History is Not Boring discussion
Most significant event of the 20th century?
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Mike
(last edited Aug 25, 2016 01:43PM)
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Nov 12, 2007 07:26PM

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Maybe related - heard on the radio the other day that in Germany a new system of paying for things etc is under way - 250,000 people have had their fingerprints scanned into a data base - all their transactions are processed by having a scanner read their fingerprints into the system - that's how the person pays for a purchase and completes other transactions - so there's no credit card, cash, check - sounds a little 1984 to me - what do you think: good or bad?
I would much rather someone steal my credit card,cash than my finger.






Personally, I'd be a bit wary about nominating a specific political/military event (i.e. the assassination of Franz Ferdinand) - many of these have endless causal chains that could be traced back forever.
What an interesting question!

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand led to a war which involved every powerful nation on the face of the earth. The economic and political aftermath of WW1 helped to create fascism and nazism which then led to WW2. Genocide of the Jews, homosexuals, Catholics, Gypsies and others.
This to me has a much greater impact on the world then the internet. Millions of people died, cities were destroyed, countries created, dynasties fell and empires disappeared. No other war before or since has changed the map of Europe so dramatically. Basically World War 1 laid the foundation of the world we live in today.
In my opinion the creation of the internet yes had an impact on the world. But nothing like WW1. They can't even be compared.
Also the creation of the internet can also be traced back to Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie being killed and the bombings in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914.
Cold War -> WW2 -> WW1 -> June 28, 1914.

Also, World War II led to the invention of a great number of devices, things that were precursors to tools and machinery and computers we use today.
For Americans, WWII started the country thinking anew about democracy and equality. I argue that the civil rights advances made in subsequent years would not have happened without the "Greatest Generation," those for whom WWII showed quite starkly that it was more than high time for the USA to start living up to its founding ideals.

But, sort of attached to the WWs, I think the atomic bomb explosion on Hiroshima is, at least, one of the most significant events. Not because of the death and destruction, etc., but because the explosion itself launched the world into the Atomic Age where we now possess the power to destroy our planet several times over. There are some political changes that went along with the bomb, but beyond the politics I think that it is significant that in the 2nd half of the 20th century, unlike any other time in human history, we have the capacity to annihilate our entire world civilization.



Yes the internet is important but as I stated before it didn't have the impact on the world that WW1 or WW2 did. I lost a few family members to both wars. Their deaths had huge impacts on my family.
My family members who survived include my one Great Uncle took part in the Bataan Death March and was a Japanese prisoner of war for many years. Another Great Uncle was a German POW.
I'm sure computer folks will disagree with me. And that is alright.
I'm also well aware that the Archduke's death was the 'spark' that started WW1 and I stated that in my first post. I also know others events led to it.