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| 13 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 14 | |
| 15 | [[folder:Animals]] |
| 16 | See also SmallTaxonomyPools. |
| 17 | * There's a tendency to see mammals and birds as cute creatures, fit for anthropomorphization. Reptiles, amphibians and fish may get this treatment too, though not always. Insects and other invertebrates usually don't get this romanticism. This also explains why the ''cute'' animals will be namedropped more easily than icky creatures like snakes, bats, rats, crocodiles, toads, spiders, mosquitoes, flies, squids and jellyfish. |
| 18 | ** Averted with, you guessed it, the Internet. |
| 19 | ** In terms of cute reptiles, you're going to mostly see pond turtles, sea turtles, tortoises, a few lizard species like iguanas, chameleons and geckos, possibly a few snakes such as garter snakes and pythons, and maybe smaller crocodilians. Amphibians are overwhelmingly represented by frogs and cute fish are tropical reef fish and goldfish. Most other fish are thought of as food. |
| 20 | ** Of the myriad of insects, only butterflies, ladybugs and bumblebees are generally thought of as cute. Snails, octopus and maybe cuttlefish are the only cute mollusks. Hermit crabs are the only cute crustaceans. Most other mollusks and crustaceans are seafood. |
| 21 | * Household pets will invariably be dogs, cats and goldfish. A macaw parrot or a parakeet/budgie may be mentioned too, along with hamsters, rabbits and/or guinea pigs. Tortoises, snakes and rats already fall into the more ''[[UnusualPetsForUnusualPeople special]]'' kind of pets. |
| 22 | * Farm animals: |
| 23 | ** Farm animals are always cows, bulls, calves, pigs and piglets, horses, donkeys, goats, sheep, chickens (hens, roosters, chicks). Ducks, geese, peacocks and rabbits may appear too. Crows, ravens, mice and rats as well, but uninvited. Reindeer, camels and yaks will never be mentioned, even though they're some of the very few large mammals to be domesticated. |
| 24 | ** Domesticated reindeer in Europe and Asia aren't thought of as farm animals any more than the bison in North America and even kept in a very similar way. Most of them are owned by someone and once or twice a year you round them up and ship a good number off to slaughter, but the herds are large and move more or less freely over vast areas. Sure, you keep an eye on your herd and make sure that it doesn't wander off the land you hold the reindeer-herding rights to, but it's not like the herd needs a human chaperone 24/7. Yaks on the other hand seem to be kept more like a cross between a horse and your average milk cow, as are camels. |
| 25 | ** In visual media, cows are always Holsteins, bulls are always Herefords, and sheep are always Merino or Hampshire. Chickens are Leghorns or Rhode Island reds, ducks are white Pekins so you can tell they're not wild, and geese are ambiguously gray so you can tell they're not big ducks. |
| 26 | * Forest animals: |
| 27 | ** Forest animals will always be seen in a European setting. Expect rabbits, foxes, wolves, badgers, bears, rabbits, hares, weasels, marters, ermines, moles, squirrels, owls, hawks, woodpeckers, deer, skunks, pheasants, voles, and adders to appear. Blackbirds, swallows, titbirds, chickadees, jays, finches, magpies, orioles, eagles, buzzards, cuckoos, hawks, skylarks, pigeons, sparrows, thrushes and nightingales will be seen in the trees |
| 28 | *** Near a river or a pond you'll always find toads, frogs, sturgeons, carps, storks, kingfishers, cranes, swans, ducks, herons and otters. |
| 29 | *** At night you'll encounter owls, nightingales and bats. |
| 30 | ** Forest animals in a North American setting will add beavers, coyotes, cougars, bald eagles, moose, elks, bison and raccoons. |
| 31 | ** Forest animals in a Eurasian/Russian setting will be musk oxen, caribous, bears and wolves. Never tigers or leopards; they're just "jungle" animals, even though they ''do'' occur in Eurasian ''taiga'' (pine) forests. |
| 32 | * Arctic animals will show polar bears, polar foxes, seals, walruses, whales, orcas, lemmings, hares, puffins and terns. |
| 33 | * Animals living in American wetlands will invariably be alligators, wading birds, raccoons, possums, skunks and deer. |
| 34 | * Antarctic animals will bring penguins, seals, whales and orcas in frame. |
| 35 | * Desert animals: |
| 36 | ** Desert animals will always be shown in North Africa or the Middle East. If they do you're bound to see camels, sidewinders, scorpions, meerkats, tarantulas, desert lizards, fennec foxes, and mongoose. |
| 37 | ** Desert animals in North America and Mexico will be rattlesnakes, gila monsters, roadrunners, scorpions and coyotes. |
| 38 | * Africa: |
| 39 | ** African savannah animals are usually lions, leopards, elephants, giraffes, plains zebras, ostriches, cheetahs, leopards, jackals, hyenas, Thomson's gazelles, wildebeest, impalas, oryxes, cape buffaloes, warthogs, meerkats, mosquitoes, termites, vultures, baboons, aardvarks, honey badgers, rhinoceroses, oxpeckers, black mambas, pythons and tortoises. |
| 40 | ** African jungle animals will consist of gorillas, chimpanzees, lemurs, colobus monkeys, mandrills, bongo antelopes, okapis, leopards, pythons, geckos, chameleons, hornbills, parrots and mosquitoes. |
| 41 | ** Near a water side you'll find crocodiles, hippopotamuses and flamingos. |
| 42 | * Caribbean animals? Tropical fishes, sharks, marlins, sea turtles, flamingos, manatees, iguanas, albatrosses, crabs, pelicans, seals and tropical penguins. |
| 43 | * In the Latin American mountains people will only be able to name llamas, alpacas, pumas, vicunas and condors. |
| 44 | * A Latin American jungle will provide cameos by these animals only: jaguars, pumas, ocelots, anacondas, boa constrictors, emerald tree boas, vipers, coral snakes, caimans, crocodiles, basilisks, iguanas, geckos, vampire bats, butterflies, mosquitoes, leaf-cutting ants, army ants, katydids, tarantulas, piranhas, pacu, electric eels, stingrays, arapaimas, arowanas, tapirs, Amazon river dolphins, anteaters, chinchillas, capybaras, armadillos, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, capuchin monkeys, squirrel monkeys, marmosets, poison dart frogs, red-eyed tree frogs, sloths, coatimundis, kinkajous, hummingbirds, parrots, toucans, harpy eagles, king vultures, hoatzins and ibises. |
| 45 | * South Asian and South East Asian jungles will only show Indian elephants, Indian rhinoceroses, water buffalo, wolves, macaques, gibbons, langurs, proboscis monkeys (famous for their noses), orangutans, tigers, leopards, civet cats, jackals, black bears, striped hyenas, mongoose, cranes, peafowl, salamanders, catfish, king cobras, pythons, Komodo dragons, tapirs, hornbills, babirusas, bearded pigs, gharials (crocodilians with thin snouts) and the kantjil (mousedeer or chevrotain). |
| 46 | ** In India add some holy cows to the landscape. |
| 47 | ** In China tigers, giant pandas, black bears, lesser pandas, giant salamanders, koi, swallows, herons and cranes. |
| 48 | ** In the mountainous areas of Tibet most people will only be able to think of the yak and maybe perhaps snow leopards. |
| 49 | ** In Japan raccoon dogs, foxes, macaques, bears, koi, cranes and giant salamanders. |
| 50 | * Australian wildlife is probably more famous than its citizens: kangaroos and wallabies, koalas, kookaburras, Tasmanian devils, emus, echidnas, dingoes, crocodiles, platypuses, Red Back and Sydney-funnel-web spiders,... |
| 51 | * New Zealand only has two famous animals to be known by the general public: the kiwi and sheep. |
| 52 | * Ocean wildlife will be fish, like sharks, salmon, tuna, sardines, mackerels, seahorses, marlines, snappers, clown fishes, moray eels, manta rays, eagle rays, stingrays, anemone fish, butterflyfish, lionfish and swordfish. Sea mammals will be dolphins, orcas, whales, seals, sea lions, sea otters and manatees. Other species found in the sea are sea turtles, squids, octopuses, jellyfish, crabs, lobsters and sponges. In the deep sea you're bound to see a giant squid, lantern fish, flashlight fish and/or anglerfish. |
| 53 | * Insect and other invertebrates wildlife will usually be ants, termites, spiders, crickets, locusts, bees, wasps, flies, dragonflies, fireflies, damselflies, mosquitoes, caterpillars and butterflies, weevils, cockroaches, moths, worms, silkworms, centipedes, scorpions, beetles, stag beetles, fleas, lice, bed bugs, cicadas and praying mantises. |
| 54 | * Typical city animals will be sparrows, pigeons, mice and rats. Near a harbor you'll encounter albatrosses and seagulls too. |
| 55 | * Dinosaurs: |
| 56 | ** Triassic dinosaurs are usually only represented by ''Plateosaurus'', ''Eoraptor'', ''Coelophysis'', and ''Herrerasaurus''. |
| 57 | ** Jurassic settings will show ''Apatosaurus'', ''Brontosaurus'', ''Brachiosaurus'', ''Diplodocus'', ''Barosaurus'', ''Mamenchisaurus'', ''Camarasaurus'', ''Stegosaurus'', ''Kentrosaurus'', ''Tuojiangosaurus'', ''Dryosaurus'', ''Camptosaurus'', ''Allosaurus'', ''Yangchuanosaurus'', ''Ceratosaurus'', ''Megalosaurus'', ''Torvosaurus'', ''Dilophosaurus'', ''Archaeopteryx'', ''Ornitholestes'', ''Guanlong'', and ''Compsognathus''. |
| 58 | ** Cretaceous features a much wider variety: ''Tyrannosaurus'', ''Tarbosaurus'', ''Albertosaurus'', ''Gorgosaurus'', ''Nanuqsaurus'', ''Yutyrannus'', ''Velociraptor'', ''Deinonychus'', ''Utahraptor'', ''Microraptor'', ''Sinornithosaurus'', ''Stenonychosaurus/Troodon'', ''Therizinosaurus'', ''Ornithomimus'', ''Struthiomimus'', ''Gallimimus'', ''Deinocheirus'', ''Oviraptor'', ''Gigantoraptor'', ''Sinosauropteryx'', ''Spinosaurus'', ''Baryonyx'', ''Giganotosaurus'', ''Carcharodontosaurus'', ''Acrocanthosaurus'', ''Carnotaurus'', ''Alamosaurus'', ''Argentinosaurus'', ''Dreadnoughtus'', ''Saltasaurus'', ''Sauroposeidon'', ''Amargasaurus'', ''Triceratops'', ''Styracosaurus'', ''Pachyrhinosaurus'', ''Chasmosaurus'', ''Protoceratops'', ''Psittacosaurus'', ''Pachycephalosaurus'', ''Ankylosaurus'', ''Euoplocephalus'', ''Polacanthus'', ''Edmontonia'', ''Iguanodon'', ''Hypsilophodon'', ''Thescelosaurus'', ''Orodromeus'', ''Parasaurolophus'', ''Corythosaurus'', ''Lambeosaurus'', ''Edmontosaurus'', ''Maiasaura'', etc. |
| 59 | ** When people want to depict other animals that live alongside the dinosaurs, they'll pick ''Pteranodon'', ''Rhamphorhynchus'', ''Quetzalcoatlus'', ''Dimorphodon'', ''Ichthyosaurus'', ''Plesiosaurus'', ''Elasmosaurus'', ''Mosasaurus'', ''Tylosaurus'', ''Liopleurodon'', ''Kronosaurus'', ''Sarcosuchus'', ''Deinosuchus'', non-descript ammonites, and generic small mammals. |
| 60 | * Other prehistoric animals: |
| 61 | ** Paleozoic life will usually be represented by trilobites, eurypterids, ''Dunkleosteus'', ''Dimetrodon'', ''Anomalocaris'', ''Icthyostega'', ''Meganeura'', ''Arthropleura'', and a nonspecific gorgonopsid (usually based on ''Inostrancevia''). |
| 62 | ** Ice Age megafauna typically depicted are woolly mammoths, American mastodons, ''Smilodon'', woolly rhinos, ''Elasmotherium'', ''Megaloceros'', dire wolves, cave bears, ''Megatherium'', ''Glyptodon'', ''Doedicurus'', cave lions, and ''Castoroides''. |
| 63 | ** When pre-Pleistocene Cenozoic animals are depicted, they're typically ''Paraceratherium'', ''Megacerops'', entelodonts, ''Eohippus'', ''Basilosaurus'', ''Platybelodon'', ''Deinotherium'', ''Moeritherium'', ''Chalicotherium'', megalodon, ''Gastornis/Diatryma'', and terror birds. |
| 64 | * The only sharks in the sea are the [[ThreateningShark great-white shark]] (thanks to ''Film/{{Jaws}}''), the hammer-head shark (if only due to its funny appearance), and the whale shark (because it's a GentleGiant). |
| 65 | * The only animal-like protists are amoebas and ''Paramecium'', and they'll both be (wrongly) called "animals". |
| 66 | * Breeds: |
| 67 | ** There are hundreds of "official" dog breeds and hundreds more that are either extinct or aren't listed in any registry. Fiction lowers this to a few dozen breeds from the Top 200, with even the seldom seen breeds being fairly well-known (such as the Basenji, Lakeland Terrier, and Irish Wolfhound). Oftentimes, designer dogs (like Poodle mixes or "doodles" as they're called) and "teacup" dogs are treated as breeds as well. |
| 68 | ** Most cats are just generic "cats". They might be long-furred or have certain fur patterns, but, unlike dogs, they're rarely noted as specific breeds. When it comes to cat breeds, the only breeds are Persians, Siamese, Sphynx, and Russian Blues. A Maine Coon, Munchkin, Himalayan, Bengal, or Scottish Fold might appear if the writer/artist is cat savvy. |
| 69 | ** The only horse breeds out there are American Quarter Horses, Appaloosas, Arabians, Clydesdales, Thoroughbreds, and maybe Standardbreds. "Draft horse", "Mustang", "Brumby", and "color breeds" (such the palomino and pinto) may be cited as breeds, but they're actually generalized terms. The only type of pony is a Shetland. |
| 70 | ** Angora, Chinchilla, Flemish Giants, and Lop are terms that apply to several rabbit breeds but they're composited into one breed each. |
| 71 | ** There are hundreds of chicken breeds, but in most fiction chickens are just generic chickens. Only a few breeds, such as the Cornish or the Rhode Island Red, get mentioned. |
| 72 | * The only cats that exist are Big cats and domestic cats. Of the non-Big cats, only the cougar, cheetah, bobcat, lynx (all combined into one type of lynx), clouded leopard, caracal, serval, and ocelot might get referenced. The other cats (including the African wildcat that domestic cats descend from) are near nonexistent in media. |
| 73 | * Rockhopper penguins are the only crested penguin. Out of the three rockhopper sub-species, the Northern variety is the most common in fiction. |
| 74 | [[/folder]] |
| 75 | |
| 76 | [[folder:Anthropology]] |
| 77 | See also NationalStereotypes (and its [[Analysis/NationalStereotypes Analysis subpage]]). |
| 78 | * If television features American Indians, all American Indian tribes can be summed up as Cherokee (typically a white-identified man with Cherokee ancestry), Lakota (not Dakota or Nakota), Cheyenne, or Apache. And sometimes Navajo. |
| 79 | * American Indian history stops in 1890. Any mention of 20th century American Indian history is a throwaway comment about Leonard Peltier or the Siege of Wounded Knee. One exception is made for World War II Code Talkers, but only the Navajo ones will be mentioned — nobody has ever heard of the Cherokee and Choctaw Code Talkers of World War I, or the Lakota, Meskwaki, and Comanche ones from WWII — let alone the Basque speakers who were used in places Basque soldiers weren't normally deployed. |
| 80 | * Regardless of their ostensible tribe, they will nearly always be played by Sioux or sometimes Cherokee actors — for some reason, virtually never by Mexicans, many of whom are full-blooded Indian, physically. Whatever the ethnicity of the actors, expect NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent. Because plainly, Apaches from New Mexico have the same accent as Sioux from Canada. |
| 81 | * Culturally, Plains Indians are the most iconic Native Americans from the lower 48, so if Indians show up, expect to see feather bonnets, hairpipe breastplates, teepees, horseback marksmanship... and, for some reason, [[TipisAndTotemPoles totem poles]], which are Pacific Northwestern in origin. "Indian" words, by contrast, are more often drawn from more easterly languages that Europeans encountered earlier and generalized to all Native Americans. For instance, a shoe will be called a "moccasin", from the Algonquian languages, even if referring to a Lakota ''hampa'' or a Navajo ''kélchí''. |
| 82 | * Mexican Indians are either Olmecs, Mayans or Aztecs, and only narrow slices of their history or archaeological record will be seen. Modern Mexicans will invariably be ''mestizos'' with Spanish names, not having ancestry from Africa, Asia or anywhere else, and certainly never unmixed Indian. |
| 83 | * South American Indians are either [[{{Mayincatec}} Inca]] or from the Amazon jungle, typically Yanomamo or Kayapo (and if they are Yanomamo, they are invariably portrayed as AlwaysChaoticEvil, even in modern works). The "Inca"-like Indians will also include Quechuas and Aymaras — the latter of whom will show up often because they just look so interesting in their [[AwesomeAnachronisticApparel old-fashioned bowler hats]]. |
| 84 | * Everyone in Africa is black. The only white people are the GreatWhiteHunter or the MightyWhitey (or sometimes Afrikaners[[note]]technically Boers — as a matter of fact "Afrikaner" simply means someone whose native language is Afrikaans; there are actually quite a few black and Coloured people who fit this category[[/note]], who are all racist against blacks). All black Africans will be ''dark'' black. This means they're probably Bantu or from some other Niger-Congo tribe (the tribes from which most American slaves were chosen). You'll never see the reddish-brown Pygmies, the yellowish-brown Khoisan (unless you're watching ''Film/TheGodsMustBeCrazy'', of course), or Berbers [[note]]Most Berbers would fit into the vague pseudo-racial category "brown" in Western eyes, but others can be visually indistinguishable from black or white people[[/note]] (outside of the occasional nomadic Tuareg band, e.g. ''Literature/BeauGeste''). There are no Arabs, Indians, Asians or anyone else. |
| 85 | * Rural Africans are all Maasai or Zulu. Or from Papua New Guinea. |
| 86 | * All Arctic peoples are Eskimos. All Eskimos are [[PoliticalOvercorrectness Inuit, even the Yup'ik]]. There are no Russian Eskimos. |
| 87 | * And all indigenous people have been completely cut off from the world, with no modern influences on their fashion or culture whatsoever. |
| 88 | * All people in the Caribbean are black. There are no Indian, Chinese, or white people. |
| 89 | * All Arabs are Muslim — and, to a lesser extent, vice versa. In fact, there are many Christian Arabs — mostly in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Israel, and Palestine. Similarly, there are a great variety of Muslim peoples (Albanians being European, Iranians sharing much of their linguistic and racial heritage with both Europeans and Asian Indians, Turks ultimately from East Asia, and Indonesians mostly of Malayo-Polynesian stock),[[note]]the majority of Muslims in fact come from Indonesia, Pakistan and India; less than 20% of the world's Muslims live in Middle Eastern or North African countries.[[/note]] but a Muslim character in popular fiction will always be rendered an Arab or a quasi-Arab unless his/her being of a different nationality is pertinent to the plot. |
| 90 | * All Indians are Hindu. Not Muslim, not Christian, not Sikh, not Buddhist, not Jain or any of the other religions present in India. They're just funny people celebrating gods with many arms. And they will often wear turbans, even though most Hindus do not wear turbans. Sikhs wear turbans, but Sikhism is obscure enough in Western media that Americans tend to mistake Sikhs for either Hindus or Muslims even in real life. Oh yeah, and they're all vegetarians. |
| 91 | * All Muslims are Sunni or Shi'a, if they aren't just one big unified mass, that is. There is no such thing as Ibadi. |
| 92 | * All Russians are either ethnic Russian or Jewish [[note]] Note that it is possible to be both, since "Jewish" is a religious and social identity, and not an ethnicity. [[/note]]. Chechens appear sporadically, and will always be depicted as Islamic extremists. What about Tatars, Bashkirs, Ossetians, Dagestanis, Chuvash, and Circassians (among others)? Good luck finding them! |
| 93 | ** During the Cold War, it was believed in the West that the only people living in Siberia were forced there for being political dissidents, because of course, nobody would actually ''[[PlaceWorseThanDeath want]]'' to live in Siberia. Likewise, all dissidents are total converts to liberal democracy and not, as Creator/AleksandrSolzhenitsyn turned out to be, neo-Slavophile anti-Westerners who are quite right-wing and only barely restrain their anti-semitism. |
| 94 | ** And the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] only ever had Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians and (oddly) Lithuanians. |
| 95 | * AllJewsAreAshkenazi, of course. Forget about Sephardim and Mizrahim. And their only holiday is Hanukkah (an extremely minor commemoration of military victory on the Jewish calendar that post-dates the Bible and the many more important festivals it contains). When celebrating this apparently Christmas-like occasion, it is ''always'', '''''always''''' the eighth night (if the number of candles is to be believed). |
| 96 | * All Americans with Eastern European roots are Jewish. Slavic Americans who are Christian won't show up very often, and when they do they're often fresh off the boat, despite the large wave of Polish, Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian immigration between the 1880s and 1920s. Despite this, completely assimilated Average Joes will often have Polish surnames for some reason, particularly if they are from Chicago. |
| 97 | * All Hispanics speak Spanish as their mother tongue and only Spanish (when it is not broken English littered with GratuitousSpanish[[note]]which most of the time will be slang from Southern California/Northwestern Mexico[[/note]], that is).[[note]]Many Hispanics really speak English and Spanish fluently and switch back and forth with no accent in either.[[/note]] The men are squat, brown, and have black hair and moustaches. The women are curvy, leggy and slutty — except for the ones who are fat and have really gross facial and body hair. Also, there are no Hispanics north of Los Angeles and Miami, except maybe in New York City. And they are all very lazy or very hard-working. |
| 98 | * If white Latin Americans show up, expect them to be from wealthy families. In real life, while most of the wealthiest Latin American families are white, most white Latin Americans are not rich. |
| 99 | * Everyone in Latin America has a Spanish surname — even in countries like Argentina, Chile, and Brazil where non-Spanish/Portuguese surnames are just as common on account of German, Irish, Italian, British, and Japanese immigration. Don't expect Indigenous people in Latin America to have Indigenous surnames and speak an Indigenous language, unless they are from an uncontacted tribe. |
| 100 | ** Similarly, if the writer is non-Anglo the one Anglo-American character will be a monolingual English speaker with an English surname, despite Americans with German and Irish ancestry being more numerous in real life. |
| 101 | * Everyone in Australia is of British or Irish heritage, and will most likely be blond. The few that aren't are UsefulNotes/{{Aboriginal|Australians}}s. |
| 102 | * Italian-Americans are always from Southern Italy; Central or Northern Italian-Americans do not exist. |
| 103 | * On the other hand, all Italians are ''Southern'' Italians: the other two-thirds of the populace are nowhere to be seen, either. |
| 104 | * American Catholics are either Irish, Italian, or Hispanic. Forget about the American Catholics of French, Polish, German, Dutch, Portuguese, and other heritages. African-American Catholics don't exist either, nor do African-American Jews (even if this group includes such famous figures as Creator/SammyDavisJr, Music/LennyKravitz, Creator/YaphetKotto, and Jackie Wilson). |
| 105 | * All Southerners are devout Baptists or evangelicals. Don't mention the traditionally Catholic Southern populations like the Cajuns and Louisiana Creoles — if religion in Louisiana is a topic of interest, it'll be HollywoodVoodoo. |
| 106 | * Until about the 1950s, all white Americans in fiction worth focusing on were of Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, or Irish stock. When "ethnic" whites did show up, it was just to [[JustAStupidAccent talk in funny accents]] and get called "wop" and "polack" and such. |
| 107 | * All Pennsylvania Dutch are UsefulNotes/{{Amish}}. The Fancy Dutch (who are typically Lutheran, and are the origins of many "quintessential" Dutch elements such as hex signs) and Mennonites do not exist. If Mennonites are mentioned at all, they'll either be treated as synonymous with Amish or maybe as rivals with no discernible differences. Conversely, all Amish are from Pennsylvania. There are no Amish in other states or nations. |
| 108 | * Christianity is divided into exactly two denominations, Catholicism and Protestantism. Protestantism is a single entity with no further subgroups like Calvinism or Lutheranism. Mormons are not found outside of UsefulNotes/{{Utah}} (with the exception of UsefulNotes/MittRomney, formerly the governor of UsefulNotes/{{Massachusetts}} but now representing Utah in the US Senate). There is no such thing as the Orthodox Church. |
| 109 | ** Somewhat averted in many European countries, as the number of adherents to most other forms of Christianity besides Catholicism and one large Protestant church is low to the point of non-existence. |
| 110 | ** Oh yeah, and there are no Roman Catholics in Greece, they're all Greek Orthodox, which threw some viewers for a loop with ''Literature/TheExorcist''. |
| 111 | * If the work in question was made outside of Japan, the only religion practiced in Japan is Buddhism. There are no Japanese Christians, and Shintoism does not exist. |
| 112 | * All Scandinavians/Nordic people are tall, blonde and have blue eyes, as well as left-wing sexually liberal atheists. |
| 113 | * On that note, all irreligious people are full-blown atheists. There are no agnostics, deists, spiritual but not religious, or people who just don't really care. |
| 114 | * All prehistoric humans lived in caves, even though archaeology shows occupation of caves was sporadic, and of course, AllCavemenWereNeanderthals. If a non-divulgation work dares go deeper in human evolution they'll bring up Lucy at most and talk of her as if she was the only ''Australopithecus'' skeleton out there (with the genus usually unnamed), when not portraying primitive hominids as a hitherto unknown [[FrazettaMan chimpanzee-human hybrid]]. The words "missing link" are guaranteed to pop up, as is Piltdown Man being discussed as a devastating hit to "modern" science. |
| 115 | [[/folder]] |
| 116 | |
| 117 | [[folder:Civil Engineering]] |
| 118 | * Civil engineering existed only in the 19th century. |
| 119 | * All Brits know of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, though many will struggle to name anything he did other than the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and maybe the SS Great Britain because he posed for an iconic photograph beside it. (Londoners can add Paddington Station.) Beyond him, George Stephenson is recognised for his work on the railways, and Thomas Telford may get a mention, usually for the Menai Suspension Bridge (though Scots also know him for the Caledonian Canal). That's it. |
| 120 | * In southern India, civil engineering is synonymous with one name — Sir M Visveswaraiah, who built the famous KRS dam on the Kaveri River in Mysore. |
| 121 | [[/folder]] |
| 122 | |
| 123 | [[folder:Countries and cities]] |
| 124 | * To most foreigners the largest countries will be the most famous and visible in popular culture. The same applies to the cities, which will often be the capitals, but not always. If a smaller country or city manages to be mentioned it's usually because of some historic event, battle, treaty, sports event of disaster that took place there. |
| 125 | * UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}}: Kandahar, which was occupied by American troops in 2001 made at least one city in the country more noticeable in popular culture. Also the capital Kabul. After the slew of terror attacks and the tumultuous US military withdrawal of 2020–21, its notoriety has been ingrained in the memories of the global audience for decades, and no doubt will it stay that way for decades to come. |
| 126 | * UsefulNotes/{{Algeria}}: Algiers. |
