Re-creation as Recreation

The Great Emu War
In one sentence, it is a historical event that took place in Western Australia in 1932.
Additional names for the event might be the Emu Plague or the Emu Campaign.
After World War I and during the great depression, Australia gave its war veterans farmland in Western Australia for their effort, and also to stabilize the Australian economy.
Meanwhile, the Emu is a relative of the ostrich - a big, tall, flightless bird located in Australia, and in its breeding season, it tends to move to Western Australia, and as a result the Emus ate a lot of the veterans’ unguarded crops, and also left holes in their farms for rabbits to cause even more damage.
The World War I veterans went to the minister of defense, George Pearce, for help. He agreed to hire three military personnel, the commander being Major Gwyndd Purves Wynne-Aubrey Meredith, armed with two Lewis guns, aka World War I machine guns, and 10,000 rounds of ammunition the veterans decided to give, as it would also help them target practice. The three soldiers went to areas populated with emus, and tried to ambush them, but the method was ineffective, as it took time to shoot an emu until it died, and meanwhile all of the other emus could just run away.
During the first week, the soldiers got to kill just about 12 emus in every ambush in which 1000 emus were located, and the local media negatively covered that. As a result, the Australian House of Representatives decided to withdraw the operation.
The commander, Meredith, compared the emus to the Zulu tribe in South Africa, as both are have a fighting spirit that fights the colonialists, and also both can withstand enemy fire, especially dum-dum bullets, which are bullets that are designed to expand upon impact, and lead in a greater amount of tissue damage.
The emus kept destroying the crops, and as a result the head of the Western Australian government, James Mitchell, decided to bring back the operation, now with the Western Australian military, but still with the same commander, as he was the only one who knew how to use machine gunners.
The results were much better, as the soldiers killed approximately 100 emus per week, using only 10 ammunition to kill each one. They claim that around 986 emus were killed, and 2,500 others died from injuries. It is important to note that compared with the potential to end the conflict, the operation came to be unsuccessful.
The participants of the event are the Australian Minister of Defence who approved all of this was George Pearce. The commander of both attempts during the emu war was Major Gwyndd Purves Wynne-Aubrey Meredith. The two other soldiers who killed emus in the first attempt were Seregant S. McMurray and Gunner J. O’Halloran. The Premier of Western Australia who revived the operation was James Mitchell.
The event started on 2/11/1932 and ended on 10/12/1932, which means it took 1 month, 1 week and 1 day, 38 days.
After the event, the famous weekly newspaper in Australia, the Coolgardie Miner, published an article claiming that the Emu War was successful. Nevertheless, all around the world the war is a reminder of the importance of taking a responsible approach to managing ecological problems, as the farmers could’ve just fence their farms better instead of going to unsuccessfully extinct a species that, unlike them, is native to the land of Australia.
In conclusion, the Emu War can be best concluded as nowadays absurd, unsuccessful, humorous, pointless and misguided, but at the time it was taken seriously. It highlights the unsuccessful human attempts to control nature.

Historical Re-enactment
In one Sentence, it is a term referring to an activity that is designed to educate through entertainment, in which mainly amateur hobbyists, but also sometimes military personnel or historians, who are called re-enactors, dress in costumes, research on the gear they will carry and use, and follow a plan to recreate aspects of a historical event or period.
It has in it the prefix “re-”, that means “again”, then the prefix “en-”, that means in latin “into” and the verb “act”, which is derived from the latin verb “agere”.
The term is too general to have additional names, but there are four types that are explained in this subject. These are Living History, Battle Reenactments, Renaissance Fairs, and Historical Pageants.
Battle Reenactments are reenactments of a battle that most of the time takes place near the original battlefield.
Battles in film are not considered as Battle Reenactments, because the filmmakers always need to cut the battle for examining the scene.
Jousts are a type of reenactment that is also called tent pegging, and in it two medieval knights ride on horses with a jousting lance, a long pole that they need to use to get the other knight off of the horse, while riding on a horse.
Living History is a type of  reenactment of a specific era in a specific place. A kind of fair in which everyone dresses and role plays as people from a specific era, most of the time renaissance era.
Tactical Combat are Reenactment events that are not generally open to the public. Are games in which hardcore reenactors, military personnel, or combat historians try to preserve with the best accuracy military tactics that were once used in battles, more to learn these tactics than to provide entertainment for spectators.

