What Single Shot Changed The Course Of World History The Most? (for Better Or Worse)
- Thread starter sonny
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thisaway
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Well, there is the "shot heard 'round the world" fired by the American colonist at the British soldiers in Lexington (although this is possibly apocryphal). And now, after our war of independence and the evolution of our country since then, it can certainly be proven that the USA has influenced how the world has turned out.
A much more well-documented "shot that changed history" was that fired by the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip which slew Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in 1914, and led to the Great War.
A much more well-documented "shot that changed history" was that fired by the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip which slew Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in 1914, and led to the Great War.
Jim March
Member
American history: the one into the back of Lincoln's head.
While Lincoln had his share of problems, he was in favor of reintegrating the South with the least amount of tensions possible. He also may have had an effect on USSC picks. Between 1866 and 1870 the Northern legislature attempted to give the newly freed blacks (plus Union loyalists of all races in the South) full civil rights. It failed mainly due to the US Supreme Court, which was the most racist portion of the gov't between 1870 and 1900. John Bingham and others tried to stop 'em but didn't have the moral authority and sheer power Lincoln would have had.
Hence the civil rights movement was stalled until 1954.
World history: the shot that started WW1, in Serbia, when the head of the Austrian Empire was geeked by an idiot assassin.
While Lincoln had his share of problems, he was in favor of reintegrating the South with the least amount of tensions possible. He also may have had an effect on USSC picks. Between 1866 and 1870 the Northern legislature attempted to give the newly freed blacks (plus Union loyalists of all races in the South) full civil rights. It failed mainly due to the US Supreme Court, which was the most racist portion of the gov't between 1870 and 1900. John Bingham and others tried to stop 'em but didn't have the moral authority and sheer power Lincoln would have had.
Hence the civil rights movement was stalled until 1954.
World history: the shot that started WW1, in Serbia, when the head of the Austrian Empire was geeked by an idiot assassin.
(Saw Red Dwarf last night sonny? 
)
I would agree that the Lincoln and Kennedy assasinations rank at or near the top on the list.
Who knows how differently the Viet Nam War would have proceeded if LBJ had remained in the background? Who knows how differently the "Great Society" would have been treated?
Bumper sticker: "Don't ask me what I think of LBJ"
)I would agree that the Lincoln and Kennedy assasinations rank at or near the top on the list.
Who knows how differently the Viet Nam War would have proceeded if LBJ had remained in the background? Who knows how differently the "Great Society" would have been treated?
Bumper sticker: "Don't ask me what I think of LBJ"
I shot a kid in the arse in New Zealand for stealing the milk money out of my Mum's letter box.
I used a Webley Senior .177 air pistol and decided, after watching him drop the money and run off crying and grabbing his arse, that I would joing the Army and shoot ALL bad people in the world in the arse!
I was shot in the arse in the Army and got out soon there after.
I can't decide which shot changed MY world more.
regards,
HS/LD
I used a Webley Senior .177 air pistol and decided, after watching him drop the money and run off crying and grabbing his arse, that I would joing the Army and shoot ALL bad people in the world in the arse!
I was shot in the arse in the Army and got out soon there after.
I can't decide which shot changed MY world more.
regards,
HS/LD
stellarpod
Member
Perhaps the bullet that killed Anwar Sadat in Egypt.
stellarpod
stellarpod
AZTOY
Member
What Single Shot Changed The Course Of World History The Most? (for Better Or Worse)
The one Hilter put in his head!!
The one Hilter put in his head!!
"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled.
There the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world."
(Had to memorize that in HS, and finally found a use for it.)
That's the one -- the American Revolution MOST changed the world, and for the better.
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled.
There the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world."
(Had to memorize that in HS, and finally found a use for it.)
