# Top Ten Events in History To View **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 8, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126 "2015-02-08T15:48:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/21 "2015-02-09T16:37:29Z")
RE: Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth’s record. " I saw that live on TV. Monday Night Baseball as I recall It’s on YouTube; [Vin Scully calls Hank Aaron's historic 715th home run - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjqYThEVoSQ) ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/22 "2015-02-09T19:30:36Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Interactions between Homo Sapiens and Neanderthal humans and other species of humans (the Denisovans, Red Deer Cave folks, and more – perhaps homo floresiensis as well). > The first uses of spoken language and its progression. > The first written language. > The first settlement of the Americas, Australia, and Polynesia (by the original inhabitants, I mean). > The progenitors to all the major language groups (proto-Indo-European, proto-Uralic, etc.) in ‘action’ before all the splitting. > The origin of the Basque people and language (probably before the settlement of Europe by Indo-European speakers). > The domestication of dogs and other animals. > The first organized religion(s). > Dinosaur appearance and behavior, and other prehistoric animals (ground sloths, mammoths, whale evolution, etc.). > The first person to call himself/herself ‘King’ or ‘Queen’ or an equivalent. > The first contact between Viking explorers and native Americans. I like where you’re going with this, and pair this with a lot of biblical events would be my choice. I want to see things that are the baseline of our lives, but so far in the past they are inconceivable to me as a singular person in this point in time ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/23 "2015-02-09T19:40:30Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There’s a good chance this never happened. . If that’s the standard, many of the choices proposed will be invalid. Noah’s Ark? ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/24 "2015-02-09T20:56:46Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > If that’s the standard, many of the choices proposed will be invalid. > > Noah’s Ark? Ok, then we will know. Go far back enough in history and many events are as much myth as they are fact. ---
**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 9, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/25 "2015-02-09T21:50:26Z")
Some not already mentioned: The “parting” of the Red Sea. Publication of \*On the Origin of Species, \*and its aftermath. The moon landing, from the point of view of someone on the moon. The liberation of Auschwitz. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/26 "2015-02-09T22:05:21Z")
Hitler shooting himself might be gratifying. Lewis and Clark reaching the Pacific Construction of the great Pyramids of Egypt. Discovery of Pizza ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/27 "2015-02-09T22:14:02Z")
[The European discovery of porcelain.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=3436729&postcount=39) ---
**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 10, 2015, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/28 "2015-02-10T03:56:22Z")
That guy stepping on the butterfly. (I told you nothing would change.) ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/29 "2015-02-10T04:47:47Z")
Battles between Neandrathals and Humans. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/30 "2015-02-10T05:25:56Z")
One of the Yellowstone eruptions. Reign of Elizabeth I. Administration of Spencer Perceval, 1809-1812, during the Napoleonic Wars. Heck, rise and fall of Napoleon while we’re at it. ---
**Author:** ![butterfiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@butterfiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butterfiles)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/31 "2015-02-10T06:23:49Z")
- View of the cave during Mohammed’s religious experience/recitation of the first Qur’an verses - A day in the court of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz - Bird’s eye view of Keats composing poetry anytime 1819 or later - Around the log fire at Byron’s villa during visit of Percy Bysshe and Mary Shelley, night of Frankenstein - This should probably count as several, but I’d love a day of lectures & conversations at the following schools (translators needed): The Academy or The Lyceum, University of Bologna, University of Padua, University at Cambridge, a madrasah in Bagdad, a madrasah in Andalus, and/or a medical school in the Arab world. - I would really like to go back in time to see my parents and their families (parents, siblings) for an afternoon or a holiday time in the early 60s. Of course, no interaction with this one (just A Night Before Christmas style view). I second the Tudor events listed above (Cloth of Gold, Elizabethan reign, and I really liked the Anne of Cleves wedding night! I think they did it too!). eta: For Christian era, I’d go for an afternoon by the seaside, fish and loaves and so on. