Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Okay Dakka Dakka, I know all of us love History in some compacity or another. What is your most favorite historical battle or event That is not in the 20th, or 21st century.
(SO NO WORLD WARs) Please explain why... And historical accounts that might interest people.

Please keep it on topic.

My most favorite historical event was the 2nd Punic War.

Why? Because it is an incredible war, Where the greatest Military Tactician Hannibal kicked the Romans off their high horse. Blood Oaths, Father and Sons fighting each other. It is a fantastic historical lesson.

I have to say my favorite are WW2 Navel conflicts. I listened to my grandpa tell me how he flew a plane(I cant remember what type though) In the war. I even collect WW2 tanks and models.
On a side note, I even have my Grandpas WW2-Korean War Vet hat with all his rewards on it.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
I have to say my favorite are WW2 Navel conflicts. I listened to my grandpa tell me how he flew a plane(I cant remember what type though) In the war. I even collect WW2 tanks and models.
On a side note, I even have my Grandpas WW2-Korean War Vet hat with all his rewards on it.

Ahem....

That is not in the 20th, or 21st century.
(SO NO WORLD WARs)

American Civil War.

I'm no real fan of reading Early American history but there are some cool books I got to read on the subject. There's a good book on the early years of the American Presidency (mostly about the first few presidents and their elections) called America Afire: Adams, Jefferson, and the Revolutionary Election of 1800 by Bernard A. Weisberger. An awesome book for an overview of the period and the people involved. Never before had I so pitied poor Alexander Hamilton.

There's also American Slavery: 1619-1877 by Peter Kolchin, a book covering Slavery in America from its inception to its end. How slavery affected US culture and politics. A very good concise and brief survey on an institution across two centuries.

For anyone interested in Environmental History, I suggest Mosquito Empires: Ecology and War in the Greater Caribbean, 1620 by J.R. McNeill. It's amazing how a small insect vastly influenced the time period of early colonialism and beyond. There's also the Lost Wolves of Japan by Brett L Walker, which studies the history of the Japanese Wolf and its extinction. Another great book in this area is Nature's New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement by Neil M. Maher, a study of the Civilian Conservation Corp, the birth of Environmentalism in the US and the origin of much of our National Parks and landmarks.

For those interested in turn of the century there's also the classic The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945 by Stephen Howarth. It's a little dated at this point, and not entirely correct (it was written back in the 80's) but its still a standard text for the Imperial Japanese Navy and its history.

For anyone who likes Vietnam I always recommend Mark Moyar's book Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965.

I'm a big fan of the gak that Audie Murphy pulled. I think he had a KD of like 300-1. And he died in a plain crash.

But because I'm not allowed, I'm a big fan of Alexander the Great's wars. In particular one that shows his skill as a general was one where the enemy had him outnumbered 1.5 to 1 (battle of issus) and he won by trolling Darius by charging him, breaking the Persian lines, and making the battle a slaughter in favor of the Macedonians.

Another is the battle of Stamford Bridge, where a single Norse hero, killed 40 Englishmen on the titular bridge before finally being brought down by a cheapshot to his boys. That happened.

Another would be in a time where the Pope would rule as long as there was no Emperor, and was sovereign over the king. And only the Pope could make someone the Emperor. So naturally he wanted to keep his power. So Charlemagne wins countless battles, takes more and more land, even his enemies think he's fair, and his people love him. But the pope wants his power. So Charlemagne in the middle of a raid on the city, tells the Pope that he'll be to blame if the armies aren't rallied. So Charlemagne is made emperor.

There was this time 10,000 years ago or so that a bunch of tribesmen killed a bunch of other tribesmen. I thought they were pretty creative at solving their differences.

 xole wrote:
There was this time 10,000 years ago or so that a bunch of tribesmen killed a bunch of other tribesmen. I thought they were pretty creative at solving their differences.

Aren't we talking about specific instances?
The time period for this seems a little off to, for this to be the norm. Villages were already starting to form.

Dinosaurs were pretty cool.

I'm all about anything Age of Sail-related. I've still got the memorabilia my dad brought me when I was a kid from when he had dinner aboard the Victory.

 Jihadin wrote:
American Civil War.

Yep, I have a pile of letters and pictures covering three years worth of the war from a twice great uncle that fought for the North. There are some real eye opening insights to be had reading them.

 LordofHats wrote:
I'm no real fan of reading Early American history but there are some cool books I got to read on the subject.

I assume that one of them was Farmers & Fisherman: Two Centuries of Work in Essex County.

As to the period I find most interesting: probably the various conquests of Genghis Khan.

 dogma wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:
I'm no real fan of reading Early American history but there are some cool books I got to read on the subject.

I assume that one of them was Farmers & Fisherman: Two Centuries of Work in Essex County.

Nope but its blurb sure makes it sound interesting.

 LordofHats wrote:

Nope but its blurb sure makes it sound interesting.

Be careful not to plagiarize it.

I am also a fan of the American Civil War. Being from Virginia, I had family on my mother's side that fought for the South. I also live near quite a few famous historical sites, including some John Mosby sites (he is a personal favorite figure of mine).

I also interested in the Greco-Persian Wars. Aside from the Battle of Thermopylae that everyone knows, there are some truly amazing battles: Salamis, Plataea, and Marathon (from the first Persian invasion). All such fascinating stuff!

