Good one.
I wouldn’t put it high on the list, but the cabin of either lost space shuttle would be somewhere.
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.
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, 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?
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.
The construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza. This could answer some of the biggest questions of this ancient building, such as:
- Was anyone ever actually entombed there, or has the sarcophagus always been empty?
- Did it really have an easy-to-move hinged door?
- Were there inscriptions on the outside like so many ancient writers say?
- What was the purpose of that weird Grotto room?
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.
.
Aren’t they just prehistoric porn?
I want to know what the heck is up with the Roman dedocahedra. 'Cause that’s really bugging me.
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).
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.”
One-way trip, eh?
Me, I’d like to see a Solstice day at Stonehenge when it was in use.
I would pick the birth of Adolph Hitler so I could had killed him !