30 Historical Events More Important Than People Realize

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30 Historical Events More Important Than People Realize
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Some historical events are self-evidently a pretty big deal. The kind of happenings you don’t need context and a broad understanding of history to know sent shockwaves through the world. Sometimes literally, like with Fat Man and Little Boy. Other times, an event can go unnoticed, despite the fact that it’s got its grubby little fingers all over our future.

Historians and history buffs on Reddit shared some of the most underappreciated, but massively important turning points in history. Even in the moment, they might have seemed minor, but they ended up yanking the steering wheel of our planet’s timeline pretty dramatically. And yes, Gavrilo Princip is in this, because he’s in every article about history ever written.

kmikek . 5mo ago Chinese loom and spinning wheel caused a chain reaction that lead to an abundance of -connections with james paper and books. burke
Whybotherr 5mo ago 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
thebaensidhe . 5mo ago 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.
Vexonte . 5mo ago The reign of King Cnut pretty much set the stage for the Norman conquest and fucking up the English language.
the-Satgeal 5mo ago 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
5mo ago 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
5mo ago 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.
DOE_ZELF_NORMAAL . 5mo ago 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.
13curseyoukhan 5mo ago Edited 5mo ago 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)
. 5mo ago 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.
WeirdcoolWilson . 5mo ago The Citizens United SCOTUS ruling
Extreme-Outrageous 5mo ago 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 Holocaust. 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 Holocaust, no Israel/Palestine conflict.
Dildo-Gankings 5mo ago 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.
uitSCHOT 5mo ago 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.
NIN10DOXD . 5mo ago 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.
forever-salty22 . 5mo ago Facebook creating the share button. It created the whirlwind of misinformation that we have today
5mo ago 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.
Jerrysmiddlefinger99 . 5mo ago RFK assassination back in 1968, he might have beaten Nixon and Nixon was a POS
lamfabulous1735285 5mo ago Edited 5mo ago 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)
Jilibini 5mo ago 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.
CPLCraft . 5mo ago . Edited 5mo ago When the mitochondria stop being symbiotic bacteria in living bodies and became a naturally occurring organelle in the cells of living creatures.
2infinity_beyond84 . 5mo ago 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.
Sue_Dohnim . 5mo ago 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.
Ok-Koala-key 5mo ago Stanislav Petrov choosing to ignore an alarm that indicated that the US had fired 5 missiles towards Moscow. Не disobeyed military orders and saved the world from nuclear war in 1983. 5.7K Reply ...
LarneyStinson 5mo ago 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
GildedPlunger . 5mo ago The Spanish-American War. It's a footnote for most people, but it set the US on the path it's on today.
DoctorBeneficial6709 5mo ago 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. Не 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.
RunDNA 5mo ago Edited 5mo ago 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.
Hairy-Blood2112 . 5mo ago The broad Street cholera outbreak of 1854. The local doctor was convinced the disease was in the water. Не 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.
ZyxDarkshine 5mo ago The Chicago Tylenol murders, 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.

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