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How much does the Imperium know about 21st and 20th century?

Do they still have some record of our modern equipment?
Would they still now anything about the culture of our modern times and stuff?

Also how do they still have the knowledge to manufacture weapons such as the heavy stubber or the stub gun which obviously resembles modern day guns?

Also they have to know where the English language came from as well

Are there archaeologist on Terra that have excavated old stuff from our times?(and maybe some on the moon that may have found Niel Armstrong's landing site)

Not much...
They have about as much from this age as we do from 1 thousand years ago.
Although there is a bit in Prospero Burns where they mention they have found some of Shakespeares plays...
They do have knowledge of 'the old terran nations' like Merica and other countries...
The desing for a gun is probably the only thing that lasted very long... and even then it's probably 'cos they were fighting for so long.

purplefood wrote:Not much...
They have about as much from this age as we do from 1 thousand years ago.
Although there is a bit in Prospero Burns where they mention they have found some of Shakespeares plays...
They do have knowledge of 'the old terran nations' like Merica and other countries...
The desing for a gun is probably the only thing that lasted very long... and even then it's probably 'cos they were fighting for so long.

Interesting, Shakespeare,

I wonder if the Imperium has ever found the old Tolkien books and are like "wow this is very similar"

or better yet Games Workshop miniatures and rule books

Don't start that...
Tolkien ripped his stuff from old legends and fairytales.
He was merely the first to use them all in the same book.

Nearly none. During the HH, the names of some "ancient Terran Empires" (Franc, Merica, and... I forget the third) were still known, with some fragmentary tales of historic legends.

In Abnett's Ravenor series, there is a character who makes a reference to the legend of Baba Yaga, as a legend from his homeworld, and Ravenor corrects him, explaining that it's an old Terran legend.

Basically speaking, the Imperium knows only a micro-micro-fraction more than "Absolutely Nothing" about M2 Earth.

Psienesis wrote:Nearly none. During the HH, the names of some "ancient Terran Empires" (Franc, Merica, and... I forget the third) were still known, with some fragmentary tales of historic legends.

In Abnett's Ravenor series, there is a character who makes a reference to the legend of Baba Yaga, as a legend from his homeworld, and Ravenor corrects him, explaining that it's an old Terran legend.

Basically speaking, the Imperium knows only a micro-micro-fraction more than "Absolutely Nothing" about M2 Earth.

The IoM also remembers about Jermani.

I believe they also kept some memory of the UK (but I can't remember the silly name it has in the 41st millennium).

They also have records of some of our cities cities like New York (they call it Nova Yourk, or something like that) and Paris (Lutetia).

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/M2

and

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/M3

the next 10000 years... nothing... hum...

Don't forget Atlantys...
Somehow that managed to stick around...

purplefood wrote:Not much...
They have about as much from this age as we do from 1 thousand years ago.
Although there is a bit in Prospero Burns where they mention they have found some of Shakespeares plays...
They do have knowledge of 'the old terran nations' like Merica and other countries...
The desing for a gun is probably the only thing that lasted very long... and even then it's probably 'cos they were fighting for so long.

Well we have quite a bit of information from 1,000 years ago (1011 AD), the Imperium has far less than that.

In any regard their lack of knowledge makes perfect sense. It was 38,000 years ago, we barely have an idea of what the world was like 7,000 years ago and that's without the planet falling into global anarchy for 5,000 years.

Harriticus wrote:

purplefood wrote:Not much...
They have about as much from this age as we do from 1 thousand years ago.
Although there is a bit in Prospero Burns where they mention they have found some of Shakespeares plays...
They do have knowledge of 'the old terran nations' like Merica and other countries...
The desing for a gun is probably the only thing that lasted very long... and even then it's probably 'cos they were fighting for so long.

Well we have quite a bit of information from 1,000 years ago (1011 AD), the Imperium has far less than that.

In any regard their lack of knowledge makes perfect sense. It was 38,000 years ago, we barely have an idea of what the world was like 7,000 years ago and that's without the planet falling into global anarchy for 5,000 years.

My misteake...
7,00 years then...