The term was originated during the ancient Rome period, in which ancient Romans staged re-creations of battles from the Second Punic War, such as Battle of Cannae and the Battle of Zama, while also featuring the Battle of Actium, in which Octavion defeated Markus Antonius and Cleopatra, all in their amphitheaters as a form of public display.
During the middle ages, “tournaments”, which are mock battles, often reenacted historical themes from Ancient Rome.
In 1638 Lord James Dunn of Coniston and other members of London’s Honourable Artillery Company staged a mock battle between Christians and ‘Saracens’, aka Muslims in the middle ages.
In 1645 a Roundhead, an officer who supported the British parliament in contrast to the British monarchy, wanted to distract the local people from siding with the Royalists during the British Civil War, by reenacting a battle at Blackheath in which the Roundhead actors played the powerful Roundheads and the weak Cavaliers.
In 1674, King Charles II of England made a reenactment in Windsor Castle of the siege of Maastricht, an event that took place in 1673, in which the French army captured the Dutch fortress of Maastricht, and in it Charles II’s illegitimate son, James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, commanded a part of the French army. The reenactment was on a big scale, and attracted large crowds from London, including the diarist Samuel Pepys.
The Russian Army reenacted in 1812 the Battle of Borodino, a battle in Napoleon’s invasion of Russia that was won by Russia led by the general Mikhail Kutuzov against France led by Napoleon. The reenactment took place in St Petersburg just a few days after the battle.
During the 19th century there was a Romantic interest in the Middle Ages, as people hated the modern enlightenment and industrial age.
The novel that inspired a lot of reenactments of medieval times was Walter Scott’s “Ivanhoe”, as it talked about medieval times in a Romantic way.
In 1821 the Duke of Buckingham staged battles from the Napoleonic Wars on the large lake on his estate, and in 1824 a reenactment of the Battle of Waterloo, a battle in which Napoleon was defeated by the United Kingdom and Prussia shown to the public at Astley’s Amphitheatre.
The Eglinton Tournament of 1839 was a reenactment of a medieval joust, a game in which two medieval knights try to knock each other while riding on horses, held in Scotland by Archibald Montgomerie, and tickets were free all while everyone had to wear medieval clothes. The event was held in a meadow at a loop in the Lugton Water, a river that flows through southwest Scotland.
In 1877 the survivors from the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army decided to reenact the scene of their defeat in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, a battle in which the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes won against them, to take poses for the camera.
In 1895 members of the Gloucestershire Engineer Volunteers, aka Royal Engineers, a part of the British Army, reenacted their famous last stand, a position in which they don’t have that much power and they need to defend their base, at the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, an unsuccessful invasion of the Zulu tribe of a colonialist British base. The reenactment was shown to the public at the Cheltenham Winter Gardens.
Veterans of the American Civil War recreated battles as a way to remember their fallen comrades and to teach others what the war was all about.
In 1906 Russians reenacted the Siege of Sevastopol, a military campaign fought during the Crimean War in which British, French and Ottoman forces besieged Sevastopol, a city located in the Crimean Peninsula.
The Bolsheviks made a reenactment for propaganda efforts of the Taking of Azov, a military campaign launched by Russians in 1696 to capture the Ottoman fortress of Azov, won with the lead of Peter the Great.
As part of the Royal Tournament, an annual military event held in London, there was the Aldershot military tattoo, a sub-military event, which held historical displays, like in 1925 how they displayed a reenactment of the Battle of Waterloo, and also a re-enactment of the burning in Moscow, while Tchaikovki’s 1812 overture is being played in the background.
They also had a reenactment of the Siege of Namur, a battle in the Nine Years’ War, in which the French Army, led by Marshal de Luxembourg, launched a siege on the city located in today’s Belgium Namur.
In the United States, modern reenacting, reenacting that talks about modern events, began during the 1961-1965 Civil War Centennial commemorations and now is the most popular form of re-enactments.
Re-enactments are most of the time based on Classical, aka Greco-Roman, Dark Ages, Medieval era, Renaissance era, Modern, aka 18th century era, Regency, aka the period in which King George III was ill and a regent had to replace him era, Fur Trade, aka Buckskinning, aka fur trading in the Old West era, Civil War era, Sealed Knot, aka British Civil Wars era, World War I era, World War II era, Korean War era.
People who participate in historical re-enactments. Mostly amateurs who pursue history as a hobby, and sometimes also members of the armed forces and professional historians. American reenactors are divided into categories, based on the level of concern for authenticity.
First are the farbs, also called “polyester soldiers”, are reenactors who don’t spend much time and money for achieving authenticity in regards to uniforms, accessory or period behavior.
The origin of the word is unknown, though it appears to date to early American Civil War centennial reenactments in 1960. People say the word means “Far be it from authentic”, “Far be it for me to question”, “feast and researchless buying”, “forget about research baby”. Some people say the word derives from the German Farbe, color, as inauthentic reenactors were over-colorful compared to the real Civil War uniforms. A member from a reenactment group in the early 1960’s called Burton K. Kummerow says that it was first used as a form of fake Germans to describe a reenactor, and was picked up by George Gorman of the 2nd North Carolina at the Centennial Manassas Reenactment in 1961.
Then there are the mainstream, which are reenactors that make an effort to appear authentic, but many come out of character when there is no audience. They might wear accurate Civil War uniforms and have their visible stitches sewn in a period correct manner, but they do wear inaccurate underwear and don’t sew correctly hidden stitches. In front of the audience they eat historically accurate food, but between hours they don’t.
Lastly there are progressive, also called “hardcore authentic”, “stitch counter”, “stitch nazis”, or “stitch witches”, are reenactors who use thorough research to be as authentic as possible, and also criticize Mainstream Reenactors of inauthenticity. They tend to go to smaller private events in which farbs and mainstreams can’t attend.
Armies use historical reenactments, specifically Tactical Combat Reenactments, for military training and to teach these soldiers military strategies from the past in a more teaching and immersive experience.
In the United States, The Army War College uses Tactical Combat Reenactments of the Battle of Gettysburg.
In the United States, The U.S. Marine Corps had used Tactical Combat Reenactments of the Battle of Hue, a battle fought in the Vietnam war, as a way to train their soldiers.
An imaginary  example for a battle reenactment would be Israeli amateur hobbyists, and maybe historians and military personnel decide to wear clothes of the Haganah and clothes of the British, while also using tools from the time (1940’s) and re-create the night of the bridges, for education through entertainment.
Historians say reenactments encourage presentism. Also African-Americans are extremely underrepresented, as most reenactors are white. In addition, it overemphasizes the role of war in history.
In conclusion, historical re-enactments have a long and important history, and it can be explained as authentic, educational, entertaining, informative, realistic and immersive.

Battle of Gettysburg
In one Sentence: A historical event that took place in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1863 that is the most famous battle to be reenacted by Americans.
Confederate states call it the Battle of Sharpsburg. Other names are the High Water Mark of the Confederacy, and the turning point of the American Civil War.
During the American Civil War, the Confederates (southern states) and the Unions (northern states) argued with each other about slavery, and had a war with each other.
After a few Confederate wins against the Union, the Confederate general Robert E. Lee decided to invade the Union again, in the town of Gettysburg against the Union Army under the command of general Georg G. Meade.
Before the battle was announced, there were skirmishes between the Confederates led by general Henry Heth, and the Unions led by general John Buford a little Western to Gettysburg.
The next day, Confederate forces attacked and pushed back the Union forces back to Cemetery Hill and Culp’s Hill.
The second day of the battle had the Confederates launch more attacks on the Unions on Little Round Top and the Wheatfield.
The third and final day of the battle was the day in which the confederate general Robert E. Lee ordered a massive assault of the Union line, and this tactic is called Pickett’s Charge. It was a mistake, and the Unions got to damage the Confederates so much that they were forced to retreat, while dying on the way out.
The participants of the event are the confederate general who had skirmishes before the battle was general Henry Heth, who was against the union general, general John Buford.
The general that held the military tactic that was unsuccessful, the Pickett’s Charge, was general Robert E. Lee against the general George G. Meade.
The event started on 1/7/1863 and ended on 3/7/1863, which means it took 3 days.
This battle was the point in which the Union forces started to win the civil war, and so got to help shape the American identity nowadays.
In 1913 there was a peaceful reunion of the battle, in which veterans from both sides reenacted the battle to commemorate their friends, and is called the 1913 Gettysburg Reunion.
For the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in 2013, it was criticized that only 5 black people participated in the reenactment, although the union side had much more black people in reality.
As part of the curriculum of the  Army War College, soldiers there use Tactical Combat Reenactments of the Battle of Gettysburg to learn the military tactics there, especially the analysis of Pickett’s Charge.
In conclusion, the Battle of Gettysburg can be best described as brutal, decisive, strategic, heroic, tragic and a turning point in the American Civil War for the Union side. A one that is the most popular in historical reenactments.

