# What unexpected event had the most witnesses? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 21, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250 "2009-01-21T02:20:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/21 "2009-01-21T15:33:19Z")
The fall of the Berlin wall. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/22 "2009-01-21T15:51:30Z")
How about the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that hit during the pre-game telecast of the third game of the World Series? Not as widely viewed on TV as Janet Jackson’s nipple, but if you count everyone in the Bay area… Does anyone know if the Anwar Sadat or Begnino Aquino rallies which ended in their assasinations, as well as the attempted assasination of John Paul II, were telecast live? ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/23 "2009-01-21T16:34:37Z")
I have to disagree **majorly** here in regards to the second WTC plane. You people must be remembering wrong, because nobody, and I mean **NOBODY** , was expecting that. No one even thought the first plane was a jetliner at that point. All the newscasts and even eyewitnesses thought it was a small private plane that had accidentally hit the first tower. And given that, plus the proliferation of live electronic media by that time, I would say with certainty that the second plane hit was probably seen live as it happened by more people around the world than any other event. Hands down. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/24 "2009-01-21T16:41:20Z")
How about Chief Justice John Roberts flubbing the inaugural oath? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/25 "2009-01-21T16:48:27Z")
> [@](#): > > I have to disagree majorly here in regards to the second WTC plane. > > You people must be remembering wrong, because nobody, and I mean NOBODY, was expecting that. No one even thought the first plane was a jetliner at that point. All the newscasts and even eyewitnesses thought it was a small private plane that had accidentally hit the first tower. > > And given that, plus the proliferation of live electronic media by that time, I would say with certainty that the second plane hit was probably seen live as it happened by more people around the world than any other event. > > Hands down. I’ll admit it’s a nebulous point. But I figure that people didn’t just happen to be seeing the WTC when the second plane struck. The networks were broadcasting live coverage and people were watching because something had already happened. But when people were watching Oswald being taken out of the Dallas Jail they were just expecting to get a look at the guy who shot the President. Nobody expected they were going to see a murder occur. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/26 "2009-01-21T16:54:31Z")
WRT 9/11, I’d say the initial tower collapse was unexpected, too. I’d also nominate the 2004 tsunami. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/27 "2009-01-21T16:57:57Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Does anyone know if the Anwar Sadat or Begnino Aquino rallies which ended in their assasinations, as well as the attempted assasination of John Paul II, were telecast live? [Benigno Aquino](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benigno_Aquino,_Jr.) was shot after being escorted off a commercial flight by military personnel. He was hustled off the jetway onto the airport tarmac where the [assassination](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benigno_Aquino,_Jr.#Assassination) took place. While there were cameras on the plane, there were none focused on the tarmac and, regardless, none of it was broadcast live. Aside from the shooter(s), the only person to have witnessed the actual event was Rebecca Quijano (a.k.a. [The Crying Lady](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,141768,00.html)). While [subsequent events](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_Power_Revolution) involved far more people, Aquino’s assassination was witnessed by very few. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/28 "2009-01-21T17:13:29Z")
I’m going to say the Boxing Day Tsunami. It struck some the most populated areas of the world — the coastline of the Indian Ocean. Now the question is, does this count as an _expected_ event? Generally when there is an undersea quake, you expect a tsunami. For the same reason we should probably discuss Hiroshima: was it truly _unexpected_? The bomb didn’t make itself. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/29 "2009-01-21T17:17:23Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ll admit it’s a nebulous point. But I figure that people didn’t just happen to be seeing the WTC when the second plane struck. The networks were broadcasting live coverage and people were watching because something had already happened. But when people were watching Oswald being taken out of the Dallas Jail they were just expecting to get a look at the guy who shot the President. Nobody expected they were going to see a murder occur. And how does “the guy who shot the president” not qualify as “something had already happened”? I see these as directly analogous, not contrasting. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/30 "2009-01-21T17:26:46Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > How about the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that hit during the pre-game telecast of the third game of the World Series? Not as widely viewed on TV as Janet Jackson’s nipple, but if you count everyone in the Bay area… I think there might have been a handful or two of people outside the Bay Area (6 million people) watching. