:The fuck of it is that I only bought a globe last year because it showed the South Sudan boundaries.
OK, in the last 500 years or so, what is the longest time a globe would have lasted without a border having to be changed?
>OK, in the last 500 years or so, what is the longest time a globe would have lasted without a border having to be changed?
Planning some evil pencil work there, Sibeen? If you can write me out of the daylight saving thing I’d die for you.
I was going to say about 4.5 billion years, less a few thousand, then I read the question.
My guess would be from about the mid-1970s to the break-up of the Soviet Union.
There’s been a few newly-independent countries in that time, notably Zimbabwe in 1980, but they were more a change of regime than a change of borders.
I was going to say about 4.5 billion years, less a few thousand, then I read the question.
————————————————————————————
So the answer is…
4.499 999 998 458 billion years.
Then I read the question…
sibeen said:
OK, in the last 500 years or so, what is the longest time a globe would have lasted without a border having to be changed?
I did an animated gif showing where all borders have changed every year since the end of World War II, from 1946 to 2000. Then found it was too big to post on the internet. I separated changes into:
Counties that lost territory.
Countries that gained territory.
Countries that became independent.
Countries that changed name.
Years in which nothing happened: 1982, 1985, 1988, 1994-6, 1998, 2000-2, 2004-5, 2007, 2009-10.
sibeen said:
OK, in the last 500 years or so, what is the longest time a globe would have lasted without a border having to be changed?
So the answer to your question is “about four years”. Here is a complete list of events during the quietest period, 1982-2010. Sorry it’s not quite in date order.
26 Oct 1983. US troops invade Grenada
20 Dec 1989. US troops invade Panama
11 Mar 1990. Lithuania independent from USSR
3 Oct 1990. Germany formed from East and West Germany
4 Aug 1984. Upper Volta becomes Burkina Faso
1 Jan 1986. Aruba becomes independent of the Netherlands
7 Oct 1987. Fiji becomes a republic
1 May 1989. Kampuchea becomes Cambodia
18 Jun 1989. Burma becomes Myanmar
13 Sep 1989. Poland becomes a republic
23 Oct 1989. Hungary becomes a republic (again)
21 Mar 1990. Namibia becomes a republic
30 Mar 1990. Estonia independent from USSR
4 May 1990. Latvia independent from USSR
22 May 1990. Yemen forms from North Yemen and South Yemen
24 May 1991. Eritrea becomes independent from Ethiopia
25 Jun 1991. Independence of Croatia and Slovenia from Yugoslavia
25 Sep 1991. Independence of Macedonia from Yugoslavia
26 Dec 1991. Breakup of the USSR, forming 1. Armenia, 2. Azerbaijan, 3. Belarus, 4. Estonia, 5. Georgia, 6. Kazakhstan, 7. Kyrgyzstan, 8. Latvia, 9. Lithuania, 10. Moldova, 11. Russia, 12. Tajikistan, 13. Turkmenistan, 14. Ukraine, 15. Uzbekistan
28 Apr 1992. Independence of Bosnia & Herzegovina from Yugoslavia
1 Jan 1993. Czechoslovakia splits into the Czech Republic and Slovakia
1 Jul 1997. China takes Hong Kong from Britain
31 Dec 1999. Panama takes the Canal Zone from the USA
20 May 2002. East Timor becomes independent of Indonesia
4 Feb 2003. Yugoslavia becomes Serbia & Montenegro
3 Jun 2006. Serbia & Montenegro separate
28 May 2008. Nepal becomes a republic
Feb 2008. Kosovo’s independence from Serbia gets partial recognition
March 12, 1992. Mauritius becomes a republic
24 Sep 1993. Monarchy restored in Cambodia
> 2000-2002
Oops, 2000-2001, I’d forgotten East Timor.
Do they bring out new globes now with Russia Crimea?
I have an old cyclopedia from 1924. you would hardly recognise many of the countries.
I imagine pre WWI it would be far more different. e.g. the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
mollwollfumble said:
sibeen said:
OK, in the last 500 years or so, what is the longest time a globe would have lasted without a border having to be changed?