Renaissance Fairs
In one sentence, it is a form of historical reenactment, specifically a living history, in which people dress up in English Renaissance (a period of time in England ruled by Elizabeth I and Henry VIII, 14th century) clothes and role play as people from that time period in a form of fair for entertainment.
It may be called Renaissance faire, or Renaissance festival.
Characteristics of renaissance fairs might be costumed entertainers, fair goers, Shakespearean or commedia dell’arte musical and theatrical arts, art and handicrafts for sale, and festival food, like Medieval cuisine and American corn dogs, and camps for people who want to stay in the fair for a few more days can be found there.
There can also be characters from fantasy, like wizards and elves, and also medieval figures and pirate figures.
There are a lot of games present in these fairs, such as jousts, Dench-a-Wrench and Soak-a-Bloke, games in which people try to hit a target with a ball and drown an employee, and a medieval circus.
During the end of each day, there is a ritual, parade, dance or concert where all employees gather and bid farewell to the patrons.
Fairs work in a way like staff members, or a circuit, as they move around location to establish fairs in different locations.
Playtrons: A portmanteau of the words “player” and “patron”, these are visitors who dress up for the renaissance fairs, as people sell a lot of costumes there.
In America after World War II there was interest in medieval and Renaissance culture.
In 1963, around 340 years after the English Renaissance, Phyllis Patterson, a LA school teacher, held a small Renaissance fair as a class activity in her backyard.
Next Spring, Phyllis and her husband created the first “Renaissance Pleasure Faire of Southern California”, which was a one-weekend fundraiser for the radio station KPFK, and was designed by the Living History Center to resemble an authentic market fair from the English Renaissance.
Next fall they decided to have fairs at China Camp State Park and Black Point, which are located in California, and made the practice more common in the United States.
During the 1980’s Renaissance fairs expanded to other countries. The main differences are historical focus, location, food and drink, entertainment and dress code. Here are a few examples:
Mittelaltermarkt is a medieval market located in Germany, and it is more medieval themed than Renaissance themed.
The Festival of History is a festival in Ireland that is themed around Ireland’s history.
The Festival of Maidens is a French festival that is medieval themed.
The Himeji Castle Festival is an annual festival in Himej, Japan, that celebrates the history and culture of the samurai period.
Dickens Fair is a spin off of the renaissance fair in the United States that is based on Charles Dickens works and it is Christmas themed.
Criticisms are that renaissance fairs are not that inaccurate to the era, and are not that educational as Europe’s living history museums, and inside the culture there is a debate on whether these should be more authentic or more entertaining.
In conclusion, Renaissance fairs can be best described as entertaining, festive, historical, playful, whimsical, colorful, and also a little educational.

ChatGenePT: Reconstruction as Resurrection

Hakeem Jeffries’ Speech
A speech made by House of Minorities Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and was claimed to be “the Next Obama”, because of his rap-like speech style.
Hakeem Jeffries is an African-American politician who was born in the same date as Obama, to parents from the middle class, and got to make a career of a Democrat politician, and in January of 2023 became the House Minority Leader, aka leader of opposition in the United States’ Knesset, meaning that he’s the first African-American to have a leading role in the United States’ Congress.
For his election as the House Minority Leader, he had the following rap-like speech that made him being compared to Barack Obama and getting calls to run for presidency.
He starts off by saying that because we have a different race, a different religion, a different approach to life, that is what makes us one, what makes America a great country.
He then talks about how America is the land of opportunity, and gives his career as an example, as he was born in a middle class society, and took that opportunity to become the highest ranking democrat in the house of representatives.
He then talks about how the house of representatives should commit on the first day to lift up the “American Dream”, the dream that promises that if you play by the rules you can have enough money for your family, for every person in the nation.
He then says how he wants to find as much common ground as possible with the Republicans, the opposing party - “not as Republicans, not as Democrats, but as Americans”.
He also wanted to make clear that House Democrats, such as him, will still never lose their values. And so he gives a million examples of “x over y”, while x is the good democrat value, and y is the bad republican “value”, in the order of the ABC. “American values over autocracy, benevolence over bigotry, constitution over the cult, democracy over demagogues…”.
There are a few confusing statements that are deeply analyzed:
Mar-a-Lago refers to a private resort located in Florida and owned by former president Donald Trump, and was involved in a story in which Trump “accidentally” forgot presidential documents when he was replaced by Joe Biden. This was an immature move of the president, and Jeffries stings the Republicans by using this statement.
Q-Anon refers to a republican theory posted by the anonymous user “Q”, that tells Democrats are pedophiles, devil cultists that want to kill and replace president Donald Trump. Republicans believed this theory and used the hashtag #WWG1WGA in internet posts. This was a theory that damages quality of life, and Jeffries stings the Republicans by using this statement.
Xenial refers to giving good hospitality for someone, while xenophobia refers to fear from strangers.
The media was surprised to hear Hakeem Jeffries destroy Republicans from A to Z, and it became a very popular clip in twitter while an instrumental version of Nas’ “Ether” is played in the background, making his speech a real rap.
The media also compared Hakeem Jeffries to former president Barack Obama, and it suggested that he might try to run for the next president of the United States.
Hakeem Jeffries' speech can be best described as inclusive, inspirational, patriotic, optimistic, while also stinging the Republicans for their bad doings.
He is compared by the media to Obama, as both have that same rap-like speech style, are inspiring, and are African-Americans that achieved great roles in politics.

Democrats Additionally Considered as Obama 2.0
Hakeem Jeffries wasn’t the first democrat to be called “Obama 2.0”: four other democrats were called “the next Obama” in their lives for different reasons.
Joe Biden is the president of the United States at the moment, and people say he is considered Obama 2.0, because he worked for the most time with Obama, and he stood by him for the eight years Obama was a president, meaning he probably shares more things in common with Obama.
Biden is criticized for lacking the kind of newness and excitement that Obama had in 2008.
Deval Patrick is former Massachusetts governor, and a candidate for being the next Obama.
He had his first campaign for governor in 2006 made by political consultants David Axelord and David Plouffe, who would go to work for Obama in 2008, and in both campaigns the famous message “Together We Can” was used.
Patrick and Obama share similar personal stories, as Patrick was raised in the South Side of Chicago, and Obama has been tied to that place throughout his career.
Patrick claims that Obama was a great president, although for this period of time democrats need someone different from the president we once had.
Pete Buttigieg is the candidate (except for Jeffries) that most people tend to call the next Obama. He now serves as Secretary of Transportation. He had a campaign that appealed to the comparison between him and Obama.
He finds it hard to have black voters vote for him, as unlike Obama, he is white.
His supporters claim that with this campaign he looks much more presidential, while he is also criticized for ironically trying to be Obama, although Obama had a sense of self.
Kamala Harris is the current vice president of the United States. She was claimed to be the next Obama as a result of her saying in the 5th Democratic debate of the 2020 presidential campaign that she would “rebuild the Obama coalition”, or in other words unify against Obama’s voter community, and because she is, too, African-American.
The second Democratic debate of the 2020 presidential campaign had candidates questioning Obama’s immigration and healthcare policies, and believe the president didn’t do much in office.
Democrat Ohio Representative Tim Ryan suggested that because each election is unique, people can’t compare politicians to Obama.
Obama’s former White House communications director Jen Psaki says that it is tricky to try and “copy” a  former president and add to him your own take, but still Obama is the most popular democrat today so it’s justified.
In the 5th Democratic debate of the 2020 presidential campaign, Kamala Harris said she would “rebuild the Obama coalition”, Joe Biden claimed to be “part of the Obama coalition”, and Pete Buttigieg used Obama’s words to validate himself.
Obama expects the candidates to be a better version of him, doing things beyond his record.
He warns the candidates to pay attention to the voters themselves, as the candidates might go too far with their policies to an area in which their voters would disagree with them.
Obama’s top adviser, David Axelrod, says that the tension in the Democratic party presidential campaign elections were as tense as the one for the 2020 presidential elections.
On the elections for the Democrat guy who will run for presidency in the 2020 U.S. presidential elections some candidates frame themselves as the “next Obama” in different ways, and although they add their own take for it, each election is unique, and so others shouldn’t be compared to Obama.

