which had a greater impact on the world around it

[JonathanValjean]

My vote went to Columbus' finding America. I know this sounds trite, but his discovery opened up the New World to all of Europe, forever altering the face of history on a grand scale.

 

[Chedder]

For me it was a difficult choice between fall of Rome and columbus.

I finally went with columbus as his discovery shaped much of the New World and Europe.

 

[Porphyrogenitos]

Oscar Wilde on America's "discovery":

"Of course America had often been discovered before Colombus, but it had always been hushed up"

"Perhaps, after all, America never has been discovered. I myself would say that it has merely been detected"

 

[Titan2018]

Reformation: Weakened the power of the church and allowed scientific inquiry to start, albeit slowly

Atomic Bomb: It has shaped the world's political situation for over half a century and still holds the potential of ending it all.

Sputnik: Led to the Moonshot and will eventually lead to the colonization of space.

 

[shortej]

Reformation.
It shaped the last six hundred years, but, unlike the fall of the Romn Empire or death of Kahn, it wasn't a given to happen. Had the Reformation not happened, everything below it on the poll wouldn't have happened.

 

[Jimjam Jones]

It seems likely that if Rome had never adopted Christianity world history would be dramatically different. After Rome had fallen Europe may not have become anything more than a cluster of pagan kingdoms (no Holy Roman Empire) and who knows, may have been engulfed by Islam and Islamic culture in the early Middle Ages.

 

[MaDmAn_71]

I would definately say other. The biggest event would have to be the American Depression. This plunged the rest of Europe and other nations into depression too, and allowed an era of fascism and dictatorships to exist. Look at the statistics caused by those regimes and say that wasn't a major change.

 

[Finmaster]

Reformation and Fall of Rome. Both had more effect on people's lives than anything else in the list. Basically these two are the only things that affected even civilian lives for really long time periods. When you think of it, they still affect civilian lives...

(btw, I don't see Ferdinand's death as the real reason why WW1 started, it would have started anyway very soon and atomic age would have came soon even without the bombings at the end of WW2).

 

[Bootstoots]

Originally posted by JonathanValjean
My vote went to Columbus' finding America. I know this sounds trite, but his discovery opened up the New World to all of Europe, forever altering the face of history on a grand scale.

But if Columbus hadn't discovered America, someone else almost certainly would have within a matter of years. However, it could have changed history dramatically if it were, say, the Portugese who discovered America rather than Spain.

 

[luiz]

I say the fall of Rome.
if it Columbus hadnt discovered America in 1492, untill 1500 at least other two explorers would've(Pedro Álvares Cabral and Duarte Coelho, but those are the ones I know, Im sure there others).

 

[scotland_no1]

columbus

 

[Serutan]

Columbus. Adrew, I agree with you that someone else would
have done it, but what was important was the discovery, not
the discoverer. Just so happens it was Columbus. It opened the gates to European expansion, and all that has meant.

 

[SGI Butch]

The Battle of Salamis, end of discussion.

saved western civilization, ensured survival of democracy, allowed Rome to exist, possibly allowed Jesus to exist, possibly allowed Islam to exist, saved persia from possibly ruling the world, allowed greece to exist,

 

[Stefan Haertel]

The Battle of Salamis, end of discussion.

saved western civilization, ensured survival of democracy, allowed Rome to exist, possibly allowed Jesus to exist,
possibly allowed Islam to exist, saved persia from possibly ruling the world, allowed greece to exist,

A very simplified presentation of events. The impact of the battle of Salamis was rather small. Persia later did more or less rule Greece, so that's not an argument IMHO.
Apart from that, Persian rule over Greece might have saved the world a lot of hassle, and would definately not have destroyed Greece's cultural identity (think of Babylon or Egypt-two civilizations preserved under Persian rule).
Apart from that, Rome existed before the battle of Salamis. It became independent in 510 BC, while the battle took place in 480 BC.

 

[Qitai]

The attack in Pearl Harbour. Without that, US might have kept out of war and the result of WWII maybe different.

 

[HannibalBarka]

Birth of Mohammad

 

[trumpeteer]

Originally posted by Qitai
The attack in Pearl Harbour. Without that, US might have kept out of war and the result of WWII maybe different.

Fat chance. The attack on Pearl Harbor wouldn't have stopped America from entering the war, it had been mobilizing for years.

I say it was the fall of Rome. It basically shaped Europe, and without a modern Europe, nothing else would have happened. Really it's the most influential because it's the earliest, and created a chain reaction that has spanned the entire Meditteranean, and of course if it spans that large an area, it basically spans the world. Without the fall of Rome happening as it did, there would be no England, France, Spain, or at least not as we know it. And without those countries there would be no Columbus, no New World, etc.

 

[Yago]

The invention of Book-printing.

 

[Punkymonkey]

Well the fall of rome was inevitable. All empires fall, it's just a matter of how long you can prolong it. The discovery of america lead to a boom of trade and development of shipping and really shaped the world as it is today. If his ship sank, it would have been rumored that it was eaten by a sea monster and put off exploration for a while and not encourage the practices of building larger and sturdier ships. Also without all the resources offered in the New World a lot of countries would have not had room for their overpopulation people and a lot more wars and such would have occurred and it would have been interesting to see where the aztec and inca would have ended up as they were just beginning their empires

 

[Xen]

no, political states fall, cultures dont