Choices finalised for big display outside room H33 about 'moments in History'
Photo: The unbroken seal on Tutankhamun's tomb, 1922. The tomb had remained hidden for over 3,000 years.
Here is the list of moments throughout History that the St. Mary's Menston community have chosen. We would like to thank the many historians at St. Mary's who took part in discussing, suggesting and curating what should be included!
This display is the sequel to Mrs Burrow's thought provoking 'Women in History' display from 2013, which you can also see outside room H33.
“The students really enjoyed deciding which moments to include - rejecting several of the most famous, in favour of more personal and intriguing choices.”
“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”
“Moments. All gathering towards this one.”
“In the meantime, Life, the actual life of people with its concerns of health, sickness, work, rest and the interest people take in thinking, the sciences, poetry, music, love, friendship, hatred, passion went on as usual.”
“Everything is relative in this world, where change alone endures.”
List of Moments
Tutankhamun's Tomb, 1922
The unbroken seal on Tutankhamun's Tomb. The tomb had remained hidden for over 3,000 years.
The Inauguration Mass For Pope Francis, 2013
Pope Francis has been noted for his humility, his concern for the poor and his commitment to dialogue as a way to build bridges.
Afghan Girl, 1985
Sharbat Gula was orphaned during the Soviet Union's bombing of Afghanistan and sent a refugee camp. She was unable to finish her education.
Tank Man, 1989
The Battle of Thermopyla, 480BC
The Spartan King Leonidas led 300 Spartans against the 150,000 strong Persian forces.
Bloody Sunday, 1972
The Last Day of Pompeii, 79AD
The Roman city of Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The ruined city remained ‘frozen in time’ until it was discovered by a surveying engineer in 1748.
Reichstag Flag, 1945
The Soviets captured the Reichstag on 2 May 1945, drawing closer to the end a war that had cost the lives of many millions of people.
Moon Landin, 1969
“That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” During the height of the 'space race' in 1966, 400,000 people worked for the space program.
Norman Invasion, 1066
The Bayeux Tapestry shows the moment King Harold is hit in the eye by an arrow and dies. It was the last time England was successfully invaded.
The French Revolution, 1789
Turning point in modern history. The values of the Revolution were Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, French for "Freedom, equality, brotherhood."
Isambard Kingdom Brune, 1851
He revolutionised public transport and modern engineering. His railway lines and bridges are still in use today.
Flower Child, 1967
17 year old girl speaks to soldiers at Anti-Vietnam war protest
The Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989
Many of those trying to escape from East Germany by climbing the wall had been shot by border guards.
Ali vs Sonny Liston, 1965
Muhammad Ali refused to retreat to a neutral corner. Instead, he stood over Liston, shouting, “Get up and fight, sucker!”
Abbey Road, 1969
People still recreate the famous album cover taken on the crossing outside the Abbey Road Studios in London.
Yalta Conference, 1945
Churchill (UK), Roosevelt (USA) and Stalin (USSR) met to decide Europe's post-war reorganisation.
The plight of Kosovo refugees, 2000
Kosovar refugee toddler Agim Shala, 2, is passed through a barbed wire fence into the hands of grandparents at a camp in Albania.
Rosetta Stone, 196BC
Because it presents essentially the same text in all three scripts it provided the key to the modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs. It is the most-visited
object in the British Museum.
Earth from Space, 1972
You can't see the Earth as a globe unless you get at least 20,000 miles away from it. The first image of the world as we had never seen it before was thought provoking.
Every day life in the USSR, 1959
Antanas Sutkus photographed ordinary Lithuanian people in their everyday life rather than the model citizens and workers promoted by Soviet propaganda.
Migration, 70,000 years ago
According to DNA studies, modern humans left Africa in a single migration, spreading across the planet after just one tribe crossed into today’s Arabia.
Martin Luther King assassinated , 1968
England win the World Cup, 1966
“They think it’s all over...it is now!” It is the only major trophy the team has ever won.
Apple falls on Sir Issac Newton, 1666
Isaac Newton discovered the principle of universal gravitation after observing the fall of an apple from a tree in his garden. The tree is still alive today.
Migration, 2013
African migrants on the shore of Djibouti city at night, raising their phones in an attempt to capture an inexpensive signal from neighboring Somalia. They are seeking a better life in Europe and the Middle East.