I did an animated gif showing where all borders have changed every year since the end of World War II, from 1946 to 2000. Then found it was too big to post on the internet. I separated changes into:
Counties that lost territory.
Countries that gained territory.
Countries that became independent.
Countries that changed name.
I’d be interested in seeing them gifs
diddly-squat said:
mollwollfumble said:
sibeen said:
OK, in the last 500 years or so, what is the longest time a globe would have lasted without a border having to be changed?
I did an animated gif showing where all borders have changed every year since the end of World War II, from 1946 to 2000. Then found it was too big to post on the internet. I separated changes into:
Counties that lost territory.
Countries that gained territory.
Countries that became independent.
Countries that changed name.I’d be interested in seeing them gifs
Wonder what kind of ‘internet’ it was that the poster was trying to post the gif to…
There is also the complication of name changes while retaining the same borders. e.g. Ceylon to Sri Lanka & Rhodesia to Zimbabwe.
poikilotherm said:
diddly-squat said:
mollwollfumble said:I did an animated gif showing where all borders have changed every year since the end of World War II, from 1946 to 2000. Then found it was too big to post on the internet. I separated changes into:
Counties that lost territory.
Countries that gained territory.
Countries that became independent.
Countries that changed name.I’d be interested in seeing them gifs
Wonder what kind of ‘internet’ it was that the poster was trying to post the gif to…
going by moll’s haircut, I suspect it was the 1982 version…
Sorry Moll. Missed the changed name line in your post.
Sorry Moll. Missed the changed name line in your post.
A globe doesn’t have a length, cos it’s round, it has a diameter, so the question perhaps should have been, “biggest globe diameter?”
bob(from black rock) said:
A globe doesn’t have a length, cos it’s round, it has a diameter, so the question perhaps should have been, “biggest globe diameter?”
jjjust moi said:
bob(from black rock) said:
A globe doesn’t have a length, cos it’s round, it has a diameter, so the question perhaps should have been, “biggest globe diameter?”
What about circumference then?
Yeah OK, and the circumference will be about 3 times bigger than the diameter.
or a previously unanswered question, which shared landborder has remained unchanged for the longest?
Skunkworks said:
or a previously unanswered question, which shared landborder has remained unchanged for the longest?
Skunkworks said:
or a previously unanswered question, which shared landborder has remained unchanged for the longest?
England + Scotland would have to be up there.
sibeen said:
Skunkworks said:
or a previously unanswered question, which shared landborder has remained unchanged for the longest?
England + Scotland would have to be up there.
How about Switzerland and any one of its neighbours?
The Rev Dodgson said:
How about Switzerland and any one of its neighbours?
Switzerland has grown larger over the years with consequent expanding borders.
I was hoping to fit in a suitable witty pun about Canton, but couldn’t think of one.
>> I’d be interested in seeing them gifs
> Wonder what kind of ‘internet’ it was that the poster was trying to post the gif to…
My free web hosting website on RootsWeb. It used to accept files exceeding 4.5 MB but has since reduced the maximum acceptable file size to about 1 MB. The full animated gif is 5.52 MB. It’s too big for Photobucket. Flikr will accept the file but not display the animation.
It has to be a website that allows animation of animated gifs.
If you have a place I can put it PLEASE let me know and I’ll post (or email or ftp) it immediately.
mollwollfumble said:
>> I’d be interested in seeing them gifs> Wonder what kind of ‘internet’ it was that the poster was trying to post the gif to…
My free web hosting website on RootsWeb. It used to accept files exceeding 4.5 MB but has since reduced the maximum acceptable file size to about 1 MB. The full animated gif is 5.52 MB. It’s too big for Photobucket. Flikr will accept the file but not display the animation.
It has to be a website that allows animation of animated gifs.
If you have a place I can put it PLEASE let me know and I’ll post (or email or ftp) it immediately.
Shame you can’t use something like this site http://climate.nasa.gov/interactives/climate_time_machine
However, have you looked at using Dropbox?
the best I can see otherwise at the moment is http://minus.com/
otherwise you could always ask here.. and wait.. http://gifgif.media.mit.edu/about
>> Posting .gif file to web.
