If you could witness one historical event in person--what would it be?

[First Speaker]

...it would be hard to choose. To see Burbage as Hamlet, at the Globe...the Gettysburg Address...the first performance of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony...so many. But if I had to choose, I would be in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963, with a really good pair of binoculars and a central position. How about everyone else?

[Dan]

1. That is probably the one event that I would never want

To live though again!

But to answer your question: Gettysburg Address

[East-A-Squared]

2. Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech.

[First Speaker]

3. I actually was there!

I was ten, and my Dad and I came in from the suburbs. I remember it well, and go out of my way *not* to see film of it on TV so my memories won't get mixed up...

[wnylib]

64. Awesome. What an experience and memory.

[dem4decades]

4. While my first thought was the Gettysburg Address I think id rather be present when the Constitution

Was being debated. And if I was allowed to I'd tell them to rethink the Senate.

[RainCaster]

5. You are not thinking very big here- how about the "Big Bang"?

I want to watch the event starting before the decision was made for this to happen. I want to see God's whole quandary of pros and cons. Then the actual setup and execution of the Creation. The timing (when) isn't as important to me as the why.

I want to know why the biggest (and IMHO) and best dogs live such short lives.

[Shermann]

9. I suspect it would have made a very poor spectator event

Since the Big Bang was pure energy expanding everywhere, it wouldn't really be visible. There would be no watching it from a distance. Also I'm pretty sure you'd die.

No I think the Beatles on Ed Sullivan would be a better choice.

[Ocelot II]

22. I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. The Big Bang would have been a lot more spectacular.

[Kaleva]

10. From where would you observe the Big Bang from?

[iscooterliberally]

12. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

This is where one would watch the Big Bang from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Restaurant_at_the_End_of_the_Universe

[Doc_Technical]

69. The best place to see the Big Bang,

would be at the Big Bang Burger Bar.

[Irish_Dem]

19. From the Time Travel Viewing Platform?

[Kaleva]

46. Probably could have found that info myself by Googling for it!

[Irish_Dem]

52. It is not on google. I just made it up.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

29. You've already got the best possible view because...

... you're still inside the Universe from which everything emerged after the Big Bang, and you couldn't see it from SOMEHOW being "outside" of it anyway -- i.e., the way it's often portrayed in "The Big Bang Theory" and other TV programs as if it was typical explosion (with the light moving faster than than the expanding gasses and debris). It expanded faster than the speed of light, so you could never see any light "from outside" until after our Universe had greatly expanded anyway.

And if you could be inside some magical capsule that somehow protected you from the incredibly immense energy inside our early Universe, you won't see much that way either since our early Universe was so dense that it wasn't transparent for light... which is why we can only see the "Cosmic Microwave Background", when photons could freely pass across our expanding Universe about 300,000 years after the Big Bang, but not peer any farther back in time.

[Shermann]

6. Christopher Columbus makes landfall in the Bahamas

Of course, if I'm witnessing that I'm probably a Bahamian about to get my ass kicked.

[Ferrets are Cool]

16. Or raped.

Or sold into slavery.

[SCantiGOP]

56. You might die from some minor European disease first

[genxlib]

18. You could be the first to tell him

He missed his target by about half the globe.

[FakeNoose]

49. Columbus thought he had landed in India

... which explains why he called American natives "Indians."

[Dakota Flint]

57. I would love to see

The natives asking Columbus for his passport and then send him back! Okay, okay alternate history but...

[Generic Brad]

7. The Minnesota Vikings winning the Super Bowl

I know. It has not happened. But I have followed that team my whole life and I would like, just once, to witness them winning the title. It would make all the wasted Sundays worth it.

[malthaussen]

43. My mother was a lifelong Eagles Fan.

She died six months before the Birds finally won the Super Bowl. *sigh*

-- Mal

[ironflange]

50. My FIL was a die-hard Maple Leafs fan

He died in 2011, still waiting for a repeat. He would say that if he had know this in 1967, he would have celebrated the Cup win a lot more.