| 127 | * UsefulNotes/{{Argentina}}: Buenos Aires, which is [[TheCapitalOfBrazilIsBuenosAires not Brazil's capital]]. ArgentinaIsNaziland is a DiscreditedTrope by now. |
| 128 | * UsefulNotes/{{Australia}}: UsefulNotes/{{Sydney}}, where the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge will be brought in view. Canberra, the actual capital, might get a mention, just like Perth, Queensland, UsefulNotes/{{Brisbane}}, UsefulNotes/{{Melbourne}} and Adelaide. Uluru (Ayers Rock), however, will always be referenced. |
| 129 | * UsefulNotes/{{Austria}}: Best known for UsefulNotes/{{Vienna}}, city of the Waltz, coffee, the Wiener oboe and Vienna sausages. The only other locations worth namedropping are the Vienna Woods (''Wienerwald''), Tyrol (known for Tyrolean hats, music and Tyrolean sex comedies), Braunau (for Hitler) the Alps and Salzburg, home of ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic'' and birthplace of Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart. And if Tyrol and Carinthia are ever portrayed, it's because of the [[YodelLand Alps, where everybody yodels and wears lederhosen.]] Bonus points if they mention the Grossglockner. |
| 130 | * UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}}: If it's mentioned at all it will be because UsefulNotes/{{NATO}} has its headquarters in UsefulNotes/{{Brussels}}, a city where the Atomium and Manneken Pis can be seen and nothing else. Antwerp and Bruges may get mentioned, but that's really pushing it. History buffs know it solely for Waterloo (defeat of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte), Ypres (UsefulNotes/WorldWarI) and the Ardennes (UsefulNotes/WorldWarII). Culinary experts know it for Belgian waffles, Belgian fries, Belgian chocolate and Brussels sprouts. |
| 131 | * UsefulNotes/{{Brazil}}: UsefulNotes/RioDeJaneiro, bringing in view Christ the Redeemer Statue, the Carnival and Copacabana Beach. The favelas are another notorious location in Rio, but the government wants you to forget and ignore this problem. Rio is still more famous than the capital city of Brasília, or the largest city and main financial center of UsefulNotes/SaoPaulo. Every other square meter of the country is either wild rainforest or newly-decimated landscape that ''used'' to be rainforest. |
| 132 | * UsefulNotes/{{Bosnia|AndHerzegovina}}. Sarajevo, best known for the mid '90s siege and "[[Music/TransSiberianOrchestra Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24]]". Also known is Srebrenica, for the July 1995 massacre. |
| 133 | * UsefulNotes/{{Cambodia}}: Phnom Penh, if people are able to pronounce the name. Best known for Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Also, Angkor Wat. |
| 134 | * UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} is UsefulNotes/{{Toronto}} and UsefulNotes/{{Quebec}}. UsefulNotes/{{Montreal}}, for those old enough to remember the 1976 Summer Olympics; Calgary, for those who remember the 1988 Winter Olympics; or Edmonton, because UsefulNotes/WayneGretzky rose to fame there. UsefulNotes/{{Vancouver}} and some other city in [[UsefulNotes/CanadianProvincesAndTerritories Ontario]], if you're lucky. Winnipeg because it sounds funny ([[Wrestling/ChrisJericho I'm from Winnipeg, you idiot!]]) |
| 135 | * UsefulNotes/TheCaribbean will only be resorts and locals who are always stoned Rastafarians. The women will be dakr-skinned hotties. If you're lucky, it will be a crime-infested slum full of illegal drugs and gangs. The only country portrayed will be Jamaica, or maybe The Bahamas. |
| 136 | * UsefulNotes/{{Chile}}: Santiago, but only to people who don't outright think you're referring to a hot pepper, instead of a country. |
| 137 | * UsefulNotes/{{China}} is fortunate enough to have ''three'' cities, UsefulNotes/{{Beijing}}, UsefulNotes/{{Shanghai}}, and UsefulNotes/HongKong (the latter being a territory and not a city), a great wall, and [[BannedInChina a penchant for censorship]]. |
| 138 | ** Unless it's ancient China, which is just Xi'an. |
| 139 | ** And if you're tech-savvy, Shenzhen, home of huge factories covered with nets to catch all the suicides. |
| 140 | ** In some works (both set in Ancient and Modern China), there are also Suzhou and Qingdao. |
| 141 | ** Ironically, most Chinese things Americans are familiar with (the food, especially) are from Canton (Chinese name: Guangzhou), which is almost never discussed when talking about China itself. (Either that, or Canton will only be known as that town in Ohio where American football began.) |
| 142 | ** Hong Kong being well-known also has some odd effects, like how Cantonese and traditional Chinese are strongly associated with each other since they are the ones used in Hong Kong, even though most Cantonese speakers use simplified Chinese (in Guangdong) and most traditional Chinese users are Mandarin speakers (in Taiwan). |
| 143 | * [[UsefulNotes/DemocraticRepublicOfTheCongo Congo]]: Known for two literary classics: ''Literature/HeartOfDarkness'' and ''Recap/TintinTintinInTheCongo''. |
| 144 | * UsefulNotes/{{Corsica}}: If people have heard of this island it will be because UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte was born there. |
| 145 | * UsefulNotes/{{Croatia}}: Likely to be brought up because of UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla. Soccer fans know it for the 2018 World Cup final. |
| 146 | * UsefulNotes/{{Cuba}}: Havana, only known for ''Havana cigars'' and Castro. And hijackings, in the '70s. |
| 147 | * UsefulNotes/CzechRepublic: Prague and the region Bohemia, best known for ''Theatre/LaBoheme'', ''The Bohemian Girl'', Music/{{Queen}}'s "Bohemian Rhapsody", Music/TheDandyWarhols' "Bohemian Like You", the word ''bohémien'', Bohemian crystal and art glass. Also famous for Music/AntoninDvorak and Creator/FranzKafka. UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud and Gregor Mendel were born here but considered themselves Austrian. There's also WebVideo/MishovySilenosti, but he was more of a OneHitWonder (outside of the Music/SiIvaGunner community anyway). Ice hockey fans would probably know Dominik Hašek and Jaromír Jágr. |
| 148 | * UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}}: Copenhagen, only known for the statue of ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid''. Theatre lovers may now it for ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' and claim there is ''something rotten in the state''. Also known for Lego. |
| 149 | * UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}}: Cairo, the Nile, the Suez Canal (for the 1956 crisis) and Giza (for the Pyramids and the Sphinx). |
| 150 | * UsefulNotes/TheFalklandIslands: Known for UsefulNotes/TheFalklandsWar in 1982. |
| 151 | -->[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Children, remain calm. The Falkland Islands have just been invaded. I repeat, the Falklands have just been invaded!]] |
| 152 | * UsefulNotes/{{Finland}}: Helsinki. |
| 153 | * UsefulNotes/{{France}}: UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}, just for the {{Eiffel Tower|Effect}}, Arc de Triomphe, and the Louvre, of course. You might get a reference to the Moulin Rouge, Sacré-Coeur, Montmartre, Champs-Élysées, Pont Neuf, the Sorbonne, Place Concorde, Versailles, Place Vendôme, Père Lachaise and the Notre Dame in there too. The Bois de Boulogne may get a shout-out; said park contains the Roland Garros tennis complex (home to the French Open) and the Longchamp horse racing track. |
| 154 | ** The rest of France will usually be Provence, though Bretagne (to show some cliffs), Reims (for the cathedral), Bordeaux (for the wine), Bayeux (for the [[Art/TheBayeuxTapestry tapestry]]), the Mont Saint-Michel, Arles (because of Creator/VincentVanGogh), Dijon (for the mustard), Cannes (for the Film Festival), Avignon (because of the song ''Sur Le Pont d'Avignon''), Le Mans (for the UsefulNotes/TwentyFourHoursOfLeMans auto race), Rouen (made famous by UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc), Alsace (for the sauerkraut and sausages and Strasbourg's cathedral) Marseille and Nice could get a small reference if you're lucky. If you're Catholic or know anything about Catholicism, you'll know a bit about ''[[Film/TheSongOfBernadette Lourdes]]'' where they have holy water that magically cures people.[[note]]It's ordinary water taken from a sacred spring.[[/note]] The UsefulNotes/TourDeFrance may get a shout-out. |
| 155 | * UsefulNotes/{{Germany}}: UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}}, but it only exists as a location in spy thrillers and because of a [[UsefulNotes/BerlinWall wall that is no longer there]]. The only other memorable location is the Brandenburger Tor and the Berlin cabaret. Other German cities that foreigners might remember are UsefulNotes/{{Munich}} (only during {{Oktoberfest}}. It may ring a bell to sport fans, because during the 1972 UsefulNotes/OlympicGames, a bunch of Israeli competitors were murdered.), UsefulNotes/{{Hamburg}} (birth place of the hamburger, and also briefly the home base of Music/TheBeatles), Frankfurt (Frankfurter sausages), Cologne (for its perfume), Bremen (''Literature/TheBremenTownMusicians'') may also receive a mention. In fairy tales only, the Black Forest will make an appearance. |
| 156 | * UsefulNotes/{{Greece}}: UsefulNotes/{{Athens}}, to have a view of the Parthenon and Acropolis. Several Greek locations also thank their fame due to their association with Ancient Greek society: Sparta, Delphi, Lesbos (for lesbians), Crete, Mount Olympus, Rhodes, Thessaloniki, Corinthe, Epidaurus, ... |
| 157 | * UsefulNotes/{{Guyana}}: Mostly notorious for the 1978 Jonestown Massacre. |
| 158 | * UsefulNotes/{{Haiti}}: Port-au-Prince and the 2010 earthquake. And anything involving HollywoodVoodoo. There is no similar religion practiced anywhere else. Ifa, Santería and Candomblé don't exist. |
| 159 | * UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}}: Budapest, often brought up to be confused with [[UsefulNotes/{{Romania}} Bucharest]]. Other references will likely be merely for a "hungry" joke, Harry Houdini, or Franz Liszt. |
| 160 | * UsefulNotes/{{Iceland}}: Reykjavík. The only other reference to Iceland will be to the Iceland/Greenland joke or Music/{{Bjork}}. |
| 161 | ** Possibly also for volcanoes, but no one will be able to spell or pronounce their names. |
| 162 | ** ''Series/LazyTown'' could also get a mention, usually something regarding MemeticBadass Robbie Rotten. |
| 163 | * UsefulNotes/{{India}}: Bombay (almost never UsefulNotes/{{Mumbai}}), Calcutta (almost never Kolkata), Delhi (old and new), Bangalore (almost never Bengaluru) and West Bengal (known for the tigers). Nobody knows Agra, but they will recognize the Taj Mahal there. One irony is that UsefulNotes/{{Bollywood}} movies have the same SmallReferencePools to their own culture. [[UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi Gandhi]] will always be the first person mentioned. |
| 164 | * UsefulNotes/{{Indonesia}}: Java, most famous for the ''Java Man'', Javan coffee, Javascript and tea. Bali is best known for its gamelan music. And the volcanic island Krakatoa is remembered for its 19th-century volcanic eruption. Notable in that neither of these cities are its capital (that would be Jakarta until August 17, 2024, when the capital moves to Nusantara). |
| 165 | * UsefulNotes/{{Iran}}: UsefulNotes/{{Tehran}}, remembered for the 1979-1981 American embassy hostage crisis. Also infamous for the Iran-Contra affair, Ayatollah Khomeini, and the nuclear weapons programs. |
| 166 | * UsefulNotes/{{Iraq}}: Baghdad, the capital, best known for the UsefulNotes/{{Saddam|Hussein}} regime. Another infamous location is the Abu Ghraib prison. |
| 167 | * UsefulNotes/{{Ireland}}: UsefulNotes/{{Dublin}}, only Dublin. Limerick might get a mention because of ''limericks'' and Tipperary because of the song ''It's a Long Way to Tipperary''. |
| 168 | * UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} and UsefulNotes/{{Palestine}} (often thrown together as one country by foreigners): Most locations Israel (and Palestine) are known for are in essence temples or holy sites, like Bethlehem, Mount Zion, Masada, Al-Aqsa Mosque, The Lions' Gate, King David's Tomb, the Armenian Quarter, The Wailing Wall, The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, The Damascus Gate, and the Dome of the Rock. Only the West Bank and Gaza Strip are more famous now as conflict zones than for their historical merit. The only location that exists without a strong holy or violent association attached to it is the Dead Sea, which is actually a lake, by the way. It's famous for its high salt level which makes people able to float on it without being able to sink. And even this location is actually not just Israeli or Palestinian, but also bordering Jordan. |
| 169 | * UsefulNotes/{{Italy}}: The only existing cities are UsefulNotes/{{Rome}} (for The Pope, Colosseum and the Trevi fontain), UsefulNotes/{{Venice}} (boat rides with a gondolas), Naples (for pizza), Milan (for fashion), and — if the need arises — UsefulNotes/{{Florence}} (for the Renaissance). Pisa only exists because of the Leaning Tower and Pompeii because of the volcano disaster during the Roman era. UsefulNotes/{{Sicily}} will bring up associations with the Mafia. Non-Italians only know Genoa (the capital of the province of Liguria) for being the birthplace of UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus. Cultivated people know Verona as the setting of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. |
| 170 | * UsefulNotes/{{Jamaica}}: The plus side is that together with Cuba it's probably the only Caribbean island most people can name. The down side is that nobody knows any city or location there, save perhaps for Kingston if they have heard it mention in some reggae song. It's known mostly for {{reggae}} and Music/BobMarley than anything else — although sports fans will be aware of Usain Bolt. |
| 171 | * UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}: UsefulNotes/{{Tokyo}} and Osaka. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are infamous for being the first [[UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki atomic bomb targets]], UsefulNotes/{{Kyoto}} for the Kyoto Protocol of 1997. |
| 172 | ** Fukushima is now allowed to exist, but as a far Eastern version of Chernobyl. |
| 173 | * UsefulNotes/{{Jordan}}: Best known for the historical city Petra, but then you are already far more cultivated than most people. Otherwise best known for sharing its name with a common first name. And a [[UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan certain basketball great]]. |
| 174 | * UsefulNotes/{{Kenya}}: Serengeti Park, which also crosses over with UsefulNotes/{{Tanzania}}. |
| 175 | * UsefulNotes/{{Lebanon}}: Only known for UsefulNotes/{{Beirut}}, where people are either kidnapped or blown up. |
| 176 | * UsefulNotes/{{Libya}}: Tripoli. Benghazi only exists for the 2011 uprising and U.S. Embassy attacks in 2012. UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi is the only Libyan likely to be mentioned. |
| 177 | * UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}}: UsefulNotes/MexicoCity is the only place that exists in fiction. Acapulco might get a mention and Tijuana, but more as a WretchedHive, where whorehouses, cheap tequila and donkeys are the main attractions. Chihuahua might be referenced too, only for the tiny dogs. More recently, Ciudad Juárez has been mentioned, but only as a place where [[{{Gangsterland}} the rule of law has collapsed]]. |
| 178 | * UsefulNotes/{{Monaco}}: Monte Carlo, only for its luxury casino, and also the annual UsefulNotes/FormulaOne race. |
| 179 | * UsefulNotes/{{Mongolia}}: Most people know it only for UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan and TheHorde. |
| 180 | * UsefulNotes/{{Morocco}}: Fez and Casablanca, the latter only known as [[Film/{{Casablanca}} a movie]]. |
| 181 | * UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands: Only two cities exist, one being FreeStateAmsterdam, which lives in popular imagination as one gigantic red light district with coffee shops (to buy legal marijuana) and sex shops on every corner. The other is The Hague, only known for the International Criminal Court. The rest of the country is supposedly one large tulip field with wind mills in the background, which is only in rural parts of the country. To sports fans it's champion speed skaters in screaming neon orange outfits; there's also ''Literature/HansBrinkerOrTheSilverSkates''. |
| 182 | * UsefulNotes/{{Nicaragua}}: Got international attention in the 1980s because of the involvement of the Reagan administration in overthrowing a socialist government there. |
| 183 | * UsefulNotes/{{Norway}}: UsefulNotes/{{Oslo}} gets media attention every year for the annual Nobel Peace Prize, but that's it. |
| 184 | * UsefulNotes/{{Panama}}: The canal will be all that foreigners might be able to mention about it. |
| 185 | * UsefulNotes/{{Paraguay}}: Asunción. |
| 186 | * UsefulNotes/{{Peru}}: Cuzco and Machu Picchu. |
| 187 | * UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}}: UsefulNotes/{{Manila}}. |
| 188 | * UsefulNotes/{{Poland}}: Warsaw and Gdańsk/Danzig. A few people might recall that [[Music/FryderykChopin Frederic Chopin]] and [[UsefulNotes/MarieCurie Madame Curie]] were from there. More people would be aware of Pope John Paul II. |
| 189 | * [[UsefulNotes/{{Oceania}} Polynesia]]: Some isles you might have heard from: Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, French Polynesia, Samoa, Tahiti (actually part of French Polynesia), the Solomon Isles, the Cook Islands and Easter Island. Apart from Easter Island, best known for its huge Moai statues, most people wouldn't be able to name one specifically unique thing about these isles. |
| 190 | * UsefulNotes/{{Portugal}}: UsefulNotes/{{Lisbon}} and Porto, but only for the ''porto'' wine. If you're Catholic you'll think of Fátima (the famous visions didn't even happen there but outside a nearby village). |
| 191 | * UsefulNotes/{{Romania}}: One province is known by everyone who ever heard of ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'': Transylvania. The only other reference will be to Ceaușescu. Bucharest is also brought up to be confused with [[UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}} Budapest]] |
| 192 | * UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}: The capital UsefulNotes/{{Moscow}}, best known for the Kremlin (which if mentioned will almost inevitably be accompanied by a shot of ''Saint Basil's Cathedral'' instead) and nothing but snowy landscapes. UsefulNotes/SaintPetersburg, Vladivostok (as the city all the way in the east), Volgograd might get mentioned too, but far more infamous is Siberia, which lives on in the public imagination as a mysterious place where people are [[TheGulag sent to work in slave labor]]. Some older people may mention Leningrad and Stalingrad, unaware that these cities are now called Saint Petersburg and Volgograd. Olympics buffs will remember Sochi, but only as a place with ice rinks and ski jumps. Other cities and regions mentioned will often be part of an independent Baltic republic now. |
| 193 | * UsefulNotes/{{Saudi Arabia}}: The only place that exists is UsefulNotes/{{Mecca}}, and ''maybe'' UsefulNotes/{{Riyadh}} as well. Jeddah apparently doesn't exist. |
| 194 | * UsefulNotes/{{Serbia}}: Belgrade. |
| 195 | * UsefulNotes/{{Singapore}}: Singapore, what else? |
| 196 | * UsefulNotes/{{Slovakia}}: Bratislava. |
| 197 | * UsefulNotes/{{South Africa}}: Johannesburg, Robben Island (for imprisoning UsefulNotes/NelsonMandela) and Soweto (for the 1976 government massacre). If any of the three capitals are mentioned, it'll likely be Cape Town. |
| 198 | * UsefulNotes/SouthKorea: Best known for UsefulNotes/{{Seoul}}, where the 1988 Olympic Games took place. Pyeongchang is also recognized as the host for both the Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics in 2018. Recently the second most populous city of the country, UsefulNotes/{{Busan}}, is also gaining traction thanks to its appearance in pop culture. |
| 199 | * UsefulNotes/{{Spain}}: UsefulNotes/{{Madrid}}, Barcelona (with the Sagrada Familia as its only recognizable monument) and Seville, the latter best known for ''Theatre/TheBarberOfSeville''. The Basque county is known for E.T.A. terrorism. Maybe Málaga only because of Picasso. [[TorosYFlamenco All of them look like a little Andalusian beach resort]], when not one in [[{{Spexico}} Mexico]] or [[LatinLand Puerto Rico]]. |
| 200 | * UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}}: Stockholm. Pop culture references are likely to be about Swedish fish, Swedish meatballs, Music/{{ABBA}} and IKEA. Also of note is that the other Nobel Prizes (apart from the Peace Prize) are awarded in Stockholm. |
| 201 | * UsefulNotes/{{Switzerland}}: The only Swiss cities that exist in the public consciousness are Zürich, Geneva, and possibly Davos. The first is best known as a financial giant. The second is famous for being the birthplace of [[UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} Calvinism]] and the center of the World Health Organization and World Council of Churches, among other institutions. The Geneva Conventions were also signed here, concerning the treatment of wartime non-combatants and prisoners of war. Usually one of these two cities is thought to be the capital, instead of Bern. Davos receives significant media attention when the World Economic Forum holds its annual meetings there. All other Swiss locations exist purely as ski resorts (of which Davos is one when the WEF isn't there). |
| 202 | * UsefulNotes/{{Tanzania}}: Best known for Zanzibar, which is where Music/FreddieMercury is from. Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest (and apparently only) mountain is here too, but most people will place it in Kenya instead. |
| 203 | * UsefulNotes/{{Taiwan}}: Cheap products are made there. If lucky, Taipei as a city may be mentioned, with no regard for cities on the south side of the island like Tainan and Kaohsiung. |
| 204 | * UsefulNotes/{{Thailand}}: Formerly Siam. UsefulNotes/{{Bangkok}}, best known for sex tourism and "[[Music/Chess1984 One Night in Bangkok]]". And maybe ''Theatre/TheKingAndI''. |
| 205 | * UsefulNotes/{{Tibet}}: TheShangriLa, Mount Everest or the Himalayas in general, and the Dalai Lama. |
| 206 | * UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}}: Mostly famous for UsefulNotes/{{Istanbul}}, which used to be Byzantium and earlier [[IstanbulNotConstantinople Constantinople]]. The city is only well known for the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace (made famous by the film ''Film/{{Topkapi}}'') and the Basilica Cisterne, which is a famous underground water reservoir. Foreigners often think Istanbul is the capital, which is actually Ankara, the only other well known location in Turkey. Ankara in itself is best known for animals like the Angora cat, Angora rabbit, Angora goat and Anatolian shepherd. |
| 207 | ** History buffs may know the country too for the Dardanelles and Gallipoli (UsefulNotes/WorldWarI). |
| 208 | * UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}: Before the Russian invasion in 2022, it was only world-famous for a place nobody dares to go: UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}}. |
| 209 | * UsefulNotes/UnitedArabEmirates: Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain all apparently don't exist. |
| 210 | * UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom: |
| 211 | ** England: Will take most attention away from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales; however, BritainIsOnlyLondon and London only Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, the Tower, Tower Bridge, Madame Tussauds, London Underground, Royal Albert Hall and Harrods. More recently, The Shard and the London Eye. Though in general Big Ben seems to be the only thing needed to imply you're in London. |
| 212 | *** England contains exactly two counties: Cornwall and Yorkshire. |
| 213 | *** Some other English locations that may get a reference: Dover (for its White Cliffs), Stonehenge, Oxford and Cambridge (if we need [[UsefulNotes/{{Oxbridge}} a university]]), Liverpool (well known thanks to Music/TheBeatles), Manchester (for the football teams and {{Britpop}}), Birmingham (birthplace of many British HeavyMetal bands), Sheffield (for football teams and being the birthplace of several British SynthPop groups), Southampton (known for harboring ''[[UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic Titanic]]''), Yorkshire (for Yorkshire pudding and the Yorkshire terrier), Wimbledon (for [[UsefulNotes/{{Wimbledon}} the tennis]]) and Greenwich (for the meridian). |
| 214 | ** UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} is colorful enough to be referenced, but only because of UsefulNotes/{{Glasgow}}, Edinburgh and [[StockNessMonster Loch Ness, for the monster.]]. Still they should be glad, because Wales does not exist for foreigners unless they're fans of either ''Series/DoctorWho'' (which has been filmed in Wales since the revival), ''Literature/BrotherCadfael'', rugby union, or ''Series/WelcomeToWrexham''. |
| 215 | ** UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland is unfortunately only remembered for being a ground for terrorist bombings and violent confrontations between people of different political or religious ideologies, most notably in Belfast, Ulster and/or Stroke City (Derry or Londonderry, depending on your ideology). |
| 216 | ** There are maybe six UsefulNotes/BritishAccents: [[IAmVeryBritish posh]], Cockney, [[TalkLikeAPirate pirate]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Liverpool}} Beatle]], "Scottish" and "Irish". That's if we remember that Scotland and Northern Ireland are part of the UK (and don't [[ScotIreland conflate them]]), and that the middle two are regional accents at all. |
| 217 | * UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates is to many foreigners a toss between UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity (because it is treated as ''EverytownAmerica'' in movies and TV shows and instantly recognizable thanks to the Statue of Liberty, skyscrapers, Central Park, Broadway, the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center (pre-2001), the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, Times Square, the UN Headquarters and Brooklyn Bridge), UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC (home of TheWhiteHouse, Capitol, UsefulNotes/ThePentagon, Washington Monument, and Lincoln Memorial), Hollywood and a large Southwest area which can be described as ''Cowboy Country'' and is usually labeled to be in Texas, yeehaw! |
| 218 | ** Other American locations that have gained enough international fame to be referenced: |
| 219 | *** Alabama: The songs ''Oh Susanna'' and ''Sweet Home Alabama''. |
| 220 | *** Alaska: A permafrost-laden tundra. Anchorage and Fairbanks are the only cities in the state, Juneau apparently doesn't exist. Nome may get a mention for the 1925 serum run, which was led by the heroic Balto (Togo doesn't exist), though in more modern times it's the home base of ''Series/BeringSeaGold''. Dutch Harbor/Unalaska is notable only as the home port for ''Series/DeadliestCatch''. |
| 221 | *** UsefulNotes/{{California}}: UsefulNotes/LosAngeles (Hollywood), UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco (Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge) and [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]]. If you're lucky, you'll have heard of the Silicon Valley region, known as the technology capital of the world where tech giants Apple, Google, and Facebook are headquartered, but do not expect anyone to acknowledge that San Jose (the most populous city in Northern California, even more so than SF) exists, let alone [[MemeticMutation know the way to it]].[[note]]This might be a [[CursedWithAwesome blessing in disguise]] for San Joseans, since it means less crowds of tourists in all their favorite places.[[/note]] |
