My little book of history

I have literally spent years of my life immersed in the study of history.

Even before I declared history as my major at the University of Manitoba, I was buying books, watching shows and conducting Internet searches related to topics of interest. My notes about the Titanic filled five binders, and my books on the World Wars weighed as much as a small child.

In total, I must have written about 30 historical academic papers during my time at the U of M. I could tell you all about the rise and fall of the Soviet Union without stopping to think, and I could explain the importance of D-Day in a way that would make you want to jump up and cheer.

Remembering dates was always a specialty of mine, and I could pretty much recite the day, year, and occasionally, time of most important events throughout the 20^th century. I was a walking encyclopedia of historical information, and I loved it.

Unfortunately, if you don’t use it you lose it.

I can still remember the overall concepts of what I learned in university. The parts that I’ve become a bit shaky on are the details. For example: I can recite the overarching themes and dates of the First World War, but I don’t remember the specific battles or people involved.

Now that I’m no longer a student, I have time to revamp my historical knowledge. To some people, this may seem like a silly waste of time. But, when you spend four years of your life learning something, it’s a bit difficult to simply walk away.

Meet my little book of history.

Last night, I grabbed one of the many gorgeous yet unused journals I have in my possession, and started writing. With my laptop on my left and my journal on the right, I researched all the dates that I used to know but have forgotten. Carefully, I copied them into this new book – with small yet descriptive explanations included.

Now, my task is to carefully research major historical moments (such as the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the Rise of the Iron Curtain or the Chernobyl Disaster), and record the details in the book. I will create some sort of fancy colour-coded tab system to keep everything organized, but my goal is to have a book filled with everything I used to know.

Every evening, I will record another historical moment in the book. The plan is also to carry this book around at all times – in case I have a few free moments where I can Google a date or two.

This might sound slightly psychotic, but anyone who knows me will get it…