this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2025
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[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 20 points 1 month ago (2 children)

anything that implies they've only learned European and US history (e.g. discounting the global technological contributions of Asia and Africa)

[–] frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml 19 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I have one for this!

I once asked someone "In school, who were you taught invented vaccination?"

I thought she'd say Edward Jenner. In fact it was well-known in West Africa and the Ottoman Empire a century before Jenner (PDF)

She said George Washington!

[–] RobotToaster@mander.xyz 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Variolation isn't vaccination though. AFAIK Jenner did invent vaccination.

[–] Zak@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

In the original sense of exposing people to vaccina (cowpox virus), it is not. In the modern sense, it's an attenuated vaccine.

[–] Pierre121000@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 month ago (2 children)

In France we only know Louis Pasteur, first time i'm hearing about Edward Jenner

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago

Same here in the UK, but Alexander Fleming

[–] Obi@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 month ago

Pour être honnête je connais pasteur pour (choquant), la pasteurisation. Cela dit ma réponse a "qui a inventé la vaccination" aurait été "euuuuuh".

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 month ago

Even I didn't know about that! That's really cool ty for sharing

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world -3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Okay I'll bite. So the asian-african industrial revolution?

[–] frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The Haya in Tanzania were making steel 2000-2300 years ago

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Cool. Seriously!

But if it didn't change history (did they even genocide??! /s ) then we won't learn it in base school I guess.

[–] frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I don't really understand either of your questions. Is there something you are trying to ask?

[–] Bbbbbbbbbbb@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

Valmond is legitimately curious and reinforces the issue with westernized learning, the only history taught is very basic colonization and your home countries history. The problem is worldwide, if it isnt related to your country or white history in general, you need to perform extracurricular learning to get an understanding of actual history.

You taught them something they didnt know

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

I explained why we don't learn that in school. Don't you understand what I'm saying? I'm not a native English speaker.