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/31 "2009-01-21T17:52:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I thought about the 9/11 attack but I figured that people who turned on their TVs knew the tower had been struck by a plane so the second attack was not completely unexpected. 9.11 wins hands down in terms of people who saw the first plane strike in person also. It’s also unfair to isolate parts of 9.11 into discrete events. 9.11 itself was the event, the whole thing, all the attacks, and it was seen by more people than any other event in history. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/32 "2009-01-21T18:13:54Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > 9.11 wins hands down in terms of people who saw the first plane strike in person also. I can’t see how this is true. New York City has a population of about **18 million** people, some large portion of which were assuredly _not_ watching the Tower, live and in person, when the first plane hit. I’m sure a vast number of people in the Northeast saw the columns of smoke, the dust, and so on, but let’s generously assume that 10% of them were looking in the right direction when the first plane hit. By contrast, the Indian state of [Tamil Nadu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_Nadu) has a population of **66 million**. Even if we assume only 5% of those people were directly affected by the tsunami, that’s still 3.3 million people _in that state of India alone._ ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/33 "2009-01-21T18:18:03Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > It’s also unfair to isolate parts of 9.11 into discrete events. 9.11 itself was the event, the whole thing, all the attacks, and it was seen by more people than any other event in history. Exactly. I mean, by the time I first looked out the window and saw it both planes had already hit, but I still consider myself a witness to the event. After all, I saw them fall. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/34 "2009-01-21T18:21:50Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Oswald’s murder was seen by millions on TV. It was completely unexpected. (snip) That’s what they want you to think. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/35 "2009-01-21T18:22:24Z")
I’m going to say the Spanish Inquisition. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/36 "2009-01-21T18:49:46Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Exactly. I mean, by the time I first looked out the window and saw it both planes had already hit, but I still consider myself a witness to the event. After all, I saw them fall. By that argument, this would include as witnesses anybody who saw the flooding from the tsunami’s wavefront — they saw the watery aftermath, even if they didn’t directly witness the wave itself. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/37 "2009-01-21T19:02:59Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > By that argument, this would include as witnesses anybody who saw the flooding from the tsunami’s wavefront — they saw the watery aftermath, even if they didn’t directly witness the wave itself. Very well. I did not witness the event of the planes hitting the tower; however, I did witness the seperate event of the towers falling. And don’t say that the fact that the towers fell was not unexpected. \*I \*sure as hell didn’t expect it to happen. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/38 "2009-01-21T19:24:09Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I thought about the 9/11 attack but I figured that people who turned on their TVs knew the tower had been struck by a plane so the second attack was not completely unexpected. I dunno about people watching on TV, but it was pretty unexpected to those of us who were at the WTC. I guess I am technically a witness, but I didn’t actually see either plane strike or either building fall. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/39 "2009-01-21T19:30:21Z")
> [@vix](#): > > I dunno about people watching on TV, but it was pretty unexpected to those of us who were at the WTC. > > I guess I am technically a witness, but I didn’t actually see either plane strike or either building fall. Unfortunately, there are senses other than sight. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250/40 "2009-01-21T19:32:07Z")
I don’t see how that excludes the tsunami aftermath as a separate event of its own. Mind you, I’m not suggesting that the collapse of the World Trade Center is insignificant, or unimportant, or obscure. The people who saw _in person_ the events of that day must surely be outnumbered by the people who saw _in person_ the ocean-spanning flood that displaced 1.5 million people from their homes. It’s just a matter of geographical span. The number of people who live along the coastline of the Indian Ocean is _tremendously_ larger than the population of New York City. If we include the number of people who watched it on TV, then we’ll have to have the discussion about “what is a witness?” What did the television watchers actually observe? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-unexpected-event-had-the-most-witnesses/482250.md?page=3)