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Historians, much like X (formerly Twitter) users, love to argue. They constantly unearth new evidence, challenge established narratives, and reevaluate the past with fresh perspectives.
So, Reddit user SleepDeprivedCultist asked everyone on the platform to share what they believe are the largely forgotten moments that actually contributed a lot to shaping the world we live in — the so-called "losers" of the discourse, if you will.
Immediately, people started showing off their knowledge, and the thread, paradoxically, turned into yet another fight for the spotlight.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Trump's win this election. This was the most important election in over a hundred years, and almost no one realized it. I feel sorry for this nation's future. We had one chance to stop it, and no one even recognized the danger. It's f*****g stupid, and I really hate mass ignorance. It's so...so harmful. It'll take 50 to 100 years to fix what's happening now and what may happen over the next few years. Nothing will be the same. Everything will be worse than it should have been for very literally every single person alive right now. Your future is now worse, period, forever, until the day you die. Most folks will never comprehend this reality, and that's...disheartening. It means many will never even learn from it and simply assume this is normal. It is not. This is worse, vastly worse. And there's nothing I personally can do about it.
RELATED:
#2
Stanislav Petrov choosing to ignore an alarm that indicated that the US had fired 5 missiles towards Moscow. He disobeyed military orders and saved the world from nuclear war in 1983.
The fact that even seemingly important historical details remain in the background can partially be explained by looking at the sources from which people get their information.
A survey conducted by the American Historical Association revealed that the top three choices were documentary film/TV (69%), fictional film/TV (66%), and TV news (62%), many of which prioritize engaging narratives over accuracy.
#3
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, a Soviet sub near Cuba was being depth-charged by the U.S. Navy. Cut off from communication and overheating, the captain thought WWIII had started and wanted to launch a nuclear torpedo. Protocol required agreement from three officers. Two said yes. One man—Vasili Arkhipov—said no. He stopped the launch, surfaced the sub, and likely prevented nuclear war. The guy literally saved the world—and most people have never heard of him.
Sweet_Dee 7 months ago
Vasili Arkhipov) was a senior Soviet Naval officer who prevented a Soviet submarine from launching a nuclear torpedo against ships of the United States Navy at a crucial moment in the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. The course of events that would have followed such an action cannot be known, but speculations have been advanced, up to and including global thermonuclear war. He also received the first ever "Future Life Award" that was awarded to his family posthumously in 2017. I believe there is/was also a movie in the works about him
#4
While studying Staphylococcus bacteria, Dr. Alexander Fleming noticed that a mold contaminating one of his Petri dishes had created a bacteria-free zone around itself. He identified a substance in the mold that he called “penicillin,” which inhibited bacterial growth. Penicillin’s introduction likely prevented perhaps as many as **half a billion deaths**, making it one of the most life-saving medical advances in history.
Researchers also decided to gather data on the public's experiences with the subject at both the high school and college levels.
In high school, more than three-fourths of respondents reported that history courses were more about names, dates, and other facts than about asking broader questions about the past. However, 68 percent still said that their high school experiences made them want to learn more history.
Even for college courses, 44 percent of respondents indicated a continued emphasis on factual material over inquiry, but this was a turnoff for about one-fifth of them.
#5
The broad Street cholera outbreak of 1854. The local doctor was convinced the disease was in the water. He had the handle of the water pump removed. Cases dropped dramatically.
This started 2 things scientific investigation of disease outbreaks and microbiology.
Something like that anyway.
Bezulba
And the map drawn to figure out what well was the problem is still used today as an example of visually presenting data.
Emma London 7 months ago
Nowadays it would be "PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO USE THE PUMP THEY WANT! Do your own research! America! Freedom! Ca caaw!"
#6
The Victoria Hall Disaster in Sunderland, England 1883.
A kids variety show was on at the Victoria Hall in Sunderland and was available to rich and poor. One of the big sellers of the show was that presents would be handed out. Problem is the shows actors were only capable of throwing them into the crowd directly in front of the stage.
The kids up in the higher tier seats realised they were going to miss out so they surged down to the lower level. Other major problem is the door to the lower level was stuck so that only one person could pass through to manage ticket dodgers.
The doors could only be pulled open from the children's side, which caused a massive crush resulting in the deaths of 183 children.
The news of the tragedy spread worldwide and it is the reason why we have very specific laws on emergency exits and doors pushing outwards of buildings instead of inwards to this day.
Trisec Tebeakesse 7 months ago
Cocoanut Grove reinforced that in the United States. My Grandpa was a survivor.