Lizz Truss being the next Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher was a very arguable British Prime Minister, to say the least…. In our context, she is the one who broke union power, meaning that she made it harder for the workers unions to make strikes on the economy. For example, it will be harder for miners to unite together and stop working to address them if they want more rights. Thatcher did it especially to the coal miners, as the country was desperate for coal and was pretty poor, and also introduced a scheme whereby the government would secretly stock up coal. Lizz Truss is being called “the next Margaret Thatcher”, as she, too, was planning in August of 2022, after Borris Johnson resigned and she had to replace him, that she may make it harder for the worker unions to strike, and actually make them work, getting the UK out of massive inflation. Just like Thatcher prefers getting out of the inflation more than workers’ so does Truss. In the article it is written that worker unions describe Truss’ reforms to the Victorian workhouses of the 19th century.

ChatGPT being the next Google
Google became popular as it was the first search web to make you search by having an ugly home page. This made google get money from making people search for websites. Just like tik tok getting money from you scrolling… Tik Tok didn't make the content you’re there for. Therefore the content creators which were news outlets sued Google. Now to the actual point of the article…. Google is nowadays, and since it became popular, the main source of knowledge… If I want to see who killed Harambe, I can search it on google. However now ChatGPT is also a source of knowledge, and gives google a competition, as unlike google, it can bring you the deeply searched answer in just a few seconds, instead of googling it and searching inside urls… However google is better in a way of finding one-level-deep answers, such as googling what pizzerias are open on Saturday?.

The next Michael Jordans

Many people received the title of the potential ‘next Jordan’ throughout the years. But playing like him wasn't enough.

The article discusses the idea of who could potentially be considered the “next Michael Jordan" in the NBA. The author argues that while players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have had remarkable careers, they may not necessarily be the “next Jordan" due to the

unique circumstances surrounding Jordan's career and the way in which he is viewed by fans and analysts. The author also mentions that finding a player who can truly fill Jordan's shoes is unlikely, and that it is unfair to compare players to one of the greatest athletes of all time.

The next Pele

This article is sort of a cautionary tale about the do and do-nots (though mostly the latter) of how to preserve and develop the talent of players so they can become the next Peles. Ghanaian Nii Lamptey. whom Pelé had called his successor, put too much trust in his Italian manager, who took advantage of Lamptey being illiterate and basically messed up his entire career. Instead of taking time to develop his talent, Lamptey had been moved to Aston Villa after only one season in a development club, not giving himself any time to become the actual legendary player he could've been. This, combined with injury and personal tragedy never gave Lamptey the opportunity to bounce back.

Freddy Abu, another promising talent, coming from the US, played in major league soccer at just the age of 14. Several terrible management and personal decisions had made him fall out of popularity and become basically a nobody. A particularly low moment occurred when Adu complained publicly in the New York Times about his coach not using him properly. This resulted in him being benched for a key playoff game. Although he set his sights on making the 2006 World Cup team, he was eventually left off the USMNT roster. In another part of his career, Abu managed to score a deal at Benfica, alongside football legend Di maria, whom he completely outplayed in his first season at the club. Instead of sticking in Benfica, he took a loan deal to Monaco, where he eventually became irrelevant.

Brazil's Kerlon, who's most famously known for his seal dribble, is also most famously known for being tackled like crazy to stop it. most of the time by kicking his face.

Finally, the article mentions Bojan Krkié, a Spaniard who played alongside Messi and was dubbed ‘the next Messi’ couldn't focus under the pressure and fell for anxiety.

Character AI
A ChatGPT-like AI made by Daniel De Freitas and Noam Shazeer, that is meant to be a chatbot, but unlike chatgpt that gives you an accurate solution from the internet, here in Character AI you can ask famous figures from nowadays or the past about whatever you want, and they would answer according to what they really would in real life. It works in a way that the AI absorbs all of the character’s writings in its whole life, inferring his values and views, then answering from the same views and perspectives of the character. However, the character doesn’t speak in the same English of the real guy from the past, but nowadays English, and also the creators don’t assure that’s what they would really say. It suffered from a lot of Drama from the developers’ decision to add a NSFW filter, that prevents you from sexually interacting with the characters, as it felt too real.

Project December
An AI created by Jason Roher based on GPT 3 that can scan a short description of them, and chats from the internet in addition to things they left behind them, and then it can answer as him or her, actually making the AI believe it is that person, and is alive. The story here surrounds Joshua Barbeu discovering this AI and getting to talk with his dead fiance, Jessica Pereria. This is a creation of OpenAI, and there are a lot, but a lot of ethical questions surround “resurrecting” someone with an AI chatbot.

Once More, With New Feelings | Historical Distortion

Actors that play historical figures based on their look (Diana, Mandela, Lincoln)
The main context WSC wants us to understand is that with the invention of the cameras in the 1800’s, we can know how things really looked like, and not by inaccurate sketches. That means that producers who make a series about something after the invention of the camera now needs to build more realistic sets that fit the hundreds of thousands of images that character was in, and make it much more accurate to the history the cameras have captured, and not the history their imagination may have – it limits their vision. Therefore we have three historical figures that a lot of actors that pretty much look like them play in some forms of media.

Princess Diana

Diana’s real story goes like this - in 1981 she married prince, now king Charles III, and was a princess for only 15 years, as she broke up with him. Then she went to do a lot of charity work, being one of the more important women at the time, and also dating British-Pakistani surgeon Hasnat Khan and Egyptian film producer Dodi Fayed, then she died in a car accident, being remembered as the most generous princesses, heck - even people in the world. From when she was married to this day, there are still media projects surrounding Diana or the royal family, in which producers need to find actors that look like her to play as Diana. The article says that the latest one is Pablo Larrain’s Spencer - a movie about princess Diana and her getting further away from the wealthy life of the royal family. There, Kristen Stewart plays Diana. In reality, the latest one is the new Diana Spencer in Netflix’s “the crown” - Elizabeth Debicki. She was the successor of Emma Corrin, the actress who played Diana in the other four seasons. Jenna De Waal plays in the broadway production Diana: The Musical - just like hamilton but with Diana, and made by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro. In the trilogy of movies Harry & Meghan, consisting of Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance, Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal, and Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace, Bonnie Sopper played Diana as a side character. In the biographical drama Diana, covering Diana’s last years. Naomi Watts played her. This was based on the book Diana: Her Last Love, and this project got negative reviews. In the movie William and Catherine: A Royal Romance, the original version of Harry and Meghan: A Royal Romance, Lesley Harcourt plays Diana as a side character. Princess in Love, a film based on a book by the same name by Anna Pasternak, focused on the love between princess Diana and Charles. The actor was Julie Cox. From here on these are projects that were aired when Diana was still alive. The Women of Windsor follows the women of Windsor, and Diana is played by Nicola Formbly. In 1992 Andrew Morton released a biography about Diana called Diana: Her True Story, covering her life before and when she was a part of the royal family, and the UK made a tv film based on it, starring Serena Scott Thomas. Last, but not least, the oldest Diana actress is Catherine Oxenberg in a CBS released biographical tv movie of the royals called The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana. It was released only one year after they married. Oxenberg is also the only one who played Diana in 2 different projects, also in 1992 ABC drama Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After, which was about the collapse of their marriage. Oxenberg is also the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia. Note that all Dianas are white, blonde, thin, and look like the same person when with makeup.

