Assume a magical camera (with or without sound) that can travel back in time and auto-focus on the main action of any event in the history of the Earth or universe. You may choose a human event, a cosmological event, or anything in between. The only restrictions are 1) there must be compelling evidence that the event actually took place (e.g. nothing involving extraterrestrial life since there’s no evidence that it exists) and 2) it must be film-able (e.g. nothing prior to 370,000 years after the Big Bang, when the universe was opaque). You may choose more than one event.
My first is the Chicxulub Impact. There have been bigger, more devastating Earth impacts, but Chicxulub is our planet’s most recent major extinction game-changer. Seeing it would be a transcendental existential experience.
Speaking as an art lover, I would record one of Jenny Lind’s concerts.
Speaking as somebody interested in history, I would choose Patrick Henry’s last public speech, on March 4, 1799.
Another before I call it a night: the premiere of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, May 7, 1824, in Vienna. Camera panning between Ludwig and the audience for the entire performance. IMHO, the greatest artistic achievement of man, delivered to mankind with the composer in attendance. It doesn’t get much better than that.
…well, perhaps my 1975 performance of chopsticks comes close, but I don’t like to brag.
The very first time someone used a rolling log to assist in moving a heavy object.
The very first time someone actually used a wheel
The first time Karl von Drais took his hobby horse out for a spin
In WW II my dad was a flying instructor for a while and then a transport pilot in Europe at the end of the European theatre - some of that would be interesting.
Art: A Farinelli performance. Although there are singers who may be able to sing counter tenor (Radu Marian) and we have a poor recording of a real castrato (Alessandro Moreschi), Farinelli was the best ever and by the time of Marian and Moreschi came around, the training for castratos to take full advantage of a man’s body and a woman’s voice has been lost so it is very likely that we will never hear a true castrato’s singing.
History: The Battle of Thermopylae
Mystery: What happened to Kris Kremers & Lisanne Froon? I know if you polled most Americans about disappearances then Maura Murray would probably top the list but the Kremers/Froon case fascinates me. Despite what we hear, you almost have to try to get lost on that trail. What was the missing ‘photo 509’ of? Why all the unlock attempts on Lisanne’s phone. What was up with the series of flash photos at the end?
That would make the orchestra out of time with the conductor. It’s unlikely. If you turned my ears off and let me conduct a piece that I knew well (let alone WROTE), I could tell if the musicians were moving their bows or pushing their trumpet valves at times that didn’t correspond with the measure I was conducting. In other words, he would know. He would know pretty quickly, like the moment that the orchestra was as much as a beat behind.
Most likely, the original story went like this: “He was deaf, so someone had to go up to him and turn him around so he could see the audience applauding”. (There, too, he would probably have FELT the applause, but it’s entirely reasonable that someone would have actually done this)
Then someone else, having heard that story, twisted it a bit to “He was deaf, so he kept right on waving his hands, beating time, and someone had to go up there and turn him around so he could see the audience applauding”.
My understanding of the event is in line with this account.
Michael Umlauf was the “official conductor” for the premiere performance. But, apparently, the audience gave Ludwig a very enthusiastic ovation (as well they should). I would love to have seen his face when he witnessed that.
Beethoven lived a tortured life, as did many of the great composers (and other artists), including Mozart. They gave so much to mankind, yet received so little in return. I hope Beethoven’s 9th premiere audience response was a joyous occasion for him.
Does using the magical camera to confirm (or deny) that a particular event actually took place go against the OP’s stipulation that “there must be compelling evidence that the event actually took place”?
Sarah Bernhardt’s stage performances. In fact, many of the “lost” platform or stage performances such as Mark Twain, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Edwin Booth, etc.
The (supposed) meeting of political chiefs which kept John R. Brinkley (Goat Gland Brinkley) from becoming governor of Kansas.
The erasure of the Nixon tape.
FDR receiving the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The assassination of President Kennedy – from several angles including inside the book building. (Come to think of it - I wouldn’t like to SEE it, but I would like the conspiracy theories put to rest once and for all.)