Some much-welcome news is that, according to the aforementioned survey, the public sees clear value in the study of history, even relative to other fields.
Rather than asking whether respondents thought learning history was important—a costless choice—the researchers asked how essential history education is, relative to other fields, such as engineering and business. The results were promising: 84 percent felt history was just as valuable as those more professional areas.
Moreover, the numbers were pretty much constant across age groups, genders, education levels, races and ethnicities, political-party affiliations, and regions of the country. And the popularity of this Reddit thread is proof of that!
#7
When Lucille Ball saved Star Trek. It was set to be canceled after the very first season but she bought the rights and started shooting at DesiLou studios. Star Trek gave us automatic doors and cell phones and the first televised interracial kiss and that franchise is still busting down barriers to this day and inspiring the new science minds of tomorrow. I am a Jedi, like my mother before me, but those Federation nerds got my respect.
Bored Seagull 7 months ago
Unfortunately that is not quite true. Lucille Ball did indeed save Star Trek, but not from a cancellation after the first season (because it wasn't set to be cancelled). Also, she didn't save it by buying the rights. In reality, Desilu had already bought Star Trek due to them wanting to expand their television series portfolio. However, Desilu was a small studio, and they were *too* succesful in expanding their portfolio: not only was Star Trek ordered by NBC, two other series had also been ordered by other networks. The board of directors of Desilu was afraid they'd financially overstretch the studio, and voted to cancel Star Trek. However, as chairwoman, Lucille Ball had the right to override the decisions of the board, and decided to produce Star Trek anyway.
#8
There was a day in deep dark history when someone had the idea of turning our spoken words into drawn symbols on, possibly, clay or rock.
We don't know who or when this happened, but it was the day that literacy was born.
#9
The Bretton Woods Conference. In 1944 some 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations came together at a large hotel in New Hampshire to outlaw practices which are agreed to be harmful to the world prosperity. And so the international banking system was established, IMF was created, all currencies were required to be convertible for trade, and exchange rates were modified so that one nation would not be favored over another. All these actions led to the development of the World Bank.
Downside: The whole world's economy got teetered together forever, whereby one lunatic President's tit for tat tariff war, or to be more precise ego war, can lead to the whole world's economy going down the drain.
#10
I think a lot about how Hilary Clinton possibly could have won the 2016 election if an investigation into her Emails wasn't opened up again because someone named Weiner couldn't stop sending sick pics.
#11
RFK assassination back in 1968, he might have beaten Nixon and Nixon was a POS.
#12
Women’s suffrage. The movement helped lay the foundation for the civil rights movement.
#13
The Chicago Tylenol m*rders, 1982.
Someone was switching the medicine inside the capsules with poison, and putting it back on the shelf for people to purchase and use. 7 deaths. A few copycat instances as well.
This completely changed world culture, package safety, and anti-tampering measures regarding medicine, food and practically any substance you put in or on your body.
T'Mar of Vulcan 7 months ago
There's an episode of History's Greatest Mysteries about the case. It's never been solved.
#14
The discovery of the potato in Peru.
Emma London 7 months ago
The only food during many famines and currently one of the big four: Rice, Wheat, Corn and Potato.
#15
Magna Carta and all the subsequent treaties that recognised human rights...... the amount of ignorant people that don't realise how important those rights and principals are is astonishing. Also the way they are willing to renounce of deny this rights because it gets in the way of their beliefs.....
Emma London 7 months ago
You can't ever just presume that people will do the right thing, you'll have to make it a global agreement, to make it a law in countries, to make people do what good for all and not just them.
#16
The Citizens United SCOTUS ruling.
El Dee 7 months ago
For non US people - The landmark 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruled that corporations and unions have the right to independent political spending, as this is protected under the First Amendment's freedom of speech. This ruling effectively overturned previous restrictions on independent expenditures by corporations and unions, allowing them to finance political ads and other forms of political advocacy without disclosing the source of funding.
#17
The Suez Crisis of 1956. It doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves outside of history nerd circles, but it was basically the moment the UK and France officially lost their status as global superpowers, and the U.S. cemented itself as the dominant Western force.
Quick recap: Egypt’s President Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, which had been controlled by British and French interests. In response, the UK, France, and Israel launched a secret military operation to take it back. They figured the U.S. would back them or at least look the other way.
Spoiler: the U.S. did not. Eisenhower was furious—they acted without consulting him, and he saw it as colonial overreach during the Cold War. So he used the full weight of American economic power to shut them down. Threatened to tank the British pound if they didn’t back off.
