I think I would go back a couple thousand years, and if I DID find you-know-who on the cross, I would let him down, tend his wounds, let him know what kind of chaos and destruction has been done in his name, and let him go. Maybe averting the dark ages, the inquisition, and the plague would be worth it.
This morning at breakfast, I put instant coffee in the microwave…and went back in time!
Slythe, why not go back a little farther, get the guy alone, and have a little talk with him? See if you can’t get him to choose some female disciples, some openly gay disciples, some disciple couples who are living together without benefit of matrimony. Persuade him to make some statements that will produce a better religion, such as “sex is NOT dirty,” “women are NOT inferior,” “people are entitled to have other religions, or none,” “hey, you can’t go on multiplying forever,” and maybe even, “be kind to the chimps; they’re your cousins.”
For Christ’s sake, Slythe, will you stop your Christian bashing! 
As if our history would have been a utopia if Christ didn’t exist. It’s human nature to fight. If Christ didn’t show up, there are still many more reasons to kill each other, like greed and money. (As if that weren’t the reason to kill in Christ’s name in the first place.)
–Keeves
Mark Twain? I’d put my bets on Charles Dickens, though.
As for the OP, isn’t it obvious? I’d go back to the 1950’s or 60’s with a sports almanac in my hand. I’d make a killing on sports bets.
It doesn’t matter where you are or who you are, it only matters how much money you have.
I was always curious. If one went back in time and bet a large sum of money on sports events, wouldn’t that have repurcussions on future events, including future sport events?
I think I’ll start a new topic on this.
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On second thought, it’s not really worth a new topic. It just deserves a statement.
The topic would have been: Time travel, sports betting, and chaos theory.
Consider in the movie Back to the Future II where Biff goes back in time with a sports almanac and makes a fortune.
I don’t believe this is possible (even hypothetically). Chaos theory shows that relatively insignificant events have large repurcussions in the future. Maybe Biff could have made some money on one or two sports bets, but in the long run, his actions would cause all history to become skewed, including sports events, thereby altering the “predictions” in his almanac.
Since sports is somewhat tied to politics, and politics is very closely tied to economics, a relatively small change in the economic balance would undoubtably have some effect on sports events. Just a thought…
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Beeruser, I’m afraid that chaos theory wouldn’t be effected in that way in such a short period of time. The kinds of effects you describe would take a minimum of thousands of years, by which time Biff would have gotten away with it, and died a happy man. Time may heal all wounds, but the healing process is damn slow.
Also it is possible that his sports almanac would alter itself to be consistent with the new future since it was the future.
Agreed, bernard. In Back to the Future, the photos altered themselves to reflect what had happened in the future; similarly, at the end of BttF 3, the “You’re Fired” paper erased itself to be clear. So why wouldn’t the Almanach also have adapted itself?
I have to assume that the original question allowed for one to “blend”. You would appear in your chosen era, with proper language and cultural abilities, but with your late 20th Century mind intact ( such as it may be…).
I have read all of the responses, and I would probably have chosen North America, 1500 years ago. Fairly good homeopathy, lack of the type of plagues that…uh…plagued Europe, lovely lands, and yes- war, etc. But… I think I would love to be here at that time. 
Typer
I would go back to the Roman Empire with a stack of science books, preach science, end ignorance, and put Cecil out of a job.
Me? I’d head back to St. Petersburg, say about 1914, just before the outbreak of the Great War. The only thing I’d really want to do to change history from there is make sure that Georgian ratbastard Dzhugashvili stayed out of the picture
Be a helluva time to live through, that’s for sure!
Cave Diem! Carpe Canem!
well i would first find out what was going to end the world, and go back to before it started and warn everyone. maybe even stop it and be hero of the world. women would dig a man who saved the world right?
eggo
Well, I know the one place I wouldn’t go would be Salem Mass in the 1600’s. I’d be a young white woman with 4 cats, eyes that occasionally change color, into tarot cards, astrology, and candle magik. They’d hang me in a second. Although it would be pretty fun too- I could scare the hell out of all of them with a good surround sound system and a sound effects CD. (Heh heh heh…)
Remember- If you’re angry it takes 42 muscles to frown, and only a few muscles to smack the idiot that mad you angry in the first place.
Olentzero - Don’t go to St. Petersburg! Uncle Joe was in Siberia in 1914. From there, I think the Trans-Siberian railway has a connection to the Orient express. There’s a little fellow in Munich you might want to also “remove from the picture”.
CDdexthavn
When I read your posts, I agreed with you guys, and decided to let it go. But now I feel duped.
It occurred to me while I was riding the bus one day. Yes, the almanac would change. But it would change after the event!
The “You’re Fired” paper erased after the actions of preventing it took place. In the same way, the almanac would change after the sports events were altered through chaos.
Aw, hell, the movie itself was so illogical anyway.
But I still feel duped.
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I’d travel to Tahiti about 100 years before Europeans discovered it. The HMS Bounty’s crew had a fun time there, but they messed it up for anyone else.
I’d go to New York New York circa 1960. Where do I begin? The mass exodus had begun but it was still the media capitol(TV,radio,music, newspapers etc.).Broadway was in its last gasp before it went into a lull(West Side Story,Camelot for examples). You can go out to the clubs and see the greats (Rat Pack, Bob Dylan, Lenny Bruce for starters).
garyh
I’d go back to 1979 and convince my younger self to tell Diana Milbert he had a huge crush on her.
I’m still kicking myself over not taking that particular emotional risk when I had the chance.
I’m not flying fast, just orbiting low.
Can I go more than one place? I’d like to go back in time and see for myself whether certain “historical” events really took place or are just allegory whose meaning has been lost in religious fervor: The events of Adam, Noah, Shem, etc.; God’s revelation to Abraham; the giant Nephilim; Mohammed moving a mountain; the physical presence on Earth of a resurrected Jesus; the exodus of Nephites to the new world; to name a few.
Also I’d like to see historical Atlantis, if it ever existed. And it’d be cool to see ancient Egypt in action.
CK: You are correct (within the hypothetical context of the movie which as you pointed out wasn’t necessarily logical to begin with). So continuing to use BttF2 as a basis. As long as the events that caused the alteration of the sports event took place prior to your betting you would be okay. So granted, you would lose some bets because of events transpiring between your bet and the end of the race, but I bet you would still win a ton of them if you waited to the last moment to place a bet.