Change a tiny piece of History?

[Paul22118]

If you were able to anonymously put yourself back in time at any date in any scenario and could make one change to events e.g. maybe move the bomb next to Hitler during his attempted assassination thus ensuring his death at that point, what would you do and suppose the consequences of your deed?

[dotjhawkes]

I would go back to when Bill Gates was a young unmarried man and throw myself at him, the consequences being, I would never want for an updated Computer again.

[bernardo]

If you want to do the obvious things like Hitler or Stalin, then it would be easier to strangle Hitler at birth than to wait until 1944.

Apart from the obvious, I would strangle Shakespeare at birth in order to save hundreds of generations of innocent schoolchildren from being tortured.

[jno]

in which case Bill Gates would have thrown it all over for love, and would now be in Wigan selling shoes. The message made clear in films like Back to the Future is that if you change one thing you change everything.

[henneth]

I'd step on a butterfly.

See 'A Sound of Thunder' by Ray Bradbury

[Hammond Egg]

jno is right. If you went too far back in the past, you might come back to the present to find that you didn't exist. And where would you be then?

[joko]

i'd go back to see jesus and get him to teach me the water into wine trick, and then open "joko's wines of distinction"

[dotjhawkes]

well that is just selfish joko as some of us can't drink wine, are you sure he never ever once had the decency to change water into voddy?

[Trotbot]

The stopping Hitler being born was covered in Stephen Fry's Making History. What If? is a collection of essays by historians on what may have happened had a particular event turned out differently. Interesting, but ultimately academic.

On the grounds it is not worth trying to change anything important as the consequences could be worse, I would not have had the last glass of wine last night. Or maybe I would have had one more.

[flip-flop]

Christ, loads of things - but from a selfish point of view I'm afriad, like realising that AT THE TIME that Denise White was handing it to me on a plate at the upper sixth disco - her family emigrated a few days later: she was stunning.

Having the foresight to register domain names such as bt.com etc....

If I'd have left ten seconds earlier or later, I wouldn't have flown over the pillocks bonnet on my motorbike thus causing months of pain.

.......I could go on all day

[sammd]

Due to the consequences of doing anything large, i'd just want to go back and visit my Nan one last time before she passed away, and also meet my Great Grandad who died just before i was born. (I think it's safe to say those would not have any everlasting effects on the world).

[joko]

i wonder...if you let hitler live but subjected him to the thing they did to alex in a clockwork orange?

Though...perhaps someone tried it and it just gave him a taste for it...

i wonder if you just prevented his parents having sex around the time of his conception? because a murder of a baby, child or adult would cause huge ripples - you could kick him in the nads so they were too sore or put something in her knickers to giver her thrush...

....although his brother or sister might be worse...mmm?

I wonder if you gave the family money and a ticket to go to live in america or somethng - perhaps he would have had different ideals and way of life... though, hitler, leader of america doesn't bare thinking about...mmmm this doesn't work does it?

[BigMac]

Why not simply, "Yes, Herr Hitler. Please join our art school."
Make Helen of Troy's nose much bigger?
Tell Leon Trotsky to have his drink 'straight'.
Persuade Denis Thatcher not to encourage his wife?
Don't let Mickey Thomas score at Anfield in 1989?

The last two would have made me much happier - but that's just selfish, isn't it.

[sense4all]

Dot, I read your cleaner can turn voddy to water - can't you as her to reverse this process? No time travel necessary!

[Paul22118]

How would this manage then? JOKO has just made me think of the US.

Operation Overlord failed in it's forst attempt to liberate France but did succeed maybe a year later with an eventual Allied success.

However, the consequence of the first failure would have been that Eisenhower would not have been triumphant. Therefore he would not have stood and won the presidential election after the war. Who would have won and where would the US be marching then?

[Drusilla]

I think I would have liked Tsar Nicholas II and his family to have been granted asylum in the UK. I doubt it would have had much influence on History and don't believe the Royalist opposition to the Bolsheviks would have proven any more successful with them alive or dead.

[johnlambert]

Convince my dad not to get involved with my step mum thus saving me from years of pysical and mental abuse :(

[jno]

in that case Paul would the Russians have got to Berlin months before everyone else and pressed much further west? In that case a strongly anti-communist Nixon might even have come to power earlier than he did.

[Paul22118]

jno - When researching Overlord many moons ago I recall reading in a book that Churchill awoke from a nightmare in a cold sweat. When asked what troubled him he told his aide that he was standing on the white cliffs and looked through some binoculars to find Uncle Joe on the Pas de Calais looking back at him.

His fear without doubt was that Russia would get much further West than they did - and they did well. Berlin caused enough grief let alone seeing the red star over Paris.

And yes combined with an Overlord re-run there would certainly have been a greater anti communist movement in the US and goodness knows they became paranoid even though we were victorious.

[joko]

i'll sure ask him dot! lol

i'll also ask him to forget the loaves and fish for chocolate and crisps! ;oD

[chrono]

on any point about killing anyone past present or future, you must see that violance solves nothing. everyone involved ceases being attackers or defenders they simply all become victims. and you would find yourself that which which you strived to stop in the first place. is it right to take a life to save a life? if an army of 1000 men attacked a village of 100 people. and you had the power to stop it by killing the 1000 could you do it? would you kill legions so a few may live? there is nothing wrong with protecting the ones you love. but to much enphasise is placed on would the world be better if this person was killed. maybe if everyone thought about it that way there would be less violance in the world.