# If you could undo one event in history, it would be \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 5, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745 "2005-08-05T17:29:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/41 "2005-08-06T12:53:32Z")
> [@Ghanima](#): > > I am loathe to admit it here, but I think I might go about 2005 years back and snuff that pesky Jesus fellow. > . Yes…and now, we would be arguing in GD with Mithraist fundamentalists. I wouldn’t undo anything since we couldn’t know what would be the result. For all I know, without Hitler, we could have had a nuclear war in Europe during the 60s, instead… Besides, given that the birth of each of us was incredibly unlikely, nobody born after a signifiant event that you change result in none of the people born after this event not existing (your grandfather might not have met your grandmother, and even if he did, the slighest change in his life would have resulted in some other spermatozoid winning the big prize). And I’d rather exist, thank you very much. I wouldn’t mind much you altering events happening after 1989, though. The people I love the most were all born by this time. And to say the truth, if I did such a thing, I’d probably, egoistically, alter my own life. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/42 "2005-08-06T12:56:27Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Besides, given that the birth of each of us was incredibly unlikely, nobody born after a signifiant event that you change result in none of the people born after this event not existing . Err…Make that : “nobody born after a significant event you modified would exist”. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/43 "2005-08-06T13:25:16Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > And think of how hard it would be on us Catholics if you selected a different way of slaying Christ. For instance, if you had him stoned to death, rather than crucified, every time we wanted to bless ourselves we’d have to punch ourselves in the head. That was a funny mental picture 😃 What if he “got the chair” or something like that! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/44 "2005-08-06T13:29:08Z")
> [@Nic2004](#): > > That was a funny mental picture 😃 > What if he “got the chair” or something like that! 😃 Or got beheaded. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/45 "2005-08-06T13:31:25Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > “nobody born after a significant event you modified would exist”. Ah, the whole “time space continuum” from _Back to The Future_ ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/46 "2005-08-06T13:37:28Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > Reflecting on societal changes since then, I think had the NAACP used Brown vs. The Board of Education Topeka, Kansas to force a widespread federal overhaul of segregated school systems so that black schools would receive equal funding as whites to maintain separate and _equal_ facilities (as NAACP legal plan originally called for), I suspect we as a society would be in many, many ways better off than we are now. How so? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/47 "2005-08-06T14:17:46Z")
> [@continuity eror](#): > > If Hitler didn’t exist, there would have been someone else to fill his place; things had fomented in Germany in such a way that the Holocaust/WWII was inevitable. I’ve no doubt that a Central European war would still have happened, possibly escalating into a different WWII. It was an untenable situation. I have equally as little doubt that without Hitler the Holocaust would not have occurred. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/48 "2005-08-06T14:32:51Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > I’ve no doubt that a Central European war would still have happened, possibly escalating into a different WWII. It was an untenable situation. I have equally as little doubt that without Hitler the Holocaust would not have occurred. As much as many people (especially the History Channel) would like it to be true, I believe that Hitler was mostly a catalyst for the anti-Semitism rampant in Depression Era Europe (maybe even around the world – Stalin was no Jew Lover either) but was by no means its cause. He had to have many people, mostly well-educated and power-hungry associates along with the German populace in general, for his rise to power and his bloodthirsty methods to have worked. Blaming Hitler is not the answer to the Holocaust any more than current day atrocities can be laid at the feet of your basic dictator. It’s a _Zeitgeist_ type of attitude toward big issues. Hitler was an opportunist who read the crowd well. Evil as all hell, but not working in a vacuum. To me, the lesson to be learned from WWII is not to be on the lookout for the next Hitler (how many have we had since then?) but to try to forestall the apathy and ignorance that allowed Hitler into power to start with. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/49 "2005-08-06T19:33:09Z")
