What Makes History?

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this project!
You have all shown that it is possible to think deeply about history - on the spot, out of the blue.

Each participant was given the following instructions:

What event happened in your lifetime that you think will become history? 

• It could be something big: e.g., a presidential election, a war, a new technology, the economy crashing

• It could focus on a specific field: e.g., a music album, a film, a new scientific discovery, a new law

• It could focus on a specific area: e.g., local/national history

• It could be something relatively small that happened in your life that you think is important to history

It’s your take on what is history or what should become history. Think of the thing(s) that jump out at you when you saw this question, not the things that necessarily "should" become history according to academic or popular standards.

You can participate in this project by answering the above question here.

Sample Replies

Life is filled with "butterfly effect" moments. Below are three events that created history:

1. 911: the collapse of the Twin Towers led to the war in Afghanistan and twenty years of U.S. occupancy. This incident has also caused the world to become more paranoid and polarized which has led to mistrust and heightened security needs globally.

2. www.: the internet started as an online posting or log in the 1990s. Now we are between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0, and we are beginning to see our physical life converging with the virtual world. The online world has become part of our real life.

3. AI: My final year project in 1994 was using Artificial Neural Networks to recognize handwriting. About thirty years later, Artificial Intelligence has transformed our work and lifestyle.  AI is still advancing at a fast pace and it will continue to revolutionize our life.

Comme la Guerre Mondiale, selon moi, la Guerre entre l'Ukraine et la Russie vont devenir très important dans l'histoire. On va en parler beaucoup dans le futur puisqu'il y aura eu de grandes impacts et beaucoup de peur par rapport à un déclenchement d'une possible troisième guerre mondiale.

Covid-19, Trump almost assassinated, Biden dropping out, Ukraine, Palestine, student protests, Yemen, Taiwan Strait escalation, Uyghur Muslim genocide, attack on Hong Kong, fall of cinema/rise of streaming

The U.S. Election of Donald Trump and the subsequent fallout of his policies, not to mention his personal antics, will become a cautionary tale to society as a whole. Never in my life have I seen so much division between people. He has magnified the underlying animosity in a nation that the rest of the world has looked up to as an example that was to or should have been followed or emulated. The curtains have been pulled back now, and we see the truth. A bigoted, me-first, hostile nation that should not be emulated. 

History will show - highlight - the nations who will step up to fill the void left by the U.S. The nations that hold equality, personal rights, care for others and a desire to build on the good nature, kindness, and wisdom of the people.

Petr Pavel became the 4th president of the Czech Republic in 2023. In my opinion, he's exactly what a president of a European democratic country should be. He's traveling around the world representing our country, attending conferences (whether local or international) and most importantly he's not afraid to speak directly with his people. Him and his wife, Eva, are trying to help communities that were forgotten and deserved more. Compaed to previous leaders of my country, I believe he's the one who's gonna become history.

The coronavirus pandemic is probably one of the biggest events in my lifetime. Most people have not seen such a part of history that has had such a long-lasting effect on so many people in such a short amount of time. Life at home during the pandemic meant so many aspects of my life have changed. It also meant my parents who are usually really busy now have time at home. This was a very precious outcome for me as ahey're usually really busy. On a macro level this has caused many, many changes to people's lives; but out of this life-changing event of many, I have gained just a small precious few weeks having my parents at home 24/7.

The beginning of AI and laws about it. 