Why it’s significant: this was the geopolitical gut punch that showed the old European empires their time was up. From that point on, the U.S. and the USSR were the only true superpowers. It also pushed a lot of former colonies further toward independence and gave a big boost to non-aligned movements.
It wasn’t a huge bloody war like WWII or Vietnam, but in terms of long-term impact on global power structures? Absolutely massive. Most people have no idea.
Claire Collymore 7 months ago
I note that this report has been written by the United States Heritage & Education Centre. I’m guessing that other countries have a more impartial view of events.
#18
I don't know if I'd call it a moment but the year 536 AD. Otherwise known as the worst year in history.
Three volcanic events happened around the same time that caused a volcanic winter. Tempuratures dropped, crops failed, livestock died and people starved to death across a large portion of the world. It had devestating consequences that lasted for years. It was one of the causes of the Plaugue of Justinian and the fall of the Roman Empire. Millions of people were killed across the world, in a time when populations are nowhere near what they are today.
#19
The destruction of the Institute of Sexual Research by the N*zis in Berlin in 1933.
Magnus Hirschfeld (one of the earliest sexologists) was doing pioneering work there, including the first successful gender affirmation surgeries for trans women. When his Institute was sacked by the N*zis, all his books and research were systematically burned. It set transgender healthcare back about a century according to some estimates.
#20
Behind the Bastards made a compelling argument that Oprah's coverage of Satanic Panic may have laid the groundwork for Qanon and Trump's presidency.
#21
People seem to forget the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 when listing the most significant events of the 21st century. It's right up there with 9/11, Covid and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
#22
When Rupert Murdoch launched Fox News in the USA, diminishing the value of truth and cementing the rise of fascism.
#23
Diego de Landa's burning of Mayan libraries.
liam newton-harding 7 months ago
The Spanish did the same with the Andean Quipu’s…a language written in knotted threads…though it looks like there may be a breakthrough in retrieving this language, and records as enough have survived that they are starting to compare them to other records, and re-invent the language.
#24
Henry VIII separating from the Roman Catholic church and having government rule over religion. It put power into the secular authority.
#25
Jeri Ryan getting cast as Seven Of Nine on *Star Trek Voyager*.
Her character is popular, her role is extended, she has to live in Los Angeles, straining her marriage with the up-and-coming Republican politician Jack Ryan in Illinois. They divorce in 1999.
In 2004, Jack Ryan is running for the Illinois senate seat(already held by a retiring Republican, Peter Fitzgerald). A judge decides to release the records of Ryan's divorce, which reveal that he'd repeatedly asked his then-wife Jeri Ryan to perform public s*x acts with him at B**M clubs in multiple cities in the mid-90s.
Ryan withdraws his candidacy for Senate over the scandal(because optics mattered back then), and his opponent, a little-known Democrat named Barack Obama is waved into the Senate unopposed.
The rest is history - Obama goes on a meteoric rise as the Senator from Illinois, culminating in being elected President just four years later; not only becoming the first black President in U.S. history, but defeating the very popular Republican John McCain who almost certainly would've defeated any other opponent whatsoever.
So the reason that Obama was President from 2008-2016 is because Jeri Ryan was cast as the cool Borg lady in a leotard on *Star Trek Voyager* in the '90s.
BackToWorkEdward
And it gets even more interesting the longer history dominoes onward from there too - without Obama, McCain's opponent almost certainly would've been Hillary Clinton(whom Obama defeated in the 2008 primary). If McCain had indeed defeated her, there's a good chance the Dems would've run a different candidate in 2016, and potentially beaten Trump. More likely, Trump doesn't run at all, because Mitt Romney or Sarah Palin have been waiting their turns to run in 2016 instead of the entire Republican base having become a witch's brew of racial hatred and conspiracy under Obama for eight years.
Alternately, without Obama, Hillary wins in 2008 and serves two terms, and a different D candiate runs in 2016 and actually defeats Trump(or whoever runs as the R instead).
The entire thing makes the mind boggle and like, it's literally all just down to the fulcrum of Jack and Jeri Ryan's marriage not falling apart in the late 1990s due to Star Trek commitments and sexual antics.
Sven Horlemann 7 months ago
Interesting. I did not know that. First time I (a German) heard of Barack Obama was when reading the (English) Rolling Stone article about him. Which impressed me tremendously.
#26
Kid falling into a gorilla enclosure in 2016.
