# If you could travel in time to see a single event on a single day in a single place: where and when? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 25, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960 "2012-02-25T15:02:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/1 "2012-02-25T15:02:52Z")
Title says it all. Pearl Harbor? Berlin Wall? 9-11? Where we goin’? What would you like to see happen? ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/2 "2012-02-25T15:16:31Z")
To only observe, you mean? The Wembley concert of Live Aid on July 13, 1985. [Here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Aid#London_Wembley_Stadium)’s what I’d have seen, not a flash in the pan among the bunch. To influence a past event would be a whole other story. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/3 "2012-02-25T15:22:27Z")
Honestly of the big historical events I cannot think of a good one to view for the sake of viewing. So I will take Don Larson’s perfect game in 1956. Game 5 World Series over the Brooklyn Dodgers. So that was October 8, 1956 at Yankee Stadium. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/4 "2012-02-25T17:10:08Z")
Probably Athens in 458 BC, for the first performance of Aeschylus’ _Oresteia_. Or, roughly a millenium later, the first performance of _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_. Modern era? Either a Hitler speech or [Mayhem live in Sarpsborg, Norway, back in 1990, with Dead on vocals](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_of_the_Black_Hearts). 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/5 "2012-02-25T17:20:09Z")
Right now I think I’d say the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I’d really like to observe the whole process of creating the Constitution, but it was a multi-day affair. If I’m indulging a profit motive, I’d go observe some unsolved mystery and bring the solution forward in time. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/6 "2012-02-25T17:26:00Z")
Philadelphia, 1787. Any day between May 25 and September 17, as long as I can hear James Madison debating at the Constitutional Convention. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/7 "2012-02-25T17:40:25Z")
I’d like to see Paganini perform, or Beethoven. But I’d also like to see my folks get married, or my grandparents when they first met, or something more personal. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/8 "2012-02-25T18:10:27Z")
I’d like to see Vesuvius erupt and bury Pompeii. Or just a random day and location during the Cretaceous Period, preferably on land. I’m certain that would be chock-full of Kodak moments. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/9 "2012-02-25T18:27:29Z")
V-J Day, On 14 August 1945 to celebrate with my countryman the end of WWII. One of the happiest days in our history. > [@](#): > > After news of the Japanese acceptance and before Truman’s announcement, Americans began celebrating “as if joy had been rationed and saved up for the three years, eight months and seven days since Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941.” In Washington, D.C. a crowd attempted to break into the White House grounds as they shouted “We want Harry!” In San Francisco two women jumped naked into a pond at the Civic Center to soldiers’ cheers. More seriously, rioting sailors looted city stores, overturned automobiles, and attacked women, causing more than 1,000 casualties. The largest crowd in the history of New York City’s Times Square gathered to celebrate, while in the Garment District, workers threw out cloth scraps and ticker tape, leaving a pile five inches deep on the streets. A “coast-to-coast frenzy of [servicemen] kissing” occurred, with Life publishing photographs of such kisses in Washington, Kansas City, Los Angeles, and Miami.[7] > [edit] Famous photograph > The famous Life magazine photograph taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt on August 14, 1945 > > The best-known kiss that day appeared in V–J day in Times Square, one of the most famous photographs ever published by Life. It was shot in Times Square on August 14, 1945, shortly after the announcement by President Truman occurred and people began to gather in celebration. Alfred Eisenstaedt went to Times Square to take candid photographs and spotted a sailor who “grabbed something in white. And I stood there, and they kissed. And I snapped five times.” Several people have since claimed to be the sailor and nurse. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/10 "2012-02-25T18:32:32Z")
July 20, 1969, on the moon. Or 5,200 years ago in the northern Italian Alps to see how Otzi the Iceman died. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/11 "2012-02-25T18:39:24Z")
No idea the year, but the crucifixion of Jesus Christ would be a one-day event that I’d like to see in person. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/12 "2012-02-26T14:15:57Z")
The Resurrection. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/13 "2012-02-26T14:48:30Z")
> [@Esox\_Lucius](#): > > July 20, 1969, on the moon. Yes. Just as Armstrong touches the surface, sneak up behind him and tap his shoulder. :eek: Other than that, I’d love to be at the Premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/14 "2012-02-26T15:04:58Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The Resurrection. Beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/15 "2012-02-26T15:17:17Z")
Does the fact that 2 out of 3 things that the OP mentions are things I actually witness make me old??? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/16 "2012-02-26T15:26:17Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Does the fact that 2 out of 3 things that the OP mentions are things I actually witness make me old??? No, only if one of them Pearl Harbor would you be old. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/17 "2012-02-26T15:48:15Z")
Can we just see, or intervene? Because my answers are vastly different depending on that. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/18 "2012-02-26T16:56:45Z")
My own death. You didn’t say only the past. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/19 "2012-02-26T17:00:35Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > Probably Athens in 458 BC, for the first performance of Aeschylus’ _Oresteia_. > > Or, roughly a millenium later, the first performance of _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_. > > Modern era? Either a Hitler speech or [Mayhem live in Sarpsborg, Norway, back in 1990, with Dead on vocals](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_of_the_Black_Hearts). 🆒 A millennia later would be 500AD to nitpick. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960/20 "2012-02-26T19:46:32Z")
It’s a tough question. A lot of famous events are very violent, and I don’t think I’d enjoy the reality of people being perforated with sharp objects. Most religious events are (I believe) fraudulent. Witnessing the fraud (or inaccuracies) would likely just make me more frustrated with superstition than I am already. Most of history was conducted in languages I don’t understand. Still, if I was given the opportunity, I’d come up with some answer, rather than saying, “Uhh no thanks.” Maybe, see a bit of pyramid construction. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-travel-in-time-to-see-a-single-event-on-a-single-day-in-a-single-place-where-and-when/613960.md?page=2)