View Full Version : Historical Characters
See-ing the reminiscing and greatest achievements threads has got me thinking that if you could have been anyone in history who would you choose to be? Also, to make it difficult and get a variety of people,you can't choose a person that has already been chosen.
There are many Doctors, Statesmen, astronauts and engineers etc. from the 20th century I admire but I would like to go back to the 19th century and be Isambard Kingdom Brunel, one of this country's greatest ever engineers.
Instead of listing his achievements, below is a page on Wikipedia about him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel
Lord Flasheart
03-Jun-08, 16:42
Casanova .. for obvious reasons .. ;)
or
Michael Collins the astronaut. While Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon he orbited it alone keeping their ticket home ticking over. He was, for a while the only human being alive that wasnt either on the Earth or the Moon. At times he could see both the Earth and the Moon so the only human that wasnt in his field of view was him. Utterly alone and with huge responsibility. I have had the pleasure of hearing him speak and he is witty, humble, intelligent and still has his sense of perspective. A true gent.
I haven't heard Michael Collins speak but I would dearly love to. I found him the most thoughtful and interesting and indeed the most endearing of the Apollo astronauts 'In the Shadow of the Moon'.
Moi x
I'd be James V of Scotland so I could arrange the abortion of Mary Queen of Scots, and reduce the possibility of a Scot inheriting the English throne..........resulting in no UK!
I'd be James V of Scotland so I could arrange the abortion of Mary Queen of Scots, and reduce the possibility of a Scot inheriting the English throne..........resulting in no UK!
Too late Oddquine, the link was established when James I married Margaret Tudor, sister to Henry VIII of England in 1501.
Ghandi...that is who i choose.
Too late Oddquine, the link was established when James I married Margaret Tudor, sister to Henry VIII of England in 1501.
Nope, golach. That link would have required a direct descendant of the Scottish line being available when Elizabeth died..................and if Mary had been aborted, there wouldn't have been one.
Or do you know different?
northener
04-Jun-08, 23:31
Prince Rupert.
Nephew of Charles the Ist. Leader of the Royalist cavalry in the British Civil War.
Brilliant military leader who cut his teeth in the 30 years war on the Continent as a teenager. Good looking. headstrong and arrogant.
Had the ability to talk to anyone from any social group and was respected even by his enemies.
Womaniser (he never married), one of the founders of the C17th scientific movement in the UK. He had a fascination for science and engineering in his later years.
I'd be James V of Scotland so I could arrange the abortion of Mary Queen of Scots, and reduce the possibility of a Scot inheriting the English throne..........resulting in no UK!
That's terrible, killing an unborn child.:(
Joan of Arc
although I must admit burning at the stake would not do for me at all
sylvia plath american poem then
Robert the Bruce, what a life and history that man had.
I would like to have been the pilot of Enola Gay and I would have dropped the bomb on the Quai d'Orsay. Actually, I would like drop a bomb on them now.
the second coming
07-Jun-08, 22:50
no doubt
Ghengis Khan
of his time, the ultimate leader, ruler and visionist
SC was he no related to your wife!!! That famous Org Invader?
I would like to be Adolf Hitler, then I would have stuck to painting nice wee scenes of the German countryside after being discharged from the army.:lol:
oldmarine
08-Jun-08, 00:19
See-ing the reminiscing and greatest achievements threads has got me thinking that if you could have been anyone in history who would you choose to be? Also, to make it difficult and get a variety of people,you can't choose a person that has already been chosen.
There are many Doctors, Statesmen, astronauts and engineers etc. from the 20th century I admire but I would like to go back to the 19th century and be Isambard Kingdom Brunel, one of this country's greatest ever engineers.
Instead of listing his achievements, below is a page on Wikipedia about him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel
Being a retired engineer, I would opt for this one. I learned a lot about this engineer by reading the above site.
I would like to be Adolf Hitler, then I would have stuck to painting nice wee scenes of the German countryside after being discharged from the army.:lol:
A brave choice Rheghead. I wonder what shape the world would be in today if some tyrants/dictators hadn't risen to power.
A brave choice Rheghead. I wonder what shape the world would be in today if some tyrants/dictators hadn't risen to power.
I wonder, seriously, if we won't produce our own "Hitler" in Britain in the next however many years.
He was evil, but the way he got where he wanted was by appealing to the working class, tax paying, hard working populace of a major, civilised, european power.
Serious question, if a "party" in their election manisfesto, promised:
No more immigration (unless the immigrant offered something ie Doctor)
No more state benifits to non Brits.
No more welfare for the "unwilling workers"
Would they get your vote?
I would NEVER vote BNP, but I can see a swing towards a party that will be more symathetic to these views.
Lord Flasheart
10-Jun-08, 06:47
I wonder, seriously, if we won't produce our own "Hitler" in Britain in the next however many years.
He was evil, but the way he got where he wanted was by appealing to the working class, tax paying, hard working populace of a major, civilised, european power.
Serious question, if a "party" in their election manisfesto, promised:
No more immigration (unless the immigrant offered something ie Doctor)
No more state benifits to non Brits.
No more welfare for the "unwilling workers"
Would they get your vote?
I would NEVER vote BNP, but I can see a swing towards a party that will be more symathetic to these views.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
The only reason the BNP (and I despise them) are even getting a foothold is because Neu Arbeit has its head in the sand while the country is slowly disentigrating and the Tories and the Limp Dems cant get their act together. The problem is if you say you are for no more immigration the cry of "Racist" goes up, you cant even HAVE an opinion in this country anymore !!
I wonder what Winston Churchill would make of Britian today ??
who would you choose to be?
Can it be fictitious? If so, I'd like to be God. I really would like to sort all this mess out down here.
Can it be fictitious? If so, I'd like to be God. I really would like to sort all this mess out down here.
You can be anyone you want, as long as someone else hasn't already chosen-and you give me Katie Melua and a Lamborghini.:D
Kevin Milkins
10-Jun-08, 22:50
Brunel was ok and put one or two bits together ,but Thomas Telford was in my opinion a much more impresive guy.
Brunel was ok and put one or two bits together ,but Thomas Telford was in my opinion a much more impresive guy.
I was also thinking of choosing Thomas Telford, it was a hard choice but in the end opted for Brunel. Also on my list is George Stephenson, Sir Nigel Gresley and Sir Joseph Bazalgette.
Kevin Milkins
10-Jun-08, 23:06
I was also thinking of choosing Thomas Telford, it was a hard choice but in the end opted for Brunel. Also on my list is George Stephenson, Sir Nigel Gresley and Sir Joseph Bazalgette.
When you have a look at all the things that these people have acheived in there relativly short life, and without telephone Fax email transport links etc it makes your mind boggle.
I was also thinking of choosing Thomas Telford, it was a hard choice but in the end opted for Brunel. Also on my list is George Stephenson, Sir Nigel Gresley and Sir Joseph Bazalgette.
When you have a look at all the things that these people have acheived in there relativly short life, and without telephone Fax email transport links etc it makes your mind boggle.
Absolutely Kevin. Some of the worlds greatest engineers and scientists done their work without so many electronic gadgets, and some of the greatest buildings and monuments that still stand hundreds and thousands of years later.
I'd be James V of Scotland so I could arrange the abortion of Mary Queen of Scots, and reduce the possibility of a Scot inheriting the English throne..........resulting in no UK!
Unfortunately confusing two events separated by over 100 years - the joining of the Crown and the joining of the Parliaments. The claim to the Scottish Crown and Scottish overlordship by England goes away back before Mary Queen of Scots.
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