[captain queeg]

8. Probably the crucifixion

Maybe I’d be disappointed ((historically) or maybe it would change my life. I think it happened, but I’d probably want to see the lead up events. Probably not as important to me these days as when I was younger. I think anything and everything that has ever happened would be up to some interpretation by the observer.

[Kaleva]

11. Same here but with great trepidation.

[tblue37]

68. There is a science fiction story, "Ecce Homo," in which a man goes back to

view the Crucifixion, but ends up being the man on the center cross on Calvary.

[captain queeg]

77. I read a sci-fi story along those lines years ago

Our world is a computer simulation. The guy running the simulation got annoyed by the humans always ending up self destructing and decide to enter the simulation to provide some guidance to the inhabitants and ended up being crucified. That was a long time ago but stuck i my memory because it seemed so plausible.

[dhill926]

13. premiere of the Beethoven 9th....

crowd roaring and van B being turned around to see it....man...

[Ocelot II]

23. Or the riot at the first performance of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring."

[dhill926]

31. oh hell yeah....

[iscooterliberally]

14. Heck, I'd be happy if I just got to see Led Zeppelin play live in person.

I've got to see many many amazing shows, but I never got to see Led Zeppelin other than at the movies or on DVD. Jimi Hendrix is another one that I wished I could have seen. I did get to see Jaco Pastorius play live with the Dixie Dregs. I also got to see Muddy Waters jam on stage with Eric Clapton. I guess I have nothing to complain about.

[Ferrets are Cool]

15. tRump being frog marched into prison.

[empedocles]

17. traitortrump in a real prison, after he has been immersed in the

atmosphere for awhile.

[Lincoln, Pericles, et al, would be great choices; but we can read the texts].

[TomSlick]

20. British surrender at Yorktown - 1781.

[tanyev]

21. This reminded me of a hysterical book series I read, The Chronicles of St. Mary's

by Jodi Taylor. A group of time traveling scientists who go back to observe historical events for enlightenment and the occasional treasure hunt to benefit the academy. Fast-paced, well-written and sometimes quite poignant. Book 1 is Just One Damned Thing After Another.

[birdographer]

39. My favorite series!!

I am most of the way through the first Time Police series, the spin-off, and I am finding it just as good as the St. Mary's ones! Max and Leon show up briefly.

[tanyev]

53. I did not know there was a Time Police series!

I discovered the St. Mary’s series in my library’s ebook collection, but they don’t have the Time Police books. Whaaaaat? And I’m going to have compare the entire St. Mary’s list to the library catalog. It looks like they are missing a couple of the most recent books. The last one my library has had kind of an ‘ending’ feel to it, so I assumed that was it. I’ll be contacting them next week!

[birdographer]

54. The Time Police ones

I think the Time Police ones so far are Hard Time and Doing Time. Did you read the St. Mary's one where Matthew, Max's and Leon's son, joined the Time Police? It might have been in one of the last two. Anyway, Matthew is one of the main characters of the Time Police books. The newest St. Mary's one is pretty recent. I get them on Amazon. The second Time Police one was about $1.99 a week or so ago, might still be that price.

[tanyev]

55. Seems like the last one I read was where Max let Matthew go with the Time Police.

Book 7 is the most recent one showing in the online catalog right now plus several of the short stories. I used to work at this library, so I will call the librarian who does all the ebook fiction orders and give her a little (good-humored) grief. It's odd that they would have so much of the series and not all of it. I'm glad you responded to my post. New Jodi Taylor books to read!

[oasis]

24. Hearing Queen Elizabeth address English troops before the defeat

of the Spanish Armada.

[Talitha]

25. From a safe distance, of course - -

The Late Heavy Bombardment

As Mr. Spock would say, "Fascinating!"

[ShazzieB]

26. It's so hard to choose!

There are so many fascinating possibilities, it's almost impossible to decide. But let me think... 🤔

I'm going to go with the Seneca Falls Convention, July 19–20, 1848. It was the first women's rights convention in the U.S. and has been called "the spark that ignited the suffrage movement." Speakers included Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and (perhaps surprisingly) Frederick Douglass, who gave an impassioned speech in favor of women's suffrage.