| 222 | *** UsefulNotes/{{Colorado}}: Home of UsefulNotes/{{Denver}} (the mile-high city), its suburbs of UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} and Aurora (which gave us two deadly shootings), and Colorado Springs (for the US Air Force Academy). |
| 223 | *** Connecticut: Best known for Hartford (the capital), New Haven (for Yale), Stamford (for Wrestling/{{WWE}}), and Newtown (for the school shooting). |
| 224 | *** UsefulNotes/{{Florida}}: Disney World, UsefulNotes/{{Miami}}, Cape Canaveral, the Everglades, the MTV Spring Breaks, and men who get on the news, usually named "Florida Man." |
| 225 | *** UsefulNotes/{{Georgia|USA}}: ''[[Music/RayCharles Georgia on My Mind]]''. Home of UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}}. The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse is filmed here. |
| 226 | *** UsefulNotes/{{Hawaii}}: Honolulu will be the sole city known. |
| 227 | *** Illinois: Most famous for UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, where all the 1920s and 1930s gangsters hung out. |
| 228 | *** Indiana: Location of the UsefulNotes/{{Indianapolis}} 500 race. |
| 229 | *** Kansas: May bring up associations with the song ''Kansas City'', the black-and-white scenes in ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' and as the home state of [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark Kent]]. |
| 230 | *** Kentucky: Louisville (and the [[UsefulNotes/HorseRacing Kentucky Derby]]), Fort Knox and home of UsefulNotes/KentuckyFriedChicken. [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln Abe Lincoln]] was born here. |
| 231 | *** Louisiana: UsefulNotes/NewOrleans and the jazz center of the world. |
| 232 | *** UsefulNotes/{{Massachusetts}}: Known for Plymouth Rock, where the ''Mayflower'' landed in 1620, and Boston, where there was a Tea Party which led to the American War of Independence. Inside the USA it's also known for the Salem witch hunts. |
| 233 | *** UsefulNotes/{{Michigan}}: UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}}, the motor city, and Flint, the city with a water problem. |
| 234 | *** UsefulNotes/{{Missouri}}: Bookworms know it as the setting of many Creator/MarkTwain novels. Home of UsefulNotes/StLouis and (the larger) UsefulNotes/KansasCity. Ferguson has now become a household name due to the 2014 racial riots. |
| 235 | *** UsefulNotes/{{Nevada}}: Not every foreigner may know about Nevada, but they have all heard of UsefulNotes/LasVegas, aka ''gamblers' paradise''. |
| 236 | *** UsefulNotes/NewJersey: Many in the Middle East and South Asia know about it from the large immigrant diasporas from their countries in New Jersey; it is thus known as "the part of America where my cousin/uncle/niece/dad's college roommate lives". Iranians in particular are reputed to regard the Garden State as a kind of paradise. Home of Music/BruceSpringsteen, the Jersey Shore, Atlantic City, and Creator/DannyDeVito. |
| 237 | *** UsefulNotes/NewMexico: Either confused with Mexico or known for {{Roswell|ThatEndsWell}}, where [=UFOs=] never landed. UsefulNotes/{{Albuquerque}}, best known for WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, ''Series/BreakingBad'', and Music/WeirdAlYankovic, is there. |
| 238 | *** UsefulNotes/SouthDakota: Again foreigners might not know the state, but they will recognize Mount Rushmore. |
| 239 | *** UsefulNotes/{{Tennessee}}: Music/ElvisPresley fans know it for Graceland (his Memphis mansion), blues fans for Memphis, country fans for UsefulNotes/{{Nashville}}, science buffs for Oak Ridge. |
| 240 | *** UsefulNotes/{{Texas}}: [[EverythingIsBigInTexas Super-sized everything]], cowboys, [[UsefulNotes/DFWMetroplex Dallas]], UsefulNotes/{{Houston}} ([[Film/Apollo13 we have a problem]]), UsefulNotes/{{NASA}}, and [[RememberTheAlamo the Alamo]]. |
| 241 | *** UsefulNotes/{{Utah}}: Salt Lake City, best known for being UsefulNotes/{{Mormon|ism}} country. |
| 242 | * UsefulNotes/{{Venezuela}}: Known for populist hyper-socialist dictators, oil, beauty queens and widespread poverty. Caracas is apparently the only city in the country. |
| 243 | * UsefulNotes/{{Vietnam}}: Known for a war, and most places that foreigners know are in reference to that time in history: My Lai, Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon, and Hanoi. Also, in some circles, a [[VideoGame/PokemonVietnameseCrystal bootleg copy of]] ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Pokémon Crystal]]'' known for its BlindIdiotTranslation. |
| 244 | |
| 245 | [[/folder]] |
| 246 | |
| 247 | [[folder:Crime]] |
| 248 | * Can you think of any notorious real-life criminals besides these? If not, go to ''UsefulNotes/{{Criminals}}''. |
| 249 | ** UsefulNotes/AlCapone |
| 250 | ** UsefulNotes/BillyTheKid |
| 251 | ** UsefulNotes/JesseJames [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg (his brother Frank is lucky to even get mentioned)]] |
| 252 | ** UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper |
| 253 | ** UsefulNotes/CharlesManson |
| 254 | ** Bonnie and Clyde |
| 255 | ** UsefulNotes/JohnDillinger |
| 256 | ** UsefulNotes/TedBundy |
| 257 | ** Jeffrey Dahmer |
| 258 | ** John Wayne Gacy |
| 259 | ** The only female criminals were Lizzie Borden and Aileen Wuornos (and the latter is only known for being played by Creator/CharlizeTheron in [[Film/{{Monster}} a movie]]). |
| 260 | * British readers, on the other hand, may be limited to |
| 261 | ** Ronnie Biggs |
| 262 | ** Ruth Ellis |
| 263 | ** Myra Hindley (and just possibly her partner Ian Brady) |
| 264 | ** [[LondonGangster Ronnie and Reggie Kray]] |
| 265 | ** Creator/JimmySavile |
| 266 | ** Peter Sutcliffe |
| 267 | ** [[Film/CarryOnDick Dick Turpin]] |
| 268 | ** Fred and Rose West |
| 269 | ** Stephen Yaxley-Lennon |
| 270 | * Well-known [[GangBangers street gangs]]? It's pretty much just the Crips and the Bloods and the Triad gangs of San Francisco's Chinatown. When it comes to fictional street gangs, most people will mention [[Film/WestSideStory1961 the Jets and the Sharks]], or perhaps the [[Film/TheWarriors Baseball Furies]]. (No love for the [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Foot Clan]] or the [[Film/BatmanReturns Red Triangle Circus Gang]].) |
| 271 | * Assassins? Some historical ones whose infamy lives on are [[UsefulNotes/MarcusJuniusBrutus Brutus]], UsefulNotes/CharlotteCorday, UsefulNotes/JohnWilkesBooth, Gavrilo Princip, Lee Harvey Oswald and Mark David Chapman. |
| 272 | * Bank robbers? Often 1920s and 1930s examples will be namedropped, like UsefulNotes/JohnDillinger, Bonnie & Clyde, Ma Barker, Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson. If you need a British one look no further than Ronnie Biggs, accomplice in the Great Train Robbery, who managed to escape and remain a free man for decades. |
| 273 | * Cannibals? Alfred Packer and Jeffrey Dahmer, though usual the fictional [[Literature/SilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]] may be the only one most people could name. The Donner Party and/or the 1972 Andean plane crash survivors may rate a mention, although none of the individuals involved were criminals and they won't be named. |
| 274 | * Colonials/Explorers: Will often be regarded as ''heroes'' in the West. To the colonized countries themselves quite some of these explorers are actually considered to be people who brutally ravaged their lands and took away their independence. Every Western country has a tendency to sugarcoat his own candidates for the title of ''atrocious colonist'' and finger point at other countries for being more fit for that title. (Spain has arguably gotten the worst of it, since they had a good head start on every other European power except Portugal, and so naturally had the opportunity to subdue millions more natives.) With that in mind some notorious examples: |
| 275 | ** Conquistadores: UsefulNotes/HernanCortez (usually spelled ''Cortez'') and UsefulNotes/FranciscoPizarro are the most famous ones, with a tendency to see Pizarro as the worst one —''if'' the author is not under the belief that "Cortés" was the only conquistador ever. |
| 276 | ** British colonialists are limited to the settlers of the American colonies, Captain James Cook, and Cecil Rhodes. The last one is more known for the Rhodes Scholarship than his impact on Africa, however. |
| 277 | * Cult leaders? It will always be the corrupt frauds and/or the ones who committed a major crime that pop up. UsefulNotes/CharlesManson, UsefulNotes/JimJones (for ordering his followers to drink a cyanide cocktail), Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (for owning several Rolls-Royces while his followers were living in poverty), the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (from his association with Music/TheBeatles and allegations that he might have sexually harassed some of his followers) and Sun Myung Moon (because of his mass weddings). |
| 278 | ** And all cults live in a "compound" (a group of buildings enclosed by a fence or barricade) after Ruby Ridge (a house and storage shed) and the Branch Davidians in Waco (a large house with some outbuildings). |
| 279 | * Drug lords? Pablo Escobar and El Chapo. |
| 280 | * Gangsters/Mafiosi? The most famous gangster of all time is UsefulNotes/AlCapone. Lucky Luciano might get a mention too. Names like Albert Anastasia, Bugsy Siegel, Sam Giancana, Dutch Schulz, Meyer Lansky and John Gotti ([[PretentiousPronunciation whose last name really should rhyme with "goatee" rather than "snotty"]], but don't expect ''anyone'' to ever say it the right way) are already namedropped more by people with special interest in the material. The best-known Mafia family are the Gambinos; although the Bonannos and Genoveses are also well known. To most people the fictional character Don Corleone from ''Film/TheGodfather'' is the poster boy to all the real-life gangsters. Throw in the Film/{{Goodfellas}} and [[Series/TheSopranos Tony Soprano]] as well. |
| 281 | * Hackers? Since most of them work under pseudonyms and are only famous for about a week they are forgotten easily. The only ones that are widely known are Edward Snowden and Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning due to their participation in the [[=WikiLeaks=]] scandals in the early 2010s. |
| 282 | * Kidnappers? Bruno Hauptmann (for kidnapping the Lindbergh baby, though it's certain now that he didn't do it), UsefulNotes/TedBundy, Marc Dutroux, Jozef Fritzl, John Wayne Gacy, Fred & Rose West. |
| 283 | * Outlaws? TheWildWest seems to be the first location where these characters pop up, so naturally UsefulNotes/BillyTheKid and UsefulNotes/JesseJames will be the ones everyone knows and mentions. Film fans might add Film/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid too. Fans of the comic strip ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' will add the Daltons too, only to be amazed that they actually existed for real. |
| 284 | ** Many countries seem to have their own outlaw who managed to get a HistoricalHeroUpgrade for being some kind of Myth/RobinHood character (even if that is more myth than fact). The USA has UsefulNotes/JesseJames, Australia has UsefulNotes/NedKelly, Italy Fra Diavolo, India Phoolan Devi, aka ''Bandit Queen'', Brazil UsefulNotes/{{Lampiao}} and the UK Dick Turpin. |
| 285 | * {{Pirate}}s? UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}} remains the most infamous one. William Kidd, UsefulNotes/AnneBonny, Mary Read, Calico Jack Rackham, Henry Morgan, Hayreddin Barbarossa, Bartholomew ''Black Bart'' Roberts, Stede Bonnet and Jean Lafitte are already more for people who know something about the subject. We should mention UsefulNotes/SirFrancisDrake too, but to the English he is a hero. But once again most people will rather name a fictional pirate like [[Literature/TreasureIsland Long John Silver]], [[Literature/PeterPan Captain Hook]], [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Jack Sparrow]] and/or [[Literature/CaptainBloodHisOdyssey Captain Blood]]. |
| 286 | * Presidential assassins? Everyone's heard of UsefulNotes/JohnWilkesBooth and Lee Harvey Oswald. Far fewer people know of Charles Guiteau or Leon Czolgosz, let alone the ones who failed to hit their marks (except maybe John Hinckley). |
| 287 | * Serial killers? The only true famous one is UsefulNotes/CharlesManson. UsefulNotes/TedBundy, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Peter Sutcliffe, Myra Hindley, and Ted Kaczynski (aka the Unabomber) are also fairly well known. To know UsefulNotes/EdGein, David Berkowitz, Andrei Chikatilo, and/or Richard Ramirez you have to have a bit more interest in the subject, but they too may apply as the most iconic ones. If you need a European one the most famous choices will be UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper and/or Henri-Désire Landru, the ''real Literature/{{Bluebeard}}'', or more recently Chikatilo. More ancient serial killers are UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler, Gilles de Rais and Elisabeth Bathory. |
| 288 | ** Naturally the most famous fictional serial killer [[Literature/SilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]] may be used as a poster boy for articles about the subject, if writers want to avoid giving real-life serial murderers and rapists too much publicity. |
| 289 | * Spies? Interestingly enough they are often not seen as criminals, unless they work for the enemy. The most famous example is UsefulNotes/MataHari. The most famous fictional spy is Franchise/JamesBond. |
| 290 | * Terrorists? UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden. All terrorists in fiction belong to Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Hamas, or Hezbollah — or the IRA, in those rare instances when [[WesternTerrorists the terrorist characters are]] ''[[WesternTerrorists not]]'' [[WesternTerrorists Middle Eastern]], but seldom the UVF or UDA. You'll never hear about the Tamil Tigers or Aum Shinrikyo — unless, of course, you're watching a movie or TV program [[CreatorProvincialism actually made in the country where such a group operates]]. |
| 291 | ** In the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s Carlos the Jackal was the most famous terrorist of all time, along with the Baader-Meinhof gang. |
| 292 | ** UsefulNotes/GuyFawkes is iconic in the UK, but since ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' a lot of people confuse the real-life Fawkes with ''V'' and see him as some kind of rebellious anarchist. |
| 293 | * War criminals? Include any Nazi, but the most famous ones aside from Hitler are those who escaped from being prosecuted and were given a mass mediatized trial later, like Adolf Eichmann and Klaus Barbie. For decades Martin Bormann and Dr. UsefulNotes/JosefMengele were the most famous ones at large, but since they have died they are no longer mentioned (at least Bormann, as Mengele is still mentioned as the "Evil Nazi Doctor"). |
| 294 | ** War criminals from other wars aren't mentioned that often. The Serbian War has UsefulNotes/SlobodanMilosevic, Ratko Mladić, Radovan Karadžić, and Arkan, but that's it. The most famous war criminal at large today is perhaps Joseph Kony, a Ugandan mercenary known for his army of child soldiers. |
| 295 | [[/folder]] |
| 296 | |
| 297 | [[folder:Disasters]] |
| 298 | * A horrific hurricane in an urban area? Surely you talk about Katrina? Or Sandy? Harvey? Because no other hurricane ever made landfall in an inhabited area, right? |
| 299 | * A horrific typhoon in an urban area? Obviously you're talking about Haiyan. |
| 300 | * A horrific [[UsefulNotes/{{Tornadoes}} tornado]] in an urban area? If any specific tornado does get mentioned, it's probably either Moore, Oklahoma ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Bridge_Creek-Moore_tornado 1999]] or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Moore_tornado 2013]]), [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tuscaloosa-Birmingham_tornado Tuscaloosa, Alabama]] (usually barely mentioning any of the 359 ''other'' tornadoes from that outbreak), or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Joplin_tornado Joplin, Missouri]]. In older works, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_Super_Outbreak#Xenia,_Ohio Xenia, Ohio]], again glossing over the numerous other violent tornadoes from the same day. In UsefulNotes/{{Canad|a}}ian works, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmonton_tornado Edmonton, Alberta]]. |
| 301 | ** Documentaries will be prone to CreatorProvincialism, completely ignoring any and all tornado events that occur outside the United States. The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-State_tornado_outbreak#Tri-State_tornado Tri-State Tornado]] of 1925 will be mentioned as the deadliest tornado in recorded history, rather than the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daulatpur-Saturia_tornado Daulatpur-Saturia tornado]] in UsefulNotes/{{Bangladesh}}. Furthermore, there will be a somewhat disproportionate focus on the traditional Tornado Alley (mainly UsefulNotes/{{Texas}}, Oklahoma, and Kansas), even though many of the most notable tornado events throughout history, and especially in the 21st century, have occurred well to the east in and around [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Alley Dixie Alley]]. |
| 302 | ** When characters learn of the impending danger, tornado sirens will be the only way they find out. Even in works taking place in modern times, there will be no EmergencyBroadcast or smartphone alerts. |
| 303 | * Earthquakes? UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake 1906]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake 1989]]), [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Valdivia_earthquake Chile in 1960]], the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake Haiti in 2010]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami Japan in 2011]]. |
| 304 | ** In the United States, UsefulNotes/{{California}} is considered synonymous with earthquakes. No mention will be made of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_subduction_zone#Megathrust_earthquakes Cascadia]] or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Madrid_Seismic_Zone New Madrid]], despite the threats they pose of catastrophic earthquakes. |
| 305 | ** The Richter scale is the ''only'' way to measure earthquakes. In reality, geologists have mostly abandoned it in favor of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seismic_magnitude_scales other methods]] of measuring earthquake strength. Any measurements made with these scales will still be attributed to the Richter scale. ''Intensity'' measurements (i.e. how strong the shaking is at a specific location) will not be mentioned. |
| 306 | * Volcanoes? Vesuvius, specifically its [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eruption_of_Mount_Vesuvius_in_79_AD 79 CE eruption]]; Krakatoa, specifically its [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1883_eruption_of_Krakatoa 1883 eruption]]; Mount St. Helens' [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Helens 1980 eruption]]; and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera Yellowstone]]. Tambora is somewhat less likely to be featured, despite its [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1815_eruption_of_Mount_Tambora 1815 eruption]] producing enough ash to turn 1816 into the infamous "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer Year Without a Summer]]".[[note]]In reality, the planet as a whole only cooled by about 1 °C by even the most liberal estimates, but this was still enough to cause [[TheFamine widespread food shortages]].[[/note]] UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}'s Mount Fuji is also a volcano, but unlike [[ChekhovsVolcano most other volcanoes]] in fiction, it usually just [[EiffelTowerEffect sits pretty in the background]]. |
| 307 | ** The Vesuvius eruption destroyed more cities than just Pompeii. Herculaneum might get a mention, but Oplontis, which received some of the worst damage, probably won't. Stabiae, which was actually partially rebuilt and remained prominent over the next few centuries, almost definitely won't. |
| 308 | * On October 8, 1871, a series of [[TheGreatFire major wildfires]] erupted on the American side of the Great Lakes. These included the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshtigo_fire Peshtigo Fire]] (notable as the deadliest wildfire ''anywhere in the world''), the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Michigan_Fire Michigan Fire]], and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Huron_Fire_of_1871 Port Huron Fire]]. Of them, however, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chicago_Fire Great Chicago Fire]] is the only one to get significant mention in popular culture. |
| 309 | * Other than the Great Chicago Fire, the only urban conflagrations that will usually be featured are [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_Rome Rome in 64 CE]] (expect the camera to focus on UsefulNotes/{{Nero}} [[WhileRomeBurns playing his fiddle]]), [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_London London in 1666]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake#Fires San Francisco in 1906]] due to the earthquake. |
| 310 | * [[ColonyDrop Asteroid impacts]]? [[TheCretaceousIsAlwaysDoomed Chicxulub]], [[TheTunguskaEvent Tunguska]], and maybe [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelyabinsk_meteor Chelyabinsk]]. The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1490_Ch%27ing-yang_event Ch'ing Yang event]],[[note]]which hasn't been ''confirmed'' to be due to an asteroid, but then again, neither was Tunguska[[/note]] possibly the only impact event in recorded human history to result in mass casualties, will not be featured. |
| 311 | * The ''[[UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic Titanic]]'' is ''the'' shipwreck. Likewise, the ''[[UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg Hindenburg]]'' is ''the'' airship disaster, and one of the most infamous aviation disasters prior to [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror 9/11]]. |
| 312 | [[/folder]] |
| 313 | |
| 314 | [[folder:Entertainers]] |
| 315 | * Some examples of very specific fields of entertainment not covered in the other pages (comic strip artists, animators, actors, film directors, writers, musicians, dancers, web presenters, ...) |
| 316 | * Circus animals? Jumbo the elephant. Fictional ones? ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}''. |
| 317 | * Circus directors? Creator/BuffaloBill and PT Barnum. |
| 318 | * Clowns? [[Series/TheBozoShow Bozo the Clown]], Grock, Emmett Kelly, Karandash, Lou Jacobs, Otto Griebling, Oleg Popov, Albert Grimaldi. Fictional clowns will be [[CommediaDellArte Pierrot, Pulcinella]], Theatre/{{Pagliacci}}, Literature/{{Scaramouche}}, WesternAnimation/KokoTheClown, [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald]] and [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Krusty the Clown]]. Or, if you need a [[MonsterClown scary clown]]: real life serial killer John Wayne Gacy comes to mind, as does the fictional killer clown Pennywise from ''Literature/{{It}}''. The Joker from ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' might also count. |
| 319 | * Daredevils? UsefulNotes/EvelKnievel. |
| 320 | * Illusionists and magicians? Creator/HarryHoudini and Uri Geller. If you need a more recent one Creator/DavidCopperfield, Siegfried and Roy and Creator/PennAndTeller. |
| 321 | * Jesters? No real-life jester has managed to become famous to the general public. However, there are a few fictional ones that will be namedropped: Literature/TillEulenspiegel, [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Yorrick]], Theatre/{{Rigoletto}} and the Joker in card games. |
| 322 | * Mimes? Creator/MarcelMarceau. |
| 323 | * Puppeteers? In the early 20th century Creator/EdgarBergen. Since the 1970s Creator/JimHenson. |
| 324 | * Sideshow artists? The Elephant Man. Chang and Eng Bunker (the Siamese twins). Zip the Pinhead [[note]] who inspired ''ComicStrip/ZippyThePinhead''[[/note]]. |
| 325 | * Creator/DannyDeVito is either [[Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia Frank Reynolds]] or, if you grew up in the 70s, [[Series/{{Taxi}} Louie DePalma]]. And maybe [[Film/BatmanReturns the Penguin]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}} Philocetes]]. |
| 326 | |
| 327 | [[/folder]] |
| 328 | |
| 329 | [[folder:"Ethnic" People]] |
| 330 | * The only Italian-Americans are gangsters or actors who have played gangsters. Plus Music/FrankSinatra, Music/DeanMartin, [=Joe DiMaggio=], and Creator/DannyDeVito. [=IndyCar=] fans would know the Andretti family, mainly Mario and Michael; football fans would know Joe Montana and Dan Marino, and devoted basketball fans would know coaches John Calipari and Rick Pitino and LargeHamAnnouncer Dick Vitale. Fans of the latter sport would know UsefulNotes/CaitlinClark as an Italian-American too... except that pretty much no one outside Iowa knows her mother is from that background. |
| 331 | * Greek-Americans? Well, there's Creator/MariaMenounos, George Stephanopoulos... basically, a lot of "oses". |
| 332 | * The only Armenian-Americans are Dr. Jack Kevorkian and the Kardashians ([[ElSpanishO and their names all end with -ian, right? The regular native Armenian form is -yan]]) and maybe the guys from Music/SystemOfADown. For college basketball fans of a certain age, also Jerry Tarkanian. |
| 333 | * The only Israeli-Americans are Creator/NataliePortman and [[Music/{{KISS}} Gene Simmons]]. |
| 334 | * The only Japanese-Americans are Creator/GeorgeTakei and Kristi Yamaguchi, and ''maybe'' Creator/PatMorita or Apolo Ohno. |
| 335 | * The only Korean-American is Creator/MargaretCho. Unless you followed women's golf in this century, in which case you'd probably know Michelle Wie West. |
| 336 | * Until recently, the only Cuban-Americans were Creator/DesiArnaz and Music/GloriaEstefan. Then they started coming into their own in the Republican Party with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. |
| 337 | * The only Puerto Ricans are Music/JenniferLopez and Music/RickyMartin. Although the "Despacito" guys (Music/LuisFonsi and Music/DaddyYankee) have gotten recognition lately, as has Music/BadBunny. For baseball fans, Hall of Famers (in order of induction) Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Alomar, Iván Rodríguez, and Edgar Martínez. |
| 338 | * The only Australian-American is Creator/MelGibson (although he was actually born in the United States). Creator/NicoleKidman was also born in America, but she's considered fully Australian. |
| 339 | * The only Albanian-Americans are Creator/JohnBelushi and [[Creator/JamesBelushi Jim Belushi]]. |
| 340 | [[/folder]] |
| 341 | |
| 342 | [[folder:Family and Inheritance]] |
| 343 | * The entire world is patrilineal and patrilocal; other systems do not exist. The entire world, excepting select Islamic states, is monogamous. Inheritance is based on legitimacy, which is rigorously defined. Primogeniture is an optional extra; ultimogeniture does not exist. |
| 344 | [[/folder]] |
| 345 | |
| 346 | [[folder:Fashion]] |
| 347 | * All big fashion designers before Calvin Klein (the only American most people can think of) have been French (UsefulNotes/CocoChanel, Christian Dior, Yves Saint-Laurent) or Italian (Valentino, Giorgio Armani, the Versaces). Occasionally Mexican designer Oscar de la Renta will get a mention — though often simply to be humorously confused with Mexican-American lightweight boxer Oscar de la Hoya. |
| 348 | * Fashion models: |
| 349 | ** Claudia Schiffer |
| 350 | ** Creator/NaomiCampbell |
| 351 | ** Creator/CindyCrawford |
| 352 | ** Heidi Klum, also notable for her former marriage to Music/{{Seal}}. |
| 353 | ** Twiggy (maybe) |
| 354 | ** Gisele Bündchen, mostly because of her former marriage to Creator/TomBrady. |
| 355 | ** Anna Nicole Smith was originally a model, but don't expect anyone to remember that anymore. |
