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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Nov 22, 2016 23:10:19 GMT -5
13. The Assassination of Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln is regarded as one of, if not the, greatest presidents in US history. However, on April 14, 1865, an angry actor named John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln from behind at Ford's Theater. Lincoln died the next morning, and Booth was eventually shot in a barn house whilst trying to escape. The death of Lincoln hurt the South more than they ever anticipated, for while many in congress were bitter against the South for the Civil War, Lincoln was not and wanted nothing more than to heal the wounded country. It would be some time before the North and South were to get along again peacefully as friends and neighbors.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Nov 22, 2016 23:21:26 GMT -5
13B) Abraham Lincoln Delivers the Gettysburg AddressFour and a half months after the victory at the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln delivered a short speech at the site of the battle which has become known as The Gettysburg Address. In this speech, Lincoln delivered what has been described as one of the greatest statements of national purpose. And he made it clear that this war was no longer just about preserving the union, but also about the fight for human equality. It has gone down in history, along with Lincoln's second Inaugural Address, as one of the great speeches in American History.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Nov 22, 2016 23:51:23 GMT -5
13C. The Issue of the Emancipation ProclamationAbraham Lincoln wanted to make sure everyone knew what the States were fighting about in the Civil War - the freedom of slaves. As such, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which while not directly freeing all the slaves (that would come with the 13the Amendment) but it boosted the moral of the slaves and England even changed its mind about helping the South.
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Post by Tug on Nov 24, 2016 23:00:46 GMT -5
12.) Battle of VerdunOne of the longest and deadliest battles of World War 1, the French and German armies battled from February 21, 1916 all the way until December 18, 1916, a total of 303 days! It was one of the largest gatherings for a German assault, and was a struggle of artillery fire for both sides, at one point, a town under siege switched sides 16 times from June to August. In the end, the French pulled a victory ,with help from the withdraw of German forces towards the Somme Front, but not without heavy casualties. The exact numbers are not known, but the numbers of casualties for both sides have been estimated between 714,321 in 2000 and even up to 976,000 with 1,250,000 injured recently. This has left a deep mark on both the French and German people, and undoubtedly on the whole world towards the massive amount of life lost.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Nov 24, 2016 23:10:17 GMT -5
11. Gutenberg Invents the Printing PressOne of the biggest moments in world history happened in 1439 when a German named Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable-type printing press. This changed the world as we know it, for the inventions made everything easier to print and ushered in a new era where books would be a lot easier to buy and read. The first work Gutenberg printed on his new press was the Bible, and his edition of the Good Book is still renowned today. Another significant work printed on his press was Marco Polo's journey to Asia, which led to new desires to trade with the East, and helped usher in the Age of Discovery
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Nov 24, 2016 23:33:34 GMT -5
Though it is extremely difficult to objectively rate what historical events were more significant than others, the following events in the top ten are considered the "most significant of the most significant" if you will.
10) Sinking of the RMS TitanicOn a cold moonless night, April 14, 1912, at 11:40 p.m. the RMS Titanic, a British passenger steamer sailing from Southampton to New York on its maiden voyage, struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. In 2 hours and 40 minutes, she sinks with a terrible loss of life. of the estimated 2,228 on board only 705 survive, leaving 1,523 to die in the freezing waters. One of the reasons for the large loss of life was the lack of lifeboats- the 20 lifeboats combined could only hold 1,178 people. Standard practice of the time was that lifeboats were not meant to hold everyone at once; the purpose of lifeboats was to serve as a ferry system from the sinking ship to rescue, with the logic being that rescue would arrive quickly enough that the ship would stay afloat long enough for everyone to evacuate. Compounded with the fact that the lifeboat drill had been cancelled, the evacuation was somewhat poorly managed. However, the Carpathia, the ship that came to the rescue, took four hours to get there. By then, only those in the boats had survived. The Titanic disaster shocked the world and forever changed sea travel. Now, lifeboats are required for everyone, and lifeboat drills are mandatory. And after the establishment of the International Ice Patrol, no lives have been lost at sea due to ice
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Nov 25, 2016 0:05:08 GMT -5
9. The Crucifixion of ChristPerhaps the most inspirational person in the world was Jesus Christ, to some a prophet, to others a good teacher, and to some the Son of God himself. What people do agree on is that Jesus did indeed exist and his death, taking place around 30 to 33 A.D., is certainly a moment that made the world stand still. Crucified by his enemies, according to Christians he rose again three days later, but there is no doubt that his death has impacted the world more than almost anyone else in history.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Nov 25, 2016 0:25:21 GMT -5
8) Assassination of John F. Kennedy
On November 22, 1963, as he passed through Dealey Plaza, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. To this day, Oswald's motives remain unclear, as he himself would be killed two days later.
