Chris Weimer

Heh, I think Peter did it because we are more active in BC&H (by we I mean Micahel, you, Peter, me, Clive, Wallener, spin, Andrew, Stephen, etc...). It's the BC&H crew.

Anyway, the thoughts have actually crossed my mind, Peter, as I've a project related to this. I wasn't going to share it here yet, but since you brought it up first, here is where I'm gathering people for the largest history book. I was thinking about dividing it into epochs, I ended so far with WWII, and from then until now things have been sort of similar. The enemy has moved from Communism to Terrorism, and really nothing is quite different. It might seem different because of the brief "Pax Americana" (yeah, I know, it was an American illusion) but nothing has really changed since WWII. Maybe the start of the internet, but on the global scale, it's merely a technological advance and not too worthy of really affecting major policies.

Clivedurdle

Is the real turning point in history 1859?

Arguably that is the watershed between religious and scientific weltenshaung.

Linking to BCH, Darwin definitely existed, although there is extreme doubt about the time God came to earth!

Wallener

It's also going to make a difference who the target audience is. For the Balkans, Hong Kong, South Africa, Poland, and a million other places, the Century ended on a pretty specific date. On a global scale, I don't think the next rollover occurs until someone (China? India?) surpasses the US as the world's #1 economic power. From that perspective, I guess 1945 as a starting point for the 20th century makes some sense since it marks the ascendancy of the US.

crazyfingers

I think that we need to see the future to answer the OP.

But looking at the current trends, and if they continue, then the US will continue to behave in a US vs the rest of the world mode. Christian fundamentalists will continue to envelop and dominate US policy and insinuate itself into US law. Reason will be subjugated to fear, science will be subjugated to faith, and the US will cease to be a power to be admired but only to be feared.

Should that happen, then Nov. 7, 2000, the day that Bush was elected, should be viewed as the end of the 20th century.

And yes, this topic has little to do with BC&H. I suspect that my first post in this forum may not remain here.

andrewcriddle

One could argue that for Christians the fall of the temple in 70 CE is the important date. Separating early Christianity from its links to Temple worship.

For Jews the Bar Kochba rebellion and its catastrophic failure may be more critical. Making clear that the Temple was not going to be rebuilt anytime soon.

Andrew Criddle

the_cave

Christmas, 1991--the dissolution of the USSR.

Though you could link it to one of the Yugoslav conflicts during the 90's, neatly tying it together with the "beginning" of the 20th century--the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.

Just my perspective.

Rick Sumner

I'd venture that the end of the twentieth (and, perhaps even moreso, the beginning of the twenty-first) century will forever be remembered by the internet revolution of the nineties. Computers are going to change the world in ways people haven't even fathomed yet--we're somewhat analogous to those reading the first Bibles from Gutenberg's press.

I don't know that one could attach a specific date to it.

9/11 will be remembered as world changing. . .by Americans. The fall of the Berlin wall will be remembered as the end of an era. . .by those embroiled in the Cold War. PCs have had more global effect than either.

Regards,
Rick Sumner

spin

What is the end of the twentieth century?

-- Monica Lewinsky

Clivedurdle

"Mary Magdalene stood at the foot of the cross"