[elleng]

27. Andre Eglevsky, Maria Tallchief - Swan Lake

Elizabeth Marie "Betty" Tallchief (Osage family name: Ki He Kah Stah Tsa; January 24, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American ballerina. She was considered America's first major prima ballerina. She was the first Native American (Osage Nation) to hold the rank, and is said to have revolutionized ballet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Tallchief

This TOO!

[eppur_se_muova]

28. 45's sentencing. nt

[Buckeye_Democrat]

30. I'd like to go back to about 1177 BC...

... to hopefully learn the origin of the "Sea Peoples" who decimated the Greeks, Hittites and pretty much every civilization around the entire Mediterranean Sea except for Egypt... and that civilization didn't survive much longer after the onslaught either.

I like to imagine them emerging from the sea as they chanted, "... sea peoples... sea peoples... sea peoples", like the "Crab People" in an old South Park episode.

Kidding about that last part!

Quick summary about them:
https://allthatsinteresting.com/sea-peoples

[Elessar Zappa]

35. I had always assumed

that they were the Philistines of the Bible but the article you linked says there’s not much evidence of that. So now I’m really curious about them.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

47. There seems to be growing evidence that they...

... originated from the Urnfield culture of Central Europe, based on the similar boats and swords used by them and the Sea Peoples. Then the invaders later became a confederation with people from Italy, other parts of Southern Europe and the Middle East.



This video about the Sea Peoples is fairly long, but it touches upon the Urnfield culture near the end of it.

[wnylib]

65. They look pretty land-locked to be

seafarers, despite having some coastal areas. When I think of seafaring people, I think of islanders, like the Brits, Polynesians, and Greeks. Or people on peninsulas, like Iberia, Normandy, Brittany. Or even the Phoenicians, who lived on on the coast.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

74. True, but all it would require are hordes of invaders...

... who brought their knowledge of faraway boats with them.

It was a period of great upheaval and migration, probably caused by droughts and famine.

I'm definitely not supporting any particular ideas, but mostly pointing out that some scholars have recently added the Urnfield culture into the mix based on some similarities. The video that I posted above didn't go into those details very much, but they can be Google-searched.

The Phoenician sea-traders survived, and then thrived, after the Sea Peoples devastated nearly everybody else around them. There's some speculation that they basically bribed their way out of conflict, as they had done other times. There's no indication that they were a militaristic culture until later, during the Punic Wars with Rome. That's possibly because the growing Roman empire was too belligerent and uncooperative to deal with them in other ways.

[Jeebo]

32. In Robert Silverberg's "Up the Line" the Crucifixion Run was the most popular.

There was a curious phenomenon called the Cumulative Audience Paradox which involved groups of tourists accumulating at historical events. The first time a group of tourists traveled back to that event, they were the only tourists there; then the second group saw that first group there; then the third group saw the first and second groups there. In that way every historical event had crowds gathering that were not there when the first group of tourists went back.

One of the most thoroughly entertaining time-travel novels I've ever read. It's been 45 years since I read it. I wish I knew where my copy is; I'd love to read it again.

Preem Palver, I love the Eroica symphony too, but if we went back would we be able to get tickets?

-- Ron

[First Speaker]

45. I love *Up the Line*...

...one of the best time travel stories. (Heinlein, of course, wrote the *very* best.) Including the way it ends in the middle of a sentence. And the Constantinople scenes, with the opposing factions coming together in the sports arena, and hundreds of copies of Metaxas everywhere...great book. I'd take it over 100 Madripoor novels.

[Jeebo]

33. Carl Sagan said he would go to the library at Alexandria.

Before it was sacked.

-- Ron

[sarge43]

63. Yup. Plus the ability to read all the various languages. n/t

[raccoon]

34. I'd say when John met Paul at the church in 1957. Nt

[Mad_Dem_X]

38. That's a good one!

I would have loved to have seen The Beatles perform live (I was born in '66).

