http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1518
Here are some one liners...
Smallpox Enters the New World Without Blankets -- Small pox breaks out in the New World, but according to what people tell me, colonists passed out blankets as a form of bio-terrorism. That is a load of hooey.
Strasbourg Dance Mania and LSD -- A woman jumps up and dances. People join her and soon hundreds of people are dancing... dancing like they are on LSD!
Nothing Focuses the Mind Like an Impending Ottoman Invasion -- The Treaty of London is a mutual defense treaty and begins the process of defining what Europe is.
Smallpox Enters the New World Without Blankets
The flu raged though Hispaniola in 1493 but something much worse has reached the New World. Small pox is regularly killing by the hundreds of thousands in Europe in the 1500s, 1600s and 1700s. People who contract this disease are covered in ugly bumps and these bumps might form over the cornea of the eye, causing about a third of all blindness. Chance of death is 25% for adults to 80% for children who contract it. What it does to the New World is devastating. Small pox will quickly move to Mexico, then down Central America to South America. It is called "the pox" at this time, but it will soon be called small pox to distinguish it from the "great pox", syphilis, which is a more virulent form of the modern disease of the same name. [1] [2]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
I heard that Europeans handed out blankets filled with small pox disease as a means to kill off unwitting Indians. In reality this was a suggestion made in 1763 before the USA was formed and over 200 years after the disease was introduced to the New World. Exposing people to ground small pox scabs in a controlled fashion is called "inoculation". It was the primary way to help at that time. The fact that it helped 2% of those exposed into the grave was an improvement over the 25% death rate the population was experiencing before. It seems ridiculous to think that Indians would be unwitting dupes. They had been experiencing small pox over 200 years by that point.[3] [4]
I heard that Europeans handed out blankets filled with small pox disease as a means to kill off unwitting Indians. In reality this was a suggestion made in 1763 before the USA was formed and over 200 years after the disease was introduced to the New World. Exposing people to ground small pox scabs in a controlled fashion is called "inoculation". It was the primary way to help at that time. The fact that it helped 2% of those exposed into the grave was an improvement over the 25% death rate the population was experiencing before. It seems ridiculous to think that Indians would be unwitting dupes. They had been experiencing small pox over 200 years by that point.[3] [4]
Strasbourg Dance Mania and LSD
Frau Troffea of the city of Strasbourg jumps up and begins dancing. Her dancing continues for days until she falls into a heap. Thus begins the Dancing Plague of 1518. The number of dancers jumps by tens to hundreds within a few weeks, oddly enough, to the accompaniment of musicians! It is called Saint Vitus' Dance. It's not exactly a disease. Some think it is a form of mass hysteria. It may well be a reaction to LSD, an hallucinogenic by-product of a fungus infecting the rye crop. People have been suffering from outbreaks like this for centuries and these outbreaks will continue into the modern day. It doesn't happen often but when it does, it is strange, and often tragic as people dance themselves to death. [5] [6] [7]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Historians don't really know what caused this outbreak of dancing. Hysteria could explain it to a point, but once people starting breaking ribs and dropping dead from heart attacks (which really happened) it seems likely that would break the trance. An LSD hallucinogenic reaction to fungus seems more likely and there are examples of this happening in modern times where "ergot poisoning" was proven to be the culprit.[8] [9]
Historians don't really know what caused this outbreak of dancing. Hysteria could explain it to a point, but once people starting breaking ribs and dropping dead from heart attacks (which really happened) it seems likely that would break the trance. An LSD hallucinogenic reaction to fungus seems more likely and there are examples of this happening in modern times where "ergot poisoning" was proven to be the culprit.[8] [9]
Nothing Focuses the Mind Like an Impending Ottoman Invasion
The Ottoman Empire has been pushing steadily toward the heart of Europe and the Europeans have finally noticed. The major leaders of Europe or their ambassadors have met in London to sign a mutual defense agreement. The Treaty of London will commit the various nations of Europe (except Turkey) to come to defense of each other and each nation agrees not to attack the other Treaty members. The Treaty will last only a few years before fighting amongst themselves breaks out, but the Treaty begins a process that will be revisited time and again as danger looms from the Ottomans. [10]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Of course the Europeans noticed the Ottoman encroachment before this time but they weren't thinking as a unified whole. Europe as a unified group of nations is not a fully formed idea at this time. This treaty will help that process along. The Treaty reminds me of that Samuel Johnson quote: "When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully." [11]
Of course the Europeans noticed the Ottoman encroachment before this time but they weren't thinking as a unified whole. Europe as a unified group of nations is not a fully formed idea at this time. This treaty will help that process along. The Treaty reminds me of that Samuel Johnson quote: "When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully." [11]
No comments:
Post a Comment