| 356 | * If you ever see a man wearing a hat and he isn't a cowboy, country musician, or into sports, chances are it will be a fedora (which is, admittedly, TruthInTelevision); trilbies, homburgs, and porkpies are unknown. Bowlers, or derby hats, are sometimes mistaken for top hats. The only hats women ever wear are "fancy" hats (pillboxes, berets, etc.). |
| 357 | * Any [[BadassLongcoat long coat]], badass or not, will be referred to as a trench coat. Never mind that a trench coat is always a raincoat, and usually has particular features including double-breasted closure, epaulettes, a half-cape, and straps to cinch the cuffs. Your overcoats, your dusters, your greatcoats, your macintoshes? All trench coats. |
| 358 | * All men between the ages of 20 and 50 in The70s wore bell-bottomed trousers and had [[SeventiesHair outrageously long sideburns]]. When they got dressed up, their suits were always in fruity pastel colors (blue, especially) or had a wild plaid or paisley pattern. (See also PopularHistory.) |
| 359 | * All teenage girls in The80s wore leggings (and leg warmers), oversized T-shirts, and bands or scrunchies in their [[EightiesHair (flamboyantly teased)]] hair. In bright neon and/or pastel colors. (The scrunchies, not the hair. Come to think of it, the hair, too.) All businesswomen wore suits with gigantic shoulder pads. (Again, see PopularHistory.) |
| 360 | * Whenever [[PrettyInMink a fur coat is mentioned by type]], the majority of them are mink. Others are mentioned, but not quite as often, and usually just to highlight whether the fur is less expensive (such as rabbit) or more expensive (hello, chinchilla and sable) than mink. [[PantheraAwesome Leopard]] furs are worn only by Franchise/{{Tarzan}}, Jane, WesternAnimation/{{the Flintstones}}, hookers, and porn stars. |
| 361 | ** This is so common that when Joe Namath infamously wore a coyote fur coat to the 2014 Super Bowl, several news outlets called it a "mink coat" — even though coyote fur looks nothing like mink. |
| 362 | ** If someone in a cartoon (and sometimes in other media) has a fur stole, it will almost always be the full fox with the head, legs and tail still attached or some variation thereof. This is often played for laughs, as in an episode of the 1980s reincarnation of ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'' in which Jane's mother wore one and when she tossed her head back in disgust the fox did the same. |
| 363 | * Common male hairstyles in fiction: |
| 364 | ** Buzz cut (for "patriotic" Americans and military personnel) |
| 365 | ** Mullet (if the character is a redneck or a hockey player. 80s-90s punks never wore these.) |
| 366 | ** [[FiftiesHair Fifties-style pompadour]] (if the character is a snobbish redneck) |
| 367 | ** Mop-top or bowlcuts (for nerds) |
| 368 | ** EightiesHair (for rock musicians, bikers, and the occasional urban redneck). |
| 369 | * Common female hairstyles: |
| 370 | ** Creator/LouiseBrooks-style (proper term: [[TwentiesBobHaircut Dutch bob]]) |
| 371 | ** Creator/MarilynMonroe-style (proper term: [[FiftiesHair pageboy]]) |
| 372 | ** Creator/FarrahFawcett-[[SeventiesHair style]] |
| 373 | ** BeehiveHairdo (seen on middle-aged women) |
| 374 | ** Ponytail (for {{Action Girl}}s) |
| 375 | ** Pigtails (for little girls or "{{Loli|conAndShotacon}}ta") |
| 376 | ** Unbraided or partially braided mane (for hippie chicks) |
| 377 | [[/folder]] |
| 378 | |
| 379 | [[folder:Geography]] |
| 380 | * Central America is one country. In fairness, it was, for a while. About 180 years ago. |
| 381 | * Canada is a small country consisting only of Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and rural Quebec (and possibly the Yukon, although that's as likely as not to be part of Alaska instead), despite which everyone will talk like they're from Newfoundland, which none of these places are anywhere near. It's always winter, with lots of snow, even though Vancouver has warmer and less snowy winters than, say, New York. |
| 382 | * The only islands in the Caribbean are Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, and The Bahamas (which aren't actually even in the Caribbean). |
| 383 | * The Bahamas are one place (despite the hint in the name). The Cayman Islands get a mention as the only place besides Switzerland to have an offshore bank account, though no one seems to know where they are. Then again, the people who bank there have no intention of visiting anyway. |
| 384 | * Quebec and Haiti are the only French-speaking areas outside of France and Belgium. Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, and Saint Barthélemy do not exist. And Haiti's history only goes back 50 years, despite it being independent for over 200. |
| 385 | * South America consists solely of Brazil, where they speak Spanish, and Generic BananaRepublic Dictatorships led by either a Nazi sympathizer, a drug lord, a corrupt military commander or a far-left socialist provocateur. |
| 386 | * Asia consists of Eastern Russia, UsefulNotes/{{India}}, UsefulNotes/{{China}}, UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}, and [[UsefulNotes/SouthKorea Korea]], unless the work is about UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. (If it is, Vietnam itself does not exist except as a backdrop for American characters.) |
| 387 | ** There's no such thing as Central Asia... except for [[Film/{{Borat}} Kazakhstan]]. |
| 388 | ** [[Series/{{Mash}} The Korean War is precisely the same thing as the Vietnam War.]] Koreans will be portrayed as living in straw huts, and they certainly don't have three major cities—UsefulNotes/{{Seoul}} exists, but it looks like the poor parts of Shanghai. Pyongyang is only whichever Kim dictator's weird little palace/bunker. UsefulNotes/{{Busan}} is ''purely apocryphal''. Incheon? What's that? |
| 389 | ** The Southeast Asian archipelago only really exists in Western media whenever tourist vacation spots are discussed — Bali in particular — or someone wants to make a point about crippling poverty. This is despite the fact that UsefulNotes/{{Indonesia}} is the fourth most populous country in the world (after the US, India, and China). |
| 390 | * UsefulNotes/TheMiddleEast consists of Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and whatever country the U.S. is intervening in a civil conflict in. Everywhere ends in -stan. (In actuality, the suffix ''-stan'' comes from the Indo-Iranian languages, and is mostly used in Central and South Asia.) |
| 391 | * Speaking of South Asia, it only consists of two countries: India and Pakistan, who hate each other's guts. India is by far the more likely of the two to be referenced, and the term South Asia is often seen to be synonymous with India. In the tourism world, the Maldives is well-known, but few people know that it's in South Asia, and those accustomed to seeing photos of women in their bikinis posing in Maldivian overwater villas may be surprised upon learning that it is actually a fairly conservative Muslim country (though the resorts are free of religious laws). Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka do not exist, despite Nepal being partially home to Mount Everest and Bangladesh being the 8th most populous country in the world, with more people than Russia. Also, Afghanistan is technically in South Asia and, culturally and historically speaking, has more in common with it, but try telling that to people. |
| 392 | * In the Western imagination, only four states exist in India: Maharashtra (Bollywood musicals), West Bengal (Mother Teresa and crowded, dirty slums), Punjab (bearded men in blue turbans)[[note]] these are the Sikhs [[/note]], and Madhya Pradesh (heavily forested region where ''Literature/TheJungleBook'' takes place). Kashmir will be known only to diehard Music/LedZeppelin fans, or if the news you're listening to covers the latest Indo-Pakistani [[UsefulNotes/TheKashmirQuestion conflict over it]]. |
| 393 | * If your characters visit Europe, they will only go to England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Greece, the Netherlands and/or Austria, and maybe Belgium as well if you're lucky. And they will always visit the capital cities, but then suddenly deviate into other countrysides typical for that country as if they are only a few miles away from the capital. The only exception is Italy, because besides Rome, you can also visit Venice, Tuscany, Milan, Pisa and the Isle of Sicily. |
| 394 | * When you visit Paris [[EiffelTowerEffect the Eiffel Tower]] and the Arc de Triomphe HAVE to be present somewhere in the background!. If your characters visit other landmarks it will be the Louvre and only to see ''Art/TheMonaLisa''. |
| 395 | * [[{{Scotireland}} Scotland is the same country as Ireland]] unless the author is from the UK. Northern Ireland doesn't exist even if the author ''is'' from the UK except in works specifically about the Troubles, the same is true for Wales only without the exception, and for a long time Cornwall didn't exist ''even in this trope entry''. There is no such place as [[OopNorth the North of England]] either unless the author is from the UK, and UsefulNotes/NorthEastEngland, [[Film/BillyElliot with notable aversions,]] is only ever inhabited by "Geordies" {even if they're from Durham or [[BerserkButton (gasp) Sunderland]]}. |
| 396 | * There are no distinct countries in eastern Europe (or central Europe, because it's part of eastern Europe) except for Western Russia and maybe Poland. All non-Western Europeans are either Slavs or Greeks; there are no Estonians, Balts, Magyars, Romanian Latins, Albanians, or Turks. Averted for basketball fans, who are very aware of the presence of multiple Slavic nationalities, as well as Lithuanians, Latvians, and Turks (and more) in the NBA. Hockey fans too, with the Czech Republic, Russia, and Slovakia having significant NHL contingents, plus a smattering of other Baltic and Slavic nationalities. |
| 397 | * Africa is Egypt, South Africa, and a [[{{Bulungi}} Generic Tinpot Dictatorship]] headed by a corrupt, violent [[MajoredInWesternHypocrisy Oxford University graduate]]. If you want a [[DarkestAfrica jungle setting]], there are Congo and Cameroon, and maybe the island of Bioko (or Fernando Pó, in older works, unless [[HehHehYouSaidX it's misspelled "Fernando Poo", as it commonly is, and therefore gets laughed at]]). For savannas, there Tanzania, Kenya, and if you're lucky, Botswana. |
| 398 | * There is no other country in Oceania apart from Australia. New Zealand doesn't exist at all. (However, if it does, it's known only for producing Rachel Hunter, Creator/PeterJackson, Creator/RussellCrowe, and Music/{{Lorde}}.) |
| 399 | * The Pacific Islands consist of Fiji, Hawaii, occasionally Samoa, and more often some undefined beach with lots of grass skirts. You can just forget about Papua New Guinea. |
| 400 | * AllDesertsHaveCacti since all [[TheWestern Westerns]] were filmed at KirksRock. |
| 401 | * UsefulNotes/{{Iceland}} is a frozen rock somewhere near the North Pole where Music/{{Bjork}} lives and ''Series/{{LazyTown}}'' was filmed. If you're lucky, Reykjavík will get a mention. Eyjafjallajökull may get a mention if the work was made when it erupted in 2010, an event which wreaked havoc on international air travel. |
| 402 | * The only place in UsefulNotes/{{Indonesia}} are Bali (home of dancing girls in [[PimpedOutDress Pimped Out Oriental Dresses]]) and Java (home of tigers, prehistoric humans, and — apparently — coffee). |
| 403 | * Creator/JaneAusten's geography of England is quite varied. You learn something about Bath and also that many English counties end in ''-shire''. Derbyshire of ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'' is probably the most famous as Mr Darcy's BigFancyHouse Pemberley is situated there. |
| 404 | * In the [[EagleLand United States]], you can travel from Chicago to Disneyland or Philadelphia to the Grand Canyon in about three hours. The Midwest? [[FlyoverCountry What's that?]] |
| 405 | * The only cities in UsefulNotes/{{China}} are UsefulNotes/{{Shanghai}}, UsefulNotes/{{Beijing}}, and Hong Kong (which is not even technically part of China, but rather a "special administrative region" covered under the "one country, two systems" principle). This is interesting since China is ''the most populated country in the world''. Guangzhou (Canton), Chengdu, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Hangzhou, and Dongguan are almost completely unheard of despite having populations of over ''10 million'', which by comparison is bigger than [[BigApplesauce New York City]]'s by millions. Macau, the other "special administrative region", may get a mention, but even then most works that do acknowledge it assume it's an island filled with casinos and nothing else. A couple of other cities of over 10 million may get mentions–Xi'an due to its place in ancient Chinese history, and Wuhan for its connections to [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic COVID-19]]. |
| 406 | ** In UsefulNotes/HongKong, the only places that exist are Central and Tsim Sha Tsui on the two sides of Victoria Harbour, and Mongkok, Wan Chai or the now demolished Kowloon Walled City if you're lucky. The New Territories? The ''other'' parts of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon? The Outlying Islands? Unless you're ''actually'' from Hong Kong (or are a mainlander who crosses the border often), never heard of them! |
| 407 | * The only places in Japan are {{Tokyo|IsTheCenterOfTheUniverse}}, UsefulNotes/{{Kyoto}}, Osaka, Mount Fuji, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki (the latter two due to a [[UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki little historical event you might have heard of]]). |
| 408 | * California is the third largest state in the U.S., the second largest in the continental U.S., and has the largest population of all. Yet, the only places in California are UsefulNotes/LosAngeles and UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco according to fiction, ''maybe'' [[Series/TheOC Orange County]] or [[Series/DrakeAndJosh San]] [[Film/TopGun Diego]] if the writer's trying to be different. Also, California is either populated entirely by TheBeautifulElite (which is entirely white) or black and latino GangBangers. The middle class that makes up the vast majority of the state is rarely mentioned. The farms of the Central Valley [[note]]source of 40% of the food America takes for granted[[/note]] and the entirety of Northern California do not exist. |
| 409 | [[/folder]] |
| 410 | |
| 411 | [[folder:Historical Periods]] |
| 412 | * History is usually a ThemeParkVersion of a specific time period. Entire eras will be summed up into a few key historical or sociological events and [[HistoricalDomainCharacter historical domain characters]], who will often just be namedropped or make a cameo, despite the fact that [[InThePastEveryoneWillBeFamous many of them weren't considered that important in their own age]] as opposed to decades or centuries later. Expect many things to be [[NostalgiaFilter nostalgically]] sugarcoated [[ValuesDissonance according to our present morals and standards]], full with AnachronismStew by people unaware that some things are OlderThanTheyThink and others NewerThanTheyThink. Everybody and everything will always look [[YeGoodeOldeDays healthy and clean]]. |
| 413 | * If people have to name a specific HistoricalDomainCharacter it's usually going to be either UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar, UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus or UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte. In the USA UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington and UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln are popular extra choices. UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler may be mentioned too, but is a bit too controversial to namedrop in some circles. |
| 414 | * Every country will put extra focus on its own national history. The West has a very Eurocentric view of its historical past and will often just quickly glance over civilizations in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania, unless they happen to be of interest to their own national history. |
| 415 | ** The USA has its own chronology, with the discovery of America by UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus, the landing of the ''Mayflower'', the Salem Witch Trials, UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington, UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson, UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln, TheWildWest, UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt, TheRoaring20s/Prohibition, TheGreatDepression, UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and UsefulNotes/ColdWar as the key historical events. Among non-Native Americans, the formation of the Iroquois League is about the only event from pre-Columbian America that gets talked about. |
| 416 | ** China focuses on the Ming Empire (their greatest period), Qing Empire (when they were in war with foreign countries), Chinese Revolution (which was only barely a Civil War because '''everyone loved Communism so much'''), and the Second Sino-Japanese War (when those evil Nationalists were cowards and the Communists did all the fighting!). Expect mainland Chinese media to focus on little else but the Second Sino-Japanese War and the latter half of the Chinese Civil War. |
| 417 | *** Media in Hong Kong (being a previous British colony and not as affected by the Communist Party) are more likely to be concerned with the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but are otherwise exclusively focused on other settings directly concerned with Hong Kong (or in some cases, Shanghai) within the past 200 years. The history curriculum is divided into four main time periods, that being pre-colonization, the colonial period after the Treaty of Nanking (1842-1941), the Japanese occupation during WWII (and related events such as the Second Sino-Japanese War and the reconstruction period for the rest of the 1940s), and the "modern" Hong Kong divided by the decade (1950s-1997) up until the Handover to mainland China, which marks the beginning of another time period. |
| 418 | ** The United Kingdom will put its focus on Boadicea's defense against the Romans, Hadrian's Wall, the Picts, the Celts, the Anglo-Saxons, King Canute, UsefulNotes/AlfredTheGreat, UsefulNotes/WilliamTheConqueror and the Battle of Hastings, Wat Tyler, UsefulNotes/{{King John|OfEngland}} signing the Magna Charta, UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar, UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses, UsefulNotes/HenryVIII, UsefulNotes/ElizabethI, The Gunpowder Plot, UsefulNotes/EnglishCivilWar, the beheading of UsefulNotes/CharlesI, UsefulNotes/OliverCromwell becoming Lord Protector, UsefulNotes/CharlesII, the Great Fire of 1666, Admiral UsefulNotes/HoratioNelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, UsefulNotes/TheDukeOfWellington at the Battle of Waterloo, UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria and UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain (which only consists of industrialisation and exploitation of child workers), the British army during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII (the Blitz, Battle of Britain in particular), UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill, and UsefulNotes/ElizabethII. If the history of the rest of the British Isles is ever mentioned then it will probably consist of Scotland during William Wallace's invasion and not much else if you're from outside the Isles. However Irish and Northern Irish history gets expanded somewhat — but even then only to English occupation, the Easter Rising (if you're lucky) and UsefulNotes/TheTroubles. |
| 419 | ** The entire history of Japan consists of the feudal period (especially the [[UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod Sengoku Jidai]] and the UsefulNotes/{{Tokugawa|Ieyasu}} Shogunate) and the UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration, despite the fact that this doesn't leave the latter with much to restore. If UsefulNotes/WorldWarII is depicted in a Japanese work, it will only be to show the suffering of good ordinary people, probably in the countryside, and will be strangely divorced from all actual context. There is enormous focus on the UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki. People or organisations that committed crimes against humanity, such as Unit 731, didn't and don't exist. Invasions of continental Asia didn't happen either. |
| 420 | ** In works not made by/for Jews, ancient Israel consists entirely of the Roman period (i.e. the very end), and the debut of Christianity was really important (apparently in spite of the fact that few noticed it for a few centuries). |
| 421 | * UsefulNotes/{{Canadian history}} is settlers, the Confederation (by extension Sir John A. Macdonald), UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, TheGreatDepression, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and UsefulNotes/PierreTrudeau. Maybe a vague mention of some stuff specific to the province where children go to school. For examples, Manitobans know something called "the Riel rebellion" happened, but not much else (including the fact that there were actually ''two'' such rebellions). At some point Canadians burned down the White House. And Laura Secord might have been involved? She's female! |
| 422 | * Spain was ruled in succession by the [[UsefulNotes/MoorishSpain Moors]], the [[UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition Inquisition]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheFrancoRegime Franco]]. (UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco died way back in 1975, before most of today's generation were ''born'', so it's high time we came up with something after him.) There was also a [[UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar civil war]] at some point that must have lasted a hundred years or so, given that it is the only event of note in Spain's 20th century — though oddly, only the small town of Guernica received any bombs from the air in that war, and the only people involved were Franco himself, Creator/GeorgeOrwell and maybe Creator/ErnestHemingway (was it just a long bar brawl?). |
| 423 | * Everyone living between the fall of Rome (late 400s A.D.) and The60s will have a stereotypically repressed Victorian view of the world. Though with young women in the fifties, it will always just be a [[SeeminglyWholesome50sGirl facade]]. |
| 424 | * Every single human society before The60s was at least as sexist as Victorian times. Women were never allowed to do anything of economic worth. And racism in its present form has existed in every historical era everywhere (except in nonwhite countries; there everything was cool). |
| 425 | * The prehistoric (13.7 billion to 5,000 BC): The prehistoric age has one interesting time period: the dinosaur age. Everything that happened before is forgotten, except that at one point the Big Bang happened and fish set foot on land and evolved into amphibians. |
| 426 | ** The dinosaur age will always be depicted as one general era, instead of a succession of different time periods. As such, expect all dinosaurs to be shown together despite the fact that some have never co-existed with one another. ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex'' is the most important dinosaur everybody remembers and will recognize by name. It will be seen attacking a herbivore dinosaur at one point, for dramatic effect, preferably a ''Brontosaurus'', ''Diplodocus'', ''Stegosaurus'', ''Parasaurolophus'', and/or a ''Triceratops'' because those are the only ones the general public will be familiar with. Thanks to the success of ''Film/JurassicPark'' the [[RaptorAttack velociraptors have also gained some infamy]]. The air will be inhabited with pterosaurs and the seas and rivers with plesiosaurs and mosasaurs. The landscape is usually a large open field with a lot of volcanoes, so it's easier to see how huge these beasts are. The climate will always be warm and tropical, due to the endless population of reptiles. Also expect many people to assume that [[PrehistoricMonster all dinosaurs are huge carnivorous beasts]]. Ah, yes, and at one point a [[TheCretaceousIsAlwaysDoomed giant asteroid will destroy everything, so time travelers need to leave fast]]. |
| 427 | ** Right after the Age of Dinosaurs is the Age of Mammals, but much of that will be ignored until we get to the dawn of man. There will be much greater focus later in the Ice Age since that is the time of {{mammoths|MeanIceAge}} and saber-toothed cats. |
| 428 | * The Stone Age (2.6 million years ago to 4,000 BC) |
| 429 | ** The cavemen period will typically either show ape-like humans or Neanderthals, because AllCavemenWereNeanderthals. They will be hunting or fighting [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs mammoths, saber-toothed cats or giant bears]]: that is if people are smart enough to remember that [[AnachronismStew men and dinosaurs never coexisted with one another]]. All cavemen wll typically be white, male, thick-browed, stupid, have a lot of hair and women are NubileSavage characters. Expect men to to knock people about with clubs and drag women around by their hair. Everybody happens to wear enough fur to cover up their genital parts, so that we as modern viewers won't be distracted or offended. If men aren't hunting they will be sitting around in a cave or at least nearby it. They only have three memorable activities: 1) making cave paintings 2) discovering how to make fire by hitting two rocks together 3) InventingTheWheel. A typical stone age landscape is nothing but mountains, rocks, caves and large open fields. |
| 430 | * The Classical/Bronze Age, (4,000 BC-500 AD) overlapping with AncientGrome. |
| 431 | ** Usually forgotten by most people who assume that the cavemen just started living in settlements one day. Indeed, it's not the most interesting time period to depict in popular culture, mostly because there were no giant animals to attack. Domestication of dogs, horses and farm animals will be the point of reference. |
| 432 | * Antiquity: The Antiquity usually only focuses on AncientEgypt, UsefulNotes/AncientGreece and AncientRome. You might get some Celtic civilization in there too, but that's about it. Ancient Mesopotamia, Assyria, Babylon, India, China, Japan or cultures elsewhere in the world tend to be overlooked or ignored. Ancient Judea may get some attention too, but only as background in Christian, Judean or Islamic religious contexts, not from a historical perspective. Many people also incorrectly assume that all these civilizations just followed one another as soon as one of them fell. In reality many coexisted with one another and didn't just stop existing because their golden age was suddenly over. Most depictions of ancient societies in general forget that these were living, developed cultures that changed constantly over the centuries in terms of fashions, politics, attitudes etc. But they all have two things in common: SwordAndSandal. |
| 433 | ** Ancient Middle East: Usually a hodge podge of different civilizations: Sumeria, Akkad, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Persia, Hittites... The only point of reference is that writing, agriculture, irrigation and laws were invented during this very vague time period. Expect people like Hammurabi, Assurbanipal II, Nebuchadnezzar, and UsefulNotes/CyrusTheGreat to have a cameo or be namedropped. All people wear beards and ride in chariots. The city of Jericho and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are the only locations remembered. The only interesting [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology mythology]] is ''Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh''. |
