If you could be transported back in time to any five historical events, which ones would you choose to witness?
Assume that it would be in your mind’s eye only, so you could not be involved in, change or be physically affected by the event, and you could come back to the present at any point you wished. Also assume, though, that you could take photographs (or videos) to prove that you were there and what you saw.
Mine are below the fold.
1. The Kennedy assassination, viewed from several angles, because I’d like to see exactly how many gunmen there were, and who they were.
(of course, I’d probably be murdered by the CIA upon my return to the present)
2. The Battle of Cannae (or any of the major Roman-Carthaginian battles, really), viewed from above the field.
3. The murder of Catherine Eddowes by Jack The Ripper — just to see who he really was, and how he managed to escape so quickly (and undetected).
(He killed her, partially disemboweled her and got away unnoticed, all in less than ten minutes.)
4. What happened to the crew of the Mary Celeste, and how they disappeared seemingly without a trace.
5. The construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
And imagine if it was really aliens…
Your top 5 in Comments.
1. The eruption of Vesuvius
2. Petra in its heyday
3. “Showtime” at the Coliseum in Rome
4. The sinking of the Bismarck
5. The extinction of the dinosaurs
In no particular order:
Battle of Rorke’s Drift,
Sinking of the Titanic,
Nikola Tesla’s workshop,
The battle of Trafalgar,
Nero burning Rome.
1. The day my earliest arriving ancestor stepped off the boat from England in 16-something.
2. The battle of Lexington-Concord.
3. The day my 19yo great-grandfather mustered out of the Union Army and headed home from Atlanta after three years campaigning.
4. The day my father’s division liberated the Flossenburg concentration camp.
5. The day my parents met.
Well, you didn’t say historical for whom, now did you.
1. another vote for the construction of the pyramids. You need to see them in person to truly understand the scale of that accomplishment.
2. The battle of Thermopylae. Did they really hold off a huge Persian army for 3 days? or did it just take that long for the Persians to assemble a strike force of overwhelming size after a long march.
3. The Battle of the Philippine Sea. ( or as its better known – the great Marianas Turkey Shoot ) https://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/great-marianas-turkey-shoot.php
4. The destruction of Hussains army as it Left Kuwait City in 1990. Pictures of the completely destroyed columns on their way back to Basra seem to have disappeared from the internet. I was scheduled to run the field office for Constuction of a Transmission line thru Kuwait until the invasion cancelled the project.
5. and another vote for the Battle of Trafalgar — on board the HMS Victory.
An average day in Aurelian Rome
The battle of Thermopolye
The Norman camp the night the Irish Prince of Ossary was nearly betrayed
The battle of Austerlitz
Puma Punku on it’s peak day
1. The beach and day when my Dad went ashore in the second wave landing in the invasion of Leyte, Phillipines.
2. I second the motion…the day my Mom and Dad met.
3. The Battle for Gettysburg (specifically: Little Round Top and Pickett’s Charge
4. The Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Retreat of the British toward Boston (specifically the actions involving Samual Whittemore).
5. Every questionable polling site in the 2020 election…. especially after they blocked the windows.
#4 Every year a large group of reenactors, local Minutemen groups and Black Powder guys do a full production of all three events on April 19th. wall to wall Coverage of the Boston Marathon always drowns local coverage. Planning for the 250th anniversary has been underway for several years, so mark your calendars and make reservations now. It’s always a great show – ( just down the road from my house.)
I understand they do the same thing for # 3 on your list. Nothing was going on when we visited the site.
1. Stalingrad
2. The final days of Antony and Cleopatra.
3. Life in the Tahitian Islands before we showed up.
4. The ambush and destruction of 3 Roman Legions in the Teutoburg Forest.
5. The day my dad, then in the Reichsmarine, got captured by the British in the Bay of Biscay, to see if his stories were true. I used to think he was yarning me but then I found his wartime documents in a back drawer after his death. Yikes, what a life.
Nobody picked the crucifixion of Christ? The parting of the Red Sea? Or maybe those “historical” events are best left to faith?
I’d like to see some of the WWII air war in Europe, the sky covered with B17 bombers and fighter planes running in and out.
I think most of the battles listed above would appear to be nothing more than mass confusion and people randomly killing other people to my untrained eye. I’d need a program just to tell who the players were.
Early to Mid-1800’s in what at the time was the western frontier, where you could see bison from one horizon to the next. Not necessarily a distinct historical event, but a historical time. Maybe follow along with Lewis and Clark.
Someone mentioned Tesla’s workshop – I’d rather see John Moses Browning’s (PBUH) workshop. Say, around when he developed the 1911.
Don’t know, I’m going to have to think some more on it.
Seriously? No one picked 3 years in Judea for the Jesus run, from the Wedding at Cana through the post resurection fun?
While I’m at it: Moses on the mount, to see what the burning bush was, Mohammed in his cave, because that is gonna be a hoot, the sinking of whatever Atlantis was, and Neal Armstrong s lunar stroll.
1. Not an “event” per se – browse the library at Alexandria during the reign of the Ptolemys. I’ve heard people like Carl Sagan & Jacob Bronowski plausibly argue that its destruction retarded human scientific & technological advancement by centuries.
2. Appomattox
3. Someone beat me to Tesla’s workshop, so I’ll go with Leonardo’s.
4. Battle of Agincourt – I’d like to see how effective those longbows really were.
5. A tie: 1936 Jesse Owens in Berlin; 1980 US Hockey Team at Lake Placid
Some of mine have been taken.
Battles:
Salamis
Lepanto
Yorktown
Saratoga
Signing of The Declaration of Independence & Constitutional Convention.