I’d go back to November of 1955 and actually have my dad stand up to Biff so he could gain some self-confidence and finally write that Science Fiction book. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/50 "2005-08-07T03:49:54Z")
How about offing Bill Gates? Aw, damnit, I’d probably get back to the present and find that I’m now the proud owner of a two year old Mac Plus-IV, with a 200mhz 68090 CPU, a 1024 color monitor, and I’d find out that Steve Jobs now owns Monaco. :smack: Okay, I’ve got a safe one…how about stop the U.S. from protecting the Unit 731 guys from war crimes prosecution in exchange for their research data? (We didn’t get much useful data anyway, as I remember. So no big loss.) ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/51 "2005-08-07T04:11:48Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > If I could undo one event in history, it would be to prevent the ability of others from undoing events in history. A lot of us wouldn’t even be here if any one thing was altered in history. And I like it that way. 😉 **AMEN** ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/52 "2005-08-07T04:37:51Z")
“Stay on the Path.” –Ray Bradbury, “Sound of Thunder” ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/53 "2005-08-07T05:24:24Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > “Stay on the Path.” –Ray Bradbury, “Sound of Thunder” Thank you so much for posting that. I was just about to give up and search for that story, hampered by the fact that I don’t remember much about it. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/54 "2005-08-07T13:00:23Z")
“john, that yoko woman is just leading you away from the music. why don’t you just sit down with paul over a nice cup of tea and work out your differences…” ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/55 "2005-08-07T13:32:58Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Personally, I’d let 9/11 happen but try to keep the loss of life to a minimum. Keep the firefighters & police away from the towers, for one. I agree, Lute. 9/11 or something similar was inevitable and served as a wakeup call to many people who needed one. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/56 "2005-08-07T17:38:20Z")
> [@Me](#): > > Reflecting on societal changes since then, I think had the NAACP used Brown vs. The Board of Education Topeka, Kansas to force a widespread federal overhaul of segregated school systems so that black schools would receive equal funding as whites to maintain separate and equal facilities (as NAACP legal plan originally called for), I suspect we as a society would be in many, many ways better off than we are now. > [@continuity eror](#): > > How so? Public education wouldn’t have taken the huge hit in taxpayer support since 1955 if whites didn’t flee en masse to the suburbs to send their kids to all-white private schools. Formerly poor black schools would have, with the proper legislation, gotten money for key improvements in faculty, facilities and books, which basically means equitable federal money would have been earmarked for black education 50 years ago. Integration of schools would have occurred through voluntary efforts rather than forced bussing. Integration of the workforce would likely have happened sooner, too – possibly with less initial tokenism. Not to say that racism, bigotry and discrimination wouldn’t have been intractable in some quarters, or that the desegregation of public facilities in transportation, hospitalization, etc., was a bad thing, but I think further strides would have been made sooner. In any event, we would have sidestepped aspects of racial quotas, bussing, overcrowded poorly maintained urban schools, duplicated efforts in nonsectarian private education and underminded confidence in public education. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/57 "2005-08-07T18:39:41Z")
June 28, 1914 - knock Gavrilo Princip over the head with a club ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/58 "2005-08-07T18:58:35Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > June 28, 1914 - knock Gavrilo Princip over the head with a club That war was happening anyways, dead Archduke or no dead Archduke. ---
**Author:** ![Lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@Lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lola)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/59 "2005-08-08T12:27:17Z")
Dec 26 1893. Distract Mr and Mrs Mao (with a funny dance, maybe) and prevent them from creating little Chairman. He’s currently top of my “Evil Bastard” list. China was probably in for a rough old time anyway, but this psychotic bastard was utterly outstanding in his field. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745/60 "2005-08-08T13:13:35Z")
> [@Ghanima](#): > > I am loathe to admit it here, but I think I might go about 2005 years back and snuff that pesky Jesus fellow. > > Or better yet Abraham. Isn’t he the one considered to be the founder of Christianity, Judaism and Islam? Yeah, I’d go after that guy. Ehh, something as bad or worse is just as likely to take their places. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-undo-one-event-in-history-it-would-be-_______/315745.md?page=4)