Mark Twain is credited with saying “History Does Not Repeat Itself, But It does Rhyme”. So, as we enter year 2020, I looked for the last year in the United States history that repeated, and also the only other year in the Julian calendar which both repeats and also follows the first decade.
What I found about 1919, and also 1010, was quite interesting and supportive of Twain’s rhyming theory.
Research shows 1919, was near the end of the Progressive Era in the US where two constitutional amendments granted women the right to vote with the 18th Amendment and, almost simultaneously, launched prohibition with the 20th Amendment. Even more amazing is more than 2/3rds of the states ratified the amendments. There was a clear consensus about progressive issues.
There were also many other similarities and differences:
| 1919 | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Home grown anarchists repeatedly send bombs to politicians | Politicians bomb each other |
| New stock market off highs, but no crash yet | Stock market all time high |
| 1919 | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Communist party formed in USA | Socialist candidates thrive |
| Black Sox lose World Series on purpose | Houston steals signs in 2017 World Series |
| Babe Ruth sold to Yankees for $125,000 | Gerit Cole gets $340 million over 10 years |
| Teddy Roosevelt dies; Woodrow Wilson has a stroke | Dems impeach Trump |
| Women get right to vote | LGBTQ rights protected |
| Ripleys “Believe It or Not” introduced as cartoon | “Believe It or Not Journalism” is a cartoon |
| Nation starts prohibition | Cannabis beer Is new |
| The Boston Molasses Disaster kills 21; warm winter | California wildfires kill 9; drought |
| US deports Illegal Immigrants | US deports Illegal Immigrants |
The events for the 11th century are a little more eclectic:
1010 AD
- The Nile River freezes over
- Atlas of China Containing 1,556 chapters and written over 39 years is completed
- Viking Explorer Karlsefni makes North American settlement
- Caliphate of Cordoba is defeated
- Beowulf is written anonymously
- Lady Muraski writes The Tale of Genji (in Japanese)
- Danish raiders pillage Canterbury; Archbishop taken prisoner; later killed/no ransom paid
- King AEthelerd (The “Unready”) tries to buy out Viking Raiders for Danegeld (48,000 lbs of silver)
- Pope Benedict VII succeeds Pope Sergius
- Sulayman ibn al-Hakam reconquers the Caliphate of Cordoba
- The Four Great Books of Song- the Song Dynasty Chinese Encyclopedia has 1000 volumes with 9.4 million Chinese characters
- Kaifeng, capital of China, becomes largest city in the world replacing Cordoba.
- Abu al-Qasim al Zahrawi writes a 30 part medical encyclopedia in Arabic
Going back has helped me to look forward. The middle eastern culture is still awaiting a successful caliphate. England still has leaders who are “Unready”. The USA is a temporary haven for capitalism, but the experiment is only 250 years old and shows signs of aging. China resumes a 3000 year upward trajectory interrupted by short pauses with communism as a political organization and socialism as a failed economic theory. The winter temperature in the Nile river is now 71 degrees.
With 2020 I have perfect insight- just what the numerologists predicted.
