Monday, December 10, 2007

Brainiacs


In the mornings I tend to listen to a local talk radio station. They are always covering and discussing things happening in Brevard County, where I live. (Am I boring or what?)

But some mornings, I don't want to hear people talk and I switch around trying to find a music station that is actually playing music instead of their annoying morning guys and gals yakking.

One day last week I had turned to try to find some music on a classic rock station and after a Rush song (Tom Sawyer, if you care) their morning people came on and had a girl on the streets in Orlando asking people simple questions, a la Jay Leno.

The question the radio station girl was asking was this, "During what years was Adolph Hitler alive?"

I'm thinking that nobody could possibly be very far off on this. I wasn't sure of his birth date, but I estimated 1890 and that he died in 1945. I knew that he and his wife had killed themselves as Russians were storming his area of Berlin.

One guy said, "I think he was born in the 1890s and died in... 1956, yeah, 1956."

Wow. 1956? Why 1956?

But the answer of the next person she asked killed me.

A lady answered "I'm not sure when he was born, probably around 1900. But I was a History major, and I'm positive he died in the 1960s because Kennedy was President when Hitler died."

I actually LOLed out loud right there in my car.

An honest to goodness LOL. Seriously, where did she major in history? I want to be sure to never take any classes at whatever college she went to.

Maybe my Louisiana public school upbringing was better than I thought.

I hope a bunch of that lady's friends heard her on the radio that day. She deserved some serious being made fun of.

6 comments:

none said...

I'm weird about knowing when histrical figures lived and died. I'm actually obsessed with it.

I knew Hitler died in 45 when I was
in first grade. I think he was born in 1889.

Sometimes I think about what major historical figures could still be alive if they lived to the maximum human lifespan. Weird huh?

Norma said...

Considering what my kids learned in history class in the mid-80s, I give them a B+ for at least getting the century correct.

Carina said...

That is absolutely stunning.

Julie said...

Well...history and geographic were never my strong suit...but when people insist they are right...and they aren't ..well that bothers me!

Travis Cody said...

I wasn't a history major, but since WWII is my hobby I'm very confident. Hitler was born 20 April 1889 and died 30 April 1945.

While I wouldn't expect most to know the specific dates, I would expect them to know when WWII ended and that Hitler died at that time.

Qtpies7 said...

I wouldn't even venture a guess because it all bores me to tears, however, that is hystericaly! To so boldly proclaim something you have no clue about and on the radio to boot!