Nelson Mandela

So there was apartheid in South Africa in the 20th century. Mandela was a black activist against the white supremacy, and he was accused of sabotage because of one of his campaigns against the government in the Rivonia trial, and so got to serve in prison for 24 years. Then when he got out he was the leader of all of the black people and became the first president of South Africa. The first actor WSC doesn’t tell you about is Danny Glover in 1987, when Mandela was still in prison, in the tv movie ‘Mandela’, where we see Mandela as a black activist. Then, WSC doesn’t tell you that Mandela played himself in a cameo for Malcom X in 1992. The first one WSC actually tells us about is Sidney Poitier, co-starring as Mandela in the tv movie “Mandela and de Klerk”, with de Klerk, the white president who stopped the apartheid so he’s good too. I have a quizlet on it just like with Diana and Lincoln, so I’ll skip all of the not interesting ones but note all are black men. The latest Mandela actor is Laurence Fishburne in 2017 making the tv series Madiba. WSC however gives us an article from 2013 that tells us Idris Elba was the last one in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

Abraham Lincoln

16th president of the US, he ended slavery and the civil war. First one to play him was Joseph Henabery, when he played in Lincoln’s assassination by John Wilkes Booth in “The Birth of a Nation” - an action film. The last Lincoln actor is Graham Sibley in the 2022 mini series Abraham Lincoln.

Color Blind Casting
A new “woke” way of casting actors to forms of media such as movies and musicals consisting of characters who already have a history, like how the musical made by Lin Manuel Miranda, Hamilton, is a one talking about the birth of the USA with founding fathers characters. This way is based on a casting that has nothing to do with the actor’s race. He can play superman if he’s white, black, mexican, caribbean,
arabic etc. Just like Jason Mamoa, a Hawwaian actor was casted to play aquaman although he was white in the comics. Just like the black actress Jodie Turner-Smith would play Anne Boleyn, queen of England between 1533-1536. Just like Scarlett Johansson and Emma Stone play characters of Asian descent.

Color Conscious Casting
A way of casting actors to forms of medias such as movies and musicals consisting of characters who already have a history, and in this way producers take into consideration that not everything in the past was perfect and equal, but still casting people of color as historical characters, but only if these historical characters have a meaning in their life that could be put well into context with black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) actors. For example, in the movie The Great Gatsby the jewish character Meyer Wolfsheim, a character that denied acceptance by the aristocracy on the basis of his birth, could have been played by an actor of color and it would enhance the idea that the existing discriminatory structures of America prevent social mobility. Also, in Hamilton Lin Manuel Miranda tells us that he casted black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) actors for the key roles, because he saw that Hamilton came to be secretary of treasury beginning from the lowest place, as an immigrant, and it seemed to him like other immigrants who start too in that low point. This reasoning is enough to make the casting color conscious, and not color blind like how Hamilton wants to sell itself.

Criticism on Hamilton black actors playing as their own historical oppressors
So there is a Harvard student called Emi P. Cummings, and she argues that the way Miranda casted Hamilton is racist. How? Because he casted (color consciously) black actors to play some key roles, and these people the black actors play once owned a lot of slaves, so Miranda is for some reason abusing them by making them do this shameful thing, and so it’s racist of Miranda to do such a horrendous thing. Also there’s a 45 page essay on why Hamilton encourages presentism. You can understand by yourself that it encourages presentism because the fact we cast BIPOC actors make our history interpreted by more modern values. The whole meaning of color conscious casting.

The Mountaintop
A play originally made by Katori Hall, a black playwright, which is a fictional story on Martin Luther King’s interactions with Camae, a mysterious young woman in room 306 of the Lorraine Motel, at the night before he was assassinated in Memphis. That play got to be a very rich Broadway production, and so Kent State University wanted to make the play with a director of their own, Michael Oatman, a black guy too. Although this guy has a different, controversial vision. He thinks that because Martin Luther King thought that race doesn’t change anything, he wants to see if the audience will be the same when who plays Luther King is a black actor or a white actor. And so Michael had 6 plays, 3 of them with a black actor and the other 3 with a white actor playing King, an actor called Robert Branch, who had so much passion for the role that he played in all 6 that now turned to 8 plays. Katori Hall was upset by this, as this wasn’t what her vision was at all, and went to the media to try and blow it up. At the end there were 8 plays in which only 6 people left, and at the end Hall decided to create a law that if castings are not of black people, the director should approach with her permission. This is too, a color conscious casting, as there is reasoning behind the casting of a white person as a black person who strives for no race differences (socially at least). Just like Hamilton but instead of black playing white, it’s white playing black.

Brief History of Black and White Photography
It all started in 1826 when French scientist Joseph Nicephore created by exposing a plate covered with asphalt aka bitumen in a camera obscura, which is a dark box with lens that project an outside image to the opposite side of the chamber, and by doing that for several hours he had the view from his balcony printed by the method I just explained.
A few years later another French scientist, Louis Daguerre, invented another way to capture an image, which was also the first public method, called the daguerreotype method. By using polished silver plated copper, it makes the surface light sensitive and then exposes it to the camera for as long as needed, and the plate would subsequently undergo mercury fuming and chemical treatment before being rinsed, dried, and then sealed behind protective glass. Because the method was shorter than the last one, it let cameras capture more precise pictures, such as people portraits. Then English photographer Richard Leach Maddox invented the dry-plate, also known as the gelatin process, which didn't make exposed plates to have to be wet, making it much easier to produce pictures. It wasn’t effective until George Eastman from New York developed a machine for producing these plates, and then it blew up big time. Four years later the flexible roll film was made by Eastman, and four years later he made the Kodak camera, with a preloaded 100-exposure roll! Now people use it a lot. One of them was a teen from San Francisco called Ansel Adams, who captured beautiful USA views, and so made the genre of beautiful views in Instagram. Although he was amateur, he is considered one of the most skilled photographers at the time. Then in 1925 Oscar Barnack developed the Leica, a camera that is lighter, with a 35mm film, that Thomas Eddison invented. In 1935 Kodak made the Kodachrome, which was the first color-reversal film, a type of photographic film that produces a positive image on the film itself, which can be viewed directly, and in normal English it means it was the first camera to capture colored photos.

