If You Could Change One Historical Event, What Would It Be?
- Thread starter Emperor Norton I
- Start date
He had a job--as the sole employee of the Frederick Engels' Foundation for the Upkeep of Karl Marx. Also as foreign correspondent for various major American and European newspapers.
You want to stop the bad stuff that resulted indirectly from Marx, you don't stop him from writing Capital, a book very useful for Wall Street gurus. You stop the Bolshevik revolution. Like give Kerensky the backbone to round them all up, shoot those who resist, and put the rest in Siberia for a decade or so. The trouble is, without the communists, would a weak capitalist Russia 20 years later be able to accomplish the total mobilization that defeated the Nazis? So you've got to stop the latter at the same time; like have Ludendorff not present at the Beer Hall putsch, the troops don't hold their fire, and Hitler is shot right between the eyes.
For saving Byzantium it's not enough to win at Manzikert, although that battle should properly rank as the greatest single disaster in human history. You need deep structural changes. I'd say Justinian hears about John Philoponus, a proto-scientist in Alexandria who was a thousand years ahead of his time.
Justinian had a gift for finding geniuses and putting them to work on projects that maximized their talents. He brings John to Constantinople and gives him the 6th century equivalent of a laboratory with lots of smart assistants.
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The reason why a majority of Canadians love and respect the “Canadian Red Ensign” is the simple fact that some of our nation’s greatest achievements have occurred under that honorable flag.
Now many detractors of the Canadian Red Ensign will make the claim that prior to 1965 Canada did not have an official flag, and though this statement may be correct, unlike the Canadian Red Ensign which was born in battle, and served Canadian Servicemen abroad in numerous conflicts, the Maple Leaf Flag was born out of political motivations/committee rather than the will of the Canadian people.
Unfortunately over the years, the Canadian Red Ensign has become a mostly forgotten symbol, relegated to historical dramas, Royal Canadian Legion Halls and museums, but it should always hold a place of pride in our hearts, as a symbol of sovereignty, freedom and union.
Now many detractors of the Canadian Red Ensign will make the claim that prior to 1965 Canada did not have an official flag, and though this statement may be correct, unlike the Canadian Red Ensign which was born in battle, and served Canadian Servicemen abroad in numerous conflicts, the Maple Leaf Flag was born out of political motivations/committee rather than the will of the Canadian people.
Unfortunately over the years, the Canadian Red Ensign has become a mostly forgotten symbol, relegated to historical dramas, Royal Canadian Legion Halls and museums, but it should always hold a place of pride in our hearts, as a symbol of sovereignty, freedom and union.
Bah, humbug. A TINY minority prefer the Red Ensign. In fact, I think you may be the first I've met. (Well, who wasn't an adult in '65, anyway.)
In the summer 2000 tip off whoever the U.S. Attorney is in south Florida that something funny is going on with the voter roles. Jeb and Rove doing the perp walk to the tune of 2 million counts of vote rigging. Time for popcorn.
Also in 1931 make sure Douglas MacArthur is somewhere far from Washington D.C. so he cant make a mess of the Ordnance Board and screw up the Garand.
Also in 1931 make sure Douglas MacArthur is somewhere far from Washington D.C. so he cant make a mess of the Ordnance Board and screw up the Garand.
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Sports Illustrated
1. Convince Sports Illustrated to buy ESPN around 83-84, saying that it just makes sense for them to be affiliated with a Cable Network.
2. Somehow be the official in the replay booth on the Tuck Rule play, so I can make the call on the field stand. No Patriot flukasty!!!
1. Convince Sports Illustrated to buy ESPN around 83-84, saying that it just makes sense for them to be affiliated with a Cable Network.
2. Somehow be the official in the replay booth on the Tuck Rule play, so I can make the call on the field stand. No Patriot flukasty!!!
Travel to Babylon on 323 BC to save Alexander's life (bringing the medical equipment required to heal him from poison or disease...if it's possible). Just to have fun and see how he manages to rule such huge empire and how much time would it take to seing him stabbed in the back by anyone of his generals...or how much it would take to getting killed in battlefield. Now we are talking about a divergence 
Go back to Rome on the Ides of March, 44 BC with a MP-5. Mow down all the conspirators.
Drop a copy of FM-3-24 on Westy's desk in 1965.
Drop a copy of FM-3-24 on Westy's desk in 1965.
That's brilliant!
As for mine, back to the early 600s...
Gold: Kick Phocas into a particularly nasty and smelly body of water before he can get to Maurice.
Silver: Kick Maurice for being too stingy to pay his troops during that winter.
Bronze: Kick myself for going back and probably getting myself into a whole heap of trouble.
Sargon
Abdul Hadi Pasha
Banned
Also, kick yourself for bringing back in time 1,000 years the germs you carry that nobody back then is resistant to, wiping out the population of Europe.
Well, then I don't need to worry about any of it since none of it would have happened for me to go back and mess with, since I wouldn't exist to do it...er hang on, this is getting confusing.
Doesn't that apply to any of the other people in this thread who have gone back to change things? Why does this stuff only happen when I'm involved?
Right, if going back to foil Phocas is a bad idea, then I'll go back and make sure my parents don't meet and end up in a much more clueless temporal paradox.
Sargon
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Cuāuhtemōc
Banned
Find a way to reform the Ottoman Empire so that it can survive to the present day.
I’m not sure how the Maple Leaf Flag is visually pleasing? I think Diefenbaker said it best, when referring to the Maple Leaf Flag: "a flag that Peruvians might salute".