Moments From History That Are More Significant Than People Realize

History.

How can anyone be bored in that class?

It's the foundation of the world.

How nations and empires rose and fell is the stuff of legends.

There is so much to learn, and so little time.

There is so much study as to not repeat.

One single moment, one small event can change the course of humanity.

And we rarely ever acknowledge it.

Bueller. Bueller!!!

Redditor SleepDeprivedCultist wanted to learn some significant facts about the past, so they asked:

"What is one moment in history that is wildly significant, even though most people don't realize it?"

Begininngs

"The Spanish-American War. It's a footnote for most people, but it set the US on the path it's on today."

- GildedPlunger

"After the war, the New Orleans area was flooded with cheap brass and woodwind instruments from the disbanded military bands, greatly contributing to jazz music's development."

- l97

New Orleans Party GIF by FandorGiphy

Poison

"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."

- ZyxDarkshine

1854

"The Broad Street cholera outbreak of 1854. The local doctor was convinced the disease was in the water. He 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."

- Hairy-Blood2112

Secrets

"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."

"I read this in a book years ago, so it may not be completely accurate, but that's what I remember."

- RunDNA

Half a Billion Deaths

"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. He 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."

- DoctorBeneficial6709

The Throne

"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."

- Sue_Dohnim

france 2 france.tv GIFGiphy

Crash

"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."

2infinity_beyond84

"I was working for an insurance company at the time. As soon as the market started falling, our part of the company (the workers' compensation division) was rebranded to a totally different name. I'm not sure whose idea it was, but I'm fairly certain it came from the head division manager and not from the CEO or any of the board members.

As a result, our division didn't really suffer much from the crash that affected the parent company, AIG."

- Head_Razzmatazz7174

1815

"Eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815. It Caused volcanic winters 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 the food category, and people were forced to find other means of transportation, such as the velocipede. People who starved in that time invented fertilizers that allow food to grow in horrible conditions."

- Jilibini

Savior

"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."

- Confident_Raccoon408

Volcanic Events

"I don't know if I'd call it a moment, but the year 536 AD. Otherwise known as the worst year in history."

"Three volcanic events happened around the same time that caused a volcanic winter. Temperatures dropped, crops failed, livestock died and people starved to death across a large portion of the world. It had devastating consequences that lasted for years. It was one of the causes of the plague of Justinian and the fall of the Roman Empire. Millions of people were killed across the world, in a time when populations are nowhere near what they are today."

- piper1871

Living Creatures

"When the mitochondria stop being symbiotic bacteria in living bodies and become a naturally occurring organelle in the cells of living creatures."

- CPLCraft

"That was the plan of the bacteria all along."

"They did it to create meat suits, which they let do all the locomotion and seeking of food, while they just chill in our stomachs."

"More and more research is showing how stomach bacteria controls our behavior and wellbeing."

"But the bacteria did not count on the meat suits inventing anti-biotics."

- Blackintosh

Bacteria Microbiology GIF by kirunGiphy

15 Minutes

"The Battle of Jumonville Glen in 1754, where a 22-year-old George Washington first tasted battle leading ~50 colonials and allied natives against ~30 French soldiers in a backwoods part of Pennsylvania beyond the Appalachian mountains that were the nominal border between British and French colonial territory in the new world."

"This small engagement kicked off the French and Indian War, which immediately led to the Seven Years’ War, which later led to the American War of Independence, which seriously influenced the French Revolution, which gave rise to Napoleon, who broke Germany (among other feats), making way for the later unification of Germany, which set most of the groundwork for WWI, which directly led to WWI and the Cold War that later followed it, which directly leads us to the modern state of the world."

"Washington’s actions on that day have had direct effects that continue on to the present day. All because of a 15-minute fight between less than 90 men in an empty corner of southwestern Pennsylvania, the world today is the way it is."

- Radiant-Importance-5•

350 Years Later

"The invention of the mechanical clock and the invention of the pendulum clock 350~ years later."

"Seeing how much a lot of our systems 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 a massive breakthrough."

- uitSCHOT

One Lunatic President

"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's 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."

"Downside: The whole world's economy got teetered together forever, whereby one lunatic President's tit for tat tariff war, or to be more precise ego war, can lead to the whole world's economy going down the drain."

- Dildo-Gankings

2004

"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."

- REDDIT

Parker Posey Tsunami GIFGiphy

That is a lot of history that I was unaware of.

I'm guessing most of us are in the same boat.

Most of this is 'Jeopardy' knowledge.

And so much of it is depressing.

But now I'm intrigued.

I do enjoy history.

And I often enjoy the art of studying.

So here is to new knowledge.

What other significant historical facts should be shared?