Doing it Wrong, and Loving it

digichi asked: Hey Jesse, i have a project called 'people and consequences.' Basically i need to write an essay/make a display about a historical figure, or an event in history and show how it has affected us today (it doesn't have to be a bad consequence). I'm a little stuck on what i'd like to do, and i've been considering some common people like Nikola Tesla or Leonardo da Vinci. I'd like your opinion on anything you may think was particulary interesting (since you said you majored in history :-)

Easy choices:

- The defeat of Xerxes and the Persian forces at Salamis (nonhistory nerds know this as the war having to do with the movie 300): How if they won, western civilization as we know it would not exist.

-George Washington - was is possible to win the revolutionary war without him?

- World War II - D-Day: The single most important turning point of the war - what if it failed?

- The Cuban Missile Crisis: America and the Soviet Union was literally on the brink of nuclear war. Imagine what could have happened!

I mean there are literally thousands…

If you want Tesla a good option is to talk about Edison and the role the two played in modernizing the world. AND more importantly the competitive nature of the two - not to mention what would have happened if Tesla won out in the end. 

My recommendation is go tot he library and find the books “What if?” and “What if? 2” - they are collections of articles written by some of the brightest historical minds about about the major turning points, people, and events in history that could have easily gone the other way.

Everything from China discovering America, Lincoln not freeing the slaves, to Churchill getting hit by a car, and even things like Jesus living to be an old man.  Give it a look - it’s a great read for any student of history.