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The Black Plague Batted .500 Its Rookie Year
ElDuderino44137 writes "Hey, kids, got the summer blues? The CIA isn't the only one with a kids' page to keep you busy. The Centers for Disease Control have the full set of collectible infectious disease trading cards. Mix 'em, match 'em, trade 'em, recoil in abject horror from 'em."
No such thing as the "black plague" --
There is the Black Death, referring to a specific pandemic of Bubonic Plague in Europe in 1347-1350.
Moo.
And did you know that it is not know for certain that "The Black Death" even was bubonic plague? Scientisits and historians now assume that the epidemic that swept through Europe was that disease, but since European medicine at the time was, shall we say, non-scientific, it is impossible to know with certainty what the diease really was. I believe (no, I can't cite any sources) that there are problems in the hisotical record with the bubonic plague theory, and even some other contenders for the actual cause of the epidemic.
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A person of moderate zeal
More or less. The Black Death wiped out one-third to one-half of [any given European / West Asian / Middle Eastern geographical area], with the exceptions of Poland and Scotland, which didn't get touched.
Something to tell the next kid you find singing "ring around the rosey," a nursery rhyme about the Plague. :-)
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
Oh, the things that are not known for certain... :)
While there is some new-ish research that might indicate otherwise, my understanding is that the research and its findings are not being very well received.
Still very interesting.
-John
I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it. jya.com/ap.htm
I agree. It originated from near where I am (Fort Riley, Kansas). Also has the dubius honor of contributing to the end of WWI from both sides having too many sick troops to mount a campaign.
Children quickly become fascinated with things that are a part (and sometimes a horrible part) of their lives. One could say that the purpose for children is to go forth and gather diseases from schools so that they might infect their parents. And so do adults, as in the case of the Black Death and the pandemics of bubonic plague that swept Europe.
A prime case of this type of fascination is in the art of the time, such as that of Hieronymus Bosch and others who began drawing images of intense suffering and disease.
The death caused by these pandemics may also be seen as beneficent, as it gave rise to increased rights for the peasantry, the creation of a "middle class" and the concept of general human rights, which lead to the end of the feudal system of governments. The nobility could no longer compel peasants to work their land just for their protection and the peasantry demanded actual pay for work.
This also gave rise to the general usage of sirnames that stuck throughout generations, as the kings would tax their noblemen on the basis of the potential in numbers of persons on their lands, instead of only on the size of their holdings. When the kings revenue collectors were faced with seventeen "Johns" they would assign names to them on basis of their employment, where they lived, or how they looked instead of who their father or master was.
One can usually find the etymology of one's sirname in the common tongue of this period.
Gods don't kill people, people with gods kill people.
I found this game (Black Death) some years ago. If I recall correctly it started out as a simulation of how disease spreads. It was turned into a game and every once in a while I whip it out to horrify my more 'sensible' friends. Great fun, well worth the $10 I spent a decade ago.
...and that's the end of our show. Donk!
Since the discovery of Helicobacter pylori, which indeed causes ulcers.
The link I gave doesn't say so, but as far as I know it is strongly suspected that it is indeed contagiuous.