.

From a Canadian perspective, we do see a lot of poppies being worn this weekend, our Remembrance Day being Sunday. Every school will likely have a solemn ceremony today and all adults and children will wear a poppy. As a retired teacher, I know that every November, students are taught and reminded of the poppy’s significance. I live in a suburb city and our Remembrance Day ceremony, at the cenotaph, is well attended not just by older folks but by younger families as well. Attendance had dropped off but it picked up again after Afghanistan. Our elected officials, both local and federal, are all seen wearing poppies as do media personnel and average citizens, young and old alike. Poppies are everywhere this weekend. From the nation’s capital, Remembrance Day ceremonies, with poppy wreath layings in memory of fallen soldiers, are always broadcast live on all major news channels. In summary, the poppy is still a widely recognized and emotional symbol in our culture. I’m not sure how we compare to the U.S. in this respect though.

[tabby]

I think your poppy knowledge depends on how close you live to an area with visible veterans' groups (like, near a military base). I rarely see people wearing them, and you don't see them on newscasters, for example, like you do if you watch the BBC broadcasts on PBS.

Veterans Day (what we call Remembrance Day) isn't that big a deal in the US. It's a Federal holiday, and most (maybe all) state governments recognize it, but many companies don't. I work at a state university, and it's not one of our holidays.

[petitesuite]

In first grade we all memorized In Flanders Fields so I know the significance of poppies from that. We also had Veterans Day off when I was in school although I have since learned that is not at all standard across public schools in the US. I grew up in Connecticut.