# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 7:47pm 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/613960/21 "2012-02-26T19:47:02Z")
Sometime in September, 1985, at college, so I could meet my future husband sooner. (“Hi, honey!”) ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:00pm 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/613960/22 "2012-02-26T20:00:11Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > No idea the year, but the crucifixion of Jesus Christ would be a one-day event that I’d like to see in person. Yeah, this. Seeing that event would have a big influence on my current belief that the Jesus suffering story is exaggerated bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:12pm 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/613960/23 "2012-02-26T20:12:41Z")
It would be both terribly sad and facinating, but I’d want to watch the Titanic sink. ---
**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 26, 2012, 8:18pm 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/613960/24 "2012-02-26T20:18:33Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Does the fact that 2 out of 3 things that the OP mentions are things I actually witness make me old??? I was alive during this period, so you’re a spring chicken, baby. If you were actually present at those events it would be pretty amazing. I’d love to have seen the wall come down with my own two eyes. [9/11 was weird enough where I was - in Newfoundland, where the transatlantic planes had to find a landing spot.] > [@Lucretia](#): > > Can we just see, or intervene? Because my answers are vastly different depending on that. See. No fair killing Hitler, but you can listen to a speech. > [@rachelellogram](#): > > Yeah, this. Seeing that event would have a big influence on my current belief that the Jesus suffering story is exaggerated bullshit. We’re gonna hafta sell tickets. ---
**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 26, 2012, 8:26pm 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/613960/25 "2012-02-26T20:26:30Z")
It would be fascinating to go back and talk to the Greek Playwrights Sophocles and Euripides. I think they overlapped around 470 BC. In fact quite a few of the playwrights were alive around that time. > **[List of ancient Greek playwrights](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ancient_Greek_playwrights)** ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:28pm 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/613960/26 "2012-02-26T20:28:04Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Yeah, this. Seeing that event would have a big influence on my current belief that the Jesus suffering story is exaggerated bullshit. Now I’m picturing Jesus being whipped, and as he’s driven to his knees, blood spattering everywhere, he looks up and makes eye contact. _“So, real enough for ya, bitch?”_ (in English of course, with a slight Bronx accent… and a sardonic smile) ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:30pm 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/613960/27 "2012-02-26T20:30:01Z")
The raising of the American flag atop Mt Suribachi on Iwo Jima ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:38pm 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/613960/28 "2012-02-26T20:38:00Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > … 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… Actually, that made me think: if I really want to Fight Ignorance Including My Own, I’d request seeing an event that I’m currently convinced didn’t occur. So I’m going to get to see Atlantis sinking (or maybe show up a year before, at their zenith… can I learn the language before I go?), Jesus walking out of the tomb… or maybe Amelia Earhart landing safely and partying with heretofore unknown islanders! ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 9:02pm 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/613960/29 "2012-02-26T21:02:10Z")
30th July 1966, I could’ve been one of those people on the pitch who thought it was all over. In fact, perhaps that was me…or will be me…or is me…whatever. Think about it. If I was there then I would\* know \*it was all over anyway and so _why not_ run on the pitch and immortalise myself? I think I need a lie down now, causality is messing with my head. Another option would be to be there at the opening night of “Romeo and Juliet” or "The Magic Flute"or a similar seminal work. But I think I’d restrain myself from running onto the stage for those. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 9:27pm 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/613960/30 "2012-02-26T21:27:37Z")
I want to see those final days when that spinning asteroid heads unstoppably towards Earth. I want to see people skip jobs & work & school to come together on hilltops, knowing that there is no escape and no reason to hurt or take from others. I see it as culminating in an afternoon of weeping, prayer, and the holding of each other with the end coming right about sunset. ---
**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, 9:50pm 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/613960/31 "2012-02-26T21:50:29Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > I was alive during this period, so you’re a spring chicken, baby. If you were actually present at those events it would be pretty amazing. I’d love to have seen the wall come down with my own two eyes. > > [9/11 was weird enough where I was - in Newfoundland, where the transatlantic planes had to find a landing spot.] > > See. No fair killing Hitler, but you can listen to a speech. > > We’re gonna hafta sell tickets. I can’t say that I was in the best position to witness those events but I was involved in some sense. 911 I was living 35 miles away, my Guard unit was called in and I saw the smoking ruins on that day. When the Berlin Wall came down I was stationed in Germany. I have a piece of the Wall that I chiseled off myself. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 9:55pm 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/613960/32 "2012-02-26T21:55:58Z")
Julius Caesar’s death. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > No idea the year, but the crucifixion of Jesus Christ would be a one-day event that I’d like to see in person. If everyone were offered this time travel excursion, the cruxifiction would be standing room only. Just read the reviews of others. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 10:53pm 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/613960/33 "2012-02-26T22:53:42Z")
Trinity test shot ---
**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 26, 2012, 11:15pm 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/613960/34 "2012-02-26T23:15:02Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I can’t say that I was in the best position to witness those events but I was involved in some sense. 911 I was living 35 miles away, my Guard unit was called in and I saw the smoking ruins on that day. When the Berlin Wall came down I was stationed in Germany. I have a piece of the Wall that I chiseled off myself. Cool. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 11:38pm 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/613960/35 "2012-02-26T23:38:18Z")
I would like to be present when the first word was spoken and understood, wherever and whenever that was. I’d like to know how it came to be necessary to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 12:13am 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/613960/36 "2012-02-27T00:13:25Z")
Whitehall Palace on December 26, 1604, for the first recorded performance of _Measure for Measure_. Not only do I want to know how Shakespeare’s company handled Isabella’s reaction to the Duke’s proposal (one of the great “does she or doesn’t she” moments in world drama) and what King James thought of the play, but I’m sure Christmas celebrations at a seventeenth-century court would be well worth seeing in themselves. Naturally, I would also give anything to see _Love’s Labour’s Won_, but since we don’t have any definite performance dates, it would be pretty hard to calibrate the time machine. ---
**Author:** ![Stately\_Greek\_Automaton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Stately\_Greek\_Automaton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stately_Greek_Automaton)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 12:41am 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/613960/37 "2012-02-27T00:41:25Z")
The collision that created the moon. Maybe from a safer vantage point than on proto-Earth, though. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 12:45am 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/613960/38 "2012-02-27T00:45:08Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > If everyone were offered this time travel excursion, the cruxifiction would be standing room only. Obligatory _Buffy_ quote: Vampire:This weekend, the night of St. Vigeous, our power shall be at its peak. When I kill her, it’ll be the greatest event since the crucifixion. And I should know. I was there. Spike: _You_ were _there_? Oh, please! If every vampire who said he was at the crucifixion was actually there, it would have been like Woodstock. I actually _was_ at Woodstock. That was a weird gig. I fed off a flower person, and I spent the next six hours watchin’ my hand move. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 12:49am 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/613960/39 "2012-02-27T00:49:37Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The Resurrection. My answer too. Back up position is I would like to see the gunfight at the OK corral. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2012, 1:29am 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/613960/40 "2012-02-27T01:29:04Z")
I’d love to witness The Big Bang. Not sure where I’d stand to view it, though. [Previous 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=1) [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=3)