That's the one -- the American Revolution MOST changed the world, and for the better.
happy old sailor
Member
have to go with the First One.
very soon after inventing a working model gun, someone loaded it and fired a shot. whether lead ball or rock, that started it all, making all shots thereafter possible.
do guns cause crime ? not between Caine and Abel. greed or anger at the root of it all.
mad at me ? want what i got ? come on over.
very soon after inventing a working model gun, someone loaded it and fired a shot. whether lead ball or rock, that started it all, making all shots thereafter possible.
do guns cause crime ? not between Caine and Abel. greed or anger at the root of it all.
mad at me ? want what i got ? come on over.
Jim March
Member
I don't think Kennedy's death made much long-term difference. The policies of him, Johnson and Nixon regarding 'Nam were pretty much identical. Sigh.
4v50Gary: The issue isn't what things were like by 1890 in terms of north/south relations. Yes, the rift had healed a lot, but race relations were just crippled...God, "crippled" doesn't begin, "completely screwed" is closer. You can't even begin to understand the magnatude until you read two US Supreme Court cases, Cruikshank (1875) and Williams (1898).
http://laws.findlaw.com/us/92/542.html
http://laws.findlaw.com/us/170/213.html
If you haven't read those, you don't understand how racism became so ingrained into US society. That in turn lead to the ghettos, the sharecropping, the rise of the KKK and our current horrendous welfare state problems in the inner cities.
We're still paying for the mistakes of 1870-1900. No guarantees, but Lincoln might have helped.
4v50Gary: The issue isn't what things were like by 1890 in terms of north/south relations. Yes, the rift had healed a lot, but race relations were just crippled...God, "crippled" doesn't begin, "completely screwed" is closer. You can't even begin to understand the magnatude until you read two US Supreme Court cases, Cruikshank (1875) and Williams (1898).
http://laws.findlaw.com/us/92/542.html
http://laws.findlaw.com/us/170/213.html
If you haven't read those, you don't understand how racism became so ingrained into US society. That in turn lead to the ghettos, the sharecropping, the rise of the KKK and our current horrendous welfare state problems in the inner cities.
We're still paying for the mistakes of 1870-1900. No guarantees, but Lincoln might have helped.
Jim March
Member
Oh, and Hitler had a choice between a German bullet now and a Russian one later. Didn't make much difference.
gwalchmai
Member
Huey Long was shot in what, 1935? He was on his way to a serious bid for the presidency. Things could have gone much differently had he won.
Also, FDR was saved from assassination in 1933 when the assassin missed and killed the mayor of Chicago. Sometimes gunshots make a difference by missing. We may never had Social Security.
Resp.
g
Also, FDR was saved from assassination in 1933 when the assassin missed and killed the mayor of Chicago. Sometimes gunshots make a difference by missing. We may never had Social Security.
Resp.
g
Hkmp5sd
Member
The one that was never fired. During the revolutionary war, English Captain Patrick Ferguson of the 70th Foot designed a breech loading rifle based on the French Chaumette system. Ferguson was allowed to recruit 100 men for a corps of skirmishers using this new and very accurate rifle.
On one day, Ferguson spotting an American Officer on horseback. Before he could take the shot, the American turned and began riding away. Furguson didn't think it was honorable to shoot a man in the back, so he allowed the officer to ride off.
The Officer was General George Washington.
Hkmp5sd
Member
The one that was never fired. During the revolutionary war, English Captain Patrick Ferguson of the 70th Foot designed a breech loading rifle based on the French Chaumette system. Ferguson was allowed to recruit 100 men for a corps of skirmishers using this new and very accurate rifle.
On one day, Ferguson spotting an American Officer on horseback. Before he could take the shot, the American turned and began riding away. Furguson didn't think it was honorable to shoot a man in the back, so he allowed the officer to ride off.
The Officer was General George Washington.
Mike Irwin
Member
Lincoln? Maybe, but probably not. With the war over, and the Federal government pretty much grown as much as it was going to, Lincoln went out at the pinnacle. His second term wouldn't have been anything as dramatic as the first.
