Historical Bucket List

Triggered by this article (“Brits wish they’d seen these top 25 historical events”), I thought I’d put together my own list of historical events I’d like to have witnessed firsthand.  (I know, I wrote a similar post a while back, but times have changed.)  They are in no specific order of preference.

  1. Gunfight at the OK Corral
  2. Sinking of the Bismarck
  3. Wright Brothers’ first flight
  4. Battle at Little Big Horn
  5. Eruption of Krakatoa, 1883
  6. 24-hour Le Mans race, 1934 (from several vantage points)
  7. The Beatles playing at the Cavern club in Liverpool
  8. Battle of Hastings, 1066
  9. Any Blaze Starr performance at the Two O’ Clock Club
  10. Bombing of the Eder Dam by RAF 617 (“Dambusters”) Squadron
  11. Constitutional Convention, 1787
  12. Great Fire of London, 1666
  13. Any Led Zeppelin concert, 1970–71
  14. London Blitz, September 1940–May 1941
  15. First performance of Stravinsky’s Rite Of Spring, 1913
  16. Battle of Rorke’s Drift, 1879
  17. Borg–McEnroe Wimbledon final, 1980
  18. Liberation of Paris, 1944
  19. Trial of Galileo, 1633 (assuming I could speak medieval Italian)
  20. Battle of Marathon, 490 BC
  21. 1906 San Francisco earthquake
  22. Assassination of Julius Caesar
  23. Alvin York’s heroic action in France, 1918
  24. The deaths of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
  25. Queen Victoria’s wedding night

Your choices (any number up to 25) in Comments.

2 comments

  1. I’d be tempted (assuming I was granted fluency in the relevant languages) to be in the audience for the Crucifixion. It’d be an opportunity to see whether any of it resembled the Biblical description (I suspect the supernatural aspects were later additions).

    If we’re only allowed to *observe*, but not interfere, then I’d have to compile a list of lost historical treasures so I could observe where they were hidden. Then it’d be time to go treasure hunting:-).

  2. Not sure I have 25 to list – here are 10 I would like to see

    1. Ronald Reagan 1st inauguration
    2. Signing of the Declaration of Independence
    3 . Apollo 11 Moon Landing
    4. Ancient Egyptians Build the Pyramids
    5. Invention of Gunpowder
    6. Invention of the Lightbulb
    7. Invention of Printing Press
    8. Boston Tea Party
    9. Invention of Radio
    10. Invention of Television

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