You could make a pretty convincing argument that basically every event you learn in history class had some sort of impact on the present. But to be quite frank, I don't think that the Supreme Court's decision to go against some aspects of FDR's New Deal or the Roman emperor Caligula's war on the ocean have had an enormous impact on our everyday lives. So...here are ten events, in chronological order, that I feel have had the biggest impact on the way we live today. Well, the first five, to be more specific: all ten in one go would be overdoing it.
1) Domestication of the Horse
All right, let's get this clear: I'm not going to waste anybody's time about talking about agriculture. That's implied. Nobody gives enough credit to one very important animal, though. Horses had a big immediate impact, allowing people to travel much farther distances with much heavier loads in much less time. The horse would eventually revolutionize warfare, with inventions like the chariot and the stirrup, and transportation, with inventions like the train and car based on horse-drawn means of getting around. Horses enabled the Mongols to forge their empire, turned the tide in numerous battles, opened up the American west, and changed the way we live today.
2) Athenian Culture
Everything we know in our government got its start in Athens. The concept of democracy, of course, was born in Athens, and Plato's idea a republic got its start in the cultural center of the bronze age world. I would elaborate on that, but that just provided me with the perfect spot to move on to my next point...
3) Iron Metallurgy
We still live in the iron age, if you want to be picky about it. And history wouldn't be the same without this simple metal. Iron was lighter, less brittle, and substantially stronger than its predecessor, bronze. What's more, iron tools were easier to make, as you only needed one substance for the job (bronze is an alloy of copper and tin). Iron weapons, however, really changed the course of history. The Roman gladius won the western world's most influential empire, which undeniably altered the fate of the world, and a certain alloy of iron was destined to change warfare forever. Steel has been used in weapons since Rome's later days, and is still a major component in warships, tanks, cannons, and many other non-military items we use and see on a daily basis.
4) The Birth of Christ
Regardless of whether or not you adhere to the Christian faith, you can't deny that we would live in a very different world if this man had never been born. I don't support Seth MacFarlane's take on what today's world would have been like if Jesus had never lived, but I do think that the world would be drastically different. The Catholic Church is the single biggest entity on the planet, with over a billion adherents. It is also the world's biggest source of humanitarian aid to poorer nations. But, even more importantly, many conflicts throughout history would never have come to light if it weren't for Christianity. But more on that next time...
5) The Fall of Rome
Let's get this straight: if Rome never fell, we would be living in a Roman colony. There would be an Emperor, a massive military force, and a vastly different world. Languages like English, French, Italian and Spanish wouldn't even exist. We probably wouldn't exist: the chance of all of our ancestors surviving or having been born into or having met in a world where Rome never fell or stopped growing is basically nonexistent. The people who would exist in our stead would have no ideas of independence, or of any culture or sovereignty other than Roman, unless they lived in some place even Rome could not hope to conquer, like China or the expanses of Siberia.
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