Iamfabulous1735285
Fly high, Harambe
Upstaged75 7 months ago
Pretty sure that kid jumped in there because he wanted to see the gorillas. And his mother wasn't watching him in order to prevent it. Poor animal. :(
#27
I feel like the internal combustion engine does not get enough love. It actually shapes the infrastructure of modern cities or what academics like to call the built environment.
It also helped lift a lot of people from poverty back in the day in the western world because it was linked to many industries that provided much needed jobs. Even today its doing the same in some African and Asian countries.
#28
Chinese loom and spinning wheel caused a chain reaction that lead to an abundance of paper and books. -connections with james burke.
#29
I'm guessing Adobe Flash shutting down, it got rid of all the childhood media we had...
Not to mention, **Adobe Flash itself**, it played an *extremely important* role in the early days of the internet, it was used for interactive webpages, advertising, animated videos (e.g Homestar Runner, Happy Tree Friends) and video games! (e.g Club Penguin, The World's Hardest Game).
Beak Hookage 7 months ago
I actually learned how to use Flash to make animations during my Bachelor's. I am old.
#30
The 99 day reign of Frederick III of Prussia. WWI and everything after may never have happened if he'd not been fatally ill when he ascended the throne.
FreeTheUnicorn 7 months ago
The trigger may have been something else but Europe went to war because it was ready for war, the death of a random royal isn't actualy a big deal it was just the excuse. Another excuse would have been found.
#31
The downing of Korean Airlines Flight 007 by the USSR in 1983.
A passenger airliner that flew over restricted Soviet airspace due to a navigational error and was shot down. Afterwards, among many other things Reagan ordered the GPS system be released to the civilian world as a common good. Before then GPS was a US military technology and it being released to the public was intended to prevent something like this from ever happening again.
So a couple pilots in a cockpit f*****g up is why we have the ability to look up directions on our phone.
Emma London 7 months ago
GPS is still used as planes' back-up system. If you're ever on a plane that's about to land and the is an order to shut down all mobile devises, like actually shut them down and not just put them on aeoroplane mode, and harrowed-looking personnel comes and supervises that people really do this, then the visibility is so bad that they have had to revert using GPS to land.
#32
When the mitochondria stop being symbiotic bacteria in living bodies and became a naturally occurring organelle in the cells of living creatures.
#33
The siege of Szigetvár. Basically Suleiman the Magnificent was on the war path into Europe with an army of 50-100k Ottomans. They had to deal with the fortress of Szigetvár first to make sure they didn’t get flanked later. The fortress only had around 2-3k soldiers manning it. They managed to cause 20-30k casaulties over the span of a month holding out against the Ottomans, during which Suleiman died and the fortress was lost but it knocked the wind out of the Ottomans sails and they went back East. This battle and the 3000 Hungarians and Croatians are considered by some historians to have saved Western civilization.
#34
In Ancient Greece the Pythagoreans were a secret religious society who kept their discoveries (mathematical and otherwise) to themselves. Then one of their members publicized their teachings, earning their wrath (I think he got expelled or sentenced to death or something.)
This was a huge, momentous thing, because unlike in Egypt or Persia where the astronomers and "scientists" closely guarded their secrets, it ushered in a new age where people shared their scientific or mathematical findings with the world, accelerating intellectual progress.
(I read this in a book years ago, so it may not be completely accurate, but that's what I remember.)
**Edit:** it was Hippasus, the man credited with the discovery of irrational numbers. As [legend says]
> Despite his many contributions, Hippasus is also remembered for his death. According to legend, he was cast into the sea by the Pythagoreans because he revealed their secret teachings to the outside world. This was seen as a betrayal of the Pythagorean way of life and was considered a serious offense.
Savannah Newman 7 months ago
That is interesting. The ownership culture that accompanies a so-called discovery always rubbed me the wrong way. Knowledge, resources, education, science, medicine, water, land, animals, people, etc etc. Discover it Own it Sell it Hoard it Withhold it Hide or destroy it We were not always like this. We can be a different way.
#35
Facebook creating the share button. It created the whirlwind of misinformation that we have today.
Pencil 7 months ago
The one really positive thing I can see language model AIs being used for is as a filter through which all social media posts must pass. I don't think it should prohibit misinformation (that's too much power for an algorithm) but it could, in real time, post a caveat preceding and refuting falsehoods with links to reputable sources. [I know there are a million "buts" to this and it wouldn't be perfect, it's just an idea I had that I think could be helpful.]