| 434 | ** ImperialChina: TheEmperor, fireworks, gunpowder, paper, porcelain, silk, Creator/{{Confucius}}, Creator/{{Laozi}}, Creator/SunTzu, Creator/{{Zhuangzi}}, UsefulNotes/WuZetian and the Chinese Wall. People walking around in long robes and pigtails, with douli on their head. The women suffer because of the foot binding tradition. In the 15th to the 16th century we get Ming vases. |
| 435 | ** BibleTimes: The rest of ancient Middle Eastern history will describe events from The Old Testament, usually with most of the focus on Moses and King David, but often more [[Literature/BookOfExodus from a religious perspective]] rather than a historical one. The New Testament, of course, focuses mostly on the life of UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}, but typically ends after his crucifixion. Everybody wears long robes and is oppressed by Egyptians, Philistines or Romans. Also expect a lot of prophets walking around. |
| 436 | ** AncientEgypt and UsefulNotes/AncientEgyptianHistory: Usually a ThemeParkVersion of a civilization that lasted for more than a thousand years, with [[PyramidPower pyramids]], [[Art/TheSphinx sphinxes]], obelisques, tombs, {{mumm|y}}ies, the Nile and people writing hieroglyphs and [[WalkLikeAnEgyptian walking like an Egyptian]] everywhere. Most people's idea of AncientEgypt is the New Kingdom time period (18th-20th Dynasties, 1550-1069 BC), but the only events that are usually depicted are UsefulNotes/RamsesII and his confrontation with Moses, UsefulNotes/CleopatraVII and her romance with UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar and people busy building pyramids. Expect UsefulNotes/RamsesII, UsefulNotes/{{Tutankhamun}}, UsefulNotes/CleopatraVII, Echnaton/Aton, Hatshepsut and Nefertite to either have a cameo or be namedropped. The only [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Egyptian gods]] most people know are Anubis, Osiris, Isis, Horus and Ra. All people have long black hair and walk around in nothing but a white dress. |
| 437 | ** UsefulNotes/AncientGreece: Once again a civilization that lasted for more than a thousand years and will often be represented in a condensed version, with people, art and institutions from different eras co-existing at the same time. The only time periods that are commonly referenced are UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar, the UsefulNotes/GrecoPersianWars, UsefulNotes/ThePeloponnesianWar and Classical Greece, home of the first philosophers. All action will take place in Athens, Sparta or Troy and more specifically in a Greek parliament, theatre, temple, the Acropolis, Parthenon, Oracle of Delphi, Epidaurus Theater and some of the Ancient Wonders of the World should be referenced too. Everybody is a politician, law-maker, [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy warrior]], [[ThePhilosopher philosopher]] or an athlete at the UsefulNotes/OlympicGames, preferably a marathon runner, disc thrower, wrestler or chariot racer. The Trojan War will completely be based on ''Literature/TheIliad'' and ''Literature/TheOdyssey'' and thus mix facts with mythology. Sparta makes up for some ProudWarriorRaceGuy and TheSpartanWay. Expect cameos or references to people like UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat, Pericles, Creator/{{Socrates}}, Creator/{{Plato}}, Archimedes, Creator/{{Aristotle}}, Diogenes, Creator/{{Aeschylus}}, Creator/{{Aristophanes}}, Creator/{{Euripides}}, Creator/{{Sophocles}}, Creator/{{Homer}}, Creator/{{Thucydides}}, Creator/{{Sappho}}, Creator/{{Xenophon}}, ... who will conveniently all be depicted living in the same era. |
| 438 | ** Myth/ClassicalMythology is usually far more interesting than the actual historical events in Greece and Rome, but there is a preference to use the Roman names for these gods, half-gods and heroes rather than the Greek ones. In either way the only Greek gods that everybody remembers are Zeus [[note]] Roman name: Jupiter [[/note]], Hera [[note]] Roman name: Juno [[/note]], Ares [[note]] Roman name: Mars [[/note]], Dyonisos [[note]] Roman name: Bacchus [[/note]], Athena [[note]] Roman name: Minerva [[/note]], Aphrodite [[note]] Roman name: Venus [[/note]], Demeter [[note]] Roman name: Ceres [[/note]], Persephone [[note]] Roman name: Proserpina [[/note]], Chronos, Hades [[note]] Roman name: Pluto [[/note]], Apollo, Hermes [[note]] Roman name: Mercurius [[/note]] Artemis [[note]] Roman name: Diana [[/note]], Hephaistos [[note]] Roman name: Vulcanus [[/note]] and Poseidon [[note]] Roman name: Neptune [[/note]]. Other mythological characters and beings that will have a cameo appearance are Prometheus, Theseus, the Minotaur, Perseus, Medusa, Icarus, Achilles, Agamemnon, Ajax, Hector, Paris, Diomedes, Helen, Odysseus, Eros [[note]] Roman name: Cupido [[/note]], Pan, Arachne, Cassandra, Charon travelling on the river Styx, Cerberus, Sisyphus, Tantalus, Atlas, Heracles [[note]] Roman name: Hercules [[/note]], Pegasus, the Hydra, Oedipus, the Sphinx, Electra, Jason and the Argonauts, Medea, Andromeda, Adonis, Orpheus, Asklepios, The Muses, The Graeae, The Three Horatii, Romulus and Remus, Nike, and throw in some satyrs, nymphes, cyclopses, centaurs, fauns, titans, gigants, harpies, sirens,... in there as well. |
| 439 | ** AncientGrome: UsefulNotes/AncientGreece and AncientRome are often mixed and confused with one another. Not helped by the fact that Roman culture was, to a significant degree, a mass copypasta of Greek culture. |
| 440 | ** AncientRome: The only time when UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic will be depicted is near the end, when it evolved into UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire. The rise and murder of UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar is usually the focus. The story may continue until the defeat and death of UsefulNotes/MarkAntony and UsefulNotes/CleopatraVII, followed by UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} taking power. The fashions and politics depicted will be from this period no matter what century it is.[[note]]Creator/RidleyScott's ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' is one of the best-known examples of this. The senators scheming to restore republican government are also anachronistic — it's about as realistic as portraying scheming 20th-century British parliamentarians trying to restore the House of Stuart.[[/note]]. The only other historical events that are interesting are the Pompeïi volcano disaster, the Great Fire of Rome, the [[GladiatorRevolt slave revolt]] of Spartacus, Hannibal crossing the Alps and the eventual invasion of the city by barbarians. The empire is far more interesting for most people, because it allows scenes of grotesque decadent and immoral behaviour and the opportunity to show [[UsefulNotes/TheGloryThatWasRome Rome in all of its magnificent glory]]. Naturally all action is concentrated in Rome, except perhaps to show some people battling in Gaul or Carthage. Still, Roman life will only take place in or nearby aquaducts, temples, columns, amphitheaters, bath houses, the Senate, the Imperial Palace and [[BreadAndCircuses an arena]], preferably the Colosseum, where [[GladiatorGames gladiators and large animals will kill one another for blood thirsty spectators]]. Romans will all wear togas and be a [[ColorCodedPatrician patrician]], senator, [[TheCaligula emperor]], gladiator, legionary, centurion or [[MadeASlave a slave]]. Most people think every Roman spoke Latin, while upperclass people in Rome spoke Ancient Greek. Expect the following historical domain characters to make a cameo or be namedropped: UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar, UsefulNotes/{{Pompey|TheGreat}}, UsefulNotes/MarkAntony, UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}, UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}}, UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}, UsefulNotes/{{Trajan}}, UsefulNotes/{{Hadrian}}, Caracalla, Elagabalus, Constantine, Marcus Aurelius, Hannibal, Spartacus, Creator/{{Cicero}}, Creator/{{Virgil}}, Messalina, Agrippina, Creator/{{Juvenal}}, Creator/{{Plautus}}, Sallust, Tacitus and Creator/{{Ovid}}. |
| 441 | ** Ancient Celts: Usually reduced to a bunch of men in helmets with a [[ManlyFacialHair manly stache]] fighting off Romans. Those who aren't warriors will be a {{Druid}} making animal sacrifices near dolmen and menhirs. In the Anglosaxon world this time period is associated with Myth/CelticMythology, Stonehenge, UsefulNotes/NeoPaganism, Boadicea and UsefulNotes/{{Wicca}}. In Europe the association with ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' is very strong. In France with chieftain Vercingetourix. In Belgium Ambiorix. In the Netherlands Julius Civilis. |
| 442 | * TheMiddleAges (500-1500 AD): the Middle Ages are often depicted as a period when [[MedievalMorons intellectual]], [[MedievalStasis technological]] and [[TheDungAges sanitary]] development stagnated, contrary to what actually happened. Nevertheless the image is very persistent. The feodal system divides the society in three major groups: royals and noblemen, clerus (the Catholic Church) and peasants. |
| 443 | ** TheLowMiddleAges: (476 BC - 1066) The fall of Rome led to a DarkAgeEurope, where everybody is a FeudalOverlord, a [[CorruptChurch devout but hypocritical devious priest, monk, bishop or pope]] and/or [[TheDungAges oppressed and moronic peasant living in filth]]. |
| 444 | ** HornyVikings from Scandinavia will pillage and murder everybody. They use ''drakar'' ships and discover cold and icy continents, including North America. Important Vikings to have a cameo or namedrop are Canute, Erik the Red, Harald Bluetooth and Leif Erikson. Myth/NorseMythology will consist only of Odin, Thor, Loki and Freya. |
| 445 | ** In fact, war and pillaging seem to be the only notable activities going on in this time period, whether it be Goths, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Franks, Huns, Magyars, Musulmen, Saxons, Norsemen, Vikings, Vandals,... everybody is moving from country to country to invade one another. As a result most important people in this time period are all conquerors: UsefulNotes/AttilaTheHun, Charles Martel, Clovis, UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}}, Canute, UsefulNotes/AlfredTheGreat,... This is also the ideal time period for epic tales and sagas, including ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'', Myth/ArthurianLegend, ''Literature/{{Nibelungenlied}}'', ''Literature/OrlandoFurioso'', ''Literature/TheSongOfRoland'', all Literature/TheIcelandicSagas,... |
| 446 | ** When people aren't fighting battles they will be trying to convert people to either Christianity or Islam. Many people remembered are either saints, bishops, monks or nuns. UsefulNotes/TheProphetMuhammad is the only Islamic figure of note everybody remembers. |
| 447 | ** The only glorious time period is The UsefulNotes/ByzantineEmpire and the caliphates in the Middle East. The latter will usually be reduced to ArabianNightsDays. |
| 448 | ** TheHighMiddleAges (1066 - 1400): The era most people think of when the Middle Ages are brought up: [[KnightInShiningArmor knights]] and squires fighting to [[SaveThePrincess save princesses]] while people live in castles and listen to minstrels and troubadours singing songs. People will engage in ChivalricRomance, CourtlyLove and tournaments, or storm castles with long ladders while the people inside pour boiling oil over the invaders.Everybody speaks in YeOldeButcheredEnglish. Also the era of less heroic events, such as UsefulNotes/TheCrusades where Saracens and UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar kill one another in name of their gods. Or people being [[BurnTheWitch burned as witches or for being heretics]], even though these became more prominent from the 16th century on. And the awful TheBlackDeath which killed off millions of people, not only due to the illness itself but also because witches and Jews were blamed for it and put on the stake. Historical domain characters that will have a cameo or be namedropped are UsefulNotes/WilliamTheConqueror, Saladin, UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan, Kublai Khan, UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionheart, UsefulNotes/KingJohnOfEngland, UsefulNotes/RobertTheBruce, Creator/GeoffreyChaucer, UsefulNotes/ThomasBecket, ... Any medieval legend or FairyTale is usually set during this time era like Myth/RobinHood. |
| 449 | ** TheLateMiddleAges (1400 - 1500): The Middle Ages as we know it from a lot of paintings from this era. Economy is at its highest, architecture is Romanic and people wear a lot of fancy clothing. Royals and noblemen engage [[FeudingFamilies in murderous feuds among the noble clans]] and the CorruptChurch is starting to really get overboard in persecuting [[BurnTheWitch witches and heretics]] by introducing UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition. In England, the UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses is the most important event during this era, though globally UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar (1337-1453), UsefulNotes/TheFallOfConstantinople and UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus discovering America in 1492 are the only things worth remembering. Expect a cameo or a namedrop of UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc, Creator/DanteAlighieri, Creator/HieronymusBosch, UsefulNotes/ThomasMore, Desiderius Erasmus, UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler, UsefulNotes/EleanorofAquitaine, [[UsefulNotes/TheCatholicMonarchs Ferdinand and Isabella]], and UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus. |
| 450 | * UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance (late 1450s - 1650): Any reference to this time period will always be set in Italy, despite the tendency to have Renaissance fairs be set in England and be more close to Middle Ages imagery. The Renaissance will only consist of references made to ''Art/TheMonaLisa'', the ''Art/TheLastSupper'', the Art/SistineChapel, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, and Creator/MichelangeloBuonarroti's ''Art/{{David}}''. Cameo appearances by Creator/LeonardoDaVinci, Creator/MichelangeloBuonarroti, Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia, Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli, Petrarch, Giacomo Savaranola, Creator/GiovanniBoccaccio, Creator/SandroBotticelli, Creator/RaphaelSanzio, Donatello, UsefulNotes/PopeAlexanderVI,... are mandatory. In Britain, this is the Shakespearean age, so expect Creator/WilliamShakespeare, UsefulNotes/HenryVIII, UsefulNotes/ElizabethI and UsefulNotes/MaryTudor, UsefulNotes/MaryQueenOfScots, UsefulNotes/AnneBoleyn, UsefulNotes/SirFrancisDrake, Sir Walter Raleigh,... to be namedropped or have a cameo. Spain and Portugal engage in the age of WoodenShipsAndIronMen, but to most people, this is just UsefulNotes/HernanCortez and UsefulNotes/FranciscoPizarro and other conquistadores massacring Aztecs and Incas in some {{Mayincatec}} empire. But the most important event is Martin Luther establishing Protestantism and the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation happening as a result. A close second is UsefulNotes/JohannesGutenberg inventing the printing device. In terms of War we have the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War to reference. This is also the most prominent era to reference UsefulNotes/CharlesV and UsefulNotes/PhilipII of Spain, UsefulNotes/IvanTheTerrible, Creator/PieterBruegelTheElder, Albrecht Dürer, Titian, William the Silent/William of Orange, UsefulNotes/{{Nostradamus}}, Creator/RembrandtVanRijn, Creator/JohannesVermeer, Creator/PeterPaulRubens, Caravaggio, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, UsefulNotes/GalileoGalilei, ... In terms of fashion: everybody wears a ruff [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruff_%28clothing%29]]. |
| 451 | * UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment (1600-1800), TheCavalierYears or The Baroque era: The time period where absolutism reigned, but people starting getting [[UsefulNotes/TheScientificMethod more faith in science and logic]] rather than religion and divine royals. This led to a number of scientific discoveries, inventions and more humane ways of thought that would prove beneficial to mankind, including those which led to the Industrial Revolution. Yet to the general public this is mostly the era of powdered wigs, BaroqueMusic, [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfPiracy pirates]], [[TheHighwayman highway robbers]], [[TheDandy dandies]] and {{swashbuckler}}s. To the English the only noteworthy events are the Gunpowder Plot, UsefulNotes/EnglishCivilWar and the Great Fire in London. To the French this is the era of Versailles, UsefulNotes/LouisXIV and the eventual UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution. American history focuses on the arrival of the puritans on the ''Mayflower'' and UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, with UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington, UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson, Creator/BenjaminFranklin and UsefulNotes/MarquisDeLaFayette as points of reference. Important people to have a cameo or be namedropped in this time period are UsefulNotes/JamesVIAndI, UsefulNotes/GuyFawkes, UsefulNotes/LouisXIV, Creator/{{Moliere}}, UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat, UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat, UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat, UsefulNotes/MariaTheresa, UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton, Music/JohannSebastianBach, Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart, Music/AntonioVivaldi, Music/GeorgeFredericHandel, Creator/{{Voltaire}}, James Watt, Creator/JonathanSwift, Creator/GiacomoCasanova, Creator/JeanJacquesRousseau, Creator/ThomasPaine,... |
| 452 | ** UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution: One of the few historic events important enough for all countries worldwide. The general public's idea of this time period is basically peasants storming the Bastille, dethroning the king and falling into the ReignOfTerror, where [[OffWithHisHead a lot of people are being guillotined]]. Interesting people to have a cameo are UsefulNotes/MaximilienRobespierre, UsefulNotes/LouisXVI, UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette, Georges Danton, Jean-Paul Marat, Creator/MarquisDeSade and UsefulNotes/CharlotteCorday. UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte will also pop up as a sign of future events. |
| 453 | ** UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfPiracy: All references to pirates will typically be concentrated between 1650 and 1720, even though piracy has existed centuries before and after. All of them will have wooden legs, eyepatches, beards, TalkLikeAPirate, drink rum and are noble rebellious freedom fighters who make people WalkThePlank and hide their [[PirateBooty Buried Treasure]] on a DesertedIsland, but leave a TreasureMap behind to find it. If a pirate is needed for a cameo it will usually be UsefulNotes/{{Blackbeard}}, William Kidd, Mary Read and UsefulNotes/AnneBonny. |
| 454 | * UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars: The first two decades of the 19th century are completely dominated by UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte and will be marked only by his victory in Austerlitz, being crowned as emperor, his failed invasion of Russia and the Battle of Waterloo. The British will focus a lot on Admiral UsefulNotes/HoratioNelson and UsefulNotes/TheDukeOfWellington. In Russian stories shout-outs to Creator/LeoTolstoy, Creator/AlexanderPushkin and Creator/FyodorDostoevsky are not unusual either. |
| 455 | ** UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain and VictorianLondon (1837–1901): The rest of the 19th century is dominated by the British Empire, united under the long-living UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria. The very prudent morals of this decade and the taboo of sex and nudity are still typecast as "Victorian". A more romanticized image of Victorian London will be based on the novels of Creator/CharlesDickens, Creator/JaneAusten, Creator/CharlotteBronte, Creator/EmilyBronte and Creator/ArthurConanDoyle, often set in [[AFoggyDayInLondonTown the foggy streets]]. Expect references or cameos by Queen Victoria, UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper and ''Literature/SherlockHolmes''. |
| 456 | ** UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker: Late 18th and early 19th century romantic German art, literature and poetry are often a combination of a lot of people walking around in forests, nearby lakes and contemplating suicide over love affairs or being an unappreciated genius. Typical authors associated with this time period are Novalis, Creator/JohannWolfgangVonGoethe, Creator/ETAHoffmann and Friedrich Schiller. Musicians will be Music/LudwigVanBeethoven, Music/FranzSchubert, Music/JohannesBrahms, Music/FelixMendelssohn and Music/RobertSchumann. Painters are Caspar David Friedrich and Carl Spitzweg. |
| 457 | ** GothicHorror: The late 18th century and most of the 19th century are also a popular setting for horror stories like ''Literature/TheCastleOfOtranto'', ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'', ''Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow'' and most of the works by Creator/LordByron and Creator/EdgarAllanPoe. |
| 458 | ** Most stories set in colonial times will take place in the 19th century and/or the early 20th, preferably in Africa, India or South East Asia. A popular theme is the contrast between the civilized European settlers who feel its their right to tell the local people how to live and behave, while the indigenous people try to win their right for independence. |
| 459 | ** The Industrial Revolution: The 19th century is the age when factories exploited workers for low wages and inhuman working circumstances, including child labor. This naturally leads to new political ideas, like Communism, UsefulNotes/{{Socialism}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Anarchism}}. Expect many Dickensian clichés to pop up, like orphanages and poor man's houses. Women in this era will be suffragettes who demand the right to vote. |
| 460 | ** Politically the 19th century is the era of nationalism, with many European and Latin American countries becoming independent or at least trying to become so. So naturally many tales of a glorious revolution and national heroes will be commemorated here. |
| 461 | ** Stories about artists will preferably be set in Paris and revolve around impressionist, expressionist, or realist painters who are misunderstood by everybody: Creator/VincentVanGogh, Creator/HenriDeToulouseLautrec, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Signac, [[Art/ASundayAfternoonOnTheIslandOfLaGrandeJatte Georges Seurat]], [[Art/LeDejeunerSurLHerbe Édouard Manet]], Gustave Courbet, Auguste Rodin... They will drink absinthe and visit brothels, while prostitutes [[Music/TheCanCanSong dance the Can-Can]] in the Moulin Rouge. Naturally we also see the {{Eiffel Tower|Effect}}. Cameo appearances or references to Creator/VictorHugo, Creator/AlexandreDumas, Creator/HonoreDeBalzac, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Creator/EmileZola, and Music/ErikSatie are not uncommon either. |
| 462 | ** TheWildWest: Arguably one of the most popular eras for romanticizing is the era of the cowboys, with all TheWestern clichés you can imagine: BarBrawl, GoldFever, TheSheriff, ShowdownAtHighNoon, BountyHunter, TheGunslinger, TarAndFeathers, WantedPoster,... pioneers riding in stagecoaches under attack of outlaws or Native Americans,... Will typically be depicted as a mythical era with hardly any reference to historically true events, except perhaps the Gold Rush of 1848, UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar and/or the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Expect some sugarcoating over the fact that slavery of black people was still in effect and that the wars against Native Americans for their country were going on until the 1890s. Important people to make cameos or be namedropped are UsefulNotes/BillyTheKid, UsefulNotes/JesseJames, Calamity Jane, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Creator/BuffaloBill, Creator/MarkTwain, the Hatfield and [=McCoy=] feud (which didn't even take place in the West, but rather in UsefulNotes/{{Appalachia}}), Roy Bean, Wild Bill Hickok, Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Harriet Beecher Stowe, UsefulNotes/HarrietTubman, John Brown, UsefulNotes/FrederickDouglass, Belle Starr, UsefulNotes/DavyCrockett,... |
| 463 | ** UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar: In US history this is the most important event of the 19th century to the point that all dramas will typically be set during this war. Naturally UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln and his eventual assassination are a major plot point. Other points of reference are UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant and UsefulNotes/RobertELee. |
| 464 | ** AnImmigrantsTale: All stories about immigrants pursuing UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream will be set in the late 19th and 20th century. The image of them arriving by boat at the New York harbor to witness the Art/StatueOfLiberty is mandatory. |
| 465 | ** Important 19th century people to namedrop or have a cameo during this era are UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria, UsefulNotes/BenjaminDisraeli, UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck, UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin, Music/LudwigVanBeethoven, Creator/CharlesDickens, Creator/LordByron, Creator/AlfredLordTennyson, Music/RichardWagner, Creator/JulesVerne, Creator/VictorHugo, Creator/HonoreDeBalzac, Creator/LewisCarroll, Creator/JaneAusten, Creator/EdgarAllanPoe, Creator/GilbertAndSullivan, UsefulNotes/SimonBolivar, Creator/KarlMarx, David Livingstone, Henry Morton Stanley, Cecil Rhodes, Sarah Bernhardt, Alfred Nobel, UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison, UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla, Florence Nightingale, UsefulNotes/ShakaZulu,... |
| 466 | ** The 19th century will be usually romanticized by men walking around in high hats and women in [[GorgeousPeriodDress crinolines]] with a ParasolOfPrettiness. People will take a ride in horse carriages, watch a ''magic lantern'' show and visit an {{Opera}}, Circus or a {{Vaudeville}} show too. Expect references be made to many of the new inventions taking place throughout this century, such as photography, the telephone, electric light, pedaled bicycles, the train and, near the 1890s, the car. Sporting events become more prominent, like baseball, cycling, soccer, rugby, cricket and the modern Olympic Games. You will also see the contrast between upper class aristocrats and their servants. Especially the 1890s are a popular target, see TheGay90s, also characterized as "La Belle Époque". |
| 467 | ** GreatDetective novel: The late 19th century and early 20th century are the best place for detective stories, such as ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'', ''Literature/MissMarple'', ''Franchise/HerculePoirot'', ''Literature/Maigret'',... |
| 468 | * The 20th century: The only important things that happened overall are usually UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, the gangster era, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, UsefulNotes/ColdWar, UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, the moon landing and the fall of the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall. |