1. Obviously, the first thing that came to my mind was Covid-19. Ever since Covid, the world has never, and probably will never, be the same again. Some people like myself became clean-freaks (as if I wasn't already super germy about everything!). I also don't think I will ever stop wearing masks, even if others stop. Covid has impacted the world economically, politically, and mentally. When the world "shut down," "stood still," "got cancelled," or "was put on hold" -- however you like to call it in comedic ways -- many lost their businesses and jobs and could never fully recover financially. Racism seemed to grow worse, and the ways in which world leaders reacted to the situation brought much controversy and distrust (think about the 2022 Shanghai lockdown). On the plebian level, many suffered psychologically from the isolation, as well as from debt (from lack of being able to work). In hindsight and upon further reflection, I think Covid may be something we brought upon ourselves, whether consciously or subconsciously. Personally, around the beginning of 2020, I was getting further and further behind in homework, and I believe the main cause was because I had to go out often on long car trips to dance class. The moment quarantine began, I gained much free time. One of my school teachers confessed to my 2020-2021 class that there was a Buddhist temple or something of that sort under construction nearby her house before Covid. She prayed it would not finish building or something like that, and indeed, its construction had to halt when Covid began. She then joked that she hoped she hadn't caused Covid through her prayers, but then I thought, she might not be the only one. I expect many people offered similar prayers that may unwittingly have brought Covid. No one in their right mind would probably have prayed for a virus, but we all wished for it in our own way. As a result, this part of our lives will always stay with us. I wonder how the next generation of children will grow up to be like -- who have grown up without being able to see crowds of unmasked faces, and who have not much experience in their early childhood years, where they learn the most having fun in the outdoors, or know what life was like before the pandemic. This event will definitely go down in history books. 

2. The second event, though not as pivotal as Covid, is the passing of Queen Elizabeth. For as long as many alive today can remember, she has always been the queen of England. Not only was it a huge adjustment for the British people to suddenly have a King instead of a Queen, they were forced out of their comfort zone, for who knows what new changes  will occur under the new monarch? Regardless, monarchs don't do as much as presidents or prime ministers as they used to, so it will probably not be as big a deal as Covid or other historical events, but I believe this will definitely be one of the events in a timeline in those history encyclopedias. I mean, we still learn about Richard III and other monarchs who lived ages ago.

Social media and its effect on younger children growing up.

• Covid 19. Especially the Chinese policies. 

• Xi Jing Pin transformed the Chinese law of presidential elections to unlimited time in office

• Brexit

• 2008 economic crisis

• Covid vaccination

• Donald Trump assassination attempt

• Covid-19

• College Admissions Affirmative Action

• American High School Shootings

• Recognizing other genders (besides male/female) 

British museum curator who gets caught selling artifacts on eBay → leads to repatriation of items from the museum collection and Elgin marbles, mummies, benin bronzes, etc.

Attack on the Gov building in Brazil. Entraram e invadiram a Cãmara dos Deputados.

AI technology → threatens our conception of truth & what it means to be human in a really profound way. Humans defined themselves by intelligence - now being displaced. Threatens reality by providing a near-perfect simulation of reality, whilst simultaneously undermining its very basis.

I think the assassination of Shinzo Abe will be important for historians of Japanese history and for those interested in East Asian religious groups.

The war in Ukraine. As no one would think that could possibly happen. I saw missiles landing less than a kilometer away from me. At this point, Russia is creating a genocide of Ukrainians.

• Covenant school shooting

• Covid-19 pandemic

To me, a lot of events can become a part of history, it may be something big or something small, related personally or completely unrelated to self. The first thing that came to my mind when thinking of history was the invention and discovery fo multiple medicines (perhaps due to my bachelor's background in biomedical science) for example the discovery of insulin (I'm so Canadian), the accidental finding of penicillin, and not absolutely medicine related but the use of Hela cells in a lot of scientific testings. Unfortunately, these are all things that are focused on the scientific fields and are highly academic. But if I were to discover anything, a new drug, a new protein, a new gene, not that it might be something big, such as those discussed in an article published in Nature or Science, but anything would be historical to me. (P.S. I think the legalization of marijuana in Canada is very historical too - not that I support the bill being passed.)

Local history + Global: 1. freezing rain in Ottawa; 2. LRT in Ottawa (such a piece of trash); 3. local tornadoes and power outages; 4. typhoon hitting Xiamen; 5. COVID and lockdown, invention of those vaccines; 6. near-elimination of chickenpox, MMR, smallpox and rinderpest; 7. Musical artists: Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, One Direction, Queen, etc.; 8. Figure skaters: Yuzuru Hanyu, Tessa and Scott; 9. K-pop: BTS, Mamamoo, Blackpink, Seventeen, etc.; 10. J-pop: AKB48, Kenshi Yonezu; 11. Personally, completing my honors project, and obtained my honors bachelor's degree (YAY!!!)

• Inflation during Covid

• Donald Trump being elected

• Impeachment of Korea's first woman president.

• Taylor Swift Eras Tour

• Covid-19

• Trump getting shot