#36
Eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815. It Caused volcanic winter in parts of Europe with food shortages and famine. Scared aristocrats were barred in their manors and were entertaining each other with stories. Thanks to them we have Frankenstein and Dracula. Horses moved from transport to food category, and people were forced to find other means of transportation and invented velocipede. People who starved in that time invented fertilizers that allow food to grow in horrible conditions.
Savannah Newman 7 months ago
What is velocipede? Is that why horse is still considered a food source there today? Not as taboo to consume there compared to other parts of the world. Interesting!
#37
How close the 2008 crash came to actually fully crashing the market, like full on worse than the crash of the Great Depression. If I remember it came down to several hours.
Michael Largey 7 months ago
The 2008 crash and its aftermath was called the Great Recession because politicians' lips are incapable of forming the word "depression".
#38
A wrong turn, ultimately started The Great War (WWI).
Sweet_Dee 7 months ago
My son told me about this the other day! On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist. The Archduke's car was supposed to continue on a broad street along the river, but the driver made a wrong turn onto a narrow street, stopping directly in front of Princip.
#39
The Spanish-American War. It's a footnote for most people, but it set the US on the path it's on today.
#40
The "White Ship Disaster" had a big impact on England. November 1120 on a trip from France to England, from the harbour of Barfleur the ship sank. Many members of English/Norman nobility died, approximately 300 people, including the Heir to the English Throne. This then caused a succession crisis in England, with Empress Matilda being named Heir. However on Henry I death his Nephew Stephen seized the throne causing a civil war known as "The Anarchy" (1135-1153). Big part of early English History, just a generation after William the Conqueror, had a large political impact on the country and its not widely known about.
#41
Facebook started the events feature in 2005 and groups feature in October 2010. In December 2010, Tunisia overthrew its government and revolution spread through the Arab world. Egypt, Libya, Syria…all organized through two features on Facebook.
Nils Skirnir 7 months ago
How did all those workout? Libya is a basket case, Egypt is a dictatorship, Syria is fundamentalist Muslim authoritarian, and Tunisia, while intitially a democracy, has backslid.
#42
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. It was a pivotal event resulting in the end of Roman expansion into northern Europe, ending at the Rhine. Thus leading to the culture clash that continues between Southern and Northern Europe that continues to this day, and has led to so many other conflicts such as the Reformation and the Thirty Years War.
#43
One of Herman Cortés’s rival conquistadors was a guy called Pánfilo de Narvaez. He turned up in Veracruz in 1520 with an African slave on board his ship, named Francisco Eguía. Eguía had smallpox and seems to be the first recorded case of the disease in the Americas.
The entire history of the Colombian exchange, colonialism, and the New World would have been drastically different if that infection had never taken hold.
I guess it was inevitable that *someone* would have brought smallpox to the Americas, but the people who did are mostly forgotten to history.
#44
The invention of the humble shipping container. Maybe not a 'moment' per se but definitely an event. Nothing flashy but its impact is immense. Just try to imagine global trade today without standardized shipping containers. They completely revolutionized trade, making it faster, safer, and cheaper. Every item you see around you - chances are it arrived in your country in a shipping container. It's easy to take for granted now, but this system increased the efficiency of transport and reduced costs dramatically, effectively enabling globalization as we know it today.
Emma London 7 months ago
Also the invention of pallet, the cheap and easily transportable wooden base for everything.
#45
The invention of the mechanical clock and the invention of the pendulumclock 350~ years later.
Seeing how much a lot od our systens now rely on accurate timekeeping and all the discoveries and inventions that were made because we kept creating more and more accurate timekeepers, this was massive breakthrough.
#46
The Battle of the Metaurus (207 BC)
Hasdrubal Barca, brother of Hannibal, was on his way to reinforce him in Italy. He was defeated in this battle, which led to the decline of Carthage and secured the ascendancy of Rome.
#48
Stalingrad. The beginning of the end for the third R*ich
CP 7 months ago (edited)
Nah, it is hard to imagine a scenario where the Nazis win after England honors it's pledge to Poland. There are some plausible scenarios that might cause England to want peace, but in the end England is the lynchpin to it all and not Germany. Oh and Chamberlain was integral to that happening when he appeased Hitler.
#50
The Tampa Crisis in Australia.
John Howard’s “We will decide who comes to this country and the way in which they come!” has impacted Australian politics for the last 20+ years, and has influenced immigration policy all over the world (and not in a good way).
F**k John Howard and his cruel policies.