| 469 | ** TheEdwardianEra (1901–1914) Ties in with TheGay90s (1890s) as a nostalgic period just before the horrors of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI would break out. People will go to the movie theater, read newspaper comics, join the boy scouts, listen to early phonograph records and watch people fly through the sky in early aeroplanes or zeppelins. Important people who'll have a cameo or be referenced in this era are Creator/HarryHoudini, UsefulNotes/TheWrightBrothers, UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt, Creator/GeorgeBernardShaw, Creator/PabloPicasso, Isadora Duncan, Anna Pavlova, Henry Ford, UsefulNotes/HelenKeller, Edward VII, Emmeline Pankhurst, Enrico Caruso, UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud, Albert Schweitzer, Sun Yat-sen, Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott and UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein. The only real tragedy is the sinking of the UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic. |
| 470 | ** UsefulNotes/WorldWarI (1914–1918): People getting shot in the trenches, while the whole pointlessness of the war is frequently addressed by soldiers, but not as much by their superiors. Tanks and mustard gas are the most prominent weapons used, ''not'' artillery or Machine guns. Expect references to Gavrilo Princip, [[UsefulNotes/FranzFerdinandOfAustria Archduke Franz Ferdinand]], Kaiser UsefulNotes/WilhelmII of Germany, general Paul von Hindenburg, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, Henri Pétain, George V, Lord Kitchener, UsefulNotes/DavidLloydGeorge, UsefulNotes/MataHari, the Red Baron, Douglas Haig and UsefulNotes/TELawrence "of Arabia". At the home front women work in factories. In Ireland the other noteworthy event is the Easter Rising. In the field of art UsefulNotes/{{Dada}} is the most important artistic event and Creator/MarcelProust and Creator/FranzKafka the most important authors. |
| 471 | ** UsefulNotes/RedOctober: Another event of world importance, where the usual cameos will be made by UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk, UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin, UsefulNotes/LeonTrotsky, Czar UsefulNotes/NicholasII, princess UsefulNotes/{{Anastasia|NikolaevnaRomanova}} and UsefulNotes/JosefStalin. |
| 472 | ** TheRoaring20s and GenteelInterbellumSetting: A happy, carefree time where people sing and dance to {{Jazz}} while smoking and drinking in shady nightclubs. In the USA alcohol is banned during this time period, so when people do consume liquor it's usually illegal. All women are [[TheFlapper flappers]] with a TwentiesBobHaircut. Other pastimes are the cinema, Broadway theatre or radio plays. The only negative aspect about these years are [[DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster gangsters and mobsters rubbing people out]] in the USA and UsefulNotes/{{Fascism}} rising in Italy. Important people to have a cameo are UsefulNotes/AlCapone, Eliot Ness, Creator/AlJolson, Charles Lindbergh, Creator/BabeRuth, UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini, Kemal Atatürk, Music/LouisArmstrong, Music/CabCalloway, Music/BessieSmith, Music/DukeEllington, Music/GeorgeGershwin, Music/CountBasie, Benny Goodman, UsefulNotes/ChiangKaiShek, UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi... |
| 473 | ** GayParee: The 1920s and 1930s are the most interesting hotspot for cultural and intellectual people: Creator/PabloPicasso, Music/IgorStravinsky, UsefulNotes/CocoChanel, Creator/JosephineBaker, Creator/JamesJoyce, Gertrude Stein, Creator/JeanCocteau, Creator/SalvadorDali, Creator/FScottFitzgerald, Creator/MauriceChevalier, Le Corbusier, Margot Fonteyn, Music/DjangoReinhardt, Creator/ErnestHemingway, Creator/JeanPaulSartre and Simone de Beauvoir,... can all be spotted here. |
| 474 | ** UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic: In Germany the Weimar Republic is ideal to show scenes taking place in shady cabarets, where Music/KurtWeill, Creator/BertoltBrecht, Zarah Leander can be found and Creator/MarleneDietrich before she moved to Hollywood. More dramatic stuff going on in the background is the economic recession and UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler slowly but surely gaining power. |
| 475 | ** MediaNotes/TheSilentAgeOfHollywood: When referring to EarlyFilms the only silent movie stars to reference are Creator/FlorenceLawrence, aka "The Biograph Girl", Creator/DouglasFairbanks, Creator/MaryPickford, Creator/ErichVonStroheim, The Keystone Cops, Creator/MaryPickford, Max Linder, Theda Bara, Creator/GretaGarbo, Creator/LouiseBrooks, Rin Tin Tin, Creator/RudolphValentino, Creator/ClaraBow, Creator/FattyArbuckle, Creator/BusterKeaton, Creator/HaroldLloyd and of course Creator/CharlieChaplin. |
| 476 | ** TheGreatDepression: People worldwide look for jobs, but can't find any. In Germany this is particular bad because it will lead many to vote for UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. In the USA this time period is particularly associated with poor people in TheDeepSouth, bank robbers and gangsters like Bonnie & Clyde, Ma Barker, UsefulNotes/JohnDillinger, Babyface Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd and the FBI. led by J. Edgar Hoover trying to track them down. Still the era is subject to some romanticism, as many great {{jazz}}, {{blues}}, {{bluegrass}}, {{country|Music}}, and {{folk|Music}} tunes were recorded during this era. Expect references be made to artists like Music/RobertJohnson, Gene Krupa, Music/WoodyGuthrie, Music/GlennMiller and Music/BillieHoliday, for instance. |
| 477 | ** MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood: The introduction of sound in 1927 led to a period of {{Glamour}} to give many people some escapism. Whenever Hollywood is referenced in pop culture it's usually during this era, with many references to icons like Creator/ClarkGable, Creator/JoanCrawford, Creator/EdwardGRobinson, Creator/LaurelAndHardy, Creator/TheMarxBrothers, Creator/WCFields, Creator/BelaLugosi, Creator/BetteDavis, Creator/ShirleyTemple, Creator/JamesCagney, Creator/ErrolFlynn, Creator/HumphreyBogart, Music/BingCrosby, Creator/BorisKarloff, Creator/BusbyBerkeley, Creator/CaryGrant, Creator/GaryCooper, Creator/JeanHarlow, Creator/MauriceChevalier, Creator/MarleneDietrich, Creator/MickeyRooney, Creator/JimmyDurante, Creator/GeorgeBurns, Creator/HenryFonda, Creator/JohnWayne, Creator/JohnnyWeissmuller, Creator/KatharineHepburn, Creator/VivienLeigh, Creator/SpencerTracy, Creator/PeterLorre, Creator/OrsonWelles, Creator/LaurenBacall, Creator/JudyGarland, ''Film/TheLittleRascals'', Film/TheThreeStooges, Creator/FredAstaire, Creator/GingerRogers, Creator/ClaudetteColbert, and naturally Creator/WaltDisney's creation ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse''. If a specific film needs to be referenced it will be ''Film/{{King Kong|1933}}'', ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'', ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', ''Film/CitizenKane'' or ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''. |
| 478 | ** UsefulNotes/NaziGermany: Naturally most movies depicting the 1930s and 1940s will at one point reference the Nazis or use it as a major plot point. Key moments will be Hitler being elected, the burning of the Reichstag, mass book burnings, the Anschluss with Austria, Kristallnacht, the 1938 Conference of München and the eventual invasion of Poland. It's also the time period of dictators, with UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini (Italy), UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco (Spain), UsefulNotes/JosefStalin (Soviet Union),... as the most well known examples. Another drama is UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg disaster. |
| 479 | ** The 1930s are a quiet time for Great Britain, with only Edward VIII's abdication and George VI's succession as important events. And, of course, UsefulNotes/NevilleChamberlain's failed attempt to sign peace with Hitler. |
| 480 | ** The40s pop culture is characterized by Creator/HumphreyBogart, Creator/BettyGrable, Creator/BobHope, Creator/AbbottAndCostello, Creator/AlfredHitchcock, Music/DeanMartin and Creator/JerryLewis, bebop jazz, Music/FrankSinatra, Vera Lynn, Music/EdithPiaf, neo-realistic Italian movies and MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation cartoons of ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}, WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}, WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}, WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}, WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes, WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry, WesternAnimation/{{Droopy}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker''. |
| 481 | ** After 1945 the major events are the Iron Curtain, the Nuremberg Trials, the independence of India, Israel becoming its own state, UsefulNotes/HarryTruman establishing the Truman doctrine, the Soviet Union launching its own atomic bomb, the arrival of the UN and NATO, South Africa establishing apartheid and UsefulNotes/MaoZedong turning China into a Communist state. In the USA anti-communist witch hunts under command of UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy take a turn for the worse, with many people being blacklisted. Important postwar people are UsefulNotes/DavidBenGurion, Konrad Adenauer, UsefulNotes/HarryTruman, UsefulNotes/JosipBrozTito, UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, Wernher von Braun and UsefulNotes/MaoZedong. |
| 482 | ** The Forties are also a popular setting for HardBoiledDetective novels and FilmNoir stories. |
| 483 | ** The50s: A happy carefree time, at least that is the view that many sitcoms and movies have given us. All adult men are a Standard50sFather who wears slippers, fedoras and smokes a pipe. All adult women are [[StepfordSmiler smiling]] apron-clad {{housewi|fe}}ves. Their children will be girls in poodle skirts, playing with hula hoops or early Barbie dolls or cute freckle faced boys with slingshots in their pockets and read comic books on the sly. Or, if they are teenagers, they will be teddy boys, GreaserDelinquents, a BadassBiker or a {{Beatnik}} reading Magazine/{{Playboy}} on the sly. They drive a CoolCar with {{RetroRocket}}s to eat at UsefulNotes/McDonalds or watch a [[BMovie monster B-movie]] at a DriveInTheater. But, most importantly, they will listen to RockAndRoll, {{Doowop}}, RAndB or {{Rockabilly}} on a transistor radio or a jukebox, especially Music/BillHaleyAndHisComets, Music/ElvisPresley, Music/ChuckBerry, Music/LittleRichard, Music/JerryLeeLewis, and Music/BuddyHolly. Jonas Salk developing the first polio vaccine, UsefulNotes/TheSpaceRace and the launch of the first Sputnik are the most important scientific breakthroughs. Other happy events are Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay being the first men on top of Mount Everest, UsefulNotes/ElizabethII being crowned, the opening of [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]], the establishment of UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion and the marriage between Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Creator/GraceKelly. Creator/TheBeatGeneration, early television shows like ''Series/ILoveLucy'', ''Series/{{Bonanza}}'' and ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'', free jazz and abstract expressionism are the cultural highlights. Creator/BettiePage, Creator/MarlonBrando, Creator/JamesDean, Creator/BrigitteBardot, Creator/JayneMansfield, Creator/SophiaLoren, Music/ElvisPresley, Creator/MarilynMonroe and ''Magazine/{{Playboy}}'' lead the sexual revolution. In popular culture there will be far less focus on the [[RedScare anti-communist witch hunts]] , UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar, the fear of the bomb, the first nuclear power plants being built, the Soviet oppression of the Hungarian Uprising, UsefulNotes/FidelCastro turning Cuba into a Communist state and the rise of the Afro-American civil rights movement under Rosa Parks and UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr |
| 484 | ** The60s: A revolutionary time, where all kinds of minorities (youngsters, college students, blacks, women, gays, colonial countries,...) demand equal rights, freedom of speech and the end of old-fashioned, conformist and repressive values. TheGenerationGap between adults and youngsters becomes more prominent. All teenagers are left-wing [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippies]] who wear flowers in their hair, drive around in a HippieVan and want to travel to California or Katmandu to join a {{Commune}}. Or if they are black they will wear an afro and listen to Creator/{{Motown}}. They will all support the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement and protest against UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. The men are either a ScooterRidingMod, a snappin' {{Beatnik}} or a [[LoveFreak peace loving']], long bearded hippie wearing CoolShades playing guitar. That is if they aren't sent off under {{Conscription}} to Vietnam to die in a pointless war against the Vietcong. (Veterans who come back maimed, drug-addicted or with PTSD or mental illness is seen in The70s.) All women are a GranolaGirl who may wear a BeehiveHairdo and a Mini Skirt or a long "granny" skirt and peasant blouse. Since the anticonception pill has made its entry and hallucinogenic drugs like LSD and marihuana reach the mainstream everybody will engage in SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll. Expect many hippies to be TheStoner or EruditeStoner searching for a HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs. The music is usually the most celebrated part of this era, with great {{Rock}}, SurfRock, FolkMusic, {{Pop}}, PsychedelicRock, {{Soul}}, {{Funk}} being made by bands like Music/TheBeatles, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, Music/TheWho, Music/TheBeachBoys, Music/BobDylan, Music/JamesBrown, Music/JanisJoplin, Music/JimiHendrix, Music/TheGratefulDead and Music/TheDoors as the most iconic examples. Expect a reference to the ''Film/{{Woodstock}}'' festival too. UndergroundComics, SpaghettiWestern, SpyDrama, UsefulNotes/FrenchNewWave and Pop Art are the prime artistic movements. Central Asian culture is very popular, with Music/RaviShankar and the Hare Krishna movement as prime examples. Mankind brings the first man (UsefulNotes/YuriGagarin) and woman (Valentina Tereshkova) in space and the first one on the moon: UsefulNotes/NeilArmstrong. UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli becomes boxing's world heavyweight champion. Also namedrop some slogans like: "Make Love Not War", "Black Power!", "Ban the Bomb", "Don't Trust Anyone Over 30", "Flower Power" and "Turn on, Tune In and Drop Out". In fact, most people forget the less fun things going on, like the building of the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall, the UsefulNotes/CubanMissileCrisis, the assassinations of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, UsefulNotes/MalcolmX, UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr, UsefulNotes/CheGuevara and UsefulNotes/RobertFKennedy, UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, UsefulNotes/MaoZedong's "Cultural" Revolution, the Soviet Union oppressing the Prague Spring, Greece becoming a Fascist dictatorship for five years, Libya putting UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi in charge for more than 40 years, many young people getting brainwashed in religious cults with the UsefulNotes/CharlesManson murders as a prime example, endless race riots in the US, UsefulNotes/TheTroubles in Ireland, and many colonies in Africa finally becoming independent, only to fall into civil war or dictatorships afterward. The 60s ended at the [[Film/GimmeShelter Altamont rock concert]] where a black man was killed by the Hells Angels while (or because) Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} played "Sympathy for the Devil".[[note]]Speaking of said killing, the victim had rushed the stage with a gun while the Stones were playing "Under My Thumb". The killing was ruled to be self-defense.[[/note]] |
| 485 | ** The70s: Men wear polyester leisure suits with flaring trouser cuffs and huge ties while sporting [[SeventiesHair heavily sprayed and manicured hair, sideburns included]]. Women wear feathered, Creator/FarrahFawcett hair above their slinky dresses with [[VaporWear no bras]] underneath. Black people sport a huge, poofy afro as a TakeThat to past straightening practices. A great time for cult TV shows, [[ExploitationFilm exploitation movies]], Martial Arts movies, {{Blaxploitation}}, {{Erotic Film}} and Hollywood blockbusters. Young people are into GlamRock, {{Funk}}, {{Reggae}}, PunkRock, {{Disco}}, NewWaveMusic and/or HeavyMetal. Video games, video recorders, and skateboards are starting to get in vogue. People seem less keen to remember the Watergate affair, UsefulNotes/RichardNixon's resignation, the economic recession, the oil crisis, UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, terrorist bombings, {{serial killer}}s, kidnappings and plane hijackings becoming more prominent, the assassination of Aldo Moro in 1978, UsefulNotes/IdiAmin, UsefulNotes/AugustoPinochet, UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein, and Ayatollah Khomeini turning their countries into dictatorships and the death of Music/ElvisPresley. This is also the decade when most people become aware of human pollution destroying the environment. |
| 486 | ** The80s: Fondly remembered for CNN, Creator/{{MTV}}, SynthPop, Music/MichaelJackson, Music/{{Madonna}}, UsefulNotes/LiveAid, "Music/WeAreTheWorld", HipHop, GothRock, HouseMusic, arcade video games, VideoGame/PacMan, Creator/{{Nintendo}}, the walkman, the marriage of [[UsefulNotes/CharlesIII Prince Charles]] and UsefulNotes/{{Diana|PrincessOfWales}}, blockbuster action films starring Creator/SylvesterStallone and Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger, Lech Wałęsa, UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev's reforms, the fall of the Iron Curtain and UsefulNotes/BerlinWall. All young people engage in breakdancing, skateboarding, and weary EightiesHair or are a ValleyGirl. People feel less nostalgic towards the AIDS epidemic, the crack cocaine craze, the assassinations of Music/JohnLennon, Roberto Calvi and Olof Palme, UsefulNotes/{{the Falklands War}}, the ''Challenger'' explosion, the Irangate affair, the USA backing the overthrow of the socialist government in Nicaragua, the UsefulNotes/IranIraqWar, the [[UsefulNotes/SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan USSR–Afghan war]], the UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}} nuclear disaster, economic recession and unemployment under [[UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan Reaganomics]] and [[UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher Thatcherism]], big-money televangelism and subsequent scandals, the rise of the far-right in many Western countries, US and USSR tensions resulting in fear for nuclear missile escalation, Creator/SalmanRushdie being put under a fatwa, the Latin American debt crisis… |
| 487 | ** The90s: Seen as a more innocent, carefree time when the Cold War was finally over, the Soviet Union dissolved; Germany reunited and a freed UsefulNotes/NelsonMandela got elected as the first black president of South Africa. Young people enjoy more sophisticated 2-D and 3-D video games, {{Grunge}}, BritPop, GangstaRap, {{Techno}}, piercings, the dinosaur rage of ''Film/JurassicPark'', Creator/QuentinTarantino movies, adult animated shows like ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' and ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''. The Internet and cell phones became huge and introduced a whole new area of pop culture, headed by Microsoft and Apple. The arrival of the first cloned sheep and Viagra brought hope for scientific development. UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan headed the DreamTeam to universal success and made basketball popular worldwide. Also of note: the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the UsefulNotes/{{Rodney King|AndTheLosAngelesRiots}} scandal, the Creator/OJSimpson scandal, UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}}, the Oklahoma City bombing, the deaths of Music/FreddieMercury, Music/KurtCobain, Music/{{Tupac|Shakur}} and [[Music/TheNotoriousBIG Biggie]], and Princess UsefulNotes/{{Diana|PrincessOfWales}}. Usually forgotten are UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar, [[UsefulNotes/TheYugoslavWars the war in ex-Yugoslavia]], UsefulNotes/SlobodanMilosevic, Ratko Mladić, Radovan Karadžić, Arkan, Srebrenica, the war in Somalia, the genocide in Rwanda, Joseph Kony, Silvio Berlusconi getting elected as president and not getting out of Italian politics ever since, the deaths of Ayrton Senna, Yitzhak Rabin, and Wrestling/OwenHart, the Asian and Russian financial crises… |
| 488 | * The 21st century: The major sociological evolution is that most people from the 2000s onwards are able to afford Internet and thus play online games and engage in social networks and web forums. Many listen and watch music and movies for free online. Many Apple gadgets like the iPod, iPad, touch screens, and cell phones with cameras are extremely popular. Politically this is the era of UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror, with the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City as the turning point. For most of the 2000s UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden, Guantanamo Bay, Al Qaeda and UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein dominate the news. In the 2010s ISIS and Boko Haram are the most prominent new threat. Populist right-wing parties, many far-right, get more votes in elections. UsefulNotes/TheArabSpring in 2011 has many North African and Middle Eastern countries revolting against their dictators and ousting them from power. Literature/HarryPotter is everywhere. UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion gets its own currency: the euro. Spy scandals in both the US government as well as social networks frequently make headlines. The wedding of Princess Kate and Prince William is the most-watched social event. The deaths of Creator/HeathLedger, Music/MichaelJackson, Music/AmyWinehouse, Creator/SteveJobs, Creator/PaulWalker, Creator/RobinWilliams, and Music/{{Prince}} are the most prominent celebrity tragedies. |
| 489 | [[/folder]] |
| 490 | |
| 491 | [[folder:Military]] |
| 492 | * If you need famous military people all attention will usually go to those in highest rank, namely the generals. Just see UsefulNotes/MilitaryPersonnel, to get an idea. |
| 493 | * UsefulNotes/WorldWarI: |
| 494 | ** World War I has a very short list of characters. [[UsefulNotes/FranzFerdinandOfAustria Archduke Ferdinand]], Gavrilo Prinzip, UsefulNotes/NicholasII, UsefulNotes/WilhelmII, George IV, Alfred von Schlieffen, Helmuth von Moltke the Younger, Erich von Falkenhayn, Paul von Hindenburg, Erich Ludendorff, Georg Bruchmüller, Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, Joseph Joffre, Philippe Pétain, Aleksei Brusilov, Alexander Kerensky, [[UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin Vladimir Ilyich Lenin]], Sir Douglas Haig, Sir Arthur Currie, Sir John Monash, Lawrence of Arabia, and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. That's it. |
| 495 | ** There were no War Crimes in World War I except UsefulNotes/{{the Armenian Genocide}}. None. No gratuitous killing of [=POWs=], no ethnic cleansing in places like Russian-occupied Galicia and Podolia, no deportations of populations like in Alsace (by the French), and no stripping places like Russian Poland and Ukraine of food to feed the German homeland with near-disastrous consequences. Nope. |
| 496 | ** World War I ''was'' the Western Front. And not just the Western Front, the French bit of the Western Front. And not just the French bit of the Western Front, the ''English-speaking'' corner/third/half/two-thirds of the Western Front. |
| 497 | *** The Italian section of the Western Front (Italy/UK/US/France vs. Germany/A-H), the Eastern Front (Russia & Romania vs. Germany/Ottoman/Austria-Hungary/Bulgaria), the Balkans, Africa, and the Middle East. didn't happen. |
| 498 | *** Except for [[UsefulNotes/TELawrence Lawrence of Arabia]], but it's rarely mentioned that this was part of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. |
| 499 | *** Except in Australia, where UsefulNotes/WorldWarI ''was'' the Gallipolli campaign of 1915. And ''maybe'' France. Despite the fact that more Australians fought (and died, for that matter) in France than in Turkey. |
| 500 | ** World War I was just the UK vs. Germany. And maybe the Americans and rest of the English-speaking Empire. |
| 501 | *** France wasn't in World War I, except as a geographical expression. Never mind that she lost more soldiers than any combatant save Germany and Russia, held up the entire Western Front practically by herself for two years, and a third of it for the two years after that. |
| 502 | *** Russia wasn't in World War I, except as a place for the Germans to transfer troops from in early 1918. Never mind that she lost more soldiers than any combatant save Germany and held up the entire Eastern Front practically by herself for four years. |
| 503 | ** All British WWI brass were upper-class, incompetent, and indifferent as to their failures or the resulting loss of life. For that matter, the British WWI Brass? Sir Douglas Haig, Sir Arthur Currie, and Sir John Monash. That's all three of them alright. |
| 504 | ** The Important operations of World War I were The Marne of 1914, Somme of 1916, Passchendale of 1917, Kaiserschlacht of 1918, and Hundred Days' Offensive of 1918. The French weren't in any of those, of course, just like they weren't in anything else either. And yes, we too have never heard of these 'Verdun', 'Nivelle', 'Brusilov', 'Caporetto', or 'Vittorio Veneto' things. |
| 505 | * UsefulNotes/WorldWarII: |
| 506 | ** There's a very short list of events and people which make the cut. The invasions of Poland and France, Battle of Britain, (as of very recently) Battle of Stalingrad, Pearl Harbor, D-Day, UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust, Hitler's suicide and the UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki. Key people in this event are UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, Joseph Goebbels, UsefulNotes/HermannGoring, UsefulNotes/HeinrichHimmler, Erich von Manstein, UsefulNotes/ErwinRommel, UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini, Hirohito, UsefulNotes/HidekiTojo, UsefulNotes/IsorokuYamamoto, UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill, UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, Georgy Zhukov (maybe), UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt, UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle, Henri Pétain (maybe), UsefulNotes/GeorgeSPatton, UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower, UsefulNotes/BernardLawMontgomery, Chester Nimitz and UsefulNotes/DouglasMacArthur. Some war victims and resistance heroes like Anne Frank, Sophie Scholl, Raoul Wallenberg, Janusz Korczak, UsefulNotes/SimoHayha... may get a mention too, but mostly in their countries of origin. Expect the French, Polish and other continental resistance movements not to get a mention elsewhere. |
| 507 | ** In American shows and movies [[AmericaWonWorldWarII all of the Allies are Americans]] and the Axis consists of either [[ThoseWackyNazis mindless umlaut-sputtering Nazis]] or sadistic Japanese killers. Definitely no Italians, Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgarians, or Yugoslavs. And 'the Russians' ([[DirtyCommunists don't call them 'the Soviets', you'll only encourage them]]) and the British? Yeah, well, they were there and hold on until the Americans came to help them and take over, while they both apparently just laid back on their backs. Nothing much happened anyway until Japan attacked [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Pearl Harbor]]. The Allies fought some naval battles with the Japanese and then after [[Film/TheLongestDay D-Day]] everything just seems to have resolved itself though there were some bumps in the road like the Battle of the Bulge and the [[NukeEm atom bomb on Hiroshima]] (never mind Nagasaki). |