> However, have you looked at using Dropbox?
It’s already on Dropbox, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it public. To do that I need to “add names or emails” or “import contacts” from gmail, yahoo or facebook.
So for here how could I do it? I don’t have or want all your email addresses or facebook accounts. I can’t share it with an arbitrary name because it says name not valid. I suppose I could post here my Dropbox email and password for you to log in but that isn’t ideal either.
mollwollfumble said:
>> Posting .gif file to web.> However, have you looked at using Dropbox?
It’s already on Dropbox, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it public. To do that I need to “add names or emails” or “import contacts” from gmail, yahoo or facebook.
So for here how could I do it? I don’t have or want all your email addresses or facebook accounts. I can’t share it with an arbitrary name because it says name not valid. I suppose I could post here my Dropbox email and password for you to log in but that isn’t ideal either.
I’m sure dropbox give you a link to copy for posting here. Hang on, I think I’ve got one to test.. 
yes/no?
no it looks like I’d have to post it as a link to go to; like this
roughbarked said:
mollwollfumble said:
>> Posting .gif file to web.> However, have you looked at using Dropbox?
It’s already on Dropbox, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it public. To do that I need to “add names or emails” or “import contacts” from gmail, yahoo or facebook. So for here how could I do it? I don’t have or want all your email addresses or facebook accounts. I can’t share it with an arbitrary name because it says name not valid. I suppose I could post here my Dropbox email and password for you to log in but that isn’t ideal either.
I’m sure dropbox give you a link to copy for posting here. Hang on, I think I’ve got one to test..
yes/no?
no it looks like I’d have to post it as a link to go to; like this
Try this:
WorldHistory_large
You have to download it to view the animation.
Or try this smaller version, attached a different way:
WorldHistory
With the second attachment above I can see the animation directly. Let me know if you can.
mollwollfumble said:
With the second attachment above I can see the animation directly. Let me know if you can.
Error (403)
It seems you don’t belong here! You should probably sign in. Check out our Help Center and forums for help, or head back to home.
Have you tried posting it on your blog (if you still have one)? Gif should work there.
The Rev Dodgson said:
mollwollfumble said:
With the second attachment above I can see the animation directly. Let me know if you can.
Error (403) It seems you don’t belong here! You should probably sign in. Check out our Help Center and forums for help, or head back to home.
Have you tried posting it on your blog (if you still have one)? Gif should work there.
Yeah, that error looks familiar from when I tried to post the gif on the web last time. Can you download and then view the first of the two links I posted above?
Last I tried, the blog wouldn’t let me in. It shrinks all images down to postage stamp size anyway, which is useless in this case.
mollwollfumble said:
Yeah, that error looks familiar from when I tried to post the gif on the web last time. Can you download and then view the first of the two links I posted above?
Yes download from dropbox works with no problems at all.
So how long did it take you to do all that?
The Rev Dodgson said:
mollwollfumble said:
Yeah, that error looks familiar from when I tried to post the gif on the web last time. Can you download and then view the first of the two links I posted above?Yes download from dropbox works with no problems at all.
So how long did it take you to do all that?
I used three main sources, including the hardcover book “Chronicle of the World”. It was the remarkably good map projection http://www.yoel.info/world_outline_map_blank_public_domain_royalty_free.gif that made it possible. No other map projection is anywhere near as good – even Fiji appears big enough to colour in. The only flaw I saw in the map projection is the size of Luxembourg, it’s shown too big.
> The only flaw I saw in the map projection
Only significant flaw, I mean. It’s darn good for plotting the changes counties over time. It shows Kosovo as a separate country, and that only (arguably) became a separate country in 2008, and at the same time shows Scotland, which ceased to be a separate country in 1707.
mollwollfumble said:
> The only flaw I saw in the map projectionOnly significant flaw, I mean. It’s darn good for plotting the changes counties over time. It shows Kosovo as a separate country, and that only (arguably) became a separate country in 2008, and at the same time shows Scotland, which ceased to be a separate country in 1707.
Thanks for the work anyway. Small flaws are not much in the overall effectiveness.