Geoffrey Scott 7 months ago
While I disagree, but am sympathetic, with those who come to America under dark of night thinking it's ok, there are WAY too many that seek to do us harm in this manner. You don't destroy the US by invading and taking land, China and the former head of the E German KGB are doing it the hard, but most successful way...destroying it from within. Making us distrust one another, bringing distrust into our systems and framework. And the "Orange God' is an unwitting b**b, using it to amass more power while disregarding the threats right in front of him.
#51
WWI, which led to WWII, which led to the Cold War, which led to basically the modern world as we know it. One bullet set off a chain reaction that reshaped the entire 20th century.
michael reid 7 months ago
There were a multitude of wars, assassinations and other events that led to WW1. It not something that's started recently.
#52
In San Francisco in 1906 they had a massive Earthquake, probably one of the most devastating to occur in the United states. In the immediate Aftermath the president of a small regional bank known as the bank of Italy immediately took all of the money out of its vaults and walked down the streets handing out loans to people so that they could rebuild. They were one of the first banks to start lending money during the reconstruction
This bank was founded specifically on the principle of handing out personal loans to workers, the low and middle class rather than simply the upper class, most notably to Italian immigrants and settlers hence the name.
The bank of Italy would later merge with a smaller bank known as Bank of America, Los Angeles. The two banks would become what is today Bank Of America.
#53
Pascal and Fermat discovering probability theory in the 17th century. Without it you don't have risk-based insurance* and without that you don't have capitalism (for good or ill).
*A mathematical model for probabilities that made insurance a reasonable financial proposition instead of the guessing game it had been, thereby making it possible to underwrite larger and more complex ventures. (h/t u/prasiatko).
#54
At some point in her life, Queen Victoria of England spontaneously mutated one of her genes on her X chromosome. As a woman, she had a redundant copy in the other gene and so she had no physical effects. However, she passed this mutation on to her descendants all across European royal families. Males who received the mutation suffered from hemophilia. Her grandson Alexei, the son of the Czar of Russia, was one of these. In despair, her mother turned to the monk Rasputin who seemed to be able to help his symptoms. Over time, he gained more and more influence over the royal family, ultimately becoming the power behind the throne. This enraged the Russian people and led to the communists successfully leading a revolution and establishing the USSR. All through the 20th century, the US and USSR waged a Cold War, with many proxy wars being waged in their behalf. One of these was in Afghanistan, where the US armed and propped up the Taliban, who were fighting the soviets. Later, the Taliban were patrons to Al Quada, providing a base from which they plotted and carried out the attacks of 9/11.
Easily the most consequential single genetic mutation in history.
#55
The Compromise of 1877. Rich white male politicians played with the newly-given rights of black citizens in the US in a political game. Minorities have always been pawns to them but this event showed just how little white men in positions of power care about the rights of people of color.
We fought the Civil War, many died to free the slaves. Once the war was over, the Reconstruction era began in the South. For the first time in American history, black citizens began to be able to exercise their newly-given rights, but were only able to do so freely under the careful watch and safety of the National Guard, due to hateful white people still wanting to harm black people post-Civil War.
At the time, presidential elections used to be a candidate from the North and a candidate from the South. The North lost the presidential election and in a political game, the South bargained to give the presidency to the North in exchange for the withdrawal of the National Guard and effectively, the end of black citizens' ability to exist freely and fairly in the South.
The North accepted, gaining the presidency but handing over black citizens' freedoms right back to the enemy we had just fought a Civil War against. The Reconstruction era ended.
Many lives were lost to give black people freedom, many fights were fought, and yet less than 13 years later, all that was gained was given back so quickly in a political game. You can see how this theme echoes throughout history before and after: this disregard for the rights of black citizens in the face of a political game continues to this day. This would directly lead to the rise of the K*K and other terrorist hate groups, would lead to segregation, the war on d***s, and so much more that still goes on today.
Most rich white male politicians do not care about the lives of others if they are able to profit off their misery somehow. We are all pawns, especially the people without privellege, and the system is inherently against minorities.
edit: Knowing all this, you can see why some hateful white people want to ban critical race theory. A lot of hateful white people don't want you to know s**t like this, that the system that they built is inherently against anyone non-white, non-cishet, non-male, and it still is.
