Human history is as chaotic and random as human life and the book Chronologia, plus now 2 days of History by the Minute #HBTM starting 1st September 2012, attempts to reflect that.
On 11 November 1918, the First World War was due to end. The armistice, signed earlier that morning, indicated that the four-year war was to finish at exactly 11.00 a.m. Fighting continued up until that time, and one man was shot and killed in the last minute of the war. As Private Henry Gunther advanced on a German machine-gun post, he was waved back by the German soldiers, who were desperate to avoid one more death so close to peace. Gunther continued and they were left with no option but to fire. He died at 10.59 a.m. and it was reported that the rest of the guns on the whole front fell silent almost immediately after.
The fact that one aspect of the conflict – the futile deaths of so many on the Western Front – could be defined in one specific moment in time, served as an inspiration for Chronologia, but THP are taking this one step further…
#HBTM is to be a 2 day Twitter feast inspired by the book of minute by minute history. Starting 1st September 2012 we will be taking a different approach to history via @TheHistoryPress. As in Chronologia, events will be arranged by the time of day and include moments of history, sport and culture, going as far back as 55 BC.
All times included are ‘local’ from where the event took place.
