What would be an event where all people stop everything to start celebrating? I’m thinking of along the lines of the end of WWII where everyone stopped what they were doing, no matter where they were, and cheered or kissed a nurse. Can you envision any future event like this and what would it be?
The death of Emperor Palpatine?
Sorry, it’s hard for me to imagine anything that everyone would agree was a good thing. 2nd coming? Only good for the saved. Kindly aliens land? Paranoia rampant about what they really want (it’s a cookbook!). Cure for cancer? It’ll be too expensive for lots of people. Fusion power (or any of various other Star Trek-type scientific advances)? Extremely unsettling for the economy, at least in the short run.
People love to worry and kvetch. It seems almost mean to take that away, even for a few minutes.
Roddy
First of all, keep in mind that big swaths of the world weren’t involved in World War II, such as much of South America, parts of Africa, parts of India, etc. So I don’t know that it’s true that celebrations were universal. Also World War II didn’t end on the same day on all fronts, so the celebrating wasn’t all at the same time.
That said, if you look at how universally the Apollo 11 mission was followed around the world, I think a manned Mars mission would be followed as closely.
Your question intrigues me.
If ‘> 99%’ is close enough to ‘everybody’ (after all, there were probably some shlubs in weapons manufacturing that were bummed WW II ended) then maybe a few:
[ul]
[li]a cure for pedophilia[/li]
[li]a cure for morphine-based-drugs addiction[/li]
[li]worldwide elimination of malaria[/li]
[li]invention of FTL travel, or some other present-understanding-of-physics defying invention[/li][/ul]
O.K, how about a cheap cure for cancer? Something fairly easy to obtain/create with a Jonas Salk who decides to give it freely to the world?
What do you mean “we,” Paleface?
I do not believe the Germans celebrated the end of WWII, and I am equally certain the celebrations in Japan when the Emperor Himself announced peace in the world were likely to be subdued.
Absolutely.
How about a new flavor, like an entirely new chocolate, never before tasted?
How about a proof of Goldbach’s Conjecture?
The discovery of a new major planet in the Solar System. (Not likely, but…)
The receipt of signals from intelligent life in another Solar System. (Or in ours!)
Another ten-times expansion of mass data storage capacity. ($100 for 500Tb.)
An expedition lands on Mars.
Someone punches Fred Phelps right in the nose…
how about easy, safe, 100% reliable, and reversible birth control.
Someone finally figures out the meaning of 14 k of g in a f p d?
A fair number of religious people would not think this was a good thing. Gotta punish whores with unwanted pregnancies, you know.
The kind of extreme joy that causes people to drop what they’re doing and spontaneously run to the streets can only occur after a long period of extreme hardship. In addition, it would have to be a “singular moment” where a victory is clearly defined. An armistice signed after a long war could cause that kind of joy in the victorious countries. Wiping out a disease likely wouldn’t because eradication would be gradual and by the time victory is clear the odds of a spontaneous celebration are much less likely.
There’s no kind of extreme hardship going on now that affects a large enough population to satisfy the OP’s criteria. If I had to guess when the next time such a celebration will occur I’d say after World War 3 ends but there aren’t any major conflicts at the moment that are so precarious that that scale of war is imminent.
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A friendly alien race landing at JFK airport and perhaps live TV coverage and some immediate “tricks” like a cure for global warming, simple power source that does not hurt environment, a few cures for human illnesses, perhaps some other human benefits. My guess is that would be watched world-wide.
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Justin Bieber being eaten alive by a pack of wolves in his backyard…I think there would be quite a bit of joy and celebration.
[Shaking fist]Damn you! [/Shaking Fist] I know that the consensus is that there is no solution to that puzzle but every time I see it I can’t help but think there has to be a solution.
Everybody thinks the A is a single letter, but what if it’s actually a full word too? An or any or araphorostic for example…
How about an asteroid on a collision course with Earth, which manages to juuuust miss and pass harmlessly by?
How about bringing the dead back to life or maybe the fountain of youth.
Why do you hate wolves?
An SDMB which never crashes and the searches are instantaneous?
Don’t be an idiot. Germans were starving and very happy to see the war end. Although the starvation continued for a few more years.
When the “free hugs and kisses” folks pass by in the gay pride parade. No, really! At least it always seems like everyone there just loves everyone else for a minute or so.
Okay so it’s just a local thing. But still… 
The discovery of a dinosaur island, with enough living dinosaurs that everyone can have his or her own baby dinosaur. Who doesn’t like dinosaurs?
In terms of events that might actually happen, maybe the kind of Olympic moment that combines athletic achievement with the classic Olympic human interest story, maybe like when Nadia Comaneci won her 10s.