Kennedy? Definitely. Contrary to popular belief, Kennedy wasn't all that effective a president alive, but was very successful dead. Johnson was able to use his ghost to pass a LOT of legislation, and stayed Kennedy's course in Vietnam.
Martin Luther King was also a groundshaking assassination for America.
Kennedy and King's kilings together gave impetus to a lot of gun control legislation.
For the all-time most signifant, I have to agree, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. It didn't just lead to World War I, his killing also laid the groundwork for the rise of Hitler and World War II.
One dead guy, good for the two most catastrophic wars the world has ever seen.
Kennedy? Definitely. Contrary to popular belief, Kennedy wasn't all that effective a president alive, but was very successful dead. Johnson was able to use his ghost to pass a LOT of legislation, and stayed Kennedy's course in Vietnam.
Martin Luther King was also a groundshaking assassination for America.
Kennedy and King's kilings together gave impetus to a lot of gun control legislation.
For the all-time most signifant, I have to agree, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. It didn't just lead to World War I, his killing also laid the groundwork for the rise of Hitler and World War II.
One dead guy, good for the two most catastrophic wars the world has ever seen.
Jim March
Member
Mike, does the name "John Bingham" and the phrases "Privileges And Immunities Clause" and "full incorporation" ring any bells?
Something very important in US history happened between 1870 and 1900. Or more correctly, FAILED to happen when it should have - full equal protection plus forcing the states to honor the full Bill Of Rights.
I still say Lincoln could have helped. He had one HELL of a lot of "political credibility" stored up and Bingham was one of his political allies.
Something very important in US history happened between 1870 and 1900. Or more correctly, FAILED to happen when it should have - full equal protection plus forcing the states to honor the full Bill Of Rights.
I still say Lincoln could have helped. He had one HELL of a lot of "political credibility" stored up and Bingham was one of his political allies.
Mike Irwin
Member
God, I haven't heard of that for a LONG time, Jim, but dredging up stuff from ancient memory...
Lincoln had a lot of political capital saved up, yes, that's true.
But I think it's also true that Reconstruction would have robbed him of a lot of that capital.
Lincoln had a lot of political capital saved up, yes, that's true.
But I think it's also true that Reconstruction would have robbed him of a lot of that capital.
Jim March
Member
Mike, if everything Martin Luther King Jr. and company fought for in the 1960s had happened back in the 1870s, I think that would have qualified as a "big change".
And we came within a whisker. I think Lincoln could have made the difference.
And we came within a whisker. I think Lincoln could have made the difference.
Mike Irwin
Member
"if"
The most dangerous word in the world, Jim...
If Lincoln/Kennedy/Roosevelt/Garfield/Archduke Ferdinand had lived...
If Wilson's 21 points had been adopted...
While I need to do some reading to refresh myself in this area, I think HAD the states been held to this, one major thing would have happened...
The internal bloodletting between blacks and whites in the South wouldn't have been just an occasional trickle.
It would have been a continuous, unremitting flood.
As I said, I don't think Lincoln's political capital would have lasted very long in the post war environment.
A recent example is George Bush I. His political capital lasted for about 30 minutes after he declared "Agression is defeated."
Granted, an entirely different situation, but comparable in many ways.
The most dangerous word in the world, Jim...
If Lincoln/Kennedy/Roosevelt/Garfield/Archduke Ferdinand had lived...
If Wilson's 21 points had been adopted...
While I need to do some reading to refresh myself in this area, I think HAD the states been held to this, one major thing would have happened...
The internal bloodletting between blacks and whites in the South wouldn't have been just an occasional trickle.
It would have been a continuous, unremitting flood.
As I said, I don't think Lincoln's political capital would have lasted very long in the post war environment.
A recent example is George Bush I. His political capital lasted for about 30 minutes after he declared "Agression is defeated."
Granted, an entirely different situation, but comparable in many ways.
4570Rick
Member
What single shot
The one fired by John Parker or one of his fellow countrymen.
The one fired by John Parker or one of his fellow countrymen.
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