BREAKING WORLD RECORDS(“BREAKING

THEM”)
THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA

The Library of Alexandria was founded by Ptolemy I Soter, successor to Alexander the Great, and
held over 500,000 documents. Its destruction is widely lamented, but the reason for its loss is
still a mystery. There are several theories: Julius Caesar's burning of the harbor in 48 BC; the
conversion of the Temple of Serapis to a Christian Church and subsequent destruction of many
documents; riots leading to the murder of Hypatia, a female philosopher and possible head
librarian; and the burning of the library under the orders of Muslim Caliph Omar. However, most
accounts come from biased writers with an agenda, so the actual cause remains uncertain.

HOUSE OF WISDOM

The House of Wisdom, also known as Khizanat-al-Hikma, was a great library in Baghdad that
was initially a private collection belonging to the Abbasid Caliphs in the 8th century. The library
was opened to the public during Al-Ma'mun's reign and was known as the center of educational
research and intellectual activities in humanities and sciences for hundreds of years. However,
during the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, the library was pillaged, and all the books were
thrown into the Tigris River, which ran black with the ink from the books for half a year. The
destruction of the House of Wisdom marked the end of the Islamic Golden Age.

WHAT STOPPED THE MONGOLS FROM CONQUERING EUROPE

The Mongol Empire, led by Genghis Khan, began to conquer the world in 1206. One territory
after another fell under the overwhelming force of the Mongol Empire, which would eventually
stretch from the eastern shores of China. However, their unstoppable wave of victories in Europe
suddenly ended as they abruptly returned to Asia. Historians could only guess why until now,
since written accounts from the point of view of Mongol military leaders are sparse. A new study
in the journal Scientific Reports looked at a different kind of record to solve the mystery of the
horde's abrupt exit from central Europe: tree rings. Trees are especially sensitive to small
changes in climatic conditions. They found the climate in Hungary and its surroundings were
unusually cold and wet for about three years, from 1238 to 1241. The extra moisture and early
spring thaw turned the Hungarian plains into marshes and swampland – unsuitable terrain for
moving the thousands of horses the Mongol armies relied on for transportation and warfare.

HARD WORK OF TRIPITAKA KOREANA, BUT THEN MONGOLS(YOU’VE GUESSED IT RIGHT)

The Tripitaka Koreana is the most complete collection of Buddhist texts, laws and treaties in
existence, located in Haeinsa Temple in South Korea. It was created over 70 years, and the
woodblocks were carved from magnolia, birch and cherry wood, and then soaked, boiled and
dried before being engraved with characters. The woodblocks were moved to Haeinsa Temple,
where the depositories were built to protect the woodblocks from deterioration using
ventilation and a moderate temperature and humidity. The depositories and the Tripitaka
woodblocks were declared a National Treasure of South Korea in 1962 and a UNESCO World
Heritage Site in 1995. In 2000, the Tripitaka Koreana was digitized and is being transferred onto
copper plates for preservation.

HOW TO BUILD TRIPITAKA KOREANA

he Tripitaka Koreana is a collection of Buddhist scriptures carved onto 81,258 wooden blocks
during the Goryeo Dynasty in Korea. The monks who created the tablets were aware of the
importance of preserving their work and employed several techniques to disaster-proof the
tablets, such as using the best type of wood, applying a coating of clay and charcoal, creating a
unique storage system, and handling the tablets carefully. Thanks to their efforts, the tablets
have survived for almost a millennium, making them one of the most valuable and historically
significant collections of Buddhist scriptures in the world.

CENTURY SAFE

The Century Safe, which debuted in 1876 at the US Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, was
the world's first planned time capsule. It contained relics from the 19th century, including a gold
pen and inkstand, a book on temperance, and snapshots of President Ulysses S. Grant and other
politicians. The oldest known time capsule in the United States was created by Samuel Adams
and Paul Revere and was placed in a cornerstone of the Massachusetts State House in 1795. The
"Crypt of Civilization" at Oglethorpe University contains a comprehensive collection of human
knowledge, and its contents have been locked away since 1940. The Westinghouse Electric and
Manufacturing Company entombed a time capsule in 1939 called the "Immortal Well" at the
1939 New York World's Fair, and another was placed nearby in 1965. The Detroit Century Box
was sealed on January 1, 1901, by the city's mayor and remains sealed at the Detroit Historical
Museum.

POLISH POLAR TIME CAPSULE

Researchers have buried a time capsule in Svalbard, containing artefacts and samples that sum
up science and technology in 2017. The capsule, buried in September, will remain underground
for more than 500,000 years before being exposed by geological changes, including sea level
rises and erosion. Among the contents are DNA samples from humans, rats, salmon and
potatoes, and tiny aquatic creatures called tardigrades that can survive extreme conditions. The
capsule also includes electronic devices such as accelerometers, a radiation detector and a
mobile phone. The burial commemorates the 60th anniversary of Poland’s polar station.

INTERNATIONAL TIME CAPSULE SOCIETY

The International Time Capsule Society (ITCS) collects and oversees the registration of time
capsules from all over the world to ensure that they are not lost. The ITCS catalogues each time
capsule in the Not Forgotten Library Depository and provides public access to the Time Capsule
records. The physical and digital records of time capsules that Oglethorpe University holds in its
possession have been permanently transferred to the Not Forgotten Library Depository. New
registrations and volunteers can be submitted through the ITCS website, which is a free service
funded by volunteers and resource donation. The Not Forgotten Digital Preservation Trust has
been established to care for the library of Not Forgotten's Time Capsule and to preserve the
ITCS records of Time capsules for centuries to come. The Trust is overseen by an Advisory
responsible for the administration of the library's continuing obligations for hundreds of years. It
is funded through the Not Forgotten Guarantee Trust Fund. The primary purpose of the Trust is
to protect the funding of the Library and provide financial support to the Library. Archives must
be publicly accessible and available for use. As an archive, Not Forgotten adheres to
preservation policy standards set forth by the U.S. Library of Congress, the U.S. National Archives
and Records Administration, and WITNESS. As an institutional member of Association of Moving
Image Archivists Not Forgotten follows the recommended guidelines of the (United States)
National Digital Stewardship Alliance Levels of Digital Preservation and the “Guidelines for the
preservation of digital heritage” from UNESCO.