However I could probably get by with any event where Muslims were pounded into the ground.
I’ll take Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount and as much longer as I can manage there.
Lao Tzu teaching his disciples.
Buddha at his first sermon at Sarnath.
The building of the Great Sphinx, hopefully in time lapsed video.
The siege of Malta.
1) Sinking of Atlantis
2) Fall of Troy
3) Jericho when the walls came tumbling down.
4) The invention of the Wheel.
5 Parting of the Red (reed,,, whatever) Sea
Jesus and the apostles at the Last Supper.
The crucifixion of Christ.
His Resurrection.
JFK’s assassination.
The raising of the flag on Iwo Jima.
The Battle of Midway
The Winged Hussars charge with King Jan Sobieski at the Gates of Vienna
The trial, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus
The Battle of Hastings
The Siege of Ft William Henry
Events might be tough, but…
I’d like a library card to the Library of Alexandria and access to it before the fire.
I’d like to have bound volume of the writings of Sappho.
I’d like to see the staging of any work by Shakespeare at the Globe theatre, from far away from the goundlings.
I’d like to see Nan Madol in its hayday.
I’d like to sit in the room while the committee responsible was composing the Declaration of Independence.
A good vantage point for the Beatles roof top Abby Road performance.
Hindenburg Disaster
Rumble in the Jungle
Backstage for Woodstock
Don Larson’s perfect game in the World Series OR Babe Ruth’s Called Home Run at Wrigley
I’ve always assumed there is time travel. However, the rules for viewing famous events are tough, or that everyone at a famous event IS a time traveler. I lean towards the first, so I always choose mass attended events- easier to fit in.
This reminds me of an excellent short story written by Damon Knight. The idea is that a guy invents a device that includes a screen and speaker and that gives you the ability to observe and listen to anything, past or present, anywhere. From this premise so many possibilities emerge, the most interesting ones involving the ability to explore the present (which is, really, just a nanosecond into the past).
He does indeed explore the ideas of observing the Mary Celeste and Dealey Plaza, but consider the surveillance possibilities. No privacy for anyone, anywhere, particularly after the inventor makes the device small and cheap enough for anyone to afford – think of the ubiquity of smartphones today.
The name of the story is “I See You”, and the device is the Ozo (I think Knight explains the name, but I don’t recall what that explanation is). Anyone even moderately interested in this kind of SF should really try to find it.
I forgot to post my own answers.
I’d like to look at the early years of the development of the Panama Canal (I grew up in the Canal Zone). I’d be particularly interested in watching how the French effort progressed and failed, as well as seeing the villages later inundated by Gatun Lake. My own family history would also be of interest – I have a photograph of about 12 members of my family taken during construction days, which also includes my paternal grandmother’s first husband. Nobody in my immediate family knew anything about him. I’d also, of course. like to see what I was like as a young child, and spy on my parents (NOT their bedroom activities, just their day-to-day life).
Dealey Plaza, of course.
The Mary Celeste, of course.
Salamis.
Cortez and the crushing of the horrible Aztec empire.
So that’s my five. I’m sure there are a lot more, but if we’re limited to five that’s my first cut. I’d probably change out the Mary Celeste for something else, if only one of you others would just tell me just WTF was up with that.
I had to think about this one for a while, Kim.
Cretaceous period North America where the Hell Creek and Morrison formations are today. So I could see a living Tyrannosaurus rex.
The building of the Great Pyramid at Giza.
Christ’s resurrection.
The debate over the Declaration of Independence, its adoption, and signing.
On the Moon with Armsrong and Aldrin.
Dealey Plaza – strode n the X and was transported back in my mind
Man’s first step on the moon
The signing of Magna Carta
The building of Hadrians wall
In the room when Thatcher became PM
Stood, even.
Maybe a 6th back in time – when I first learned to spell. Still kinda waiting for that one!
Mine come in no particular order.
1. The mass stabbing that put paid to Caesar and call it the half hour leading up to it and the next few hours afterwards.
2. The death and immediate aftermath of the man with the funny mustache in 1945.
3. The signing of the declaration of independence.
4. Neil Armstrong first walking on the moon.
5. 12/17/1903 at the preparation and first flight of the Wright Brothers.
Interesting mix.
I think Jesus at the end,
Maybe mao and Lenin. At birth but I would probably change those events.
Dealy plaza would be interesting.
And maybe some point in Biden’s life where I could help hasten a fatal accident.
Civilization seems to be awful good at wasting chances.
1. Battle of Ngoc Tavac, May 10 1968
2. Detonation of the mines at Messines
3. The Greek Rite as performed in the Hagia Sophia, before the original dome collapsed
4. The first trickle of water over Niagara Falls (happened about 10,000 years ago, humans were around to see it) (Alternate: the Missoula floods)
5. Chicxulub asteroid impact
I’m deliberately avoiding those already mentioned.
The K-Pg / Chicxulub impact.
The start of the Zanclean flood.
The battle of Tours (where the Muslim invaders were defeated by the Franks).
The raising of the siege of Vienna (where the Muslim invaders were defeated by the arrival of the Winged Hussars).
The battle of Waterloo.
Can I sneak in a sixth? The Trinity test, first detonation of a nuclear weapon.
The defeat of the Mongol horde in Hungary.
The battle of Sekigahara which established the Japanese Shogunate.
The battle of the Somme.
The assassination of JFK. Not the shooting but the whole truth.
Any of Christ’s miracles.
re: the battles. Not to see men die, but the thinking of the commanders. If you know nothing of Sekigahara, the treachery and defections among the various factions may be unequaled anywhere.