Photos Made By Potato Scratch
Almost 30 years before Kodachrome, two French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere, introduced the first method for color photographs. The process called autochrome involved covering a glass plate with a thin wash of tiny potato starch grains dyed red green and blue, creating a filter, and putting on it a layer of emulsion. Then flipping the plate and exposing it to light, resulting in an image that could be developed into a transparency. Now when we’re done with the science stuff for this term, the method became popular in Paris, and also in the USA. The first natural color photo appeared in the National Geographic magazine, and it was an autochrome of a flower garden in Belgium. They have a big collection of autochrome photographs, and one of their archivists is called “Bill Bonner”. When the Kodachrome came, the autochrome lost its love from the people.

Free Web Based AI Powered Photo Colorizer
There is colorization, when making with brushes black and white pictures with brushes colored pictures. Then a French artist Emil Wallner created at Google ‘Pallete’, an AI that was based on Dall E’s text to image AI process, but now it catches a black and white image and colors it. It became popular first at reddit from Wallner coloring Gustav Klimt’s faculty paintings, paintings whose colors were damaged. This is a clear reference to “past has a version control”. Wallner studied older technologies of colorization to make his AI achieve more accurate results.

AI can’t color photos accurately
The main argument against AI colorizing photos is that it can’t be accurate, because for each shade of grey in the old photos there are three totally different colors, that only a brain using logic can easily understand what color it is. Also it steals the job of colorizers, such as Jordan Lloyd. AI can’t use too much logic, such as searching in google maps what similar things are in the same place as the picture, and inferring the color of the same object and just like that solving the puzzle. Jason Antic, creator of the AI DeOldify, says that in the scenarios where the AI needs to infer what color is an object, and these are no easy things like sky is blue – they just take a random guess. Also Emil Wallner is in the article, defending the AI saying that it still has a good future against luddites.

Actors Putting Effort on Mimicking every single detail of their historical counterparts
So there are two examples of actors that put so much effort on their historical role to make it as accurate as possible, by even mimicking the historical figure’s gestures, pauses and comportment. They got to know how that historical counterpart sounded from old tapes and since the invention of the phonograph, right after Lincoln died (that’s why we can’t find out what his voice sounded like). First example talks about Maryill Streep, the actress that plays UK Prime Minister Maragaret Thatcher in the film “The Iron Lady”, and because she was dead, Streep listened to a lot of her old tapes to mimic her - and so with some makeup she was literally her. Then the second example is about Austin Butler who played Elvis in the movie “Elvis”, and he was so hard working to achieve the Elvis Presley voice, that his voice in real life has changed too, and the voice that was once open, is now deep, like Elvis’. He is now still popular because he can’t get rid of the voice.

Bas Uterwijk
An artist from Amsterdam that creates pictures of people who are originally made in a form of painting with the usage of deep learning AI and 3d modeling. Like seeing the real Mona Lisa in the same position but from a realistic camera rather than a painting. It uses ‘deep learning’ to create realistic photos of famous figures, such as the George Washington portrait. Bas Uterwikj is the guy’s real name too. It now can also create realistic photos of sculptures.

Ötzi the Iceman
It is an archeological finding of a mummy from the Copper Age, over 5300 years ago. The analysis found that Otzi was crossing Tisenjoch, a mountain in Italy, specifically in Val Senales Valley/ Schnalstal, where he was murdered and preserved naturally in ice. Therefore he is older than the Egyptian pyramids, not being homo sapiens but Neolithic. He was using copper tools (copper age smh). Since 1998, he has been exhibited at the South Tyrol Museum of Archeology in Bolzano, Italy, inside a cold cell that can be viewed through a small window. His mummy was captured by an AI to create a more photorealistic picture of what he looked like when he was alive. Otzi was discovered by two hiker bros, Erika and Helmut Simon.

For All Mankind
A television series that combines original footage and historically inaccurate archival footage to create a world in which a few differences in the cold war were made for the USSR’s good and the US’ bad, such as Reagan winning over ford in the Republican primaries, the USSR getting first to the moon and putting more effort on the race, leading to the USSR being more aggressive in general, leading to them being brave enough not to leave Afghanistan. The series was created by Ronald D. Moore, and in it there is an alternative reality where the USA and USSR kept spending money on space, and actually advancing human technology. Therefore it's science fiction.

Quality of verisimilitude
Something the WSC just referenced in the same dot of For All Mankind, and what it means specifically in fiction, is the extent of which the story feels like something that could actually happen. In the context of For All Mankind, we can see that because Ronald Reagan got the role of president, as a not so direct result the USSR decides to not leave Afghanistan. This seems reasonable, because if Reagan would have really got elected the USSR would really be brave enough to do that stuff. Generally talks about if the consequences of an alternative reality would have really happened in that alternative reality.

Here We Go Again: History Redux

Living History Dioramas

Replicas of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum, or, as the article states, freeze-framed vignettes of animals and people in their habitats. The intention of a diorama is to build an exact replica of a specific ecosystem so that they become a time capsule for that environment. The article talks about an artist named Aaron Delehanty. His job is to create those dioramas. Now onto the history of dioramas. Until about 1890 museums usually displayed taxidermied animals. In 1890, Carl Akeley (1864-1926), a taxidermist at the Milwaukee Field Museum, used what came to be known as the “Akeley method”. He created a custom artificial environment for a group of animals. His first diorama was of 5 muskrats. He went on to work in the AMNH (American Museum of Natural History, where there is the Akeley Hall of African Mammals, named after him). Dioramas were born out of the desire to protect earth’s faunas and floras, although they still used hunted animals, because many of the early contributors were hunters. They believed that if people would be more submerged in the environment, their desire to protect it would increase. In the past the diorama-ers would go on to the environment they’d want to manufacture to know the surrounding intimately. Although it doesn’t happen anymore, Delehanty for example still does a lot of research before going on to create a diorama. Another important thing ig abt Carl Akeley is that he is referred to as “the father of the habitat diorama and the father of modern taxidermy”. Delehanty hopes those dioramas will help educate the public about rare species and will make them care for the animals.

Poble Espanyol

An open-air museum in Barcelona, near the fountains of Montjuïc. It was built for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition, and it consists of 117 full-scale buildings replicated from different places in Iberia. It consists of a theater, restaurants, artisan workshops and a museum. The blueprints were designed by architect Puig i Cadafalch, and it was built by his students Francesc Folguera and Ramon Reventós. They visited over 600,000 sites in over 1,600 villages to capture the essence of Iberian architecture. After the exhibition ended it should’ve been demolished but its sudden popularity prevented the demolition. During Francisco Franco’s rule it was neglected more and more, and only in the 90s, it had been repaired.

Heritage Park

Is a living museum, i.e. a museum that recreates historical settings to simulate a past time period, located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It tells the history of Calgary and in general Alberta, and it contains heritage buildings (hence its name) originating from Alberta. All employees are dressed in character.