“EMBRACING HISTORY: THE GROWING POPULARITY IF TIME CAPSULES AMONG AMERRICANS”

The rediscovery of a time capsule from the pedestal of the Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond,
Virginia has brought attention to the phenomenon of time capsules. While the contents of the
1887 box were routine, time capsules have surged in popularity in recent years, especially at the
local level. The International Time Capsule Society suggests that the pandemic and concerns
about the preservation of digital information have contributed to the popularity of time
capsules. People have lost faith in traditional means of recording history and want to ensure that
gritty, quotidian truths are not lost to future generations. Creating a physical time capsule
implies that one has lost faith in the larger "time capsules" fundamental to traditional and
institutional forms of recording history.

ALL THE CZAR’S HORSES

PUTIN TRIES TO REBUILD SOVIET UNION

In the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse, Vladimir Putin, who was then a KGB officer in
East Berlin, experienced the humiliation of the Soviet Union losing its global power first-hand.
Putin was determined to restore Russia's global importance and its pride. He worked closely
with President Yeltsin's Kremlin and saw how weak Russia had become. Putin believed that the
way to restore Russia's first-tier status was by invoking its history, particularly its World War II
victories. Putin wrote an article in 1999, in which he warned Russians of the real danger of
relegation to the second or third tier of global powers and called for unity to make sure Russia
remained a first-tier nation.

MUSSOLINI TRIES TO BRING BACK ROMAN EMPIRE

The article explores the use of ancient Greece and Rome in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany,
arguing that the classicizing ideology played a significant role in the formation of national
identities in both countries. The author discusses the unique temporal dimensions of each
fascism's revolutionary mission and the cultural heritage and classical models that these regimes
appropriated to create a fascist national vernacular. Mussolini's glorification of ancient Rome
took many forms, while Hitler and his hierarchs turned to ancient Greece for a model for artistic,
cultural, and social life. The article also discusses the use of classical models in the context of
national unification and the similarities and differences between the use of ancient Greece and
Rome in both regimes.

PERIODS OF LOST AMERICAN GREATNESS

Conservative nostalgia for the 1950s was scrutinized by author David Frum in a speech at the
American Enterprise Institute. Frum argued that the stability and consensus of the era was the
result of unusual, wartime circumstances, including the destruction of America's economic
competitors and high taxation rates. He cautioned against idealizing the era and suggested that
human nature is not fixed, but changes over time. Frum located the national convulsion of the
1960s and 1970s in the latter decade, and said that change would continue to lead America
toward "something new."

THE POLITICS OF NOSTALGIA AND POPULISM

Populist leaders around the world often use nostalgia to rally supporters and create borders
between "us" and "them." Nostalgia can strengthen shared social identity and maintain in-group
identity during times of change or threat. However, nostalgia can also lead to the portrayal of
political opponents as "enemies to be destroyed," increasing political enmity. In Turkey, for
example, Islamist politics glorifies the Ottoman past as a tool for reconstructing "the Great
Turkey," while Kemalist nostalgia emerged as a reaction to the rise of political Islam and Islamist
populism. Research conducted in Turkey showed that Islamist Ottoman nostalgia increases
populist attitudes, but secular Kemalist nostalgia has a barely significant positive impact. While
nostalgia can be an effective tool to generate an enemy image or an antagonistic "us" versus
"them" identity, nostalgia for a liberal past can be used to increase support for democracy.

WHAT THE LUDDITIES REALLY FOUGHT AGAINST

The term Luddite has many meanings, but the original Luddites were not opposed to
technology nor were they inept at using it. The Luddite disturbances began when British working
families in the 19th century were enduring economic upheaval and widespread unemployment.
On March 11, 1811, British troops broke up a crowd of protesters demanding more work and
better wages, and that night angry workers smashed textile machinery in a nearby village. The
Luddites were neither as organized nor as dangerous as authorities believed, and mainly they
confined themselves to breaking machines. In truth, they inflicted less violence than they
encountered.
THE ANTI-SOCIAL NETWORK: THESE TEENS ARE DITCHING INSTAGRAM, SNAPCHAT AND
TIKTOK

A group of teenagers in New York City have founded the Luddite Club, which advocates for
reducing screen time and the addictive nature of technology. The club, which has 16 members,
meets weekly and engages in activities such as sewing, reading, painting, and playing music in
the park. Members who still have smartphones attend meetings as a way to reduce their online
time. The club hopes to inspire others to reflect on their relationship with technology and to use
their time more wisely.

MEET BELIZE’S SECLUDED MENNONITES, A COMMUNITY FROZED IN TIME

Belize is home to around 12,000 of the world's most conservative Mennonites, who shun
modern technology including, in some cases, electricity. Photographer Jake Michaels visited
three Mennonite colonies in Belize's north -- Indian Creek, Shipyard and Little Belize -- to
document their traditional way of life. Michaels found them surprisingly receptive, spending
time in Mennonites' family homes and expansive farmland, discovering a world frozen in time
where the communities are mostly reliant on commercial agriculture. While permitted to run
their own schools, Belize's Mennonites have literacy rates significantly lower than the country's
other ethnic groups, with just 5% completing formal secondary education.