Remembering historyWhen I young, at some unmentionable time in the previous century, we were taught little mnemonics to remember dates, such as In fourteen hundred and ninety two,The problem with this admirable memorization device is that it is easy to alter the verse slightly, to wit In fourteen hundred and ninety three,Perhaps we have a little puzzle here that people might like to try their hand at — compose a mnemonic verse for an important date (or use existing ones) and then compose an incorrect alternative. For example one might recall the date of the battle of Hastings with In the year one thousand and sixty sixor mis-recall it with In the year one thousand and sixty sevenFor extra credit — teach them to your children. This page was last updated September 1, 2003. |