#TIL: https://www.britannica.com/topic/sansculotte

Decades later, I'm still finding things like this that I feel like I should have picked up during my years in California public schools.

Though I should point out that I did get a better perspective on World War II than many of my contemporaries, because I had a history teacher who was a child in the Baltics during the war and was willing to share what he knew ... including hearing the German dictator's speeches on the radio ... he never said whether he understood the language, but he did say the speeches were spellbinding.

Also, in 7th grade, I had a history teacher who'd spent a lot of time researching some of the Revolutionary War battles in and around Boston. She gave us a lot more details and passion than the usual blah blah.

So I got a lot of some things. I just feel like the French revolution was a major enough event that we should have learned more about it. Instead, we mostly skipped it (maybe a brief mention of Marie Antoinette and "let them eat cake" ... and of the reign of terror, but that's all) and the Napoleonic wars (though we did cover the Louisiana purchase and the fact that it helped fund the wars in Europe).