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/32 "2015-02-10T07:41:46Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Interactions between Homo Sapiens and Neanderthal humans and other species of humans (the Denisovans, Red Deer Cave folks, and more – perhaps homo floresiensis as well). You stole mine. I’d definitely be more interested in pre-historical events if going back that far was a possibility. 1. Theia impact 2. Whatever hit Uranus to make it turn sideways (inb4 bad jokes) 3. Formation of life, what kind of environment? 4. Was snowball Earth an actual thing? I’d like to see how deep the ice went. Or how ice Earth looked from space. 5. First tetrapod climbing out of a muddy river onto land 6. Cause of Permian extinction event (maybe boring, maybe not) 7. T. rex hunt. If you have to be more specific you could point to healed T. rex bites on certain dinosaurs. Pick one and go! 8. Biggest sauropod going for a stroll would be mighty impressive. Scratch that, let me see how the hell they boned. For scientific research, of course. As far as I know this is still a complete mystery. Did they have a cloaca? Did they actually mount? Or were the males equipped with ludicrously long dextrous penises, like ducks? I got money riding on this. * * * 1. This is probably stupid, but I kinda want to see the events leading to history’s first circumcision. Not the actual cutting, but the logic and discussion leading up to it. I imagine that’s one heck of a weird story. 2. My parent’s wedding, maybe. Just so I can see all the long gone relatives I’ve only heard from stories or seen in faded pictures. Four out of ten involved either a penis or an explosion. Not bad. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/33 "2015-02-10T17:55:05Z")
I’m going to limit myself to human history 1. The crucifixion and “supposed” resurrection. I’ve no need to see a crucifixion, I know what it looks like, but I’m curious about some of the lore surrounding it, like if Jesus really asked god if he forsaked him, the Lance of Longinus piercing his side, catching blood in the Holy Grail, that kind of thing. I suspect the resurrection will be a dud, probably some guys in the middle of the night moved his body and that was never recorded in history. But it would be nice to be proven right 2. David vs. Goliath fight, just to see if Goliath was really that big 3. Battle of Thermopylae 4. Battle of the Red Cliffs, one of the largest naval battles in history. Its the battle where Cao Cao’s ships were set on fire through some subterfuge by Liu Bei’s forces. If you played Dynasty Warriors, you’ll know about this battle 5. Watching the Great Pyramid being built 6. Battle of Prokhorovka, the largest tank battle in history 7. Battle of Stalingrad 8. Lu Bu duel with Guan Yu, Liu Bei, and Zhang Fei 9. The Trojan Horse. Wondering how accurate history is on this 10. Miyamoto Musashi’s duel with Sasaki Kojiro ---
**Author:** ![cedman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cedman)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/34 "2015-02-12T16:08:02Z")
> **[E for Effort](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_for_Effort)** > > "E for Effort" is a science fiction novelette by American writer T. L. Sherred, first published in 1947, about the consequences of a time viewer, a machine that projects images of the past. It has been reprinted many times, including in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame. > The story was Sherred's first science fiction publication. > According to Algis Budrys, it was contrary to the spirit of Astounding Science Fiction, where it appeared, and it "dismissed" the "bourgeois aspirations" of ASF's edit... This story touches on the OP. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/35 "2015-02-12T17:58:50Z")