Savannah Newman 7 months ago
Very interesting! Thank you for the insights! How very unfortunate that the truth causes some people to fight the very thoughts and feelings it brings up inside of them. All we are is what we are to them. No more! All we are is the very mirror of their own fears and insecurities. It can be hard to take a hard look at yourself. But how can we grow without that. All we are is everything, and we are changing the world. They can join us or get out of our way! 🤍✨️
#56
The failure of Reconstruction and capitulation by Andrew Johnson to the Dixiecrats after Lincoln's assassination. When I think about what could have been in this country, it makes me want to scream.
Michael Largey 7 months ago
Johnson was more or less a Dixiecrat. (He was a Democrat from Tennessee.) The capitulation to white southerners came 1876, when the GOP traded Reconstruction in exchange for the Democrats accepting a disputed presidential election result.
#57
When America separated children from their parents at the border. That is some horrible karma that we can never make right.
#58
Repeal of the fairness doctrine in 1987.
- cleared the way for partisan doctrine
- amplified ideological echo chambers
- contributed to political polarization
- birth of “infotainment”.
Sweet_Dee 7 months ago
The fairness doctrine of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, was a policy that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that fairly reflected differing viewpoints. The fairness doctrine had two basic elements: It required broadcasters to devote some of their airtime to discussing controversial matters of public interest, and to air contrasting views regarding those matters. In 1987, the FCC abolished the fairness doctrine. And less than 10 years later, Fox News was born. Not a coincidence.
#59
Bush v. Gore.
Savannah Newman 7 months ago
Looks like we are gonna have to guess. If Gore had won perhaps we would have stronger protections for the environment and actual action curtailment our contributions to global environmental destruction?
#60
The Battle of Jumonville Glen in 1754, where a 22-year-old George Washington first tasted battle leading ~50 colonials and allied natives against ~30 French soldiers in a backwoods part of Pennsylvania beyond the Appalachian mountains that were the nominal border between British and French colonial territory in the new world.
This small engagement kicked off the French and Indian War, which immediately led to the Seven Years’ War, which later led to the American War of Independence, which seriously influenced the French Revolution, which gave rise to Napoleon, who broke Germany (among other feats), making way for the later unification of Germany, which set most of the groundwork for WWI, which directly led to WWI and the Cold War that later followed it, which directly leads us to the modern state of the world.
Washington’s actions on that day have had direct effects that continue on to the present day. All because of a 15-minute fight between less than 90 men in an empty corner of southwestern Pennsylvania, the world today is the way it is.
#62
The battle of milvian bridge in Anciet Rome 312AD solidified Constantine's faith in Christianity and lead to his death bed conversion that sparked a Christian revolution that led to the world as we know it today.
Interesting battle actually - Maxentius had essentially taken over Rome, so good.old Constantine led an army back there to retake it.
Maxentius had the milvian bridge rigged with some removable bolts that were to be yanked at the right time, causing Constantines army to plunge into the Tiber.
Meanwhile, Constantine was being advised on the down low by some bishops, which was a bit of a controversial thing in Pagan Roman times, and they convinced him to have the first two letters of Christ's name painted on his army's shields (equivalent to have a cross painted on it)
Midway through the clash, some numpty on Maxentius' side pulled the bolts too early, and most of Maxentius' army fell into the river, gifting Constantine the win. Of course, this was clearly a sign from God himself and led to a softening of the anti-Christian laws and the eventual conversion of Rome's fabled emperor on his death bed.
So those bolts in that bridge? Well, those relatively small items caused the surge one of the biggest religions the globe has ever seen and sparked an entire religious and cultural revolution that still has a huge part to play in everyone's lives (one way or another!).
And it's really not a battle that many people talk about
(The bolts in the bridge story is, as a lot of ancient history, just one interpretation of how the events unfolded, but it's one I personally like as a cool story).
#64
How lucky America was that the USS Vestal survived Pearl Harbor. The Vestal was a repair ship that went on to repair major ships during the Pacific War; such as the Saratoga, South Dakota and the Enterprise.
Michael Largey 7 months ago
The Japanese for some reason chose not to target repair facilities and fuel depots. But the US's real luck was that all four of its Pacific aircraft carrier task forces were away from port on that day. There were usually two in Pearl Harbor at any one time. When Admiral Yamamoto, the planner of the attack, heard that no American carriers were destroyed, he turned to his staff and said "We've just lost the war."
#65
The assassination of Tsar Alexander II.
Alex III (who is a radical conservative) succeeds him, blames the Jews for the death, and enacts the May Laws in the early 1880s.
2-3 million Jews emigrate from the Pale of the Settlement due to oppression. Most go to the US. But hundreds of thousands go to Germany. This influx of migrants upsets Germans, setting the stage for the H*******t.
