Defining moments in time.

Blush_01

This is partially as a result of Thaedydal's Ada Lovelace thread yesterday and partially as a result of a conversation I had today.

I thought that the invention of the wheel was right up there. The girls I was discussing the issue with immediately went for birth, death, marriage, 9-11 and the moon landing. Madame Curie's discovery of radium had huge knock on effects, so I counted that one. Obviously, Ada Lovelace's position as the first computer programmer fits right in, with her development of the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine.

What do you think constitutes a defining moment in time? Is there something personal or historical that you think really had a huge impact which sometimes gets forgotten but deserves recognition?

Morgase

Watson and Crick's discovery of DNA in the 50s. Their discovery used data gathered by Rosalind Franklin.

Watson and Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize in the 60s. However Ms. Franklin could not be awarded the prize as she had sadly passed away and the Prize is not awarded post-humously.

Edit: I just realised why Rosalind Franklin was in my head; she was already mentioned in the Ada Lovelace thread. Oops!

mashling

Morgase wrote: »

Watson and Crick's discovery of DNA in the 50s. Their discovery used data gathered by Rosalind Franklin.

Watson and Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize in the 60s. However Ms. Franklin could not be awarded the prize as she had sadly passed away and the Prize is not awarded post-humously.

I think that Kate Beaton captured her sense of frustration beautifully - "Is it a scientific breakthrough in feelings?" lol

metrovelvet

911

BumbleB

the birth of NIkola Tesla .

Nuravictus

Plumbing was the single most important invention of man.

BumbleB wrote: »

the birth of NIkola Tesla .

Also Nikola Tesla was awsome.

Magic Eight Ball

Blush_01 wrote: »

defining moment in time?

Star Wars 1977!

Hermione*

For me, the invention of the printing press in the 15th century.

Nervous Wreck

1939. Bob Kane and Bill Finger create Batman.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

92 minutes and 17 seconds into the Champions League Final on Wednesday, 26th of May, 1999, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scores to win the Champions League for Man United.

/Well it was a defining moment for my five year old self.:D

irishecomom

Michael Jacksons death?

Black Swan

Gráinne Ní Mháille

just-joe

The invention of the internet, and thereafter broadband internet connection, whenever those things happened, are completely ridiculously fantastically amazing. They've redefined the way we gather/process information, learn, communicate/socialize and probably a whole bunch of other things which are yet to happen. Internetz=cool.

Glico Man

Tiananmen Square 5th June 1989

iguana

Willem J Kolff's invention of the artificial kidney (dialysis) during world war two. Made all the more impressive by the fact that he invented while being a member of the Dutch resistance to the Nazi occupation. (He also went on to play a part in the invention of the artificial heart and respiratory machines.)

On a world wide level he has saved the lives of millions and millions of people. On a personal level I would have been widowed two months ago if dialysis hadn't been available to remove toxins from my husband's body and allow his kidneys, which had gone into failure, to restart.

tricky D

Defining moment in time would be about defining and measuring time.

So John Harrison's invention of the first decently accurate clock is right up there. The knock-on effects for navigation, timekeeping, calendar making and much more that affects many of the aspects of everyday life we take for granted, were absolutely huge.

metrovelvet

Tampons

The bra

Birth control

DazMarz

-6:30am, 6th June, 1944. The beginning of the end for the Nazi regime, as Allied Expeditionary Forces storm the beaches at Normandy and begin their liberation of Western Europe.

-8:15am, 6th August, 1945: The Enola Gay drops the atomic bomb ''Little Boy'' on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
and
-11:02am, 9th August, 1945: Bockscar (''the plane that ended World War II'') drops the atomic bomb ''Fat Man'' on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. These two dramatic events led to the final surrender of the Japanese government to the Allied forces, and led to the end of World War II.

-26th June, 1996: Veronica Guerin, an investigative crime reporter for the Independent newspaper, was assassinated on the Naas dual-carriageway. This was done on the orders of crime lord John Gilligan, as Veronica Guerin was investigating and exposing his empire. In the aftermath of the assassination, Irish legislation was changed and this led to the formation of the Criminal Assets Bureau (C.A.B.) and led to the arrests of John Gilligan and countless others and ultimately changed the way in which criminals were prosecuted and charged in the Republic of Ireland.

-November 4th, 2008: Barack Obama is elected as the 44th President of the United States of America. He is the first African-American to ever hold the office of President of the United States. Along with winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the President finally started the long campaign to reform the United States' private healthcare system in 2010 with the ''Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act''. His campaign slogan was ''Hope'' and for once, a politician appears to be delivering upon their promises.

Das Kitty

The Moon Landing. IMO it's our drive for exploration for the sake of finding out that separates us from animals and defines our species. The Moon Landing encapsulates this for me. Even though I wasn't born it fills me with a sense of awe and wonder when I think about it.