Looking at some of the itineraries proposed in this thread, I can’t help but think of the following, from Heinlein’s _Time Enough For Love_: > [@](#): > > Lazarus: "See what the old bat wants? The times and places she wants me to report on?” > > Ira: “Looks like an interesting itinerary.” > > Lazarus: “It does, eh? Then you do it. ‘Battle of Hastings—First, Third, and Fourth Crusades—Battle of Orleans—Fall of Constantinople—French Revolution—Battle of Waterloo.’ Thermopylae and nineteen other encounters between rough strangers. I’m surprised she didn’t ask me to referee the bout between David and Goliath. I’m chicken, Ira. I fight when I can’t run—how does she think I managed to live so long? Bloodshed is not a spectator sport. If history says that a battle took place at a given location on a particular day, then I’ll be somewhere—or somewhen—far away, sitting in a tavern, drinking beer and pinching the barmaids. Not dodging mortar fire to feed Arabelle’s ghoulish curiosity.” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/36 "2015-02-12T19:27:46Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Since there doesn’t appear to be a limit on how long each viewing gets to be: > > The whole life of that Jesus guy, starting from conception. Unless one miraculously doesn’t age during the viewing, I’d settle for: 1. the stretch from the beginning of Jesus’ active ministry, through maybe a couple months after Pentecost, following Jesus or his body through the Monday after his crucifixion, and following Peter after that. (As interesting as it would be to follow Jesus’ life from conception to the end of his corporeal existence, whatever form that takes, I don’t really have 30+ years to spare for it. I’d be willing to devote one-tenth of that time to the cause, though.) And the others: 1. Kitty Hawk, December 17, 1903. 2. The first arrival of a mixed-sex group of humans to the Western Hemisphere continents. 3. Stealing from Little Nemo, sitting in the back of the room and getting an accurate transcript of what was said at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. 4. Similarly, traveling what would become the Confederate States of America during 1860 and the first few months of 1861, to get a first-person account of the motives for secession and various related themes, e.g. the intertwining of the justification for slavery with Christianity as practiced by Southerners. 5. Lincoln’s second inaugural address (yeah, it’s short too, but I want to be there anyway) 6. Dallas, Nov. 22-24, 1963 (Kennedy assassination, and Ruby shooting Oswald) 7. Beatles in Hamburg 8. I’m going with the opening night of _Hamlet_ rather than _Romeo and Juliet_, but to each his own 9. Joseph Smith during the creation or transcription, as may be, of the _Book of Mormon_ ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/37 "2015-02-12T19:46:50Z")
I’m guessing I’m invisible and in some sort of protective case that can fly around and observe things undetected, etc. After I did most of the ones already listed, I’d prepare a “Mystery Tour” of sorts, so I could check in on these events while they were happening:[ul] [li]Guy writing the Voynich Manuscript[/li][li]What happened to the Amber Room[/li][li]That Oak Island treasure thing[/li][li]Following DB Cooper out the plane[/li][li]Waiting on the street corner watching Tamam Shud[/li][li]Aboard the Marie Celeste[/li][li]Aboard the SS Ourang Medan[/li][li]At the source of the Wow! Signal[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/38 "2015-02-12T20:50:52Z")
Monterey Pop Festival, 1967, Hendrix’s set. Any moon launch Western front, 11/11/1918. Opening of Brooklyn Bridge Next to the person who first stumbled upon the Grand Canyon. Vatican City during a Papal election notification Appomatox Court House Fall of the Berlin Wall Answering Bell’s first call. Abbottabad, Pakistan May 2, 2011 ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/39 "2015-02-12T21:08:01Z")
[quote=“Morbo, post:37, topic:712126”] [li]At the source of the Wow! Signal[/li][/QUOTE] Didn’t they already solve this? It was ice cracking underneath the water IIRC ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126/40 "2015-02-12T22:17:53Z")
I’m not much into blood and gore, so I’ll take a pass on observing the great battles. Here’s some things I would like to see: 1. Travel alongside Marco Polo on his trip to China and the Orient 2. Observe the Empress Theodora as she went about the business of governing the Byzantine Empire 3. Observe as Joan of Arc rallied the Dauphin’s troops at Orleans 4. Sit beside an Irish monk as he illuminated a Book of Kells 5. Patrick Henry’s ‘Give me Liberty or Give me Death’ speech 6. Read Harry Truman’s thought processes as he made the decision to drop the first atomic bomb 7. Be a part of the theatre audience for the first run of The Wizard of Oz when they saw the movie go from black and white to color, as if by magic! (my mother say this as a child and talked about it for the rest of her life) 8. Walk on the moon beside Neil Amstrong 9. See the virgin Mary as she appeared to the children at Lourdes 10. Spend some time with my grandmother when she was a young girl (people always told me how much I was like her when she was a young girl) 11. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-events-in-history-to-view/712126.md?page=3)