| 508 | ** There were concentration camps, as presented for example in ''Film/SchindlersList''. UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust only took place in the camps, and the only death camp was Auschwitz. Which is always mentioned without its second name, Birkenau. Any and all Holocaust survivors/victims are Jewish. Not Soviet, Polish, Slavic, homosexual, Gypsy, handicapped, or communist: they were all Jewish. Or maybe those other guys were in there for some reason, but probably not a lot. Also need a BigBad working in a Nazi concentration camp? Dr. UsefulNotes/JosefMengele. Who else? |
| 509 | ** German military commanders? UsefulNotes/ErwinRommel, Erich von Manstein, aaaand Heinz Guderian. That's all three of them alright. The latter two of which [[SarcasmMode totally didn't deserve]] those silly 'war crimes' accusation things they got at Nuremberg, by the way. |
| 510 | ** Military fiction and documentaries set on the battlefields of WWII usually revolve around a select few well-known battles: |
| 511 | *** If it is about US forces it is usually Normandy and The Bulge. Italy? Maybe. North Africa? Eeeenope. |
| 512 | *** British get El Alamein and Market Garden. Italy... maybe. Singapore? How about no. Burma? Never heard of it. |
| 513 | *** The Soviets get Stalingrad and Kursk. Moscow and Berlin? Maybe. Kiev and Bagration? Yeeeeeah no. Leningrad, Hungary, and the rest? Don't even bother. |
| 514 | *** The only land battle of the entire war which didn't happen in Europe was El Alamein. Shanghai, all five battles of Changsha, and the Burmese stuff? Didn't happen. |
| 515 | *** The invasion of Poland is often mentioned, but never depicted (except in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''). The invasions of Denmark, Norway, and the Low Countries never happened. There was no fighting in the Balkans either, and the only [[LaResistance resistance movement]] was French (and occasionally Polish, but certainly never Yugoslav or Greek, except in Alistair [=MacLean=] books). Even in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', the invasion is depicted in seconds with no resistance. No Polish soldiers are ever seen. |
| 516 | *** No Canada and Juno Beach during Operation Overlord, even though it was one of the two (of four) okay landings which salvaged the initial mess. It's all Utah and Omaha, since all the Americans died. A movie about Dieppe, where the Canadians were simply cannon fodder, is a rare sight. ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106720/ Dieppe]]'' hasn't been likely shown outside of Canadian TV. |
| 517 | ** It's rare to find stuff about the Pacific Theater that was made within the last 20 years or so. Both the ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series took 5 games before either of them had a campaign set in the Pacific. Most likely because if all 10 games are put together, every major event in the European theater from 1941 onward was already done. |
| 518 | ** When the Pacific Theater does get portrayed, the entirety of it was apparently Pearl Harbor, sometimes Midway, something about a flag on Iwo Jima, and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Leyte Gulf, the largest sea battle in history, apparently never happened. And it is a fight solely between Japanese and Americans. The Chinese, Indochinese, Indonesians, Filipinos, and Australians weren't there and did nothing. Unless it's an Australian production, in which case it was just the USA and Australia. |
| 519 | *** The Enola Gay was the only plane involved in the bombing of Hiroshima. The Great Artiste and Necessary Evil did not accompany it, and by extension the Great Artiste was not accompanied by the Bockscar and Big Stink for the Nagasaki bombing. |
| 520 | * UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar: |
| 521 | ** It lasted three days, in 1863, and the entire war started and finished near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Also, all Confederate soldiers wore gray uniforms.[[note]]The Confederacy's economy was entirely incapable of providing a standard uniform for its troops.[[/note]] |
| 522 | ** Other battles that might get mentioned are Bull Run (and always the ''first'' battle there, and only because some picnickers foolishly came along to watch the show), Antietam (because it almost looks like and sounds like [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar "Vietnam", which is just cool]]), and Appomattox (because that's where General Lee surrendered — and don't be surprised if people mispronounce it so that it rhymes with "tomahawks", when [[PretentiousPronunciation it's actually "appa-matticks"]]). |
| 523 | ** The only naval battle during the war was between the ''Monitor'' and the ''Merrimac'' (which never had her name changed to CSS ''Virginia'' when she came into Confederate hands). |
| 524 | ** Even among Civil War buffs, knowledge of the war often remains restricted to Virginia and a few specific Western battles like Shiloh and Atlanta. Other campaigns — Grant's Siege of Vicksburg, Union landings along the Carolina coast, the capture of New Orleans and subsequent campaigns in Louisiana, constant fighting in border states like Missouri and Kansas, the entire naval war — are generally ignored. And anything west of the Rio Grande? ''Totally'' ignored. Only the hardest of hardcore buffs know about the Battle of Glorieta Pass in New Mexico Territory, or can tell you what the political scene was like in California at the time (pro-Union around San Francisco, pro-Confederate everywhere to the south). |
| 525 | * UsefulNotes/TheCrimeanWar is remembered, if at all, for the Charge of the Light Brigade. In other words, a small portion of an indecisive skirmish (Balaclava) gains more attention than the huge, decisive battles at the Alma, Inkerman and Sevastopol, let alone Russia and Turkey's brutal fighting in the Caucasus or various naval campaigns. For American readers, it would be like if Ball's Bluff or North Anna River were the best-known battles of the Civil War. |
| 526 | ** Probably the one individual most people can name from the Crimean War is Florence Nightingale, who served in field hospitals during the war and channeled her experience into a successful campaign for better hygiene and professional standards in nursing. In recent years, Mary Seacole who ran a store / convalescent home for officers has become well-known too. |
| 527 | * The UsefulNotes/AngloZuluWar ended after the Brits won at Rorke's Drift, right? Actually that and Isandlwana were just the first round: six months of fighting with far larger battles lay ahead. |
| 528 | * Custer's Last Stand remains far more recognizable than any other battle or massacre in the 100+ years of American Indian Wars. |
| 529 | * Western accounts of [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober The Russian Revolution]] tend to ignore or downplay the 1918–1921 Civil War. |
| 530 | * UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar and UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar are the only wars that happened in their respective countries. Never mind the fact that they had other conflicts with certain nations with major consequences in the long run. If one considers Ho Chi Minh (or his successors, after he died in 1969) to have been the main actor in the Vietnam War, then that war lasted for ''more than thirty years'' (first against the Japanese, then against the French, and ''then'' against the Americans). |
| 531 | [[/folder]] |
| 532 | |
| 533 | [[folder:Ideology]] |
| 534 | * All Marxism is a crude pastiche of Leninism, Stalinism, and/or Maoism. Meanwhile Luxemburgism, Left Communism, Marxist Humanism, Council Communism, Eurocommunism, Trotskyism, Democratic Socialism, and all the other various forms, many quite vehemently against the tendencies that began with Lenin, don't exist. If you ''tell'' people (especially [[DirtyCommunists in the US]]) about them, they refuse to believe they are any different from Leninists, Stalinists, etc. Lenin himself is often mixed up with Stalin. In truth, Lenin's policy differed strikingly from Stalin's and Lenin fiercely opposed Stalin's line in his final years, telling his supporters to get rid of Stalin as the man was starting to scare him. After Lenin's death, then again, Stalin loved to imply that he and Lenin had been great friends. |
| 535 | * The most important facet of Fascism is racial and national persecution as well as the notion of the ''race purity''. Fascism was also founded by UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and the only fascist country was the Third Reich. Maybe Italy if you're lucky, but only as somewhere for UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini to come from. Nothing ever ''happened'' in Fascist Italy! Notably averted with ''Film/LifeIsBeautiful'', a movie about an Italian Jew that starts off comedic and ends heart-wrenching. |
| 536 | * It's ironic that "fascist" is synonymous with "racist" since Mussolini's movement didn't have an explicitly racist ideology. Mussolini didn't even believe in Hitler's ethnic cleansing since the Italian dictator felt that non-European peoples should be conquered and "converted" to European culture (which made his ideas little different from 19th century imperialists); it was Hitler who introduced the ideas of racist ideology, ethnic cleansing/extermination, and enslavement. Franco's fascist government (particularly the diplomatic service) didn't share the Nazis' racial ideologies, though Franco himself didn't mind them too much either. Franco was okay with serving them, such as by cataloging the Jews in Spain on Hitler's orders, but on the other hand, he was fine with his government's resources being used to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain_in_World_War_II#Jews_and_other_refugees protect or evacuate Jews]] in Nazi-occupied countries (much to the chagrin of the Nazis) as well. In the end, tens of thousands of Jews escaped Nazi Europe through Spain. |
| 537 | * Media would have you believe that all 'Aryan Race/Aryan Union' ideology was Hitler's doing. In actuality, it was all Himmler's doing (Hitler actually laughed at him for that), and was worse than Hitler. The July 20 Bomb Plot held Himmler's assassination just as vital as Hitler's. |
| 538 | * All Capitalism (a Marxist term) is based on cronyism and obsessed with money, even though UsefulNotes/AdamSmith pointed out in ''The Wealth of Nations'' that wealth is goods and services, not gold or silver. It is also industrial, even though America was a wholly agrarian nation at the founding. |
| 539 | * There's a widespread misconception that capitalism is a conservative economic principle, when in fact it always was — and still is — ''liberal''. (Admittedly, the current habit of automatically associating liberalism with leftism and/or socialism, which is especially a U.S. thing, has done a great deal to confuse the issue.) More than that, capitalism (at least if it's ''free-market'' capitalism) can be said to be subversive and even countercultural, as economist Thomas Frank discusses in his book ''The Conquest of Cool''. |
| 540 | * Much of what is now called "Stalinist" actually started with Lenin. Stalin's main additions were the cult of personality, adoption of supposedly "rightist" attributes (patriotism, pre-revolutionary military dress) and considerable paranoia. Things like the secret police, political repression, and prison camps all came from Leninism. |
| 541 | * Don't expect anyone to realise that the USSR was never, in fact, communist. While it adhered to a communist ideology as an ideal, it never ''achieved'' communism. |
| 542 | * Don't expect racist/supremacy movements to be anything other than "White supremacy". Black supremacy, Asian supremacy and whatnot simply do not exist, and if by some fluke they are acknowledged, they will be dismissed as harmless due to their relative lack of power and influence in the Western world. |
| 543 | [[/folder]] |
| 544 | |
| 545 | [[folder:Philosophers]] |
| 546 | * Creator/{{Aristotle}}: Made a lot of scientific theories without proof which are all debunked nowadays. Also gave us the GoldenMeanFallacy. |
| 547 | * Creator/{{Confucius}} and Creator/{{Laozi}} are the only Chinese philosophers to gain fame in the West. Their theories are basically {{Koan}} one-liners. |
| 548 | * The phrase "I think, therefore I am" indicating that René Descartes popped into existence long enough to make one pithy comment, which states that only people who think can be proven to exist -- and then, only to themselves -- then disappeared again. |
| 549 | * Creator/{{Diogenes}} lived in a barrel, looked for "good people" and snarked at UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat. |
| 550 | * Creator/KarlMarx: Often seen more as a writer than an actual philosopher. Known for his big beard. |
| 551 | * Creator/FriedrichNietzsche. Usually referenced by being a [[StrawNihilist Nietzsche Wannabe]]. Also, everyone knows he had an epic mustache and went mad later in life. Said "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". Also said ''God is dead'' at one point, which is often used out of context. Popularly known as a racist and/or anti-Semite, when he was generally neither (his sister on the other hand...) |
| 552 | * Creator/{{Plato}} wrote [[PlatonicCave something about a cave]]. |
| 553 | * Creator/AynRand, if the character mentioning her is supposed to be edgy or [[VideoGame/Left4Dead in the middle of a zombie apocalypse]]. |
| 554 | * Creator/JeanPaulSartre: Existentialist who was together with Simone de Beauvoir and said that ''Hell are the others''. Smoked a pipe and was cross-eyed. |
| 555 | * Creator/{{Socrates}} drank hemlock and died. Also he knew that he knew nothing. He definitely didn't come up with the Socratic method (known in some circles under the bizarre name "sea-lioning"). |
| 556 | * Creator/{{Voltaire}}. Wrote ''Literature/{{Candide}}'' and supposedly said that he would fight for people's right to say things he disagreed with. Even though he never said that. |
| 557 | [[/folder]] |
| 558 | |
| 559 | [[folder:Politics]] |
| 560 | * [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfTheUnitedStates American Presidents]]: |
| 561 | ** UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington: Has golden/wooden teeth (which he had neither), chopped down a cherry tree (which he never did), couldn't tell a lie (yeah, right), father of the USA. On the quarter and $1 bill. |
| 562 | ** UsefulNotes/JohnAdams: Signed the Declaration of Independence before becoming president and was obnoxious and disliked. |
| 563 | ** UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson: Did a lot of important stuff that most people don't remember. On the nickel and the $2. |
| 564 | ** UsefulNotes/JamesMadison: Signed the Constitution, got us through the War of 1812. |
| 565 | ** UsefulNotes/JamesMonroe: Had a "doctrine". |
| 566 | ** UsefulNotes/JohnQuincyAdams: Son of John Adams. Allegedly "stole" the election from Jackson. Had sideburns. |
| 567 | ** UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson: Revolution general known for establishing national banks and hostility towards Indians. On the $20. |
| 568 | ** UsefulNotes/MartinVanBuren: Was Dutch. Had pointy hair sticking out of his sides. |
| 569 | ** UsefulNotes/WilliamHenryHarrison: Died after thirty days in office. Apparently didn't have a political career beforehand. |
| 570 | ** UsefulNotes/JohnTyler: First to become president after another's death. |
| 571 | ** UsefulNotes/JamesKPolk: President who fought the UsefulNotes/MexicanAmericanWar and got Texas. And more than half of Mexico's former territory.[[note]]Polk was responsible for adding more land to the US than any other President... even Jefferson.[[/note]] |
| 572 | ** UsefulNotes/ZacharyTaylor: Died from eating rotten cherries. |
| 573 | ** UsefulNotes/MillardFillmore: Took over from Taylor. Didn't do much else other than admit California and ignore the slavery issue. |
| 574 | ** UsefulNotes/FranklinPierce: Continued to worsen the slavery issue. |
| 575 | ** UsefulNotes/JamesBuchanan: President who failed to stop the nation's split. |
| 576 | ** UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln: Had a beard, a high hat, born in a log cabin[[note]]which he built with his own hands[[/note]], shot in a theater, Civil War, held a ''four score and seven years ago'' speech at Gettysburg. On the penny and $5. |
| 577 | ** UsefulNotes/AndrewJohnson: President following Lincoln, was impeached and nearly thrown out of office. |
| 578 | ** UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant: Civil War general who had a corrupt presidency. On the $50. |
| 579 | ** UsefulNotes/RutherfordBHayes: Won by one vote. First to use a telephone. |
| 580 | ** UsefulNotes/JamesGarfield: Got shot and killed a few months after taking office. Shares his name with a cartoon cat. |
| 581 | ** UsefulNotes/ChesterAArthur: Replaced Garfield, most elegantly-dressed president. |
| 582 | ** UsefulNotes/GroverCleveland: Served two non-consecutive terms. |
| 583 | ** UsefulNotes/BenjaminHarrison: The guy sandwiched between Cleveland's two terms. |
| 584 | ** UsefulNotes/GroverCleveland: Served two non-consecutive terms. |
| 585 | ** UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley: Former namesake of a mountain. Best known as the guy whose assassination led to the presidency of... |
| 586 | ** UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt: Hunter who believed in carrying a big stick, turned the country into a global superpower, had a mustache, teddy bears were named after him. |
| 587 | ** UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft: He was the heaviest President of all time, and so fat he got [[UrbanLegends stuck in the White House bathtub]].[[note]]Taft lost a ''lot'' of that weight by the time he became Chief Justice of the United States.[[/note]] |
| 588 | ** UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson: President during World War I, his wife secretly ran the country after he had a stroke. |
| 589 | ** UsefulNotes/WarrenGHarding: Highly corrupt president who died in office. |
| 590 | ** UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge: Never said anything, ever. |
| 591 | ** UsefulNotes/HerbertHoover: [[{{Misblamed}} Single-handedly caused the Great Depression.]] Has a dam named after him. |
| 592 | ** UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt: Wheelchair user during World War II who said we had nothing to fear but fear itself. Held fireside chats on the radio. On the dime. |
| 593 | ** UsefulNotes/HarryTruman: [[UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki Bombed Japan]]. Defeated Dewey. |
| 594 | ** UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower: "Ike", former WWII general who got the nation through the height of the Cold War and the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement. Created highways. Used to be on the $1 coin. |
| 595 | ** UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy: Went to bed with Creator/MarilynMonroe, claimed to be a Berliner (not a jelly donut), had a missile crisis in Cuba and was shot while riding in a car by someone [[WhoShotJFK we still haven't identified properly]]. On the half-dollar. |
| 596 | ** UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson: Passed civil rights and welfare laws but got the USA deep into the Vietnam War. |
| 597 | ** UsefulNotes/RichardNixon: Made V-signs with his hands, was not a crook, and got caught trying to cover up a burglary in the Watergate hotel, but was pardoned and now [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} lives on as a head in a jar in the year 3000.]] |
| 598 | ** UsefulNotes/GeraldFord: Only non-elected president in US history. Fell down a lot and pardoned Nixon. |
| 599 | ** UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter: Peanut farmer who failed to get hostages out of Iran, until the day Reagan was inaugurated. Wimp who was attacked by a swimming rabbit. Did "malaise" speech (which didn't mention the word "malaise"). Has risen to much greater stature in his post-presidency for his humanitarian work. |
| 600 | ** UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan: Will mention Nancy at some point, forget what he was talking about, fall asleep, say ''Tear down this wall'', nuke the USSR or say "Well". Interesting case too of someone whose political career has overshadowed his movie career. |
| 601 | ** UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush: Said "read my lips, no new taxes", Gulf War, enemy of Homer Simpson. |
| 602 | ** UsefulNotes/BillClinton: Did nothing for eight years but play saxophones & have an affair with an intern. And he didn't inhale. And [[UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton his wife]] was the real president and she ran again in 2008 and 2016. |
| 603 | ** UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush: A dumb ManChild who got rid of Saddam, but plunged the USA into an endless war in Iraq. |
| 604 | ** UsefulNotes/BarackObama: First black American president. Getting universal healthcare (dubbed as "Obamacare") and getting rid of bin Laden, all the while getting constantly obstructed by Republicans. |
| 605 | ** UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump: A billionaire businessman who writes a lot on Website/{{Twitter}}. That's all we'll say about him for now. |
| 606 | ** UsefulNotes/JoeBiden: The current president, had the biggest amount of votes, delivered millions of vaccines, promises to work on infrastructure, used to have a stuttering problem, and is always sleepy. That's all we'll say about him for now, too. |
| 607 | ** There are over 40 presidents to date, but which ones will be mentioned in pop culture? At the very least, Washington, Lincoln, the current one, and the previous three or four at any moment in time. Jefferson,[[note]]Though with him, it's mainly his actions during the American Revolution — long ''before'' he became president — that get talked about. That and, uh, the Sally Hemings matter.[[/note]] the Roosevelts, Kennedy, Nixon, and Reagan are also likely to come up. If you need more, you'll likely get Adams, Madison, Jackson, Grant, Wilson, and everyone from Truman on. The others... not really. |
| 608 | * All Vice Presidents will be "recent" ones; think the ones in the last 50 years or so: UsefulNotes/SpiroAgnew, UsefulNotes/NelsonRockefeller, UsefulNotes/WalterMondale, UsefulNotes/DanQuayle, UsefulNotes/AlGore, UsefulNotes/DickCheney, UsefulNotes/MikePence, and UsefulNotes/KamalaHarris. The only other ones worth noting are the ones who later became presidents (Adams, Jefferson, Van Buren, Tyler, Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Arthur, Teddy Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman, Nixon, LBJ, Ford, Bush Sr., and UsefulNotes/JoeBiden). The only other notable ones are famous for something unrelated to their vice presidency (Aaron Burr for killing UsefulNotes/AlexanderHamilton in a duel, George Clinton sharing his name with a funk musician, Elbridge Gerry for being the namesake for "Gerrymandering", John C. Calhoun for his pro-slavery activism, George Dallas for being the namesake of the Texas city, John C. Breckenridge for running against Lincoln for president, UsefulNotes/AdlaiStevensonI for being the grandfather of Eisenhower's Democratic opponent in 1952 and 1956 UsefulNotes/AdlaiStevensonII, Charles W. Fairbanks for being the namesake of the Alaska city, UsefulNotes/HubertHumphrey for being the namesake for the Metrodome and Nixon's opponent in 1968). Some people are able to work out that LBJ must have been Vice President at some point if he became President when JFK was shot; however, that logic doesn't extend to Lincoln; after Lincoln was shot you'd think there just wasn't a President. |
| 609 | * A lot of Americans believe that the Secretary of State is next in line for the presidency after the Vice President, but it is actually the Speaker of the House of Representatives, followed by the President pro tempore of the Senate. The fact that Secretary of State Alexander Haig was apparently under that assumption following the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan did not help matters. |
| 610 | * American First Ladies: |
| 611 | ** Martha Washington: The first First Lady. |
| 612 | ** Dolly Madison: Saved a painting of George Washington from being burnt down. Got a brand of snack cakes named after her. |
| 613 | ** Mary Todd Lincoln: Known mostly because her husband is one of the best known presidents. Constantly depressed/had mental health issues. |
| 614 | ** UsefulNotes/EleanorRoosevelt: The First Lady all presidential partners have to live up to. |
| 615 | ** UsefulNotes/JacquelineKennedy: JFK's widow, who later married a guy named Onassis, which is why she's also known as "Jackie O". |
| 616 | ** Betty Ford: Created a medical center. |
| 617 | ** Nancy Reagan: Wanted everyone to ''just say no'', consulted fortune tellers. |
| 618 | ** UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton: Dominant or bitchy, depending what side you're on. Being the first female presidential nominee for a major political party. |
| 619 | ** Michelle Obama: Being the first black First Lady. |
| 620 | ** Melania Trump: Was a model, had a cool (as in "icy") demeanor, spoke in a thick Eastern European accent (being Slovenian-born). |
| 621 | * America's enemy of the moment (or America itself, DependingOnTheWriter). A full list of America's enemies throughout history: |
| 622 | ** King UsefulNotes/GeorgeIII |
| 623 | ** UsefulNotes/BenedictArnold |
| 624 | ** Antonio López de Santa Anna |
| 625 | ** UsefulNotes/JeffersonDavis (assuming that Confederates are considered "un-American") |
| 626 | ** Kaiser UsefulNotes/WilhelmII |
| 627 | ** UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler |
| 628 | ** UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini |
| 629 | ** UsefulNotes/HidekiTojo and Emperor Hirohito |
| 630 | ** UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee (assuming that demagogues are considered "un-American") |
| 631 | ** Ho Chi Minh (and the last part of his name will always be pronounced "min", even though [[PretentiousPronunciation the man himself pronounced it more like "ming"]]) |
| 632 | ** The Solid South Democratic bloc ([[RuleOfThree assuming that]] [[NoTrueScotsman segregationists and racists are considered "un-American"]]) |
| 633 | ** UsefulNotes/JosefStalin |
| 634 | ** UsefulNotes/MaoZedong |
| 635 | ** [[UsefulNotes/TheRulersOfNorthKorea Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Jong-un]] |
| 636 | ** UsefulNotes/FidelCastro |
| 637 | ** UsefulNotes/NikitaKhrushchev |
| 638 | ** The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (but only very rarely will people remember his first name) and Ali Khamenei |
| 639 | ** The Sandinistas |
| 640 | ** Manuel Noriega (and he's a footnote at best) |
| 641 | ** UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein |
| 642 | ** UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden |
| 643 | ** Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi |
| 644 | ** UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin |
| 645 | * Dictators? A tricky category, because to some people these statesmen may actually be benevolent leaders (usually by people who didn't experience their terrors themselves). For instance, UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar and UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte are technically dictators, but in some parts of Europe regarded in high esteem. Also leaders of democratic nations are generally not viewed as dictators by definition. To people whose countries have been invaded by their troops they may appear more as dictatorial powers. With all this mind, the popular choices are always: |
