While interesting there are some glaring basic errors in some of the info. For example, in the episode about city parks it talks about Henry VIII acquiring some land in the 1560's....Henry died in 1547, he wasn't acquiring land nearly 20 years later. Also, in the episode about department stores it discussed some store opening in France, showing a map, and it highlighted Spain instead of France.I do like the show and wish there were many more like it. However, it needs closer attention to facts to avoid these types of errors.
6 Reviews
Should Not be Accepted as History
dannieboy2090614 September 2017
It's quick and entertaining, unfortunately the viewer cannot accept the content as valid history. There was a lot discussed in the first episode that I saw, about the development of the bow and arrow that I did not know. I found it quite interesting. However, the following two segments in the same program, about the development of firearms and nuclear weapons covered material that I do know a lot about. I am a nuclear engineer by education and a retired US Air Force intelligence officer by profession. I am also an amateur historian, especially on the military history of the United States.
Well, they got the time line for Samuel Colt's development of the revolver wrong. They distorted the development of repeating rifles (conflating them with revolvers). And they completed destroyed their presentation of the development of the nuclear bomb. They even misidentified a photo of a nuclear detonation as being one of the Hiroshima bomb rather than a test program and they gave credit to the wrong people for the discovery of nuclear fission. They did not even mention the true discoverers of nuclear fission, Otto Hahn and Lisa Meitner. (I apologize, but I forget the name of the other two directly involved)
Watch it for fun, but please do not use it in a school essay unless you are below the fifth grade.
Well, they got the time line for Samuel Colt's development of the revolver wrong. They distorted the development of repeating rifles (conflating them with revolvers). And they completed destroyed their presentation of the development of the nuclear bomb. They even misidentified a photo of a nuclear detonation as being one of the Hiroshima bomb rather than a test program and they gave credit to the wrong people for the discovery of nuclear fission. They did not even mention the true discoverers of nuclear fission, Otto Hahn and Lisa Meitner. (I apologize, but I forget the name of the other two directly involved)
Watch it for fun, but please do not use it in a school essay unless you are below the fifth grade.
Missing Greek history is highly suspicious.
angelonasios27 July 2018
Episode 15, Writing, Libraries, & Internet has some serious failings. The episode, in a chronological narrative, begins to explain the "origins" of writing, libraries, and the internet. Here is part of the timeline concerning the topic of writing in the show.
1. Romania. 5,300 BCE a. Vinca symbols 2. Sumer. 4,000 BCE a. Cuneiform 3. Saqqara, Egypt. 2,800 BCE a. The Maxims of Ptahhotep 4. Babylonia. 1,772 BCE a. The Code of Hammurabi 5. China. 1,500 BCE a. Gives summary of topics Chinese writing. 6. Rome. 1st Century CE a. Birth of the book. The Codex. 7. Jumps to Middle Ages, then to China 1045 CE. a. Movable type method of printing.
You'll notice a gap between China 1,500 BCE and Rome 1st century. This is where Greece would be talked about. The Homeric epics would have been a quick and easy talking point. The Homeric Epic's long-lasting influence on Western Civilization is unquestionable. To me, it is criminal not to bring them up. The Iliad contains 15,693 lines while the Odyssey contains 12,110 lines. That is almost 28,000 lines of poetry in dactylic hexameter together.
Outside of the familiar Greek writings of Homer and later, the show could have showcased the Cretan hieroglyphic system c. 2100 1700 BCE, Linear A c. 1800 1450 BCE, and Linear B 1450 1200 BCE. All Hellenic systems of writing, contemporaries with the other writings system mentioned in the show.
In episode 16 Monarchy, Democracy, & Communism the Greek development of democracy was severely downplayed. Sparta and Athens are spoken about for a roughly one minute then the show moves on to England 1215. When discussing Athens (508 BCE) they highlight the reforms of Cleisthenes the "father of Athenian democracy". For some reason the show had to bring up that Cleisthenes is the grandson of Cleisthenes Of Sicyon, who the show says murdered his opponents. It seems the reason they mention this is to give probably cause to why Cleisthenes thought it was a good idea to reduce the power of the nobility, but I think the writer was just trying to just throw something negative in, because it is a random fact you need to look hard for.
