#crash course history

[washingtonstatethe42nd]

Why a flag for a face?

Dope ass old man.

DAR committee didn't have creativity, needed a state flag. Boom! George Washington!

[sansbydaily]

Day 278

Scott Pilgrim VS. The World

[hannahssimblr]

I open the envelope on the stairs. The same stairs I spent six years rushing up and down, going from class to class, that was always bustling with students, bumping shoulders, swinging school bags, yet here I am, on an empty staircase in the building I thought I’d never be inside again. All the people I thought I’d never have to see again are here too, milling in and out of the foyer, collecting envelopes, telling each other about their summer. Somehow I’d forgotten I would have to do this. 

I keep to myself, wishing to minimise any conversation. Get in, get out, that’s the plan. I slip my thumbnail under the lip of the envelope and pull my results out. 

Mathematics A1 English A1 Art A1 Biology B3 Geography B1 German A2

Oh, Jesus Christ. There’s a roaring in my ears. I shove my grades back into the envelope before anyone can see them, then add up the score in my head.

Five-fifty. Is that possible? I peek inside to check again. 

Yes. Five-fifty. 

I blow out a lungful of air. How can this be? I’m famously a fucking idiot. This is a disruption to my worldview. I hardly even studied towards the end of the year, so how in the-

“Jude?” Someone steps into my space, and I have to suppress a groan as Sam from the yearbook committee stands over me, looking completely misplaced without his uniform on. It’s like the freakish experience of seeing your teacher in the supermarket. Sam, without his starched uniform shirt and perfectly knotted tie, is hardly Sam at all. Perhaps he thinks the same of me without my tie, which was always hanging crooked with a blue ink stain on it that wouldn’t come off after a hundred washes.  

The smug look, however, is Sam all over. “Looking a bit glum. Are you disappointed in your results, or something?”

I pause. “No?”

“Oh, grand. Suppose you don’t need the marks anyway, do you? You’re off to art college in Berlin, so I heard.”

“You heard correctly.”

“Surprised to see you here at all, I have to say. I thought you might have been gone already, off to the continent and all that, instead of coming into school.”

“No, my flight’s Wednesday.”

“Ah. So soon.”

“Yes, I suppose it is.” He stands expectantly, hovering, and so, with a sigh, I ask him what he is frothing to be asked. “What points did you get, Sam?”

“Five forty,” he gloats. “I’ll be off to Trinity now, all going well with the offers and all that. ‘Twas an expected result, but I’m still thrilled with myself. Just goes to show that hard work and proper study really pay off.”

“Yeah. Well done. Lucky that points don’t count for me, then, hm?”

“Well, it’s only art school. It’s not like you need to be smart.”

“Yep, that’s true.”

Sam’s head swivels like a submarine periscope. “Oh, look who’s just come in.” His mouth stretches into an unsettling grin. “Sure, it’s the lovely Michelle Tengu. You should say hi to her.”

“Right, yeah.” I say, though my fight or flight has activated and my palms prickle with sweat.

Michelle crosses the linoleum floor in the chunky black boots she’s had since fifteen. She accepts her envelope from the principal and stands to the side where she tears it open and her eyes scan the page. It’s impossible to tell how she feels.

She looks the same, of course she does. Maybe her hair is longer, maybe her makeup is different, her skin a little browner, and I have this feeling as I see her, that I am looking at a picture of a person I used to know, someone whose name I remembered, but whose face I had long forgotten. This girl I loved, or thought I did. I don’t really know that person anymore, at least not how I used to. 

She sees me and gives a hesitant wave. 

I wave back. 

“You’re still here,” she approaches me with the caution one would with a spooked cat, emotions flashing over her face, like she can’t decide how to feel. Neither can I. She’s still blocked in my phone, from that fateful night in June, but now, on the cusp of September, those heavy feelings I had seem so melodramatic. I am just Jude, she is just Michelle, and somewhere along the way, without me even paying heed to it, a storm has passed. 

“Yeah, I’m still here.”

“I expected you to sneak off to Berlin under the cloak of night.”

“That’s the plan, honestly. I just needed my results first.”

“I see. Are you happy with them?”

“Yeah. Are you?”

“I got enough for NCAD.”

“Oh, Michelle, that’s amazing. I’m so happy for you.” An odd moment follows, where I am not sure whether I should hug her. I twitch toward her, then second guess myself, and then I just freeze there, halfway lifted from the step. I slump back down onto it. 

“It, um… Well. It sounds like you had a pleasant summer, and all that.” She says. “Jen was telling me all about it.”

“Was she? Yeah, it was fine. Did she really say it was pleasant?”

“She mentioned that you two had a bit of a falling out, to be honest.”

“Ah, yeah, we did.”