The assassination of the President was a shock to country, and many Americans mourned the loss of the president. To this day, almost every American who was alive at the time remembers where they were when JFK was assassinated.
A clothing manufacturer, Abraham Zapruder, captured the historic event on a silent home movie, which has become one of the most iconic pieces of film in American history.
The Zapruder Film: (Viewer discretion is advised)
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Nov 25, 2016 0:31:03 GMT -5
8B. The Assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald While we are not 100% certain who killed John F. Kennedy, most believe that it was a man named Lee Harvey Oswald. While Kennedy's death was shock, what happened to Oswald was almost as shocking in its own right. Two days after the assassination, Oswald was being escorted away by police when a nightclub owner named Jack Ruby pulled out a gun and shot Oswald in front of everyone. This was perhaps the biggest 'WTF?!' moment in history, as not only did Ruby ruin everyone's chance of finding out for sure who the killer was, he also did not become the hero he thought he would be. It was a shocking sequel to a huge event, and both will stand forever in the annals of history as moments that made the world stand still.
Live coverage of Lee Harvey Oswald's assassination: (viewer discretion is advised)
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Post by Tug on Nov 25, 2016 1:16:25 GMT -5
7.) Battle of ToursThe Battle of Tours is a deciding factor in the fate of Islam and Christianity as a whole. It was the final push by the Europeans that was able to stop Islam's charge into taking over Europe. Charles "The Hammer" Martel, leader of the Frankish forces, was able to repel to the Muslim advancement of the Umayyad Caliphate's army, and was even able to kill the Governor-General, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi. This was the deciding factor by Umayyad to prevent further expansion, and not proceed any further. This was seen as a victory of Christianity, and Martel as a hero of God. This laid the foundations of a Frankish control of Europe and the rise of power in the future descendant of Martel himself, Charlemagne...
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Nov 25, 2016 1:23:35 GMT -5
6. 1972 Munich Olympics MassacreDuring the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, eleven Israeli competitors were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September. In a heart-pounding two days, the media broadcasted everything live, including plans to rescue the hostages. Those plans went amuck, however, and the hostages were massacred by the group. It was one of the most shocking moments in history and one which will live in infamy.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Nov 25, 2016 1:59:56 GMT -5
5) Apollo 11 reaches the moonOn July 20, 1969 humanity made history when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the moon. It had taken many years of research, but the United States had won the space race, and made history as millions watched the two men walk on the moon from home. Regretfully, due to a technical flaw, Neil Armstrong's iconic words have been long misquoted. "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" is what he actually said. The "a" somehow got garbled in the transmission.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Nov 25, 2016 2:11:12 GMT -5
4. The Fall of the Berlin WallThe Berlin Wall was a symbol of Communist oppression, and whilst East Germans may not have had it as bad as those in Russia and other countries, it was not a pleasant place to live nonetheless. However, thanks to the pushes of free countries including the United States and protestings in Germany itself, it was finally decided that the Berlin Wall would be taken down. Beginning on November 9, 1989, the Wall was taken down and broken apart, signaling in a new era of freedom and unity in Germany for all.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Nov 25, 2016 2:17:10 GMT -5
3) September 11th Terrorist attacksOn September 11, 2001 the United States was shocked by the first major attack on its mainland since the Civil War. In one of the most elaborate terrorist plots of all time, 4 planes were hijacked, with two crashing into the twin towers, one into the pentagon and one in a field in Pennsylvania. Despite the deaths of more than 3000 people, the terrorists ultimately underestimated the resolve of the United States. In the coming months we ended up declaring a "War on terrorism" and ended up deploying in Afghanistan to strike back against the terrorist group that planned the attack. The events of 9/11 shaped our foreign policies for years to come.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Nov 25, 2016 2:25:28 GMT -5
