Light bulb, telephone, assembly line etc etc.
But I’m going with Rock and Roll.
You didn’t exactly slow us down did you though, If a lesson was learned by us than it seems only to have been “how to build a better empire”
In fact, we probably lost that war on purpose just so we could concentrate our efforts on building the World’s Greatest Empire ™ that grew over the next 150 years and was at its height in the early 20th century.
Hitler was an emperor-wannabee who showed exactly how to over-reach oneself when empire building, he didn’t struggle against british imperialism directly though.
I’ve never looked at it that way before, that’s quite interesting.
Seriously? :dubious:
Humility.
I went for the Marshall Plan. Of course, it was also good for American business, but the intentions were admirable and unprecedented in scale.
My second choice would have been having Marine One fly George W. Bush out of Washington on 1/20/09.
I interpreted “USA” in the question as the government of the USA. Was that the intent of the OP? If so, my answers were the Marshall Plan, and the embrace of immigrants.
Sometimes a refresher is in order… with the exception of Native Americans, First Nation… (American Indian if that is the proper term) everyone in America is from some place else.
Everyone.
That could be the most wonderful thing the USA has done for the World.
obese poor people? Before the US, most poor people were usually really skinny.
Also, outfitting the Red Army so that they could defeat the Nazis.
It is quite possible that the Nazis could have been defeated without the US involvement and Europe would have rebuilt anyway but the defeat of global communism would not have occured without US leadership. If global communism had taken over then all of the great technological advancements would mean nothing since either people could not have afforded them or they would have been banned. Democracy would have just been a brief shining period before the Iron Curtain came down on the entire world. As Orwell said the future would just have been a boot stomping on a human face forever.
We didn’t originate any of those things except air conditioning. Womens’ suffrage was first granted in New Zealand, for example.
I prefer the French concept of bosoms.
:rolleyes:
You mean Marie Antoinette and champagne glasses? That was my joke.
You are aware I’m kidding, right? Right?
No, fake boobs was MY joke. 
Welcomed countless immigrants whose descendants later went on to bitch about immigrants.
Are Americans taught in school that they won WW2 all by themselves?
For me the answer is easy: space exploration.
Yes. Not exactly, but the contributions of others are generally categorized as the “people whose butts we saved”. Not surprising though, we have the War of 1812 listed as a win in our school books too. It’s part of what makes us exceptional.
Yes. I usually have to correct people by pointing out the Battle of the Bulge, the coalition that landed at Normandy, the Battle of Britain that stalled Germany long enough for the Americans to arrive, and the African Campaign that was largely fought by the British. Then there’s the whole deal with Crazy Oppenheimer and all the European scientists that worked on the Manhattan project. But, if I had to point at the single critical event that caused the end of WW2, it would have to be Hitler’s insanity leading to bad decisions after 1942. If a real general had taken over, the germans could have easily crushed either Britain or Russia, then refocused on the other one.
Funniest thing though is talking to Canadians. They’re so desperate for people to remember they landed at Normandy it almost comes to blows.
The Battle of the Bulge? That really was pretty much an American battle. There were some British and French troops sent in as reinforcements but they were a minor part of the battle.
Pretty much. It’s amazing how many Americans are unaware how small US losses were when compared to the Soviets’.