MEMORY SYSTEM FOR IMPORTANT HISTORICAL DATES

The two systems you have just learnt enable you to remember
the day for any date in this century. The next system will
assist you in the memorisation of significant dates in history.
In Chapter 1 the memory test included a list of 10 such
dates. They were:
1. 1666 — Fire of London.
2. 1770 — Beethoven's birthday.
3. 1215 — Signing of Magna Carta.
4. 1917 — Russian Revolution.
5. c.1454 — First Printing Press.
6. 1815 — Battle of Waterloo.
7. 1608 — Invention of the telescope.
8. 1905 — Einstein's theory of Relativity.
9. 1789 — French Revolution.
10. 1776 — Declaration of American Independence.
The method for remembering these or any other such dates
is simple, and is similar to the method for remembering tele-
phone numbers.
All you have to do is to make a word or string of words from
the letters which represent the numbers of the date. In most
cases there is no point in including the one representing the
thousand, as you know the approximate date in any case. Let
us try this system on the dates above.
1. The Fire of London in 1666 virtually destroyed the city
leaving it a heap of ashes. Our memory phrase for the date
1666 would thus be 'ashes, axAes, ashes!', or 'cAarred ashes
generally'.
2. Beethoven is famous for many musical accomplishments,
but among his greatest and perhaps most controversial was the
9th Symphony in which he included a choir. His style of music
made full use of the percussion instruments. Knowing this,
remembering his birthday in 1770 becomes easy: 'Crashing
Choral Symphony'.
3. The signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 marked a new
age of sense and reason. To remember this date we can use the
phrase Wew Document—Liberalisation'.
4. The Russian Revolution of 1917 was an uprising of the
people against what they considered abnormal oppression.
They demanded greater equality in the form of Communism.
Our memory phrase: 'People Demand Communism'.
5. Printing presses are often great rotating machines that
churn out thousands of pages a minute. We can imagine a small
version of this as the first printing press, in approximately
1454, which can be remembered by the word 'RoLleR'.
6. The Battle of Waterloo in 1815 was triumphant for
Wellington but .can be considered fatal for Napoleon. Once
again we use a memory word rather than a memory phrase to
remember the date: 'FaTaL'.
7. The invention of the telescope by Galileo in 1608
changed the way in which man's eyes saw the sky. Our
memory phrase: 'Changed Sky Focus'.
8. In 1905 Einstein's theory of relativity shed new light on
the way in which matter and energy exist. His theory solved a
number of puzzles that had occupied man, but also gave rise
to many more. Our key word 'PuZZLe'.
9. In the French Revolution in 1789 the king was ranged
against the people. Hence we remember the date by '.King
Fights People'.
10. The declaration of American Indepencence in 1776
marked a new feeling of optimism and confidence in the
American way of life. This can be encapsulated in the one
word: 'CoCKSure'.
As you can see, the system for remembering important dates
in history is a simple one and should make a task which most
people find hard an enjoyable exercise in creative remembering.