What happened?

Having established when and where events happened, we'll want to describe what happened.

How you do that depends on how much you focus on individuals and how quickly you pass over time.

We'll discuss this in more detail over the next few pages, but here are some examples to give you a sense of the possibilities.

Sue Shelton White (Source)

Here's an example at a zoomed-out extreme.

This snippet, about American political activist Sue White, who helped win women's right to vote, focuses on a single person but compresses two years into a single paragraph:

Sue White had traveled far in the past two years, farther than she could ever have imagined, from the life she’d expected to live in Tennessee. Enlisting in the party had taken her around the country, placed her in the vanguard of a great national crusade, and deposited her into the bosom of an eclectic community of idealistic and adventurous — fearless — women from every part of the nation. These past two years had changed her, not in a fundamental way, she was still sunny Miss Sue, but in a profound way nevertheless. Opened her eyes and opened the world.

The Woman's Hour(2018)

Roman villa overgrown by rye grass 400AD

This snippet swings far in the other direction, describing events that occur over decades or centuries with no reference to individual human beings:

As we have seen, the rise of empires could reshape landscapes owing to the demands made by rising demographics, urbanisation and consumption patterns. The fall of empires could do the same: as Rome’s western provinces went into a prolonged period of decline, their botanical footprint was transformed too. Fields that had once been given over to alfalfa to supply the imperial armies’ horses and livestock gave way to new crops, or even to none. From the point of view of vegetation, Rome’s loss was rye’s gain, as cultivation expanded rapidly in Europe between the fourth and eighth centuries. A series of ‘outlaw plants’ spread naturally on a south-to-north axis.

The Earth Transformed

NZ infantry soldiers closing in on the German HQ of the Sangro River Defence Line at Castelfrentano NA Natlib

NZ infantry soldiers closing in on the German HQ of the Sangro River Defence Line at Castelfrentano (Source)

This snippet describes events during World War II, taking place over just a few days, but referring to military sides rather than individuals:

The Germans pulled out that night and by dawn on 2 December Castelfrentano was in the New Zealanders’ hands. Capturing the town was all well and good, but barring the way to the mountains beyond was the next German defensive position, yet another dominating ridgeline that ran behind the River Moro from Ortona on the coast to Orsogna fifteen miles inland. This latter town, perched on the edge of an impossibly dominant and steep ridgeline just four miles north-west of Castelfrentano, was the New Zealanders’ next objective.

The Savage Storm(2023)

Imagine you're a historian in the 25th century.

Take inspiration from one of the snippets above, choose a time scale, and describe the startling historical events surrounding an early 21st-century social media trend.

Reconstruction from archives of ancient 21st century social media influencers

What language was used in these snippets to describe the features of different events?

Sue White had travelled far...
Enlisting in the party...
Placed her in the vanguard of a great national crusade...
Their botanical footprint was transformed...
Cultivation expanded rapidly...
Castelfrentano was in the New Zealanders' hands...

You might notice the language of 'what' is much more rich and varied than the language of 'when' and 'where'.

It's the language of noun groups and verb groups.

You have lots of options!

Choose a time scale and describe the startling historical events surrounding an early 21st-century social media trend

The early 21st century was marked by a curious social media trend called 'stilling' which required participants to pose motionless on stream for extended periods, often exceeding an hour.

Enthusiasts chose visually bland locations and then stood perfectly still, in poses that represented popular memes of the time, such as 'being mud', 'sigma goat', or 'hitting the griddy'.

The trend's popularity soared, culminating in the creation of dedicated 'still streams' where viewers could tune in to watch their favourite statuesque influencers.

In an era defined by rapid, fleeting digital content, participants were now rewarded for doing absolutely nothing.

The phenomenon reached its zenith during the infamous "still-off" of 2027, a 24-hour event where participants competed to remain motionless for the longest time. The culture's champion, Ouchbiscuit, managed an impressive 18 hours before succumbing to acute renal failure.

Describing historical events