| 646 | ** Nazi dictators: UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. After all, he was the ''only'' one. [[note]]Karl Dönitz was [[MayorOfAGhostTown purely titular]].[[/note]] |
| 647 | ** European Fascist dictators: UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini and UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco. If you're lucky, you'll get [[UsefulNotes/AntonioDeOliveiraSalazar Antonio Salazar]] (Portugal), Ante Pavelić (Croatia), Ioannis Metaxas and Georgios Papadopoulos (Greece), Ion Antonescu (Romania), Jozef Tizo (Slovakia), Ferenc Szalasi (Hungary), and Vidkun [[TheQuisling Quisling]] (Norway) |
| 648 | ** Latin-American Fascist dictators: UsefulNotes/AugustoPinochet (Chile), Alfredo Stroessner (Paraguay), [[UsefulNotes/JuanDomingoPeron Juan Perón]], Jorge Rafaela Videla (Argentina), Papa Doc and Baby Doc Duvalier (Haiti), Manuel Noriega (Panama), UsefulNotes/FulgencioBatista (Cuba), Rafael Trujillo (the Dominican Republic), Alberto Fujimori (Peru), and the Somoza dynasty in Nicaragua. |
| 649 | ** Asian Communist dictators: UsefulNotes/MaoZedong, Pol Pot (Cambodia), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), and UsefulNotes/TheRulersOfNorthKorea (Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-Il and Kim Jong-Un). |
| 650 | *** Other Asian dictators: Hirohito and UsefulNotes/HidekiTojo (Japan), UsefulNotes/FerdinandMarcos (The Philippines), Sukarno and Suharto (Indonesia), Islam Karimov (Uzbekistan), Saparmurat Niyazov and Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow (Turkmenistan), . |
| 651 | ** European Communist dictators: UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin, UsefulNotes/JosephStalin (considered more dictatorial than any other Russian head of state during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar), Nicolae Ceauceșcu (Romania), Enver Hoxha (Albania), UsefulNotes/JosipBrozTito and UsefulNotes/SlobodanMilosevic (Yugoslavia), Walter Ubricht and Erick Honecker (East Germany), and Alexander Lukashenko (Belarus). |
| 652 | ** Latin-American Communist dictators: UsefulNotes/FidelCastro and his brother Raúl are the most famous. Also of note are UsefulNotes/HugoChavez and Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela. To a lesser degree Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua. |
| 653 | ** African dictators: UsefulNotes/IdiAmin, King Leopold I (who was the Belgian King) and Sese Seko Mobutu (Congo), Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe), Ahmed Sekou Toure (Guinea), Hastings Banda (Malawi), Kenneth Kaunda (Zambia), Gnassingbe Eyadema (Togo), Teodoro Obiang (Equatorial Guinea), Jean-Bedel Bokassa (Central African Republic), Haile Selassie and Mengistu Haile Mariam (Ethiopia), Paul Biya (Cameroon), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), ... |
| 654 | ** Arabian/North African/Middle Eastern dictators: The Three Pashas (Ottoman Empire), Atatürk and Erdoğan (Turkey), UsefulNotes/MuammarGaddafi, UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein, Reza Shah and his son Shah Muhammed Reza Pahlevi of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, Ali Khamenei, Ilham Aliyev (Azerbaijan), Hafez and UsefulNotes/BasharAlAssad (Syria), Hosni Mubarak (Egypt), Omar al-Bashir (Sudan),... |
| 655 | ** Mad Roman emperors: UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}}, UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}, Tiberius, Commodus, Caracalla. |
| 656 | * The only UsefulNotes/{{Ancient Gree|ce}}k states are Athens and Sparta, which only existed during the Persian wars, and the Empire of UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat. Also, Sparta didn't exist until ''Film/ThreeHundred'' came out. Hellenism does not exist at all. Greek history after the Roman Empire is too insignificant to merit mention. |
| 657 | * Ancient Egypt: |
| 658 | ** UsefulNotes/CleopatraVII and UsefulNotes/{{Tutankhamun}} are the only Egyptian pharaohs. Ironically, although she was the last pharaoh of Egypt, Cleopatra was ethnically Greek, which is usually overlooked. |
| 659 | ** Queen Nefertiti, whom most people wouldn't recognize by name, but would recognize from [[Art/NefertitiBust a certain statue of her]]. Incidentally, Nefertiti just happens to be King Tut's stepmother. And his mother-in-law. |
| 660 | ** UsefulNotes/RamsesII: Hooray, Ramses the Great is known as well... though outside of history circles, mainly just as "The Pharaoh from the Exodus". (And the Pharaoh from ''{{Film/The Ten Commandments|1956}}''.) Even though the Pharaoh in Exodus isn't named and there are ''three'' Pharaohs in ''The Ten Commandments''. |
| 661 | * Ancient Rome: |
| 662 | ** [[UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar Caesar]], UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}, UsefulNotes/{{Nero}}, UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}} and UsefulNotes/{{Claudius}}. Constantine the Great is known to Christians for making Christianity the state religion[[note]]He, uh, didn't actually do that — but it ''is'' what he's known for...[[/note]]. UsefulNotes/{{Hadrian}} is known for Hadrian's Wall. Marcus Aurelius, Caracalla, Elagabalus, Commodus, and Tiberius also regularly pop up in lists of daft Roman Emperors. |
| 663 | * England (and it really is just "England"): |
| 664 | ** "England" has only had four sovereigns: UsefulNotes/HenryVIII, UsefulNotes/ElizabethI, UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria, and UsefulNotes/ElizabethII. The English themselves also know of four others — UsefulNotes/WilliamTheConqueror, Henry II, UsefulNotes/AlfredTheGreat, and the current one (UsefulNotes/CharlesIII). Americans know King George III. For obvious reasons. Scots probably know of [[UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst Edward Longshanks]] as well. Cultivated people will also know UsefulNotes/RichardIII from Shakespeare's play ''Theatre/RichardIII''. King UsefulNotes/{{James|VIAndI}} is best known for his Bible, otherwise he's only known in Scotland. |
| 665 | *** Also UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionheart (Richard I), if only for his nickname; his brother, bad UsefulNotes/{{King John|OfEngland}}, only for Robin Hood and the Magna Carta; and Myth/KingArthur, who may not have existed, and may not have been a king even if he did (and most definitely wasn't English). |
| 666 | *** The Irish know about UsefulNotes/OliverCromwell, but only for what he did when he went to visit them. |
| 667 | ** "England" has also had at most six [[UsefulNotes/TheMenOfDowningStreet Prime Ministers]]: UsefulNotes/BenjaminDisraeli (and many people only associate him with ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''), UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill, UsefulNotes/NevilleChamberlain (only to emphasize how much better Churchill was), UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher, UsefulNotes/TonyBlair, and [[UsefulNotes/RishiSunak whoever is currently in office]]. |
| 668 | ** Averted on an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': "Pitt the Elder!" "Lord Palmerston!" Still, they're both only remembered for said reference. |
| 669 | ** [[UsefulNotes/DianaPrincessOfWales Princess Diana]]. And only because of her tragic death. In The90s she was well-known abroad for her messy falling-out with and eventual divorce from [[UsefulNotes/CharlesIII Prince Charles]]. Of course, [[NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead the mockery mostly ceased with her death]]. Charles is still fair game though. |
| 670 | * France: |
| 671 | ** France had only one president, UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle, mostly remembered for his activities during World War II and long presidential term during the 1950s and 1960s. And his height makes it impossible to overlook him. |
| 672 | ** The current head of state, whoever that is, might get mentioned (currently Emmanuel Macron). |
| 673 | ** UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette (who liked cakes more than bread and was the only person who died in the guillotine... besides her husband). She was Austrian and married the King of France, which to be fair some films and books do mention. |
| 674 | ** All the Kings of France were called Louis (which is usually limited to XIV, XV, and XVI), except for Charlemagne, Charles VII and Napoleon. |
| 675 | * Grand Duchess UsefulNotes/{{Anastasia|NikolaevnaRomanova}} (who will be called a "princess") |
| 676 | * German monarchs? Kaiser UsefulNotes/WilhelmII. Apparently there was never a Wilhelm I. |
| 677 | ** [[UsefulNotes/TheChancellorsOfGermany Chancellors]]? UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck and UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. ''Maybe'' Paul Von Hindenburg will get a mention, and more recently UsefulNotes/AngelaMerkel. |
| 678 | ** Prussian monarchs? Frederick the Great. |
| 679 | * Austrian emperors? Franz Joseph. |
| 680 | * [[UsefulNotes/TsarTsarAutocrats Russian tsars]]? UsefulNotes/IvanTheTerrible, UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat, UsefulNotes/CatherineTheGreat, and UsefulNotes/NicholasII. |
| 681 | * Holy Roman Emperors? Otto the Great, Frederick II, Charles V, and Frederick Barbarossa. |
| 682 | * Spanish monarchs? [[UsefulNotes/TheCatholicMonarchs Ferdinand and Isabella]], and UsefulNotes/PhilipII. |
| 683 | * Ottoman Sultans? UsefulNotes/SuleimanTheMagnificent. |
| 684 | * Persian kings? UsefulNotes/CyrusTheGreat. |
| 685 | ** Xerxes I, if you're a fan of ''Film/ThreeHundred''. Or you're Edward Lear. |
| 686 | ** Darius III, but only as the enemy of UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat. |
| 687 | * Chinese emperors? UsefulNotes/{{Qin Shi Huang|di}}. Maybe a Puyi or Wu Zetian if you're especially lucky. |
| 688 | * Princess Creator/{{Grace|Kelly}} (in works from before her death in 1982). |
| 689 | * Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (even though he's not the ''true'' leader of Iran; that would be the Ayatollah). |
| 690 | ** For Westerners, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was the Iranian boogeyman during his day. Most of us rarely think about any of his successors (Ali Khamenei as of this writing). |
| 691 | * Australian Prime Ministers? Harold Holt and whoever is currently in office (the current PM is Anthony Albanese) and maybe John Howard, Robert Menzies and John Curtin. |
| 692 | * Applies to [[StrawCharacter Strawman Political]]. The only conservative character we ever seem to see is either the "Bible-thumper" or the CorruptCorporateExecutive. The "paranoid libertarian" conservative (most famously seen in ''Film/DrStrangelove'') was a popular stock figure during the Cold War and has recently been making a comeback. |
| 693 | * Any character noticeably more left-wing than average and created after the 1960s will most likely be either a NewAgeRetroHippie or a {{Dirty Comm|unists}}ie. The BourgeoisBohemian has been showing up with increasing frequency since about the late Eighties. |
| 694 | [[/folder]] |
| 695 | |
| 696 | [[folder:Science]] |
| 697 | * The biggest problem with studying the origins of life and the universe is the ludicrously small reference pool of 1 (we only know of one life-bearing planet, and one universe that sprang into being). |
| 698 | * Most people have heard of Carbon-14 dating (and 9 times out of 10, it doesn't even work like it does on television). It's the default dating method in the public conscious. What most people are not familiar with is Uranium-Lead Dating, which is much more accurate and has a much wider range of dates (1 million to 4.5 billion), Rubidium-Strontium, another form of dating closely related to U-Pb Dating, or the others: Uranium-Thorium, Potassium-Argon, and Samarium-neodymium, all of which are older, more reliable, and have a wider date range than radiocarbon. |
| 699 | * Asked to name a periodical for scientists, the average American will name ''National Geographic'' (which isn't one) or maybe ''Scientific American'' (which is, if you're feeling generous). Asked to name a scientific ''journal'', they '''might''' come up with ''JAMA''[[note]]in full, ''JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association''[[/note]] or, if they were science geeks in school, ''Nature''. |
| 700 | [[/folder]] |
| 701 | |
| 702 | [[folder:Scientists]] |
| 703 | * UsefulNotes/GalileoGalilei, who was persecuted by the church (for reasons that have more to do with raising a middle finger to authority). To most people, he's just Galileo, or worse, he's [[Music/{{Queen}} Galileo Figaro]]. |
| 704 | * Nikolaus Copernicus, who died before he was actually persecuted by the church. He was a German living in Prussia, today Poland, because we've already covered that there's nothing of note in Central Europe. |
| 705 | * UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud (Took a photo while holding a cigar. [[AllPsychologyIsFreudian Invented all forms of psychology and reduced all problems to sex with people's mothers]] or CompensatingForSomething.) |
| 706 | * UsefulNotes/CarlJung, notable for being the only other psychologist than Freud. |
| 707 | * UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein (had weird hair and a mustache, "invented" E=mc[[superscript:2]], stuck his tongue out) |
| 708 | * UsefulNotes/JRobertOppenheimer "invented" the nuclear bomb, when this is not being attributed to Einstein instead. |
| 709 | * UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton ("invented" gravity when an apple fell on his head, had long hair) |
| 710 | * UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin ("invented" evolution, and is supposedly worshiped as a god by scientists, had a big beard) |
| 711 | ** Evolution of ''animal'' species, obviously, because no other living thing evolves. You might have heard something about a guy named Lamarck, but only as that guy that talked about giraffe necks and was wrong. |
| 712 | * UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison ("invented" the light bulb) |
| 713 | * UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla (Had a picture taken of him in front of a lightning machine.) Tesla is a Johnny-Come-Lately; he's gotten a lot more press since the 1990s, and is usually depicted either as a total nutjob (which he was) or a misunderstood genius (which he ''also'' was). |
| 714 | * Dmitri Mendeleev (invented some kind of table, presumably for putting vodka on) |
| 715 | * UsefulNotes/MarieCurie is usually [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the only woman scientist that gets mentioned in media]] (though Rosalind Franklin pops up from time to time). Discovered radioactivity (no) and the element radium (yes — and polonium too, but that's much less well known). She is known for being a woman and for getting killed by her research. ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' [[http://xkcd.com/896/ lampshaded this]]. |
| 716 | * Creator/StephenHawking (for being in a wheelchair wearing glasses while talking with a funny robot voice) |
| 717 | * Creator/CarlSagan ([[BeamMeUpScotty who said "billions and billions" a lot]]) |
| 718 | * UsefulNotes/RichardFeynman (for being an eccentric [[ReallyGetsAround skirt chaser]]) |
| 719 | * Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Elisha ''Who''? (It's Gray, by the way). |
| 720 | * UsefulNotes/NeilDeGrasseTyson (is singlehandedly responsible for [[PlutoIsExpendable Pluto being demoted from planet status]]) |
| 721 | * Creator/RichardDawkins (for inventing the word "meme" and his atheist crusades) |
| 722 | [[/folder]] |
| 723 | |
| 724 | [[folder:Technology]] |
| 725 | * To most people, the only modern phones are those by Apple and Samsung. If you're lucky, you might know someone who has an Android phone by Motorola or [=OnePlus=], or one of Google's Pixel line of Android phones. Back in the 2010s, if you were even luckier, you may have known someone who owned a Windows Phone but wasn't a Microsoft employee. |
| 726 | * Ride-hailing apps? Uber. And sometimes Lyft. |
| 727 | [[/folder]] |
| 728 | |
| 729 | [[folder:Universe in Science Fiction]] |
| 730 | * Ask someone to name all the planets in the [[UsefulNotes/TheSolarSystem solar system]], and they'll eagerly respond with "Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus (which will ''always'' be [[UranusIsShowing giggled about]]), Neptune, and Pluto" [[ScienceMarchesOn (which is now technically a "dwarf planet")]]. This is largely thanks to popular mnemonics such as "My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas" or even [[ShapedLikeItself the deliciously meta "My very excellent memory just served up nine planets."]] Ask someone to name all the ''moons'' in the solar system, and..."Well...there's '[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the Moon]]'...and...uhhh..." (no mention of, say, Titan, or Phobos and Deimos). Documentaries and other media tend to have a handful of go-to facts about each celestial body. |
| 731 | ** One of the most well known facts about UsefulNotes/{{Mercury}} is the massive temperature difference between its day and night side, due to the lack of an atmosphere to hold on to heat. |
| 732 | ** UsefulNotes/{{Venus}} is extremely hot (even hotter than Mercury, due to its thick greenhouse-gas-filled atmosphere) and has a day longer than its year. Despite this, a combination of its similar size to Earth and the existence of a zone of relatively comfortable conditions in its upper atmosphere have made it an appealing target for science fiction stories involving aerial colonies. |
| 733 | ** Astronomically speaking, UsefulNotes/TheMoon is best known for causing the bulk of Earth's tides, and for being tidally locked. The resulting "dark side of the Moon"[[note]]or, more accurately, the "far side", since it receives just as much illumination from the Sun[[/note]] thus remained a subject of mystery until it was finally seen by humans for the first time in 1959. The side that ''is'' visible from Earth is known for having [[TheManInTheMoon what looks like a face]] on it. Finally, thanks to the [[UsefulNotes/{{NASA}} Apollo program]], it's the only celestial body other than Earth that humans have visited in person. |
| 734 | ** UsefulNotes/{{Mars}} is nicknamed the Red Planet due to the most easily identifiable fact about it -- [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin it's red]]. It's also generally assumed to be the most hospitable planet in the solar system other than Earth, and so is one of the most common (if not ''the'' most common) subject of stories about extraterrestrial life and colonization. Also helping is the fact that its day length is only slightly longer than Earth's, making Earthlings particularly well acclimated in this regard. |
| 735 | *** Anyone who does know about Phobos and Deimos [[VideoGame/{{Doom}} probably thinks there's demons there]]. |
| 736 | ** Although the asteroid belt as a whole is well known, the only specific asteroids that exist are the ones on a collision course with Earth. The one exception is usually Ceres (despite now being a dwarf planet), because it's the largest asteroid and — as it will ''always'', and proudly, be pointed out — it's "as big as Texas." Trojan asteroids (i.e. ones located outside the actual asteroid belt and instead co-orbiting with one of the planets) will rarely be mentioned. |
| 737 | ** UsefulNotes/{{Jupiter}} itself is known for its size and for the Great Red Spot. |
| 738 | *** Io is known for its volcanic activity and resulting colorful surface. |
| 739 | *** Europa is considered one of the prime candidates in the Solar System for extant extraterrestrial life, due to its presumed subsurface ocean. |
| 740 | *** Ganymede is known for being the largest moon in the solar system. |
| 741 | *** Callisto is somewhat overshadowed by the other Galilean moons, despite the fact that it would probably be the easiest one to colonize due to its relative lack of radiation from Jupiter. It is, however, somewhat well known for being covered in craters. |
| 742 | ** UsefulNotes/{{Saturn}} is best known for its highly photogenic ring system.[[note]]Although ''all four'' gas giants have rings, the others are much harder to spot and thus weren't discovered until the 1970s and 1980s.[[/note]] Other than that, it's the only planet that's less dense than water, and any work that mentions this will make sure to point out that it can therefore "float in a bathtub", despite the obvious problem of obtaining such a large body of water. |
| 743 | *** If Mimas gets any mention, it'll be due to its coincidental resemblance to the [[Franchise/StarWars Death Star]]. |
| 744 | *** Enceladus is known for its subsurface ocean, although to a slightly lesser extent than Europa. |
| 745 | *** Titan is by far the most well known of Saturn's moons. It's the only solar system world with an atmospheric density similar to Earth (albeit with a vastly different composition) and the only one with stable bodies of liquid. It's also a frequent subject of science fiction, in part due to the potential of it ''naturally'' becoming habitable in the very distant future, after the sun turns into a red giant. |
| 746 | *** Iapetus is known for its very distinct black and white sides. |
| 747 | ** Other than its name, UsefulNotes/{{Uranus}} is known for its extremely high axial tilt. It's also the first planet that's generally assumed to be too dim to be seen by the naked eye.[[note]]Its apparent magnitude varies between 5.4 and 6.0, making it faintly visible if you know where to look.[[/note]] |
| 748 | ** UsefulNotes/{{Neptune}} is mainly distinguished by its deep blue appearance. Other than that, it's known for the Great Dark Spot (albeit less so than Jupiter) and for the extremely high wind speeds that pervade the entire planet. |
| 749 | *** Triton is known for its retrograde orbit, being the only large moon to travel in the opposite direction compared to its planet's rotation. |
| 750 | ** Since 2006, Pluto has been primarily known for its demotion from planet to dwarf planet,[[note]]in actuality, Pluto is not alone in this regard -- the first few asteroids suffered the same fate in the 19th century, and of them, only Ceres even got the consolation prize of later being repromoted to dwarf planet status once that term was established[[/note]] and the [[PlutoIsExpendable resulting jokes]] about its newfound second-class status. |
| 751 | ** The Kuiper belt, which includes Pluto, is less frequently featured than the asteroid belt, and if anything is best known as the reason that Pluto is no longer considered a planet. Mentions of centaurs, the scattered disc, and other populations of objects in the outskirts of the solar system are even rarer. |
| 752 | ** The only comet is Halley's (which always gets mispronounced "Haley's" thanks to [[Music/BillHaleyAndHisComets a certain pioneering 1950s musical group]]). If Hale-Bopp is remembered, people will mistakenly say it crashed into Jupiter in 1994 (that was actually Shoemaker Levy 9, while Hale-Bopp was the bright comet of 1997). |
| 753 | * If it's not just stars, the background is either the Crab Nebula, or the Horsehead Nebula. |
| 754 | * The only stars anyone visits are Rigel, Alpha Centauri, Antares, "Orion", and the "Belt of Orion" (the latter two of which aren't even individual stars). "Alpha Centauri" is always one star. Alpha Centauri B does not exist, or so would have you media believed. Neither does Proxima Centauri, despite being closer. |
| 755 | * Betelgeuse is popular, but only because it sounds funny (and has a MonsterClown from ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}'' indirectly named after it). |
| 756 | * When it comes to stargazing, the only stars are Polaris, the Big Dipper (a constellation known only by its nickname, which Polaris will be thought to be in) and Sirius... and that last one only occasionally (and often confused with Polaris when it does get mentioned). The only non-zodiac constellation known by its ''proper'' name is Orion. |
| 757 | ** The Big Dipper (also the Plough) will be called a constellation, despite only being a part of the actual constellation Ursa Major, containing barely a third of the stars and less than a quarter of the area of the whole thing. |
| 758 | * The only galaxies are the Milky Way and Andromeda. Perhaps justified, as those are two of the only known galaxies lucky enough to have names that are not cryptic (Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte), or numbered (Andromedas I through X), with the exception of the Triangulum galaxy. Admittedly, that last one really should be used more often because its name is awesome. |
| 759 | * The only crewed space missions ever were "John Glenn's flight" (Friendship 7), Apollo 11, Film/{{Apollo 13}}, the Challenger disaster, maybe the Columbia disaster, and whatever one is going on right now. |
| 760 | ** The only individual astronauts to be discussed by name are Yuri Gagarin, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Sally Ride, and Christa [=McAuliffe=]. The last two will often be confused because there haven't been many female astronauts, and [=McAuliffe=] wasn't an astronaut but a teacher who went on ''one'' ill-fated trip. |
| 761 | ** Yuri Gagarin is the only Russian who ever went there. |
| 762 | * The only robotic space missions ever were the Voyagers and Pioneers (which may be conflated), some form of Mars rover, and whatever ones have recently been in the news. |
| 763 | * ''Sputnik 1'' is the only satellite ever to rate a name, which usually won't include its number in fiction. Often it'll turn up intact decades after launch, despite the real one's having burned up in the atmosphere after only three months in orbit. |
| 764 | ** In Western fiction, it's often also Russia's sole achievement in space exploration besides ''Mir''. |
| 765 | *** And dog-killing. |
| 766 | ** The Hubble Space Telescope is the only astronomical satellite that exists, and any particularly-impressive space image will be attributed to it, even those beyond the actual Hubble's capabilities. |
| 767 | * Light-years, and to a lesser extent, parsecs, are the only units of astronomical measurement (Astronomical Units, or [=AUs=], are reserved solely for "hard" Sci Fi). Any alien race capable of star travel encountering humans will instinctively know how long a light year is, even if there's no way they could know how long a year is on Earth. Add to that "hours" and "days". (Sometimes aliens acknowledge that their hours and days differ, though.) Even a depressingly large number of human beings mistake light years for being a measurement of [[UnitConfusion time instead of distance]]. |
| 768 | * If aliens visit Earth, [[LittleGreenMen they'll almost always be from Mars]] [[MarsAndVenusGenderContrast (or, if they're female aliens, from Venus)]]. If you are watching TV in the 1950s. No aliens are ever from Mars any more. |
| 769 | [[/folder]] |
| 770 | |
| 771 | [[folder:Universities]] |
| 772 | * The USA has the sum total of four colleges or universities or whatever you're calling them: MIT (the nerds); Harvard (the smart kids); Yale (the rich kids); and Brown (the ButtMonkey). They also know of Princeton, but only because of its association with Einstein. |
| 773 | * The only [[UsefulNotes/BritishUnis British universities]] are [[UsefulNotes/{{Oxbridge}} Oxford, Cambridge]] and the London School of Economics. |
| 774 | * The only Catholic university? Notre Dame — and just for football. |
| 775 | * No one ever thinks of Nalanda Mahavihara in northeastern India, founded around 400 A.D. -- even though most historians consider it ''[[TropeMakers the world's oldest university]]''. |
| 776 | * Any other college, and there's nothing there but a football and/or basketball team. |
| 777 | * It has its own trope: IvyLeagueForEveryone. |
| 778 | [[/folder]] |
| 779 | |
| 780 | [[folder:Other]] |
| 781 | * Fethishes? The only fetish that exists is getting spanked by someone wearing black leather. |
| 782 | [[/folder]] |
| 783 | |
| 784 | |
| 785 | |
| 786 |
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