One Day In History

Last week, publication began of what is being dubbed ‘Britain’s biggest blog’. Called One Day in History, the project attempted to build a snapshot of British life by encouraging thousands of people across the UK to record a 650-word diary of their day on October 17th. The results are being stored on a special website to create what the organisers are calling a “fascinating social history archive” of everyday life for future generations. The project deliberately aimed to record mundane details rather than exciting events, because that is believed to be what people will find most extraordinary hundreds of years in the future.

The project was inspired by the Mass Observation Archive, which was set up in the late 1930s for ordinary people to diarise their lives. The archive is now stored at the University of Sussex and can be searched online.

One Day In History is part of the History Matters campaign, which is led by The National Trust. Like the Mass Observation Archive, the idea is to raise awareness of the cultural importance of history in the everyday life in Britain and to encourage involvement in heritage in England and Wales.

One of the key questions History Matters has attempted to engage people on is: Does History Matter? People were invited to submit one-liner answers here. Responses included: “History matters because our history is actually our future and therefore needs protecting” and “it promotes a feeling of belonging to a group with a similar history and understanding of the world as it is today”.

Putting to one side the issue of whether history matters, it’s worth exploring what motivated some 8,000 people to record the mundanities of their daily lives for One Day In History. Could this be symptomatic of a wider need? And if so, is there any other evidence of it?

Since early man started painting on cave walls, people have always aspired to make their mark on the world, ultimately to be remembered for something after they’ve died. In the past, this was a privilege bestowed on people who had made great achievements and forwarded the progress of human history. Nowadays, the same desire can also be seen in the near-hysterical worship of celebrities, people who are elevated to godlike status because they have managed to break through the mundanity of their existence and acquire a status which will allow them to be preserved in history, albeit in a tiny footnote somewhere.

And you only need to look at the rise of social networks, blogs and citizen media to see that people are using new technologies to find an outlet for that need to leave a mark on the world. People are afraid of disappearing. They want to leave traces – proof that they exist. People are obsessed with telling the stories of their lives to feel important and validate their existence.

No doubt that history is important for everybody, but why not think about our future in terms of how we can change the world for the better? What exactly do we have to protect if not our environment and human rights? This mass observation is maybe a little bit over the top and in reality is probably doing little more than adding to the already vast mass of digital detritus. Attempting to paint a picture of British life today could be seen as a futile task anyway - is there really such a thing as Britishness and national identity any more? Perhaps we should create a blog so you can all tell us what you think. Or perhaps not.

Contributed by Alex Pollock and Britta Knüppel