Caesar’s victory over the Celts. It would be interesting to see how a strong and independent Celtic civilization might have turned out. (And no cracks about Ireland here.)
Took the words out of my mouth, man. I nominate this as well.
Also, the death of Mother Teresa was ill-timed. More people cared about Di than the woman who brought charity to the forefront of our society, the woman who dedicated her life to helping and touching so many people. I wish she would have been given the proper respect in the news and in our society as well.
The Spaniards bringing smallpox and other sundry diseases to the New World and decimating the native population.
Would have been interesting to see how South & Central America would have developed if left alone for a few more centuries.
He would have made a great president, but for that one photo.
BTW–
I have to say, though, that everyone has made an interesting and valid choice for this list. Sometimes makes you wish to be able to see “alternate histories” of what the world would be like today without certain events happening.
With all due respect, I have to disagree. Is it possible that the first world war wouldn’t have happened without the assassination? I guess so, but we obviously can’t prove it either way.
Personally, I believe that many of the factors that lead up to the first world war, such as the involved nations’ alliance structures, the German plans for expansion, Austro-Serbian, Austro-Russian, and Franco-German hostility made this conflict inevitable. Even without the death of Francis Ferdinand to set it off, I believe that in retrospect, some conflict was likely to have occured, and the involvement of almost all Europe and other parts of the world was inevitable, again, given the interlocking alliances and international tensions.
Just my opinion.
Even after having visited Hiroshima and having lived in Nagasaki, I could not agree. The casualties would have been much worse in the event of an invasion - 100,000’s to millions. The damage to Japan’s natural and architectual treasures would also have been worse.
On topic, my first choice would be the no changes mentioned above. If something had to be erased, Lincoln’s assasination. Second choice would be the US involvement in Vietnam. Best choices so far have been Jackson’s accidental death and the library at Alexandria.
Oh, there have been so many mentioned that I agree with so far. The assasination of Lincoln, the US involvemnt in Vietnam (that would have been simple. Have Eisenhower serve as president from '60-'64. He foresaw Vietnam as being a huge mess and would have pulled out any sldiers thatw ere already there.) Also agree with the burning of library at A;exandria. So much knowledge lost in just one incident.
Here are my choices:
First choice: I would have Chairman Mao die before he could put the Great Leap Forward in motion. That’s the point when his influence on China went from mostly good (literacy, end of concubinage, binding of the feet, teaching peasants to organize) to being one long human tragedy (mass starvation, industralization set back decades, the Cultural Revolution).
In theory, if Mao had died, Chou Enlai would have been his successor (assuming there was no bloody power struggle). Chou Enlai had a couple things Mao didn’t…a cool head and a conscience. I think with Enlai in charge there would have been no mass destruction of Buddhist temples (he personally sent soldiers to save one during the Cultural Revolution). There would not have been the same large scale imprisonment of intellectuals and the falsely accused “counter-revolutionaries”. Even if there had been such imprisonments, the sentences wouldn’t have been so harsh. (Reportedly, he would commute sentences when he knew Mao wouldn’t find out.) He also would have taken a saner approach to industralization.
Second choice: Actually, this one isn’t very historical. I was watching a documentary and they showed this video of a woman just moments before her death. I don’t why, byut I crie for her. I also have nightmares about the video and find myself wishing that I could have been there to have prevented it.
I’d love to undo the decision to name everything http://www…com
It’s just too hard to pronounce, doubleyou doubleyou doubleyou.
The death of Martin Luther King JR and the burth of Hitler.
That time when the guy said “Trust me”.
Hoo-boy, did I ever regret that one…
The meteor impact at Chixchilub in the Bay of Mexico, 65million years ago
1066
The lucky arrow fired by one of William the Bastards men.
Had that arrow missed then Harold could have retreated, regrouped with fresh resources and defeated him, an option unavailable to William.
The Normans imprinted a ruthlessness into the English system which was taken with them on the crusades and led to retaliation by Islam and the loss of the holy lands for generations and the schism which lives on today.
Sorry, I already posted this answer on the “greatest event in history thread”, but it is actually more appropriate here.
