History's turning point.

I would have attached a poll, but this is far more general and there are too many options than just a few!

Question- what do you think is the biggest "what if" in all 6,000 years of human history? And what do you think the world would be like if things at that point hadn't gone the way they did ITTL?

Discuss!

I think it was Jesus' crucifixion. I may be a proud agnostic but I still believe JC existed and that the stories told in the bible are mostly true.

Without the execution of Christ, Christianity would have been radically different at best, and died (probably stamped out by the Romans) at worse.
 
I would have attached a poll, but this is far more general and there are too many options than just a few!

Question- what do you think is the biggest "what if" in all 6,000 years of human history? And what do you think the world would be like if things at that point hadn't gone the way they did ITTL?

Discuss!

I think it was Jesus' crucifixion. I may be a proud agnostic but I still believe JC existed and that the stories told in the bible are mostly true.

Without the execution of Christ, Christianity would have been radically different at best, and died (probably stamped out by the Romans) at worse.



I would have to basically agree with you on this. More broadly the creation of monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) would all have to be great turning points, due to their more universalistic outlook. It would be interesting to ponder how the world would be different if such religions were never created.
 
I would have attached a poll, but this is far more general and there are too many options than just a few!

Question- what do you think is the biggest "what if" in all 6,000 years of human history? And what do you think the world would be like if things at that point hadn't gone the way they did ITTL?

Discuss!

I think it was Jesus' crucifixion. I may be a proud agnostic but I still believe JC existed and that the stories told in the bible are mostly true.

Without the execution of Christ, Christianity would have been radically different at best, and died (probably stamped out by the Romans) at worse.

This might exceed 6000 years, but what if we never started living in cities, and remained nomadic or lived in natural shelters...
 
This might exceed 6000 years, but what if we never started living in cities, and remained nomadic or lived in natural shelters...

That would be prehistory, wouldn't it? How about any event preventing the Roman Empire. That would drastically change the history of Europe and thus the world. Probably including Jesus and christianity.
 
The Indo-European migration. Before that, Europe was probably something close to a proto-Basque culture. The Indo-European migration changed everything.
 
Indo-European migration, probably. The rise of Rome is another big one. Perhaps the invention of parchment.
 

Blackwood

Banned
Well, with a 6,000 year cap, I'd have to say the formation of Rome (the city). Without this, civilization would be radically different.

If you go back around 10,000-12,000 years though, it might be humans never developing advanced farming.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
Most of the inventions mentioned happened over the course of a long period of time are can't really be seen as a single historical event.

As far as a single historical event is concerned, I would answer: the Battle of Salamis in 480 B.C.
 
IMO, the only turning point that could be considered huge is when humans gained intelligence. After that, everything that could possibly changed has changed.
 
IMO, the only turning point that could be considered huge is when humans gained intelligence. After that, everything that could possibly changed has changed.


Yes, the so called The Brain's Big Bang. All sorts of innovations like fire, toolmaking, aesthetics started appearing 50-70,000 years ago; even though humans have had the same large brain for a hundred thousand years by then.

From an anatomical point of view here's no reason civilization isn't 60,000 years old rather than 6,000.
 
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~The Doctor~

I'm going to go against the grain and saw the Mongol invasion of Europe.

A complete conquest, even if it was only for a decade or so, would have changed history in ways we can only imagine.
 
17th-18th centuries...how bout the enclosures (sp?) in england that helped pay for the industrial revolution and help cause the emigration of so many brits?
 
industrial revolution is a good one, but not really a basic one

a more fundamental turning point would be the death of the neanderthals, may be a bit further back than the 6000 years stated, but IIRC 'derthals had a larger brain capacity than pan narrans (kudos for those who know what i'm talking about there)
 
When I said 6,000 years of history, I meant all of recorded, civilized, homo-sapien history. TL's that pertain to neanderthals, cro-magnon men, and what have you are ASB. I meant things that, realistically, could have happened save for the actions of a certain relatively small number of humans.
 
What about the priting press (movable type, Gutenberg, etc.), the Crusades, the invention of the compass, the invention of gunpowder, or the Black Plague? Need the greatest point be so far back?
 
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