The French invasion of Russia has my interest right now. Just overtaken the French Indian wars.


Interesting that the thread is about history, but it's stated that we are to state the battle we're most interested in- we couldn't think the renaissance or the industrial revolution was our most interesting point or, well, anything that wasn't about people fighting.

Also interesting is that I was going to name a military campaign anyway

 sebster wrote:
Interesting that the thread is about history, but it's stated that we are to state the battle we're most interested in- we couldn't think the renaissance or the industrial revolution was our most interesting point or, well, anything that wasn't about people fighting.

I blame all the violence on television.

 LordofHats wrote:
I blame all the violence on television.

I blame the shutdown. Which means it's really all because of Obamacare, and therefore by extension the fault of Kenya.

 sebster wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:
I blame all the violence on television.

I blame the shutdown. Which means it's really all because of Obamacare, and therefore by extension the fault of Kenya.

In the spirit of this thread and it being Kenya's fault I give you the Tsavo Maneaters. The Beast of Gevuaden of Kenya

The Reconquista era always intrigued me. I actually have a painting of the Surrender of Granada in my home office.

 Asherian Command wrote:
What is your most favorite historical battle or event That is not in the 20th, or 21st century.

I. The writing of Hammurabi's Code, because it is one of the first instances of legal activity, and, everything considered, pretty cool. Also, because the words 'Lex Talionis' just sounds so fething cool.
II. 451 B.C, The writing of the XII Tables, because it's the first civil code.
III. Roughly 1850-1902, the works of Frege, Brentano, Meinong, Stumpf, Ehrenfels and Husserl. The philosophical culture of Austria and Vienna in particular
IV. 1957, at the Cornell Aeronautical Institute (I cheat but it's still history), Frank Rosenblatt discovered the oddly-named perceptron, an algorithm basically representing what the simplest neural networks can acheive. This guy opened up a whole new box.

 LordofHats wrote:
In the spirit of this thread and it being Kenya's fault I give you the Tsavo Maneaters. The Beast of Gevuaden of Kenya

Those lions were personally responsible for The Ghost and the Darkness, which somehow made lions eating dudes and other dudes hunting said lions one of the most boring things I've ever had to sit through. Val Kilmer has paid his dues, because he's really fat now, but those lions pretty much got away with it scot-free.

Speaking of man-eating lions does anyone else seek out weird stories of History? Tsavo Man-Eaters, the Beast of Gevuaden, Roanoke Colony, the mysterious death of Silas Deane, and the like? Those not so huge but interesting events that happen?

Recently, and I blame the alien thread for this, I've been skimming up on the history of UFO's. I never even knew Project Blue Book existed, let alone some of the weird stuff the USAF investigated in connection with those flying unknowns.

 ThePrimordial wrote:

 xole wrote:
There was this time 10,000 years ago or so that a bunch of tribesmen killed a bunch of other tribesmen. I thought they were pretty creative at solving their differences.

Aren't we talking about specific instances?
The time period for this seems a little off to, for this to be the norm. Villages were already starting to form.

I am, my dates were a little off

And besides, villages don't negate tribes. We still have tribes.

And if this degenerates into an argument about the definitions of the words "village" and "tribe" I'm out. Mondays are bad enough as it is.

 sebster wrote:
The French invasion of Russia has my interest right now. Just overtaken the French Indian wars.


Interesting that the thread is about history, but it's stated that we are to state the battle we're most interested in- we couldn't think the renaissance or the industrial revolution was our most interesting point or, well, anything that wasn't about people fighting.

Also interesting is that I was going to name a military campaign anyway

I did say Events.

Battles or Events

Pre Columbian Central and South American history, especially the ancient Maya.

Initial culture / fixed settlements in northern Yucatan is now set at 2,500BC. Interesting things include evidence of a strong middle class, and 3 football field wide raised plaza akin to the bottom half of one ofthe great pyramids of Egypt.

 ThePrimordial wrote:

Another is the battle of Stamford Bridge, where a single Norse hero, killed 40 Englishmen on the titular bridge before finally being brought down by a cheapshot to his boys. That happened.

I loved badass of the week's treatment of that story. It just seemed such an appropriate medium for that story.

Honestly, any recorded Viking story is blended so thoroughly with myth that it becomes positively epic. Though I have a soft spot for the heretics urged to repent by Joan of Arc herself, the Hussite Rebellion. Jan Zizka- who led an army of peasants to build tanks in the age of crossbows and arquebusses, developed circling the wagons before the cowboys were a gleam in Columbus's eye, and apparently rode into battle victoriously having lost not one, but both of his eyes.

edited for typo

Early and High Middle ages.


Something about the period has always grabbed me, but really any period that is not the first world war interests me.

Particular event?

The Crusades.

Lately I hav ebeen interested in the 1862 Lakota Uprising for a couple of reasons.

1. It's local
2. It had a 150 year anniversary recently so was getting a lot of local attention
3. It was a distraction during the ACW
3. I want to game it at my local History center

The Industrial revolution was pretty interesting... either than or school tricked/brainwashed me into thinking that.
The roman empire is also pretty interesting as were the 1500's.