[Elessar Zappa]

36. I'd like to see

if there was a crucifixion of a man named Jesus claiming to be the messiah of Israel. If so, I’d like to stay a few days to see if there’s any historical basis for the myth of the resurrection.

[birdographer]

40. Good one.

Any historical basis for his existence at all would be interesting.

[Mr.Bill]

59. Maybe he

"wasn't quite dead yet" ala Monty Python.

[Aristus]

37. The death of Voltaire.

To find out if his rumored last words were true.

Voltaire was a life-long atheist, and his family stationed a priest by the side of his deathbed, hoping for a last-minute conversion. As the hour of Voltaire's death approached, the priest stood up and thundered to him: "Do you renounce Satan!"

Allegedly, Voltaire's reply was: "There, there, dear boy. This is no time for making enemies..."

[birdographer]

41. Any speech by Julius Caesar

Don't want to see his death, but I would like to see him speak. If I knew I wouldn't be killed, I'd love to hang around town for awhile.

[lastlib]

42. Woodstock or Kent State Massacre.

eom

[wnylib]

66. Why Kent State? I had a friend

who was a student there at the time. She went home over the weekend when she saw the tensions building up. Stayed home on Monday and saw the news reports. Never went back.

[malthaussen]

44. I'd like to hang out with Yeshua before he became a rock star.

I'm always more interested in the "before they were famous" periods of legends.

-- Mal

[Mike 03]

48. Some key event during WW2

Perhaps the last 3 days in Hitler's bunker.

Or maybe better, to be a fly on the wall at the Yalta Conference.

Or Himmler's bizarre speech of 6 October 1943 at Posen, where he called out to Albert Speer, so I could see with my own eyes if Speer was lying when he later claimed he wasn't actually there and that Himmler's eyesight was so poor that he didn't realize Speer was missing. Speer laughably relied on this claim to demonstrate he knew nothing about the Holocaust.

I know that last one sounds like I'm thinking small, but it is an issue Adam Tooze raises in his book Wages of Destruction and that book really piqued my curiosity to know.

Another might be the death of Stalin's wife, so I could settle once and for all whether she committed suicide or met with foul play!

[Jeebo]

51. The Beatles' famous rooftop concert.

I would dearly LOVE to have been among that crowd that gathered down in the street when they realized that was the BEATLES performing that music! If Satan himself were to appear before me and offer to purchase my immortal soul, and in return he would put me down in that street on that day in January 1969 ... well, I wouldn't do it, but I would be powerfully tempted.

Either the rooftop concert, or perhaps some of those Liverpool and Hamburg pubs they played before they became famous.

-- Ron

[DFW]

61. A frined of mine from London actually heard it

I wouldn't choose that, though, unless I could have been on the rooftop watching from two feet away.

[Mr.Bill]

58. I would like to fly one mission in WWII

with my dad in a B24. He was a top turret gunner and flight engineer.

[DFW]

60. So many, but mine would be.......

To be in Paris on day it was liberated from the Nazis in 1944.

[sarge43]

62. Mine

Watching an English bureaucrat turn down George Washington's application for a commission in the British army.

Yes, a lot of ifs there, but that was a page turning moment.

[VGNonly]

67. The voyage to the Sea of Cortez

by John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts.

[Totally Tunsie]

70. Watching the Hindenburg Disaster.

For some reason, that's always fascinated me.

[hunter]

71. I'd like to meet Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in 1930 New York.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_on_the_Edge_of_Forever

[MicaelS]

72. Attack on Pearl Harbor.

Be up on one of the hills and some great optics.

[Harker]

73. An Apollo moon voyage.

One that involved moonwalking, I mean.

[llashram]

75. the start of the american divide

this shameful day...so far ending with the next shameful day Jan 6, 2021
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-african-slave-ship-arrives-jamestown-colony

[Marthe48]

76. It'd be cool to see San Fransisco Bay fill

Or be a member of the 1st Kon Tiki crew