Millennium City Park

Is a park located on the western shore of Longting Lake in Kaifeng, China. It was built in 1992 based on drawings of Zheng Zeduan, an artist during the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, and opened to the public on Oct 28th 1998. It shows life as they were in the Northern Song Dynasty (1127-960).

Frontierland 

Is one of the "themed lands" at Disneyland. It is themed to the American Frontier of the 19th century, and it is home to cowboys and pioneers, saloons, red rock buttes and gold rushes along with some influence from American history and North America in general. About the first article, for the depiction to be accurate, Walt Disney sent a camera crew to Frontier Town, New York, to film a movie that was used as the inspiration for Frontierland. The rest of the article keeps talking about the different attractions and dining. These are the more famous attractions;
A. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - coaster that takes you inside a gold mine
B. Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade - self explanatory, rifles are historically accurate
C. Tom Sawyer Island - Small Island where you can explore caves

Smithsonian Institution

A group of museums in the United States that were founded by James Smithson, and cover American history, alternative cultures, art, science and technology. Only thing I can tell about it in the WSC context is that unlike frontierland, the Smithsonian Institution uses history for education and research, and not entertainment.

Plymouth Patuxet 

Is one of the most popular living museums in the US, located in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The museum shows the stories behind one of the earliest settlements in the US. It includes actors portraying historical residents of Plymouth Colony, and they do a lot of research in order to recreate the environment. It was founded in 1947. Even the animals are heritage bred. The museum is a part of a global effort to save some endangered species. It is also home to a recreation of a Wampanoag Homesite. The staff are indigenous people, speaking from a modern perspective on their tribe. The museum also contains a full-scale reproduction of Mayflower II, the ship the pilgrims used to sail to Plymouth in 1620. In 2020, in honor of the 400th year to the Mayflower II, the name of the museum changed to Plymouth Patuxet, which was an indigenous community near Plymouth, and was almost entirely decimated by the diseases the Europeans brought.
The museum has suffered from major criticism, especially from indigenous people, claiming that the museum doesn’t tell the story of indigenous people as it claimed to have been. Camille Madison, a member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe, was those recently venting on their frustrations with the museum.
So as mentioned before (in the Plymouth Patuxet) some museums who want to be very true to the history, breed animals so they will be true to the environment or the time. I think that’s all there is to talk about it.

Paleolithic Diet
Also known as “caveman diet”, is a way of eating based on the food our ancient ancestors ate during the Paleolithic era, a one that lasted 10,000 years ago.
The idea behind it is that you don’t eat processed foods, grains, legumes, dairy products and refined sugars, things that were not available during the Paleolithic era, and so your body consumes what it was genetically adapted to eat - protein from meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
The main criticism for it is that people at the time died early in their life, but to be fair, on average people died young because the super young died much more often.

Appetite for the Past

The New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World hosted a tasting, called “Appetite for the Past”, in which diners could sample food spanning continents and millenia. For example, they got to eat a honey-flavored mochi inspired by a book of vegetarian recipes dating to China’s Song Dynasty, and jiggling almond-milk custard that dates to the medieval era.
Among the diners were archaeologists, chefs and other researchers that all researched and analyzed how people once ate in past eras.

To reconstruct an ancient meal, sometimes these meals are written in recipes found in excavations, and other times, researchers can rely on buried cooking vessels.

Reconstructing Ancient Menus

It is a story in the following article of a team of archaeologists excavating in ancient China and finding a pot for cooking dating back to the Song Dynasty.
Researchers took the residue from the pot and used a variety of chemical processes to separate the organic material. In this case, they were able to identify millet as an ingredient because it has a unique molecule in it that makes it obvious when it's present, but for most other foods it’s not that easy. Then, they examined the patterns of soot and oxidation on the pot (from heat) and experimented with different ways to cook with a similar pot that would cause similar patterns. Since other foods are hard to identify, they only had millet to go off of, which wouldn’t have been good for the taste-testing event, so they basically made guesses for other ingredients based on different foods they knew were eaten in the same area from other archaeological evidence. Additionally, we can fill in more gaps in our knowledge about what they ate by basically just ruling out options that would taste too bad for people to eat. “Human palates have outer bounds,” says Pia Sörensen, of Harvard University, who worked on the Babylonian dishes. The name of the person who started investigating the pot was anthropologist and archaeologist Yitzchak Jaffe but he worked with anthropologist Karine Taché (who specifically analyzed the residue). Then they got chef Raymond Childs to turn their findings into an actual dish for the event “Appetite for the Past”.

Thermopolium

The Roman Empire’s version of fast food. It translates from Greco-Roman to “hot shop”, in which Romans could eat Roman food, such as bread, wine, cheese, meats, fish, seafood, vegetables, soup and stews.

One special food the WSC refers to is the isicia omentata, which is an ancient version for the hamburger (the meat itself, not the structure of the bread and the vegetables).

These can be found in archaeological sites such as the one in Pompeii.

Caupona is an active thermopolium located in Pompeii, in which you can sleep and dine with an ancient Roman menu. A thermopolium usually includes a small room with direct access to the street with a counter, just like fast-food restaurants and bars today.

Medieval Times

A restaurant chain that got popular in North America because of its menu, which consists of food mainly associated with the medieval ages (for example, loaf of garlic, fowl leg, boar rib…). According to their website it “is based upon authentic Medieval history and is the true story of a noble family with documentation dating back to the 11th Century”. Apparently there is a medieval horse fight happening there, a joust. Their menu is criticized to be historically inaccurate, as for example Medieval Times sells tomatoes, a thing people didn’t eat in the medieval era. Therefore it is more an entertaining family dine instead of a direct re-creation of medieval dining places.

Reconstructing the last meal of the titanic

In April of 1912 the great steamship RMS Titanic met its tragic fate, hitting an iceberg, being one of the biggest mistakes of the 20th century. As a result more than 1500 wealthy and important passengers passed away, not knowing the last meal they would ever eat would be the first-class evening meal on April 14th, a day before the sinking of the Titanic. Two of the April 14th menus were recovered and preserved after the Titanic sunk, and the menu, by Chef Rousseau, consisted of ten courses, consisting of Hors D'Oeuvres, Oysters, Consommé Olga, Cream of Barley, Poached Salmon with Mousseline Sauce, Cucumbers, Filet, Mignons Lili, Sauté of Chicken, Lyonnaise, Vegetable Marrow Farci, Lamb, Mint Sauce, Roast Duckling, Apple Sauce, Sirloin of Beef, Chateau Potatoes, Green Pea, Creamed Carrots, Boiled Rice, Parmentier & Boiled New Potatoes, Punch Romaine, Roast Squab & Cress, Cold Asparagus Vinaigrette, Pate de Foie Gras, Celery, Waldorf Pudding, Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly, Chocolate & Vanilla Eclairs and French Ice Cream.