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
Generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict. The photo (showing a completed missile launch site in Cuba) was JFK’s favourite and was framed in his office.
iPhone, 2007
Inventor Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone. A revolutionary product.
Olympics Black Power salute, 1968
Act of protest by USA athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos during their medal ceremony.
Nelson Mandela released from Prision, 1990
“Our march to freedom is irreversible.” The South African campaigner had been imprisoned for 27 years.
Migrant Mother, 1936
American pea picker Florence Owens Thompson, aged 32 and her 7 children were hungry and desperate during the Great Depression.
The Creation of the NHS, 1946
The National Health Service Act created 'a comprehensive health service designed to secure improvement in the physical and mental health of the people.' It aims to provides healthcare free at the point of delivery.
Easter Rising, 1916
Napoleon, 1804–14
Napoleon I was Emperor of the French. He was a genius military commander and had a string of stunning victories but his invasion of Russia in 1812 resulted in a disastrous retreat. The Battle of Waterloo ended Napoleon’s rule as Emperor.
Hadrian's Wall, 122–128AD
One of the greatest monuments to the power – and limitations – of the Roman Empire, Hadrian's Wall ran for 73 miles between the Solway Firth in the West and the River Tyne in the east “to separate Romans from Barbarians.”
Barack Obama elected, 2008
The 44th President of the United States, and the first black person to hold the office.
The Periodic Table, 1869
The periodic table is a table of the chemical elements in which the elements are arranged by order of atomic number in such a way that the periodic properties of the elements are made clear. The Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev is considered to be the ‘father’ of the Periodic Table.
The Falling Soldier, 1936
A Republican solider in the Spanish Civil War at the moment of death. The photographer Robert Capa was accused of ‘faking’the photograph.
Pope John Paul II Comic, 1982
The comic celebrating the Pope's life sold millions of copies.
Scotland Forever! 1815
The charge of the Royal Scots Greys, a British cavalry regiment at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. You can see the painting at Leeds Art Gallery. During the First World War both the Germans and the British used this image in their propaganda.
Iraqi prisoner comforts his son, 2003
Stare Down, 1941
9/11, 2001
The Princes in the Tower, 1483
It is one of the great mysteries of English history. Did Richard III, the last of the Plantagenets, really murder the princes Edward and Richard (aged 12 and 9) in the Tower as his Tudor successors alleged?
"I have a Dream", 1963
Martin Luther King's speech in which he called for an end to racism in the United States – a single event so significant that the history of the Civil Rights Movement can be measured in terms of Before the March, and After the March.
Battle of Vienna, 1683
King John III Sobieski sending Message of Victory to the Pope. The battle marked the beginning of the political hegemony of the Habsburg dynasty in the Holy
Roman Empire and Central Europe and led to a totally different balance of power in the continent.
The moment of Liberation, 1944
Child Soldier, c2002
Munich Massacre, 1972
Guy Fawkes is Caught, 1605
Little Rock Nine, 1957
Black American Elizabeth Eckford, aged 15, pursued by a mob on the first day of the school year at Little Rock Central High School, Arkansas. The National Guard prevented her from entering the school.
he Black Death, 1346–53
The plaque was one of the most devastating pandemics in history. It reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million down to 350–375 million.
Nuclear Bomb, 1945
The mushroom cloud of the devestating atomic bombing of Nagasaki in Japan was 11 miles high.
Romanian Orphanage, 1990
The Bullet the started the First World War, 1918
Gavrilo Princip was a Bosnian Serb who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo. Austria-Hungary declared war against Serbia. This conflict soon widened with more countries involved and the First World War started.
On the Origin of Species, 1859
Charles Darwin's book introduced the scientific theory that populations like finches in the Galapagos islands evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection.
American soldier during the Vietnam War, 1965
Che Guevera, 1960
Argentine Marxist revolutionary. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his image has become a ubiquitous symbol of rebellion.
The Great Exhibition, 1851
The exhibition in the Crystal Palace in London was organized by the Royal Society.Great Britain hoped to show that technology, particularly its own, was the key to a better future. The exhibition went from planning to the grand opening in just nine months.
Mars Sunset, 2005
Photograph of a Martian sunset taken by the Spirit rover. NASA hope to land on Mars before 2040.
Saul sees the light (The Conversion of St Paul the Apostle), c35AD