# You can pick ONE (1) point in history to visit & record **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-pick-one-1-point-in-history-to-visit-record/736090 "2015-10-29T15:30:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-pick-one-1-point-in-history-to-visit-record/736090/41 "2015-10-30T17:18:37Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > The cockpit of MH370. Good one. I wouldn’t put it high on the list, but the cabin of either lost space shuttle would be somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-pick-one-1-point-in-history-to-visit-record/736090/42 "2015-10-30T17:35:15Z")
Let me check the list… The resurrection (or not) of the Nazarene. The first contact between Columbus and the natives of San Salvador. On a similar note, the first meeting between Cortés and Montezuma. _Oedipus Rex_ performed at the Theatre of Dionysus. The first production of _Hamlet_. Homer telling _The Iliad_. The trial of Socrates. Alexander the Great visiting Siwa Oasis. Churchill and the cabinet discussing Hitler’s peace terms, May, 1940. The first hominid to walk upright. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-pick-one-1-point-in-history-to-visit-record/736090/43 "2015-10-30T18:27:09Z")
What happens if the event we choose turns out to have not happened at all? For example, if I pick the coronation of King Arthur and it turns out that he didn’t exist after all, do I get another pick or do I just get to see some generic medieval scene? Are we allowed to pick an event for which the exact date and/or time is unknown? For example, if I want to witness the birth of [Mitochondrial Eve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve), will your machine-thingy help me identify her date of birth and go there or will I have to pick something with a known date? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-pick-one-1-point-in-history-to-visit-record/736090/44 "2015-10-30T19:50:57Z")
One of MLK’s speeches maybe 1964 or so. Just so I can talk to him and show him a picture of the President. He would, then, die knowing that it was all for something. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-pick-one-1-point-in-history-to-visit-record/736090/45 "2015-10-30T20:15:32Z")
The construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza. This could answer some of the biggest questions of this ancient building, such as: 1. Was anyone ever actually entombed there, or has the sarcophagus always been empty? 2. Did it really have an easy-to-move hinged door? 3. Were there inscriptions on the outside like so many ancient writers say? 4. What was the purpose of that weird Grotto room? ---
**Author:** ![Last\_Glacial\_Maximum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bc79bd/32.png) [@Last\_Glacial\_Maximum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Last_Glacial_Maximum)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-pick-one-1-point-in-history-to-visit-record/736090/46 "2015-10-31T00:27:41Z")
I’d like to go back tens of thousands of years {and more} to witness and record the major events in human evolution that make us what we are. -Language development -True control of fire -Weapon development -Etc. etc. As an aside, I like to find out EXACTLY what’s up with all the Venus figurines and why they are found scattered all across Europe at a time when human populations are theorized to be exceedingly low. . ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-pick-one-1-point-in-history-to-visit-record/736090/47 "2015-10-31T13:04:06Z")
> [@Last\_Glacial\_Maximum](#): > > As an aside, I like to find out EXACTLY what’s up with all the Venus figurines and why they are found scattered all across Europe at a time when human populations are theorized to be exceedingly low. Aren’t they just prehistoric porn? I want to know what the heck is up with the Roman [dedocahedra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_dodecahedron). 'Cause that’s really bugging me. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-pick-one-1-point-in-history-to-visit-record/736090/48 "2015-10-31T15:18:39Z")
I’d go for somewhere I can see dinosaurs, and witness the Chicxulub impact (from a distance, and depart just before the shock wave got to me). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-pick-one-1-point-in-history-to-visit-record/736090/49 "2015-10-31T15:39:39Z")
Hell, I’d like to see my conception. Just to see who was there besides my mother. Or the first production of Romeo & Juliet, just to see if in Act 3, Scene 1, they pronounce it “menstruals.” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-pick-one-1-point-in-history-to-visit-record/736090/50 "2015-10-31T15:41:05Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > The day Thea collided with the infant Earth. One-way trip, eh? Me, I’d like to see a Solstice day at Stonehenge when it was in use. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-pick-one-1-point-in-history-to-visit-record/736090/51 "2015-10-31T16:16:39Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I think a more interesting way to ask this question is to assume that 10 such events are already covered by someone else. That covers almost everything the OP suggested and leaves… less obvious choices to kick around. How about: > > [ol] > [li]The entire Passion and Crucifixion;[/li][li]Another event from the life of Jesus, your choice;[/li][li]The JFK assassination;[/li][li]The Mary Jane Kelly Ripper killing (most chance to catch the perp);[/li][li]The Tunguska Event;[/li][li]The K-T strike, with time to record a sampling of life at the time;[/li][li]A significant day in the life of Shakspeare - being an actor, director, manager, whatever;[/li][li]The murder of Julius Caesar;[/li][li]The death of Adolph Hitler;[/li][li]The attack on Pearl Harbor?[/li][/ol] > My personal and relatively small choice (besides a family-mystery one) would be any of the significant attacks by the East Area Rapist/The Original Night Stalker - an unsolved series of cases in which the same individual may have committed more than 100 rapes, murders and other assaults in several cities over a decade, but was never caught. (I lived in the middle of the EAR’s territory at the time.) I would pick the birth of Adolph Hitler so I could had killed him ! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-pick-one-1-point-in-history-to-visit-record/736090.md?page=2)