In honor of the centennial year, many restaurants and supper clubs are re-creating that final meal, but none is as close to the actual event as The Balmoral. The commemorative cruise ship left the Southampton, England, port on April 8, 2012, and set out to sail the same course as the TItanic, but making it all the way to New York City. On board, passengers will dine on an as-close-to-a replication of the grand meal served on April 14 100 years ago. According to chef Sara Sipek, "The essential elements of cuisine have not changed a great deal in the last century, but certainly there would have been spices, delicacies, or even produce that may have been more popular in 1912." While still quite grand, the Balmoral menu will only have seven courses.

Ulster American Folk Park

An open-air museum in Omagh, Northern Ireland that tells the story of the people from Ulster who immigrated to North America in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The living history museum itself is located in Ireland, but everything plays to be in America when the Ulster folk just arrived there and settled there. Basically it is the same as Plymouth Patuxet, but located in Ireland, while having a small connection to Ireland.

Living Future Museums

Interactive and experience-based spaces that explore the environmental, economic, societal and personal implications of possible futures. There are fewer living future museums than living history museums, as it is harder to predict the future.

Tomorrowland

A theme in many Disney parks. It was first opened in 1955 in California. When it opened it represented the future in 1986. In 1967 it was completely rebuilt, mainly because it quickly became outdated. In 1993, The Walt Disney Company planned a major refurbishment, "Tomorrowland 2055". This Tomorrowland was planned to have more of an extraterrestrial theme. In 1994, however, this plan was scrapped due to the poor initial financial performance of Euro Disneyland.  Tomorrowland officially began its renovation in 1995 and the entrance was finally walled up in 1997. It reopened again in 1998, being loosely based on the retro-futurist concepts of Jules Verne and being mainly colored gold and bronze. From then on it was just repainted between 2005 and 2009.

Tomorrowland is often referred to as a "living future museum" because it presents visitors with a range of exhibits, attractions, and experiences that offer a glimpse into what the future might look like. Many of these exhibits and attractions are inspired by science fiction and futurist ideas, and showcase advanced technology, space exploration, and other futuristic themes. However, Tomorrowland also has a historical dimension, as it reflects the changing visions of the future that have emerged over the years. As new technologies and scientific discoveries have emerged, the vision of the future presented in Tomorrowland has also evolved, reflecting changes in society, politics, and culture.

Museum of the Future

An exhibition space for innovative and futuristic ideologies, services, and products. It is located in Dubai, founded by the Dubai Future Foundation and it was opened on February 22nd 2022 (the date was chosen because it’s a palindrome). Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, announced on 4 March 2015 plans to establish the Museum. The donut-shaped building forms a ring around a void that was designed to represent unknown knowledge. The goal of this museum is to promote technological development and innovation, especially in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). Some exhibits:

Mechanic Life talks about robots that can feel emotions.

Climate Change Reimagined: Dubai 2050 talks about humanity could thrive despite the impacts of global warming.

Hi I am AI and I talked about how AI-powered buildings would serve humanity.

HUMANS 2.0 talks about human augmentation.

World of Tomorrow

The motto of the 1939–40 New York World’s Fair (so I assume they’re referring to this). It was held in Queens, NYC, USA, it was the second-most expensive American fair of all time, and over 44 million people attended its exhibits. It was the first exposition to be based on the future, and the biggest international event since WWI. So first the background: In 1935, following the great depression, a few businessmen from New York decided to create an international fair to lift NYC from the depression, so they founded the New York World’s Fair Corporation (NYWFC). They worked on it for multiple years, planning, building and organizing the fair and its exhibits. The grand opening was on April 30th 1939, and 206k people attended. The fair first introduced color photography (Kodachrome), fluorescent light bulbs, nylon, air conditioning and many more. The fair ended on Oct 27th 1940, after WWII had started. As a result of the annexation of certain European countries (in particular, Poland, Belgium, France and Czechoslovakia), their pavilions didn’t open for the second season in 1940.

The fair featured a number of exhibits and displays that showcased the latest in technology, science, and culture. These exhibits were designed to offer visitors a glimpse into the future, and to inspire them to imagine what the world would look like in the years to come.

In many ways, the World's Fair was a living future museum, as it offered a curated collection of the latest innovations and technologies. Visitors could see futuristic technologies such as television, air conditioning, and escalators, which were all relatively new at the time.

The World's Fair was also a platform for showcasing futuristic designs and architecture. The fairgrounds featured a number of modernist buildings and structures that were designed to showcase the latest in architectural innovation. The most iconic of these was the Trylon and Perisphere, a massive spire and globe that symbolized the spirit of progress and modernity.

While the World's Fair was focused on the future, it also offered a reflection of the past. The exhibits and displays were shaped by the social and political context of the time, and they reflected the values, aspirations, and concerns of the people who created them.

Crystal Palace

There are 2, and both of them housed an exhibition relating in some way to the future. Although I think they are talking about the one in 1851 in London, I’ll talk about them both just to not risk it.

The London “Crystal Palace” was built in Hyde Park, London, in 1851, for the Great Exhibition, which displayed examples of technologies developed after the industrial revolution. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 Oct 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibitors took part in it. After the exhibition ended, the building was relocated to south London, and it stood there from June 1854 until its destruction by a fire in Nov 1936. The Great Exhibition (full name Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Continents) was organized by Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and its purpose was to present the British people with the recent advancements in technologies and design. Another purpose was to show the industrial and financial strength of England around the world.

The New York “Crystal Palace” was built in Bryant Park, NYC, for the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in 1853, in the wake of the 1851 London Great Exhibition. Its purpose was to showcase the industrial achievements of the world, in general, and to demonstrate the strength of the US, a relatively young nation, in particular. It opened on Jul 1853, and it had seen over 1 million visitors before closing on Nov 1854. The building was destroyed by a fire in Oct 1858.

The American National Exhibition 

An exhibition of American art, cars and futuristic inventions that was held from July 1959 to Sep 1959, and attracted over 3 million visitors to Sokolniki Park, Moscow, during the 6-week run. It was the subject of the “Kitchen Debate”, a series of exchanges between Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev, at the opening of the American National Exhibition.

The exhibition was organized by the US government, and it featured a wide range of displays and exhibits that showcased American culture and technology. These exhibits were designed to offer a glimpse into the American way of life, and to promote the idea that democracy and capitalism were superior to communism.

In many ways, the American National Exhibition was a living future museum, as it offered a curated collection of the latest innovations and technologies. Visitors could see futuristic technologies such as color televisions, tape recorders, and microwave ovens, which were all relatively new at the time.

The exhibition was also a platform for showcasing American design and architecture. The exhibition hall featured a number of modernist buildings and structures that were designed to showcase the latest in architectural innovation. The most iconic of these was the "Kitchen Debate" display, which featured a model American kitchen and living room, and which became the site of a famous debate between Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and US Vice President Richard Nixon.

While the American National Exhibition was focused on the future, it also offered a reflection of the past. The exhibits and displays were shaped by the social and political context of the time, and they reflected the values, aspirations, and concerns of the people who created them.