The birth of Aristotle
That’s right, I would have one of the greatest minds of ancient times never exist.
Aristotle was a great thinker. His philosophies shaped the world. He taught Alexander. He did a great many things. Here’s the rub…
He developed a cosmic model based on perfect spheres with the earth being the center of the universe. Aristotle was so highly regarded as a great thinker that nobody dared to refute him for a thousand years.
Think of all of the waste. Many great thinkers spent their time trying to prove Aristotle right. Tycho Brahe, Ptolemy, etc. If Aristotle’s model had never come out, the study of science could be a thousand years ahead of where it is now.
Casdave, I don’t have a cite offhand, but as I understand it, when Harold was struck by the arrow, he was already losing the battle, and his forces may not have been in a postion to retreat in good order in any event.
I’m even less sure of this, but if I recall correctly, some historians aren’t even sure whether or not Harold was even struck by an arrow-I seem to recall at least one historian claiming that the sole basis for this legend was the Bayeux Tapestry, and that the individual depicted with the arrow through the eye was not meant to be Harold.
All this isn’t meant to detract from your well made point, of course.
Hmmm…there are so many…(sorry, very fascinating topic for a history major, had to drag it up again)
The killing of the last Tsar and his family-I’m a Romanov fanatic.
The birth of Wilhelm II of Germany. Think about it. A lot of people thought he was responsible for the First world war. The guy was an egomaniac, a big spoiled bully, a coward and a fool.
The Titanic sinking, I thought of, but then, it did encourage new safety regulations…hmmmm…
The Russian Revolution-only I would change it so that NIcholas II would abdicated in favor of his son, Alexei, rather than his brother, the Grand Duke Mikhail. Most thought at that time the idea of a Child Emperor would’ve calmed and inspired the people.
MST3K would still be on the air.
And the Spice Girls would be annilated.
Wow. Some people have some really good ones here. Here are my nominations:
-The death of Martin Luther King Jr. before his work was finished. This one was already mentioned. Has anyone noticed that the cause of racial equality in the U.S. has advanced little, if at all, since the late 60’s? Blacks lost their greatest hero, and we all lost a great American.
-The assassination of Lincoln, also already mentioned. American society would’ve been completely different had he lived. The original Ku Klux Klan might never have been allowed to form, etc.
-The death by stroke of Lenin in 1924. If Lenin had lived he definitely would’ve checked Stalin’s power. He tried to anyway, but died before he could. It was Stalin’s idiocy and lack of preparedness that emboldened Hitler. It was also Stalin that crushed the collective will of the Soviet people to make a great nation out of themselves. The ruin that is Russia today is directly attributable to Stalin and Brezhnev.
I think preventing the rise of Hitler is dicey. WWII would’ve definitely happened, with or without Hitler, but possibly the Holocaust would not have. On the other hand, Hitler himself was responsible in large part for Germany losing WWII. If someone who just let his generals work and knew when to quit had been in charge, France would be speaking German today, and the U.S. might have never gone to war in Europe. All the resources Germany devoted to the Holocaust also hurt its war effort, so it was a foolish strategic move as well as inhumane.
In a way, we’re lucky Hitler was in charge at the time. Someone else might not have screwed up so badly.
If only that monkey had never touched that big black slab from Jupiter…
while many have selected things that would have eradicated or seriously altered wars (specifically WWII), my choice would be to stop that person whoever first thought of rolling up the tobacco leaf and smoking it. huge numbers of people have died, crossing all racial and ethnic categories. sure we could attempt to make it illegal today, but there’s huge amounts of economy attached to it (the cig manufacturers, their 43 million attorneys, the 43 million attorneys on the other side of the equation, the 200 million ad companies working both pro and con etc etc. and yea, I’m being facetious about the numbers of attorneys etc).
My birth.
Actually, I’ve noticed a trend towards sugar-coating Lenin when comparing him to Stalin. Which could be a mistake. No, he wasn’t as ruthless, but Lenin was a bloody bastard.
He was the one who started the famines, the gulags, and all that-Stalin just esculated it. So no, I wouldn’t think Lenin a good alternative.
“Of course, that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.”-Dennis Miller