

How Old Is Your Globe? - erehweb
http://www.replogleglobes.com/howOldIsYourGlobe.php

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michael_dorfman
A long time ago, I briefly had a girlfriend who was a geographer, and she
impressed the hell out of me by casually looking at a globe in a library we
were visiting, and telling me it was from 1923, just by looking at the borders
and country names. Totally knocked me out.

~~~
lepton
Would you have known if she was wrong?

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jerf
Bad form, old chap.

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asolove
This is surely one of the most beautiful sites I have seen in a long time. Of
course, it would be nice if the period font were done in css3 rather than
images, and if the interactive bits were html5 rather than flash, but putting
technologies and trends aside, this is truly a pitch-perfect and whimsical
site. Well done.

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camiller
@jfruh @mak120 and @lobster45. It's supposed to help you find the date of
manufacture of a globe, not necessarily the date those changes in the names of
countries happened, or to be a complete list of all the country name changes
that happened.

~~~
blasdel
More specifically, it's intended to help you find the date of manufacture of
_one of their globes_.

The dates and country names reflect when Replogle Globes changed their
products, not politics on the ground. The map is not the territory!

~~~
billswift
It isn't quite consistent even there. I have a Replogle globe that according
to the chart is simultaneously post-1975 (with Suriname) and pre-1971 (no
United Arab Emirates, Zaire, or Bangladesh). So I suspect the Suriname entry
is an error in the chart.

~~~
Someone
Suriname existed as a separate country before it became independent in
November 1975.

It was part of the kingdom of the Netherlands, but not part of the country
itself.

It was called Suriname, at least in the Netherlands, and, I am fairly sure, in
Suriname itself.

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mak120
Bangladesh became independent in 1971 not 1972. And it was not formerly part
of India, but was part of Pakistan. Makes me wonder what else is wrong in that
chart.

~~~
rospaya
It's not just independence, but international recognition. Croatia for example
became independent in 1991, but got recognition from the UN, US, UK, Germany
and Russia in 1992.

~~~
mak120
Bangladesh got recognition from the UK and several European countries in 1971
AFAIK. By December of 1971, even the armed conflict was over.

Actually, being off by one year isn't such a big deal. Most maps from the
first half of 1971 would not show Bangladesh. But it lists Bangladesh as being
previously of India before 1971. That is just wrong since it was part of
Pakistan from 1947 to 1971.

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Wicher
My globe has "Korea" (as one country) instead of "Chosen", so should be from >
1945\. On the other hand, it's in the same color as Japan. And it also has
"Italian Somaliland" and "Abyssinia" instead of "Somalia" and "Ethiopia". So
it could be from < 1941\. Given the size of Germany, and Finland bordering the
Barents Sea, I think it's pre-WW2.

Complicating factor: the maker of my globe often uses two names in the period
surrounding a name transition. Thailand is called "Thailand (SIAM)". The name
in capitals is not necessarily an official name, because there's also a
PAKISTAN, which is a post-WW2 development.

Confused.

~~~
wilhelm
Is Poland still present on your globe? Is Danzig still Polish territory? How
about the Baltic states? Are they still independent? Is Albania the same
colour as Italy? Where is the border between the Soviet Union and Romania? Is
Slovakia on the map?

I have a wonderful globe from the same period myself, made in Berlin between
April and September 1939.

~~~
Wicher
* Poland exists (but is shifted eastwards), Danzig is Polish. (>1920)

* Bessarabia is part of Romania (<1940)

* Baltic states appear without SSR suffix, but then again, nothing carries an SSR suffix on this globe - though there is a USSR.

* Istria is to Austria (<1919)

* Czechoslovakia is on the map as one state ( >1918 )

* Albania appears to be a state, it has a different color from Italy. (probably < 1939).

Thanks for the hints. It is most likely an interbellum globe, but the Istria
thing is bothersome. Maybe I should take a picture.

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tokenadult
Some of the comments are missing the point that the information in the chart
is to be used for dating globes, which sometimes show place names for places
before they change political status (e.g., gain independence after being
United Nations trusteeships) or sometimes are published after a place name
changed near the end of the previous calendar year.

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EwanG
So why doesn't anyone make a "Forever Globe" that projects from the interior
of the globe the image of the world onto the exterior of the globe? You could
then update countries as you go, and even add things like the weather, etc.

~~~
tokenadult
Google Earth embodies the data management needed to make a forever globe, so
now someone just has to make the suitable projector. I have long desired a
globe that would interactively change its display to make, for example,
population density or altitude or some other displayable feature more
prominent than political boundaries.

~~~
EwanG
SO, know anyone in China we could talk to about this? I suspect the trick is
to find a way to create a curved touch-sensitive surface. I'm tempted to do a
render and setup a Kickstarter for this, but I'd like to make sure that
someone makes the basic parts before I start "taking orders". Surely there are
some folks on here who can at least tell me who to talk to?

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lobster45
What about South Sudan?

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jfruh
Beat me to the punch! Needs updating.

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Apocryphon
Not to mention Kosovo as well, perhaps.

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jfruh
Well, usually globes tend not to put countries on the map until they're
universally recognized. Kosovo's an interesting edge case though!

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mirkules
For the record, Serbia and Montenegro didn't become just Montenegro; it split
into two countries, Serbia AND Montenegro.

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mmphosis

       New Name:    Republic of the Union of Myanmar
       Date:        1989
       Former Name: Burma
       Location:    SW of China

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar>

~~~
thestoicjester
That is the first thing I looked for, too. Whoever made the list must not
watch enough Seinfeld[1].

[1]<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAlinvw2Rb0>

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jfruh
It's also missing Palau (became independent from US trusteeship in 1994).

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Apocryphon
List fails to mention countries that no longer exist, as they are now parts of
other countries. Where's Tannu Tuva?

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narkee
As far as I know, Indonesia and East Timor are two different countries.

~~~
colanderman
They are. The region which is now the coutry called East Timor was formerly
part of Indonesia.

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VladRussian
this supposes that your Globe is of planet Earth. What if it isn't?

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halostatue
Not nearly old enough for the globe I have at home that's between 1906 - 1916.

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loopplus
New Name : Israel, Old Name : Palestine. Date: 1948. The biggest steal of the
century.

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loopplus
New Name : Israel, Old Name : Palestine. Date: 1948. The biggest steal of the
century.

~~~
loopplus
Whoever didn't like my sentence is admitting that it's true.

~~~
artmageddon
No, its just that kind of comment doesn't really belong on HN.

