I was really enjoying reading the responses in the USA thread and I wanted to hear History-Era's take on this. I realize the scope of this is HUGE, but I still think it's an interesting subject of discussion. I also don't think there's a single answer to this question, or that one event can truly eclipse all others in importance.
Disclaimer: I am not a historian, not even a psuedo-historian, so I think the posts that follow my OP will be far more interesting and well written than my own.
I know this might be controversial here, but I think Jesus Christ and the rise of Christianity might be a contender. It's become one of the most prominent religions in the world, played a huge role in European society throughout the middle ages especially, and had a gigantic influence on art during the Renaissance. The amount of influence the church (and offshoot branches) have had over the past 2,000 years is enormous.
Another one is World War II and the development of nukes. The Cold War was an unprecedented sort of war. We now had weapons so terrifyingly powerful that the mere threat of their use moved nations to act. They've only been used less than a handful of times, and the result was so devastating that using them again seems unthinkable. The existence of such a super-weapon has created a deadlock between nations that's prevented another huge scale war like WWII from breaking out so far, but it's also created an unrest that someday we might truly be able to destroy our world with a nuclear apocalypse. It just seems entirely unprecedented in the history that we know.
What are your thoughts?
Disclaimer: I am not a historian, not even a psuedo-historian, so I think the posts that follow my OP will be far more interesting and well written than my own.
I know this might be controversial here, but I think Jesus Christ and the rise of Christianity might be a contender. It's become one of the most prominent religions in the world, played a huge role in European society throughout the middle ages especially, and had a gigantic influence on art during the Renaissance. The amount of influence the church (and offshoot branches) have had over the past 2,000 years is enormous.
Another one is World War II and the development of nukes. The Cold War was an unprecedented sort of war. We now had weapons so terrifyingly powerful that the mere threat of their use moved nations to act. They've only been used less than a handful of times, and the result was so devastating that using them again seems unthinkable. The existence of such a super-weapon has created a deadlock between nations that's prevented another huge scale war like WWII from breaking out so far, but it's also created an unrest that someday we might truly be able to destroy our world with a nuclear apocalypse. It just seems entirely unprecedented in the history that we know.
What are your thoughts?