The fact that they only give one minute to Greek democracy is shameful. If I did not know history, and watched this episode I would not have learned that Greek invented democracy and would just thought it occurred there like it was not historically significant. Even with its failings, Athenian democracy is the most enduring legacy to the western world that the Greeks gave. Democracy, when we examine history, was not the normative form of government, and today is held to be one of our greatest ideals.
1. Romania. 5,300 BCE a. Vinca symbols 2. Sumer. 4,000 BCE a. Cuneiform 3. Saqqara, Egypt. 2,800 BCE a. The Maxims of Ptahhotep 4. Babylonia. 1,772 BCE a. The Code of Hammurabi 5. China. 1,500 BCE a. Gives summary of topics Chinese writing. 6. Rome. 1st Century CE a. Birth of the book. The Codex. 7. Jumps to Middle Ages, then to China 1045 CE. a. Movable type method of printing.
You'll notice a gap between China 1,500 BCE and Rome 1st century. This is where Greece would be talked about. The Homeric epics would have been a quick and easy talking point. The Homeric Epic's long-lasting influence on Western Civilization is unquestionable. To me, it is criminal not to bring them up. The Iliad contains 15,693 lines while the Odyssey contains 12,110 lines. That is almost 28,000 lines of poetry in dactylic hexameter together.
Outside of the familiar Greek writings of Homer and later, the show could have showcased the Cretan hieroglyphic system c. 2100 1700 BCE, Linear A c. 1800 1450 BCE, and Linear B 1450 1200 BCE. All Hellenic systems of writing, contemporaries with the other writings system mentioned in the show.
In episode 16 Monarchy, Democracy, & Communism the Greek development of democracy was severely downplayed. Sparta and Athens are spoken about for a roughly one minute then the show moves on to England 1215. When discussing Athens (508 BCE) they highlight the reforms of Cleisthenes the "father of Athenian democracy". For some reason the show had to bring up that Cleisthenes is the grandson of Cleisthenes Of Sicyon, who the show says murdered his opponents. It seems the reason they mention this is to give probably cause to why Cleisthenes thought it was a good idea to reduce the power of the nobility, but I think the writer was just trying to just throw something negative in, because it is a random fact you need to look hard for.
The fact that they only give one minute to Greek democracy is shameful. If I did not know history, and watched this episode I would not have learned that Greek invented democracy and would just thought it occurred there like it was not historically significant. Even with its failings, Athenian democracy is the most enduring legacy to the western world that the Greeks gave. Democracy, when we examine history, was not the normative form of government, and today is held to be one of our greatest ideals.
Entertaining but incomplete
ravenhair-7631021 January 2020
Where I enjoy the premise of this program, I think they're trying to accomplish entirely too much into little space of time. One example is where the program was talking about how the home entertainment industry has grown; they mentioned play stations. DVDs & Blu-ray. They completely made no mention of beta or VHS for sale or to rent. Home entertainment history begin way further than television... It was listening to the radio.
Many Inaccurate Claims
johnstjh7630 June 2018
In season 2, episode 5 about police and other first responders, the show claims that police recruits train for 14,000 hours. That's patently absurd. Police recruits train for approximately 700 hours before becoming officers. Heck, in Louisiana officers only have to train for 330 hours. How they arrived at 14,000 hours I'll never know.
Used by Barger Boys in 1937
shmsbarg11 June 2018
The section on Skateboard is not the first.
In Ashland, Oregon in 1937 a new section of hiway 99 at the west end of town had just been opened, leaving a 1 mile section only used by three farm families. Billings, Quackenbush, and Coyle.
This left this unused portion of blacktop road as a perfect playground for the Barger boys. We built our own boards using discarded steel roller skates. We built them with a 2x4 base, and old fruit boxes with handle bars. We did not just use them for playing, but to gather greens, fruit, vegetables for our livelyhood. We also used them to get to our jobs of pulling weeds for a local farmer for five cent an hour. We did this for thgree years.
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