I can think of no non-military event in the history of mankind that rivited the world’s attention to the extent that the Apollo 13 mission did.
Disagree?
The fall of the Berlin Wall?
How about the resignation of President Nixon?
How about the writing of the U.S. Constitution?
Vic and jacksen9:
. . . in the history of the world??? At least Apollo 13 was in space (though, strictly speaking, that ought to disqualify it), so it’s gets extra credit (I’d still go with Neil Armstrong’s first step over it, however).
That said, I don’t know what my answer would be (though that first moon-walk has to be right up there).
Ack. Make that “it gets extra credit.”
Preview does not equal proofreading.
The Black Death?
Well on second thought, could an event become dramatic, because of the absence of drama? Nixon resigned in the midst of scandal yet life continued as usual. I think this is so remarkable and deserving of consideration.
There’s a difference between something being dramatic and something being important. IMO being able to watch something live makes it much more dramatic, because you have no idea what’s going to happen and because you know that it’s happening right now. In the past people wouldn’t find out what had happened until months later, robbing the events themselves of drama.
If you’re looking for something that riveted the world at the time it was happening, I think you’re mostly limited to events in the last century.
I would have to second this. The black death went all the way from China to Italy, and completely changed so much of that world.
I really don’t know, but I was under the impression that one of the Apollo 13 astronauts was active duty military, thus qualifying the mission as at least partly military.
The Apollo 13 incident wasn’t that important outside the US.
The Sep 1 attacks were certainly more widely followed. I’m not sure if they count as military.
I would take a guess and say that the Footbal World cup in any given year that it is played will be more widely followed than the Appollo 13 incident. Most of the developing world folow the World Cup, wheras very few in the developing world would have bothered following the Appolo 13 incident.
How about the development of language and of writing ?
OK so these probably happened over centuries, and in parallel around the world, and are continuing to develop but these are what makes most other human activity possible.
I have a few suggestions,
Ghandi’s non-violent liberation of India from the British empire?
Sputnik going into orbit around the earth?
the industrial revolution (not one event i know but anyways…)?
the invention of the computer?
there are lots of “dramatic” non-military events in history
Mogiaw
btw call me ignorant
but i’d never even heard of the Apollo 13 mission except when it came out as a film.
The establishment of democracy in America.
Heavier than air powered flight
Discovery/invention of the wheel
The invention of the printing press
I vote for the eruption of the Santorini volcano.
As everybody knows, it was the invention of sliced bread.
The death of Princess Diane
Her funeral was watched by the largest world audience ever.
I’m very surprised no-one has mentioned 9/11… or the assassination of JFK
If your talking about an event rather than something like inventing the wheel, airplane, the black plague etc., than I would say that 9/11 outweights both Apollos 11 & 13 and JFK. And I see nothing military about 9/11.
I would punch :mad: someone for mentioning stupid Di’s stupid funeral in the same breath as any of those. The last episode of MASH was watched by millions but it hardly ‘riveted the world’.