She gives me this awkward smile, and it’s instantly obvious that she knows. Jen, being Jen, has told her the entire story. She’s revealed every aspect of my summer - the festival, the conflicts, and its conclusion. She knows about Evie too. It’s in her eyes. It’s that hint of betrayal she knows she’s not supposed to feel anymore. In them lies the sting of an ex moving on and leaving her behind.   

“I’m, um…” I smooth the front of my hair. “I think things will be alright with Jen, probably. I just need time, you know?”

“Yeah. I get it.” She adds delicately, “though, like, you are leaving in about five days.”

“That’s true.”

“And you were really planning to just vanish?”

“Well, yes. I just don’t know how else to do it.”

“Usually people have a party or something.”

“No, come on,” I scoff. “I’m not doing all of that. It’s so much work.”

“Hm. I just think you’ll regret not saying goodbye.”

I can’t decide whether she’s right, and can’t think of what to argue in my defence, so I say nothing. A sympathetic smile crosses her face. It’s strange. She never looked at me like that while we were together.

“I can help,” she says. “It can be low-key, just a few people. I’ll send out a text and see who wants to come, yeah? Whoever wants to say goodbye?”

“Including Jen?”

“I’ll need to invite Jen.” she shrugs, “it might be a good chance to talk. To get it all ironed out.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, I do. I think it’s best not to leave things unfinished.”

“Hm. That’s very philosophical of you.”

“Are you shocked?”

“Kind of.”

She huffs out a laugh. “Well I’ve been seeing someone.”

“A boy?”

“A therapist. I realised after we broke up that I had some things to work through. I had some… big feelings.”

“That’s great, Shell.”

I could swear that her eyes get a little misty as she inhales, as though to say something before deciding against it. She straightens her shoulders and smiles. “I’m happy you’re happy.” She says brightly. “With the Leaving Cert results, obviously.”

“I’m happy you’re happy, too.”

She glances toward the door. “Look, I better go, but I’ll text you about the going away party, right?”

“Yeah, I better unblock you.” It slips out of me before I can stop it, but to my immense relief, she laughs. “Good idea. See you Jude.”

“Bye, Shell. Thanks.”

“For what?”

“I dunno. For this.”

She just smiles. 

Beginning // Prev // Next

[itscolossal]

Why Does Art Matter? A New Crash Course Series Explores Art History

[enerdsout]

IT'S BLACK HISTORY MONTH MOTHER FUCKERS (in the US)

lemme tell you about one of my favorite people,

Ida B Wells -

1862-1931, sounds like a long time ago right?

WRONG SHE WAS ALIVE AT THE SAME TIME AS MY GRANDMOTHERS SILLY BILLIES

investigative journalist well known for documenting and reporting on lynching, women's rights activist, posthumously awarded a motherfucking PULITZER, LET'S FUCKIN GO .

first if you like videos, the crash course black American history video on her is clutch (11 minutes). highly recommend the entire series. it is subtitled.

a longer (an hour) video from Chicago public television

she was born into enslavement in Mississippi, the next year would be the emancipation proclamation.

she eventually moved to Memphis and taught public school for a time, while becoming more involved in writing and journalism, while going to college, while raising 6 of her siblings.

she had to move north from Tennessee for several reasons, one of which was the lynching of three of her friends and her subsequent writing about it. this led to a bad case of people threatening to kill her all the time since she would not shut up about lynching, white economic anxiety causing black death, and just in general being a black person who told the truth. in fact she had been out of town during a mob raiding her news office, and never went back to Memphis. she settled in Chicago.

among her many activities:

was at one point fired from teaching after writing about the state of black schools; she just went hard in the paint on more journalism after that

owning her own newspaper after buying out her husband and other shareholders

traveling domestically and internationally and spreading the truth about lynching

helping set up the UK anti-lynching society

helping found the national association of colored women

founding the largest black women's suffrage organization in Illinois

walking next to white suffragettes in the D.C. march even though black women were asked to walk at the back

publishing "the red record" about lynchings since emancipation with data painstakingly gathered over many years

going undercover at one point????

she's so fuckin cool you guys

she's about 30 in this picture, and she lived to 68.

[derseprinceoftbd]

Richard Feynman admitted in his memoir to activities that would legally be considered rape by deception in a court of law.

Fuck the Green brothers, and anyone who defends them.

[grace-williams-xo]

Y’ALL WOULD FORGIVE KANTHONY’S ABSENCES IF YOU WATCHED FELLOW TRAVELERS AND ILL DIE ON THAT HILL

[purplesigebert]

I want my professor to know that whenever he mentions the Mongols, this Crash Course bit goes through my head:

Also he mentioned how the Crusaders were all failures (for the Franks) and Bill Wurtz went though my head:

"They did many crusades, some of which almost didn't fail."