2. The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and NagasakiGermany may have been defeated, but World War II was still raging on between America and Japan. The US decided that too many people were dying and they needed to end it quickly. Scientists pushed the government to use new and extremely dangerous atomic bombs to end it once and for all. On August 6, 1945, atomic bombs were dropped onto the Japanese city of Hiroshima, and on the 9th on Nagasaki. The Japanese decided that they stood no chance against the might of the American forces and quickly surrendered, bringing the bloodiest and most impactful war on history to a close at long last. The atomic bombings were some of the most heart-pounding and impactful moments in history, and made the world stand still like almost no other event before or since.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Nov 25, 2016 2:39:39 GMT -5
2B) The Attack on Pearl Harbor
Yesterday, December 7, 1941... a date which will live in infamy. The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan
President Franklin Roosevelt summarized the attack on the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor with these words. Japan was intent on creating an Empire in East Asia, and saw the American Navy as the only threat to its operations. Reasoning that a decisive blow to the navy would be enough to demoralize the Americans and keep them out of World War II they planned a sneak attack on their base in Hawaii, using 350 aircraft and 5 midget submarines.
Losing 29 planes and all 5 submarines, the Japanese wound up sinking or damaging nearly 2 dozen ships. However, only three were permanent losses: The USS Arizona, the USS Utah and USS Oklahoma.
Though tactically it was a victory, it proved to be a strategic disaster. Despite all the damage done to the ships, the Japanese failed to destroy the shipyards and oil reserves, so any ship damaged at Pearl could be repaired there. Furthermore, none of the American carriers were there, which proved to be disastrous at the Battle of Midway. Finally, the attack enraged, rather than demoralized the Americans so the attack ended up bringing the Americans into World War II... and very much shaped the course of modern history.
Destruction of the USS Arizona:
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Nov 25, 2016 2:51:06 GMT -5
So we've finally made it to Number 1. Thanks to everyone who has been sticking around throughout the list seeing what happened throughout it. We hope you haven't been too disappointed. Of all of the world-shaking events on this list however, none has proved as important and world-changing as the one that gets the top spot. It began a war, and inadvertently began a second war as well. People who saw the event in newspapers at the time may not have realized what it meant, but they would soon find out as countries began banding with one other to fight against others. It was just a single bullet from a frustrated youth that caused the event to happen. It was the bullets of many youths who would have to fight thanks to that young man's idiocy. It was another shot heard 'round the world. That moment is... 1. The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of AustriaOn June 28, 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife were shot to death while riding in an open-topped car in Serbia by a rebellious youth. The assassination gave Kaiser Wilhelm III the opportunity to begin the war he sorely wanted. That war was, of course, World War I. As a result of WWI, Germany, having lost, had to give up land and pay damages with money it didn't have, which resulted in World War II. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand inadvertantly began two of the most important wars in world history, and shaped the world we living in today. It truly is the Moment That Made The World Stand Still.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Nov 25, 2016 14:22:43 GMT -5
CLARIFICATION:
The writers of this list wish it to be known that this list was not structured in the sense that events higher up in the list were more significant. While it is true that the top ten were relatively more significant than the rest, we wish it to be known that here, number 25 was not more significant than number 38, number 16 was not regarded as more significant than number 27, number 11 was not regarded as more significant as number 53, etc.
This list was structured based on a "greatest hits compilation" format, rather than a "objective ascension" based criteria. So when reading through this list, please don't interpret the events listed in terms of as we go up, the events become more significant, because that is not what we aimed for here.
The only part of the list that was explicitly 'biggest of the big' was the Top 10 itself. Otherwise it was more an ensemble cast of moments here.
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