I’d go with the battle of Troy as well. I would take photos, to prove it really happened.
As for a “non-disputable” historical event, I would love to have seen Alexander addressing his troops before battle, at the height of his power…
I’d like to have seen the Battle of Gettysburg, and ask Gen Lee afterward: “What the hell were you thinking, man!”
I’d like to see the dedication of Solomon’s Temple (as documented in I Kings 8). Mainly for the historical and religious significance, partly to get a good sample of Hebrew language ca. 1100 BCE, and partly for the two-week-long party. ;j
For comparison, I’d like to visit Jerusalem around 25 Kislev 3599H (November-December, 163 BCE), for the rededication of the Second Temple by the Hasmoneans.
To pick up on a popular theme, I’d like to witness the next successful Lunar landing.
“I’d like to have seen the Battle of Gettysburg, and ask Gen Lee afterward: “What the hell were you thinking, man!””
I suspect he was thinking, “It is now or never.” We know what he thought at Fredericksburg, “It is good that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it.”
- Kennedy’s assassination. Assuming I’m just observing and have no effect on the outcome. One of these locations:
Behind the grassy knoll fence.
In the Depository window.
Sitting in the car.
Standing by Umbrella Man.
Where’s the sci-fi movie about someone that goes back in time and stops it? I’m still waiting for it.
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D-Day or Pearl Harbor.
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Colossus of Rhodes
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Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Just to see what people back then thought was amazing. -
Jesse Owens at the '36 Olympics.
Putting Hitler’s Aryan master race ideas in the dumper forever.
Since a lot of good ones are already taken and I don’t want to stand in line for them, I’ll put in for one of these;
The Building of Stonehenge
Egypt, circa 8000 BCE (just for a general look-see)
The building of the neolithic temple on Malta
Hell, just a general look around any place with a human society, 10,000 to 15,000 years ago.
I’d pick something simple like the “suicide” of Kurt Cobain nothing that’d I’d have to live with telling people then having them look at me like I’m some sort of a psycho. something as simple as walking by Cobains room just after it happens and possibly bumping into “someone” >_> or even to be there and prevent it.
If I HAD to go big I would pick… hmmm I’d have to say the birth of the world so that I would know wether there really is a god, or if it was pure chemical
Shakespeare Shmakespeare… if I had to pick a performance of some sort (as opposed to D-Day, which would have been my first choice, but was already mentioned), I would go for the famous performance of Beethoven’s 9th in which Beethoven was so deaf he couldn’t hear the audience applauding.
Excellent choice!
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witness the construction and burial of ? at Oak Island
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the Alamo
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the building of Noahs ark
I’d love to be in Dublin in 1916, as the Republicans raised the Irish Flag over the General Post Office. Knowing that this rebelion would be doomed, but it would lead to something wonderful.
Either the invasion of Normandy or the Nov.22, 1963 in Dallas, right on the grassy knoll.
Circling Mount St Helens in an aircraft during the eruption for a natrual event in my life time.
The destruction of Krypton.
in no particular order
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The first act of coitus
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The first birth
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First act of engraving something as a representation
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First discernible spoken word (as opposed to sound)
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Invention of the wheel*
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The apple falling near Newton and the next few days, I guess
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Not the lunar landing, but the first sight of Earth for the first space traveller.
Most of these would be boring to watch, but I’m thinking of defining moments rather than interesting ones.
Lots more, but I can’t think now.
I’d like to see Og make fire.
I can’t complain about being alive from 1938 to the present and having seen the events and changes that have occurred during that time. Of all the events I would say I feel lucky for having watched the first landing on the moon. Perhaps the most startling was seeing Jack Ruby get shot on live TV. The most emotional was standing on the sidewalk as the casket and riderless horse went by (Kennedy). I believe it has been the best time in history to be alive and let’s hope the next 50 years keep up the pace and that I get to see a good number of them.
Gomorrah. Pre-destruction.
Hey, maybe that is the significance of the Grassy Knoll. All you bloody Time Travelers popping in and out. Even if cloaked or invisible, the sheer number of you is causing something that makes people notice and see things.
Stop That This Instant!
This is tough. People are all over the place. Some wish to witness events that take eons, others want a split second.
I would like to be in the filthy tired smelly huddle cadre of pre-Jews when Moses came off of the Mount with the 10 Commandments. I want to know what happened, I want to know what was presented and said.
I want to stand on the high desert floor and feel the air crackle as Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier for the first time.
I would love ( since we’re time travelling here ) to be in the right place at the right time to stop three different deaths that have affected me.
I want to witness the Crucifixion of Jesus.
I want to stand on the deck of the ship, and watch my father as an 8 year old boy, sail into New York Harbor and see the Statue of Liberty.
The rest are too personal. 
I don’t think I’d like watching battles or disasters. I like the idea of the Temple of Solomon dedication. I think I’d like to see a great procession, like the Procession of the Golden Tree in Flanders 15th c, or a Roman Triumph. Or I’d like to watch Jan van Eyck paint the Altarpiece of the Lamb. Maybe help crush some pigment or something.