# Which recent historical person, if never born, would mean 100% different population in 2016 **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 5, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-recent-historical-person-if-never-born-would-mean-100-different-population-in-2016/751290 "2016-04-05T20:25:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-recent-historical-person-if-never-born-would-mean-100-different-population-in-2016/751290/21 "2016-04-06T05:30:40Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > No figure from the 20th century is eligible, because we have people nearly that old alive today. You could arguably satisfy the OP with a Stanislav-Petrov-esque technicality. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-recent-historical-person-if-never-born-would-mean-100-different-population-in-2016/751290/22 "2016-04-06T14:08:49Z")
So it sounds like not only just any person could affect everything, but really any action at all. We might all owe our existence to a butterfly who decided to flap its wings at a certain moment. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-recent-historical-person-if-never-born-would-mean-100-different-population-in-2016/751290/23 "2016-04-06T15:08:18Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > …“Would you go back in time and kill Hitler?” is a common thought experiment, but that action would likely greatly change the population of current-day 2016… Tell me about it: [Wikihistory - Reactor](http://www.tor.com/2011/08/31/wikihistory/) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-recent-historical-person-if-never-born-would-mean-100-different-population-in-2016/751290/24 "2016-04-06T15:58:32Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > So then looking back at history, who is the most recent person who changed the world significantly enough such that 100% of the current population of the world is due to that person? [Lucy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_%28Australopithecus%29)? The question as stated seems nonsensical to me in talking about a difference in 100% of the world’s population. One hundred percent? All? Every single human being? And the discussion is about people one or two hundred years ago? Get real. Try one or two million years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-recent-historical-person-if-never-born-would-mean-100-different-population-in-2016/751290/25 "2016-04-06T18:00:39Z")
Noah as a parable. Or for a more credible answer - Edward Jenner for his observations and development of the smallpox vaccine. He probably saved more lives than anyone else in history with his work that led to more study and development of modern vaccines. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-recent-historical-person-if-never-born-would-mean-100-different-population-in-2016/751290.md?page=1)