Irrelevant Appeal to History - 2014 will determine the course of our century says Cambridge Professor

Are you fed up hearing the much misquoted saying that "those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it"?  Of course, there is much truth in the idea but it is not true that what has happened in the past will necessarily happen again.  Sometimes things happen for the first time and sometimes things happen that never happen again.

According to the Daily Telegraph, a Cambridge Professor is claiming that dramatic events in 2014 will determine the course of our century because such events have happened in the middle of the second decade in the previous five centuries, for example the first world war broke out in 1914.

"Prof Boyle argues that 2014 will be important because previous five centuries have also hinged on events that took place in the middle of their second decade.

In 1517 Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door of Wittenburg church, sparking the Reformation and the rise of Protestantism.

A century later 1618 marked the start of the 30 Years War and decades of religious conflict in Western Europe, which ended with the establishment of the Hanoverians in 1715.

The enlightened Congress of Vienna took place in 1815 following the defeat of Napoleon, heralding a century of relative stability across Europe..

Prof Boyle, whose book 2014 - How to survive the next world crisis is published on Thursday, said: “The character of a century becomes very apparent in that second decade, so why should ours be any different?"

This seems a rather silly argument for a Cambridge Professor to be making.  Could the Daily Telegraph, by any chance, be oversimplifying his thesis?

Telegraph article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7832724/2014-will-determine-course-of-century-says-Cambridge-professor.html