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Why 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive’
Science ^
| Nov. 15, 2018
| Ann Gibbons
Posted on 11/16/2018 6:12:12 AM PST by artichokegrower
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To: artichokegrower
L. Sprague DeCamp wrote an alternate history novel in 1939, “Lest Darkness Fall”, the classic of the genre, which begins when historian Martin Padway is hurled back to the Rome of 535 AD by an errant lightningbolt.....
101
posted on
11/16/2018 5:23:14 PM PST
by
skepsel
(Apres moi, le deluge.)
To: artichokegrower; SaveFerris; PROCON; FredZarguna; mylife; Lil Flower; Corky Ramirez; CopperTop; ...
I like history. Civil War. Maybe I could be a professor, or something.
102
posted on
11/16/2018 5:42:25 PM PST
by
Gamecock
(In church today, we so often find we meet only the same old world, not Christ and His Kingdom. AS)
To: Red Badger
103
posted on
11/16/2018 5:56:09 PM PST
by
Big Red Badger
(Despised by the Despicable!)
To: Gamecock
104
posted on
11/16/2018 5:57:31 PM PST
by
Big Red Badger
(Despised by the Despicable!)
To: Gamecock
I like current events, I would like to be a marine biologist and save all human kind. :)
105
posted on
11/16/2018 6:07:46 PM PST
by
mylife
(The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
To: chesley; SunkenCiv; Ernest_at_the_Beach
Well, yes, the flush toilet was important.
More important was the sewage treatment system BETWEEN the flush toilets and the river!
And then, next important, is the water treatment system BETWEEN the river and the flush toilets. And sinks.
106
posted on
11/16/2018 6:30:39 PM PST
by
Robert A Cook PE
(The democrats' national goal: One world social-communism under one world religion: Atheistic Islam.)
To: chesley
I dont know. My first house had a privy, not so bad.
107
posted on
11/16/2018 6:32:41 PM PST
by
Chickensoup
(Never count on anyone, ever.)
To: struggle; SunkenCiv
I disagree because Islam had not been invented yet
Think again, Mohammad was born in c. 570 and the disruption of the period created the conditions for his take-over of Arabian peninsula, filling in the gaps left from Byzantium and Sassanid (Persia) decline as a result of these climate events.
Archeological digs in Arabian peninsula show a decided change in buildings during this period from trade-oriented structures to defensive ones.
See: "On the eve of Islam: Archaeological evidence from Eastern Arabia" by Derek Kennet (sorry no link)
108
posted on
11/16/2018 7:26:27 PM PST
by
nicollo
(I said no!)
To: litehaus
I totally agree. I have a modest standard of living, yet I have conveniences the greats of the past could scarcely conceive of. It would border on magic to them.
109
posted on
11/16/2018 8:25:26 PM PST
by
BradyLS
(DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
To: gleeaikin
Ice core data from Greenland has been used to date eruptions, but not all of those eruptions have been attributed to any known volcano. The supposed signal for the supposed Theran eruption turned out to be no such thing, when someone finally bothered to look into it.
A big volcanic kaboom can have serious localized consequences, but in all of recorded history, only Tambora has scattered its effects over most of the world.
Also, the crater diameter is 6km, not 5 miles. It's really cool looking though. There are people who climb down into it, that's a good bucket list item, especially if it's right at the last item.
110
posted on
11/17/2018 12:15:46 AM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
To: colorado tanker
If he'd have banned chariot racing *before* the Nika Riots, his reigh would look a lot better to me. He had very able generals and a good army, and managed to reconquer a good bit of the lost portions of the Roman Empire, but he overtaxed and overspent and didn't come up with any innovations to revolutionize the economy. And as Sean Connery might say to Trebec, his wife was a whore.
111
posted on
11/17/2018 12:20:57 AM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
To: gleeaikin
There's a new find of terracotta figures in a Han Chinese tomb -- but they're miniatures. Pretty neat looking the photo I saw. And the article noted that the ruler had died shortly after a comet (making it possible to date the sighting). They kept good records in China of eclipses, comets, and such, and as their interest was astrological, the records tended to survive.
112
posted on
11/17/2018 12:24:42 AM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
To: Robert A Cook PE
The *actual* flush toilet is modern. Earlier commodes used continuous flows of water to whisk away the waste. Still not bad. Of course, in Rome (for example) it all went into the cloaca maxima, then into the Tiber, then into the sea.
113
posted on
11/17/2018 12:28:07 AM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
To: SES1066
That all makes 21st century America look boring.
To: gleeaikin
I didn’t know that!
I will have to do some more reading.
Thank You Very Much!
115
posted on
11/17/2018 6:47:15 AM PST
by
Conan the Librarian
(The Best in Life is to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and the Dewey Decimal System)
To: Chickensoup
Well, I understand that the Mother Earth types have designed some nice ones.
But the ones I’ve had to use were no piece of cake. Plus, they had spiders and maybe snakes in them.
116
posted on
11/17/2018 6:49:57 AM PST
by
chesley
(What is life but a long dialog with imbeciles? - Pierre Ryckmans)
To: chesley
All privies have spiders and snakes.
The best ones are in the far end of the shed, on the barn end, away from the main house. So you dont have to walk outside.
117
posted on
11/17/2018 7:04:19 AM PST
by
Chickensoup
(Never count on anyone, ever.)
To: artichokegrower
If only I could go back to the year 536 and know what I no now.
118
posted on
11/17/2018 7:30:42 AM PST
by
Leep
(we need a Trump like leader for President 2024!)
To: mylife
I must say that on further reflection, because of all the talk of an impending ice age I went online and ordered some appropriate clothing.
From the Costanza Collection:
119
posted on
11/17/2018 8:57:46 AM PST
by
Gamecock
(In church today, we so often find we meet only the same old world, not Christ and His Kingdom. AS)
To: Gamecock
The local news gal says this is “puffy coat weather”
120
posted on
11/17/2018 9:05:46 AM PST
by
mylife
(The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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