Yeah, hehe, I know there's bits and pieces floating around... basically whatever the author of that particular piece of fluff thinks would make a fun "inside joke"... but compared to the volume of things to know about us and our modern world, before even mentioning our history, religions, myths, legends, etc.... the Imperium knows next-to-absolutely-nothing about us ^^.

they basically know very little aside from names.


occasionally, they send an Archaological expedition down to excavate stuff. you can still find the ruins of Nova Yorek.


the outlines of the Continants are still visible as altitude changes in the city's sky line.

all of the prime real estate is on the former continants.


the Imperial Palace(which contains all of the Administratum's offices as well) streaches from the Himalayas to England and is about as wide.


the Inquisiton's offices are at the south pole.

Now that this topic been brought up I wonder if any of our weapons survived the thousands of years till 40K?

actual weapons or designs?


The IoM's basic Fission warhead torpedo would be basically unchanged.


Autoguns are probably just a myriad of designs that have survived and been over replicated for miillenia. I'll bet there is an AK-47 descended Autogun somewhere out there. possably still with the AK moniker

Grey Templar wrote:actual weapons or designs?


The IoM's basic Fission warhead torpedo would be basically unchanged.


Autoguns are probably just a myriad of designs that have survived and been over replicated for miillenia. I'll bet there is an AK-47 descended Autogun somewhere out there. possably still with the AK moniker

I was more thinking into actual weapons that were made from our time and survived.

xxmatt85 wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:actual weapons or designs?


The IoM's basic Fission warhead torpedo would be basically unchanged.


Autoguns are probably just a myriad of designs that have survived and been over replicated for miillenia. I'll bet there is an AK-47 descended Autogun somewhere out there. possably still with the AK moniker

I was more thinking into actual weapons that were made from our time and survived.

in that case, AK-47s

38,000 years in the mud turned to rock and it still fires

Even if the AK doesn't fire after 38k years, it still makes for a good club.

Vain wrote:Even if the AK doesn't fire after 38k years, it still makes for a good club.

ah the perfect weapon... well untill they perfect the HK-47

Who is to say it is really our Earth they are on? Reading book 1 of the Horus Heresey they land on the third planet of nine, with heavy terran similarities....We are led to believe that isn't the real Earth, and it likely isn't. However it lays a pretty good kernel for what if the 'Terra' in 40k is under the same false assumption.

Our own history would say there is a big gaping plot whole with the Emperor's statements about having been around since the dawn of man. Plus going with the general love of conspiracy theory in 40k....

It's just as plausible they are entirely convinced they are on our Earth, that everything they have convinces them of that, when in fact they are not.

Cue the 'boo-wee-oooh' conspiracy sounds

Maniac_nmt wrote:Who is to say it is really our Earth they are on? Reading book 1 of the Horus Heresey they land on the third planet of nine, with heavy terran similarities....We are led to believe that isn't the real Earth, and it likely isn't. However it lays a pretty good kernel for what if the 'Terra' in 40k is under the same false assumption.

Our own history would say there is a big gaping plot whole with the Emperor's statements about having been around since the dawn of man. Plus going with the general love of conspiracy theory in 40k....

It's just as plausible they are entirely convinced they are on our Earth, that everything they have convinces them of that, when in fact they are not.

Cue the 'boo-wee-oooh' conspiracy sounds

and they later explain that that planet was just named Terra by it's inhabitants using an ancesteral name.


Terra is certaintly our Modern Earth. they have the same mountain ranges and stuff like that.

Grey Templar wrote:

Maniac_nmt wrote:Who is to say it is really our Earth they are on? Reading book 1 of the Horus Heresey they land on the third planet of nine, with heavy terran similarities....We are led to believe that isn't the real Earth, and it likely isn't. However it lays a pretty good kernel for what if the 'Terra' in 40k is under the same false assumption.

Our own history would say there is a big gaping plot whole with the Emperor's statements about having been around since the dawn of man. Plus going with the general love of conspiracy theory in 40k....

It's just as plausible they are entirely convinced they are on our Earth, that everything they have convinces them of that, when in fact they are not.

Cue the 'boo-wee-oooh' conspiracy sounds

and they later explain that that planet was just named Terra by it's inhabitants using an ancesteral name.


Terra is certaintly our Modern Earth. they have the same mountain ranges and stuff like that.

I realise that, just poking fun at 40k's over the top crazy conspiracy theory love.