20 of the Most Important Five-Minute Increments of History

Sometimes, movements in history are slow. Careful, measured changes to what will become the new world. Other times, you can trace a whole spools-worth of threads back to an insanely short chunk of time, comparatively. As in, roughly the length of a modern commercial break.

Redditors volunteered their thoughts on some of the most impactful five-minute periods in our planet’s history. Times where the direction of the world changed in less time than it takes a pasta pot to boil over. 

See the posts below for some incredibly powerful, tiny stints of time in the past.