[marvin]

Personal answer, the invention of the crossbow and firearms. This drastically altered the balance of power between governments and the governed. Without it, liberal democracy would have been stillborn.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raymondlin /img/forum/go_quote.gif Narh, the Chinese ate nothing but Rice, and they had the most advance civilisation 2000 years ago.

Incorrect, the Chinese had wheat too, and had it about 4k years ago. Due to climate conditions, the Chinese grew wheat in the north and rice in the south.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raymondlin /img/forum/go_quote.gif I say the single most important thing is the invention of history the micro-processors, or we'll still living like the Victorians.

Not quite that bad given that microprocessors were invented in 1968...

Quote:

Originally Posted by redrich2000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif there is historical evidence for the crucifixition of Jesus (though not the resurection obviously - especially given no one who new Jesus recognised him after he was resurected ) had it did have a huge impact on human society, although its influence had more to do with Paul than Jesus. But a more modern event would be hte invention of the steam engibe which led to capitalism.

I'd say that water wheels beat out the steam engine. They jump-started the Industrial Revolution. Steam engines were more of an incremental rather than revolutionary improvement.

 

[rsaavedra]

The invention of headphones

(what else did you expect as an answer from this place

)

 

[Assorted]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsaavedra /img/forum/go_quote.gif The invention of headphones (what else did you expect as an answer from this place )

Well DOH and the first mention of it only after 5 pages

I would say the idea of violence is the most influential. I mean, who would have thought that by hitting somebody with a stick, you could hurt him!

 

[antiant]

life.

 

[sahwnfras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MASantos /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't mean to ofend anyone, and I respect very much what happened to everyone on that day, but there are many world events which are much more important that the 9/11. To name but a few: The 1 and 2 World Wars The Discoveries The renaissance The start of agriculture The start of writing Many other events!

True

But none of those events happend while i was alive.

 

[blessingx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sahwnfras /img/forum/go_quote.gif True. But none of those events happend while i was alive.

Why should that matter?

Your parents had sex at least once before you were alive. That was pretty important for you (though again that shouldn't be the yardstick).

 

[Lazarus Short]

Consider the Butterfly Effect - that a small change in conditions can have a large influence on later events. How many of you have considered events WAY back, in prehistory? Only the Tobo [sp?] volcano option came up in this thread. Having the human race almost wiped out would create a genetic bottleneck [now confirmed by molecular biology] and be a big influence on future generations [that's us].

I recently finished a book with the sensational title of "Cosmic Cycles of Catastrophe," but it reads like a scientific detective story. It begins with radioactive grains embedded in ancient horns and tusks, goes on to small and large [very large] impact craters, piling evidence on top of evidence. Native American folklore which ties in with the evidence is also quoted.

In a nutshell, about 13,000 years ago, supernova debris came crashing thru the Sol system from the north, impacting in the Hudson Bay/Great Lakes area, northern Europe, and a few other places. Secondary debris came back down to form the Carolina Bays. The ice age ended, tidal waves rushed here and there, fires raged, people died. The pole shifted from the Hudson Bay area to its present position, though the book's authors missed that point entirely. Vague, fragmentary memories still exist in folklore. The book simply calls it the Event. It's a good read.

Nothing in the last 15,000 years can top that [excepting the L, D, and R of JC], not even the first Stax.

Laz

 

[discord]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessingx /img/forum/go_quote.gif Your parents had sex at least once before you were alive.

Now you've got him thinking about that.

 

[Blitzula]

Outside of human experience, whatever killed the dinosaurs. 165 million years of ruling the earth! 250,000 years for us? We're just a blip on the radar.

If 9/11 is one of the precursors to a nuclear war someday, we'll appreciate it's significance then.

Jesus' death/resurrection.

Can't feel too sorry for those of you who want to argue this point and can't because of the ban on religious discussion. That usually hurts those of us who'd like to incorporate our religious views in some threads, but can't. This is likely 90%+ more a problem for us than the 10% of the time like this thread that you can't comment.

 

[mbriant]

. Quote:

what historical event has most greatly changed today's quality of life. Keep it within the last millenium. Also please don't use anything that could be a religious holiday ie the ressurection. This just stirs up too many arguments. However if you want to say something like Charlemagne pushing universities and literacy through the available christian schools that is fine, because that directly effects quality of life.

Based on the above criteria, I'd say the Industrial Revolution. It affected all sorts of areas such as agriculture , transportation, standard of living, etc. Things like clothing, cars, travel, in fact almost everything that were labour intensive and were therefore costly were made affordable to the masses. Mass production of food, cars, appliances etc., also freed up time which allowed the masses time to pursue other things like art and education .... which led to even more rapid discoveries and inventions.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Well Charlemagne and Jesus were both more than a millenia ago. But to keep things simple, some great moments from the 20th century at almost never were.......

*1909 Vienna - Despite having technical skill, an important art schools turns away one young Adolf Hitler. So he decides to try his hand at writing.

*A young engineer named Nikola Tesla is hired by the Edison electric company to build an Direct-Current generator. But when finished Edison refused to pay the promised $500k, so Mr. Tesla leaves Edisons employ only to develop Alternating-Current power, the loudspeaker, the radio, wireless telegraphy (the precursor to wireless phones) and a whole bunch of other science stuff that would have been worth hundreds of billions in patents for Edison.

*1944 - a simple clerical error causes the Swanson company to be overstocked with frozen turkeys right after the Thanksgiving holiday. Add some instant potatos and what could have been landfill was magically transformed into the TV Dinner!

*1938 - What was once a backwater desert with no industry of any value to anyone, Saudi Arabia finds huge deposits of oil! A country where the ruling class was raising goats in 1920 is now the worlds most important landmass, and one of the wealthiest.

*1903 - Caleb Bradham has no idea what to name his new beverage. The EPISCOPAL church across the street from his drugstore shure would look funny if the letters were jumbled-up to spell PEPSI-COLA. (Good thing the International Temple of Astapor wasn't in the neighborhood).

 

[Debaser86]

I forget exactly when it happened (mid 19th c....?) but whenever the major medical advances were made in a fairly brief period of time that resulted in 1) increase in expected lifespan from around 35-40 years to upwards of 60 and 2) decreased infant mortality rate by a huge amount.

Before this, it was commonplace to have a majority of your children die before reaching 5 years old due to illness. Not just common, but expected. And even if you make it to age 18, your life is already halfway over! When this changed, everybody's entire perspective on life and the possibilities of it were radically altered.

This is the most important moment in human history.

Either that or when Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov literally saved the entire world on September 26th, 1983.

 

[Coltrane]

MOD EDIT: Religious discussion removed. PLEASE EVERYONE, ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

Acts themselves are not as important as knowledge. This is again why the invention of the printing press was so essential. While written language was, of course, important, it meant very little for human knowledge and understanding as a whole. It simply helped out with the mechanics of living. I mean, certainly there has been more progress since the printing press than in all of history before it. It is access to knowledge that will always change the world the most.

Lastly, if this is a school assignment, the number one thing a teacher is going to be looking for is complex thinking and understanding. Picking 9/11 or WW2 are easy ones that wont impress the teacher much.

 

[nibiyabi]

Quote:

MOD EDIT: Religious discussion removed. PLEASE EVERYONE, ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

I don't get it. The only people being uncivil in this thread are the ones calling for no more religious discussion (yourself included). Everyone else is handling it just fine. Would you care to explain what the problem with a perfectly civil discussion is exactly, please?

 

[Pm@c]

My birth was probably the biggest impact on history. I am the chosen one and I will lead the people of Earth to victory over the martian empire!