When I found out last Saturday that thousands of New Yorkers were left in the dark after a power outage hit Manhattan exactly 42 years ago to the day after the massive 1977 power outage that wiped out electricity across nearly all of the city, I thought is this a coincidence or was it history repeating itself – would it happen again in 2061?
70 per cent of people believe that history does repeat itself. For instance, coincidences connecting U.S. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy are a piece of American folklore that has teased imaginations for over 50 years with their 38 likenesses. Many hypothesized that this list provided a way for people to make sense of two tragic events in American history by seeking out patterns. A song recounting many of these parallels between the two presidents’ careers and deaths entitled ‘History Repeats Itself’ became a Top 40 hit in 1966.
The Second World War that began in 1939 was in a sense a repeat of the first one that started in 1914. However there was no Third World War in 1963 but the close call with hostility between President JFK and the Russians over the Cuban crisis made it almost a prophecy.
Most people have heard the quote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” In fact, history repeating itself is a common warning in all walks of life. Even students are taught this in school to assist them to listen in history class. People going through breakups are reminded of it. I went through one of those too but hopefully not another one as I don’t have the stamina anymore that is required to face it.
We are constantly bombarded hearing ‘everyone learns from their mistakes’. Yet, history proves that this reminder is often ignored or forgotten. I can vouch for that. I have duplicated mistakes often than twice but ‘twice-burnt’ didn’t stop me – how else would I get interesting stories to tell!
Toronto Blue Jays may have a Phenom in the making – however they would need not one but two or three to be competitive again! This 20 year old kid was born in Montreal while his father, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., was playing for the Montreal Expos and later elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jr. is considered to be the top prospect in all of baseball today. The question is this: Will Vladimir Guerrero Jr. be the silver bullet to make the Blue Jays once more repeat as World Champions?
There were repeats in Sheila’s family: her grandfather, father and son were all born on Jan 1st. Not history but only a coincidence in mine! At one time my birthday, my brother-law’s birthday and my daughter-in-law’s birthday were all July 16th. One year we did celebrate together.
Hitler invades Russia in 1941 after Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812, with equally disastrous results. They forgot the wise observation of the Czar, “Russia has two generals upon who she can always count on: General January and General February.”
Repeated attempts by the British, Russians and the Americans to occupy Afghanistan all have been dismal failures. Today, after more than 15 years the Taliban control 20 percent of the country and operate in another 40 percent. Why did the Russians not learn from the British or the Americans from either one or both of them!
Recurring history was cruel to me. Including student jobs, part-time jobs and full-time ones I have had 32 different employers, only remaining long enough to get to know people until starting all over again. It wasn’t until I moved back to the Valley that I broke the mold. Since 2006 I have been working for the community as a volunteer. There is no pay but plenty of appreciation. This is one job I don’t intend to leave.
Thinking of the notion that history repeats itself made me look into my past a little deeper. If I could take my top 10 most wonderful experiences and have them all repeat themselves once each year for the rest of my history, I would be one happy camper!