It's also the beginning of applied Zionism and the earnest movement of Jews to Israel giving us what we have today.
No assassination, no H*******t, no Israel/Palestine conflict.
Michael Largey 7 months ago
Nonsense. (1) Anti-semitism was rampant in Western civilization long before 1880. (2) Hitler used minorities - Jews, gays, gypsies, etc - as whipping boys regardless of their numbers. (3) The Jews didn't need a Czar to tell them they needed their own homeland.
#66
The 4th c*****e. The Byzantine Empire was still moderately strong back then, able to hold its own against the turks, but rife with internal struggle. If the betrayal at Constantinople and the sack of the city never happened, the empire might have survived for far longer, perhaps even until modern days. The Ottomans would never have risen, and their empire never would have existed. The Balkan nations, Hungary and Romania would have remained independent (or at least under the control of other christians), The Habsburgs and the Polish would have had far different interests. The Armenian and Greek genocides would never have happened, and the border between Europe and Asia, christianity and islam would be somewhere in Anatolia, not at the modern Greek - Turkish border.
#67
Henry Ford mass producing cars with internal combustion engines. Cars have dramatically changed the physical landscape. Replaced rail as the primary means of mass travel. Led to proliferation of the paved streets and highways, parking lots, gas stations, motels and fast food outlets. Contributed to congestion, urban sprawl, air pollution and climate change. Demand for oil influenced geopolitics for 100+ years.
#68
Maybe not wildly significant, but pretty significant. When a search plane on a Japanese aircraft carrier had a mechanical problem during the Battle of Midway. That search plane ended up being the one that found an American carrier. But because of the mechanical failure it launched late. Because it launched late it found the Americans late. Because it found the Americans late a decision made by Japanese leaders some minutes earlier had to be reversed. Because that decision had to be reversed and in information came late, the Japanese carriers weren’t able to launch an attack on the Americans but. Were instead caught completely unprepared when American planes attacked.
For want of a working search plane, the Japanese suffered a huge loss and never had a reasonable chance of winning the war afterwards. .
CP 7 months ago
Japan was caught between rearming for an attack on Midway vs an attack on ships. They had fueled up planes inside the carrier. They had to make a quick decision to launch or ditch the planes coming back from Midway. Japan sailed into a well laid trap and got throttled. The US knew their plan ahead of time.
#69
Winston Churchill, before WW2, was head of the British Navy. At the time by far the largest admiralty in the world, and spread over the Empire. He took the decision to change all the ships from coal powered to oil powered, which meant there was suddenly a need for oil and stations all over the world, starting a ball rolling that’s knock on effect is obvious today.
#70
Money and Politics:
- Citizens United vs FEC (2010). The Supreme Court ruled that corporations and unions have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited money on political advocacy, as long as it is independent of campaigns (i.e., not directly coordinated with candidates).
- SpeechNow.org v. FEC (2010, same year). In a lower court case (U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C.), this ruling established that contributions to independent political action committees (PACs) can be unlimited.
Cap'n Rickster 7 months ago
You can thank judge Anthony Scalia Citizens United. The worst SCOTUS ruling lever.
#71
When Obama made fun of Trump never being president.
#72
Obama deciding to request only $800B in stimulus from Congress in Jan/Feb 2009. He was over 70% approval, a large electoral mandate, and the economy was cratering, the actual economic math said it needed at least $1.2 trillion in stimulus but Rahm Emmanuel just decided Congress wouldn't go for something in the "trillion" range so they trimmed back the ask for the most trivial reasons. Apparently they wouldn't even let any of his economic advisors even present the $1.2T option to Obama, Rahm and Summers made the $800B option the bigger of what they offered Obama, but then, Obama picked these people so it's still on him.
Too Small Stimulus->Anemic recovery->2010 midterm blowout->Republican gerrymander numerous states like WI, MI and PA->Obama's Congressional agenda is dead->Dems Lose Senate in 2014->Obama Can't Replace Scalia->Roe overturned [....]
The cascade from this one terrible decision at the start of his presidency at a historic hingepoint moment continues to this day.
#73
Len Bias dying. Changed the course of professional sports.
What do you think ?
Lyone Fein 7 months ago
The invention of the birth control pill. But also making birth control accessible in general. This has given women so much more say in their own bodies and lives.
Lyone Fein 7 months ago
The invention of the birth control pill. But also making birth control accessible in general. This has given women so much more say in their own bodies and lives.
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