‘What’s an overlooked moment in history that changed the course of the world?’ – 18 revolutionary events you might have missed
10.
‘In the late days of the July crisis of 1914, Tsar Nicholas II and Kaiser Wilhelm had a nightlong telegram exchange (known as the Willy-Nicky telegrams, since they addressed each other as Willy and Nicky), regarding the possibility of war in Europe.
‘During this, it was revealed neither of them wanted war, and immediately after the exchange, the Tsar phoned the Russian war chief and told him to call off the general mobilization.
‘The next day, the Russian army’s chief of staff, and the Russian foreign minister Sazanov tried to convince the tsar to restart Russian mobilization, and during the ensuing argument, the tsar took some time to think while staring out the window. After some time, an unknown aide-de-camp whispered to the tsar, “We know it can be difficult for you to decide your majesty.”
‘This struck Nicholas in EXACTLY the wrong way, as throughout his reign, Nicholas had been called “weak” and “indecisive”, and was seen as an incapable leader. This comment set Nicholas off, and he ordered the Mobilization resume.
‘This single sentence, said by an unknown diplomat or aide, set the stage for the first-ever industrial war in history. Looking back, any event during the July crisis can be an answer to this question. That entire phase was just a series of hugely tragic and unfortunate events.’
-Shot_Bother9283
11.
‘The failed assassination attempt of Adolf Hitler on November 8, 1939, known as the Beer Hall Putsch Bombing.
Things could have been a lot different.’
-MMaxs
12.
‘Henry VIII not fathering a living son & the pope refusing to grant him a divorce.
‘Yes, there were issues with the church at the time in England, but nothing large enough to drive the English Reformation that happened. It was Henry that really drove it.
‘If he had a living son or married Mary to James V of Scotland, his nephew, when Mary was young enough to have children…would have been different.’
-Violet-Rose-Birdy
13.
‘The death of Princess Charlotte of Wales in 1818.
‘Charlotte was the daughter of George IV and was the last hope for the Hanoverian line and was very popular. After she died in childbirth in 1818, she and her stillborn son were greatly mourned.
‘Her death made George IV’s brothers dump their mistresses and many illegitimate children and marry princesses and father legitimate children, this led to a baby being born who would become Queen Victoria, also known as the Grandmother of Europe.’
-QueenLiLi20
14.
‘Ray Tomlinsons first E-Mail over Arpanet in 1971. It was the first practical use for the newly developed File Transfer Protocol and predecessor of things that now are known colloquially as the “Internet”.’
-Gourmet-Guy
15.
‘One tiny moment that changed history was Alexander Fleming’s accidental discovery of penicillin in 1928. He noticed a mold killed bacteria in a petri dish, leading to the development of antibiotics, which revolutionized medicine and saved countless lives.’
-Itsbellasworldx
16.
‘An accidental number error in a research paper by Reinhart/Rogoff dictated years of global economic policy without being discovered.
‘Who knows what shape the world would be in if the austerity measures of the 2010’s had not been so credibly – albeit wrongly – supported by these influential academics.’
-jwgraf
17.
‘So it’s not the most obscure event ever, but I think Al Gore conceding the 2000 election before the votes in Florida were fully counted sent us down a darker timeline.
‘Imagine the progress we could have made on climate change if we had a world leader that took it so seriously 20+ years ago.’
-sunbearimon
18.
‘One fascinating overlooked development that’s reshaping our world right now is the quiet revolution in battery technology, particularly sodium-ion batteries.
‘While everyone focuses on lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicles, sodium-ion batteries could completely transform energy accessibility for developing nations.
‘Unlike lithium, sodium is abundant and can be extracted from seawater, it’s literally thousands of times more available than lithium
‘While they currently have lower energy density than lithium batteries, they’re significantly cheaper, safer (less fire risk), and work better in cold temperatures
‘Most crucially, they don’t require mining rare earth materials or exploiting resources in politically unstable regions
We might be living through one of those quiet moments that future historians will point to as a turning point, when energy storage became truly accessible to the global population, not just wealthy nations.’
-Beginning-Doubt9604
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