[batcavescolony]

Guys, People on Tiktok have beef with John Green. Now they're even stealing how we forced John Green off the site. (He must be so tired, he's the reason YouTube is popular but he can't stay on any other popular site without people having unnecessary beef with him)

[sincerely-sofie]

So does Ark fully remember or was this a “hey, how long are you going to lie to me? I want the truth” situation and then he was met with a “oh yeah, you used to be an attempted murderer and villain actually” in response?

(Referencing this chapter of TPiaG)

He has his memories back completely, and he has for an unknown amount of time. He kept quiet about that out of disoriented confusion at first while he tried to reconcile his two perceptions of Twig as being his closest friend and his worst enemy, but he eventually couldn’t hide his anger at being played for a fool any longer and let the cat out of the bag.

However, that is an absolutely hilarious alternate scene.

[alexiethymia]

Choi Chi Yeol malewife confirmed. Ok smooth move. Not sleeping and waiting for her in the early hours of the morning so they could make up?? That sweetness of them just making up the moment they saw each other?? Him holding her shopping trolley AND her handbag??

The way he takes care of her wound?? Like wow he is great at taking care of people?

The irony that it was murderous Mr. Ji who actually made it so that they ended up spending the night together?? I did not expect another make-out session after that dream kiss but whoo boy am I so so glad to be proven wrong. Mad respect for Haeng Seon. The thirst was real when he was blowing on her wound.

Literally wanting to eat breakfast together and just ‘five more minutes’ wanting to cuddle together?? I am sure he has never been more comfortable and at home on his bigass bed until he had Haeng Seon in his arms, with an arm pillow even! With their foreheads touching even! ALSO I MUST ADD, sleeping together and waking up while holding hands even! Like wow they seem like such a private couple in the sense that they don’t hold hands or are overtly affectionate in public, but get them alone together and they’re all cheek cradling and holding hands every moment and never wanting to let go. That’s my jam. I love those types of couples.

And the fact that it isn’t enough that Haeng Seon spent the night at his place. He also wants to spend the night in the Nam Family home, because as already established he just wants to be part of that family so badly. Like just cohabit already! Let him fulfill his dreams of being Haeng Seon’s husband, Jae Woo’s brother-in-law, and Hae Yee’s father figure already!

[disacurveball]

opening the hws japan tag is like playing russian roulette because the most interesting, historically-based headcanon is immediately followed by Hatsune Kiku in cat ears going uwu

[monsterlets]

TIP for high schoolers or college students taking core classes

use the crash course youtube channel to help you review for tests

I'm not saying only watch crash course, definitely do some regular studying as well, but if they have a playlist for your common core class that's gonna cover most if not all of what you'll need to know for a final and it'll be explained well (and it'll probably hold your attention for longer periods of time)

[emeraldsummers]

Sometimes Supernatural will make a reference that is so aggressively current and it reminds me that this show didn't just take place in 2005, and I'm reminded just how damn long this show ran.

[enchi-elm]

Grab a mug of something hot and settle in for an interesting lecture that'll take your breath away (...although not literally, I hope).

John Green discusses the fascinating history of tuberculosis (TB) and how it has woven into and through every aspect of our social, medicinal, technological, and geographical history. (And beauty. Did I mention beauty and fashion?)

I started following John Green's (@sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog) crusade against TB when I was doing research for fanfiction. You might remember my link sharing on the New England Vampire Panic (link to a Smithsonian Magazine article), where persons who had died of TB were exhumed on the presumption that the dead were stealing life force from the living.

Much like anyone will who has looked into tuberculosis, I've started seeing it everywhere in history. The fact that it continues to ravage millions a year over 50 years after a cure was developed is a global injustice.

I really recommend this very polished, highly informative, and super well-researched lecture delivered in the usual Crash Course panache!

My favourite part was the deep-dive into both the romanticization and the stigmatization of disease and illness. Really useful for my own work and highly relatable from my own (non-TB) experiences.

My only criticism concerns the typical "corset" fallacies--'they were designed so you couldn't breath', etc.--that made me wrinkle my nose when I saw them. BUT, Nicole Rudolph has got you:

A video which John Green also acknowledged:

Here's a video that corrects some mistakes we made about fashion and offers a better context for the relationship between European fashion, gender, and romanticism in the context of consumption in the pre-microbial era. https://youtu.be/9KdNPcAIbv0?si=r0V60ZfgcUKDeKnZ Thanks to Nicole Rudolph for making such a well-researched (and generous) corrective video. There are some places where our sources disagree, but I really encourage you to watch her video as well. -John

Taken together, these videos are a fantastic overview.

Enjoy!

EDIT: Do you live in the States? Are you free April 8-9, 2025? Check out John Green's post on taking some direct action!

More info under https://tbfighters.org/

[divinum-pacis]

How Many Religions Are There? | Crash Course Religions #2

When we think of world religions, we often think of the Big Five: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. But why do we think of those? In this episode of Crash Course Religions, we’ll learn why “world religions” is a category constructed by human choices—and why that matters for the communities that are left out.