Hitler did take over Europe as well as large chunks of Africa and Asia. But I suppose you meant England specifically? And last time I checked, there are still places "were people were ruled by oppressive kings." It's just that we seldom call them kings now.

But yes, the outcome of WW2 had an enormous influence on world politics after its conclusion.

I mean took control and kept control and continue control until the present day. England would be included in this, as well as Russia.

I realise tyrannical rulers still exist today but what chance would there be of removing them without any sort of democratic reigime in europe? Of course there is the US but they will find it difficult with the Japanese in the Pacific and Germans in the atlantic to mount any sort of liberation except on the south american peninsula.

Of course all this is my imagination but I'm sure something much worse could have happened without my greatest event. :)

Jesus? WTF? Hahaha. How can that be the "greatest event in history" when it's not even certain that he existed?

Aaaaanyway...

Easy: Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

Not only does it show how much we've progressed as a conscious intelligent species, but this could quite easily be the key to opening doors in finding the answer to life (and everything else) in general.

I still think this tops the list....without it, nothing else would exist to be considered.

the resurrection of the Christ. and while i respectfully consider the opposition on this matter, i simply ask that you show the same back.

Does it matter if he did or not? The reprocussions of the mere thought he existed have changed the world unrecognisably from what it could have been like without him.

So you're pretty much saying any religion that man came up with?

Christ matters very little to a Buddist and really only matters to those who believe in him I guess. Just like Buddhism and Christianity are pretty much meaningless to me. Doesn't affect me whatsoever, except the limitations imposed upon me by the laws that are created around these ideals.

Something like the Theory of Relativity and the knowledge that has been gained from it... affects everyone. Unless, of course, you live in the mountains and don't care to make use of this knowledge.

I figured this would be more of a "something that affects everyone" type of event. If so, Christ, or any religion for that matter, probably wouldn't be at the top of the list for the mere fact it seems to hinder progression of man (wars, hate, hypocrisy, etc).

The ideas behing them, perhaps. Love your neighbor, do unto others, and so on. Those are good, but I wouldn't consider that an event - just your basic respect for other humans.

Yes, but the difference is that, through the colonialism of Europe, Christianity has had a much larger effect on the whole world than Buddhism.

Greatest event in the history of the world?

I would have to say the start of history itself. A split second after the world was "born", we suddenly have a past. Something that was never there before.

The most significant event in human history is something smallish compared to ideas tossed around earlier (Jesus’ birth, start of farming, etc.) but it gains it's significance in that it prevented what would have been the most terrible of human events.

I'm talking about the peaceful resolution to the Cuban Missile Crisis. This planet was one mistake away from global nuclear war, which would have effectively ended human history for, at least, a very long time. So I think the prevention of world war three during the Cuban Missile Crisis is the most significant event in human history.

I think the internet is the greatest thing to ever happen to the world. Sure, there were a lot of things that happened along the way to make it possible, and it's true potential has yet to be reached, but from where I'm standing, all of the other events in history only effected a small subsection of the earth's population. (Hitler... ehh... worse tragedies have occurred, they just aren't so recent) The internet will be around for a while and it will continue to grow. It will outlive countries and the people who were effected by the wars it chronicles. All the while it will continue to become the center of our universe. Sun? What sun? Microsystems?

I don't know about the greatest event ever, but I think the beginnings of space travel rank up there. If/when the end of the world comes, be it something man made, or the sun exploding, it will be nice to be able to get off this planet and colonize another, and it will have all started from the first flights into space.

When men realized that they weren't like the other animals and therefore needed a different standard by which to live. The way I see it, that's what led to all of our advances and, without fail, when people revert to a more animalistic law we see terrible things happen.

People, stop questioning yourself and put your ideas on the line. Plenty of other people can question you and I am sure you have considered and interigated your own ideas to the limit of eaches own abilities of the moment. I believe that the greatest moment of recorded history is when we realized that there is an infinity and came to grasps with the capabilities therein. In my personal history I would have to say the wave-point theorem. It made us realize that perhaps just because you start with a given set you may not always arrive to the same answer.

and accurate.

Perhaps, from the responses here I would say we are looking at the greatest event in history, for history. An individuals birth is not going to effect history massively except for them, we have even questioned the importance of the Birth of Jesus and he was the son of God!

Luke Skywalker is Darth Vader's son. Still is.

Stompy; word. Who was it that said the "Empire Strikes Back" was our generation's Vietnam?

Since history is defined as a record of events, I would say that the greatest moment was the first time manking willfully touched an object to a surface with the intent of marking that surface. That mark, although it is most likely lost forever, is the beginning of history, and therefore the greatest event because without it, history would not exist.

The greatest event ever is obviously what is recorded on the Phaistos Disk.

This may have been mentioned already (there are now a lot of posts to read), but Abraham probably affected as many people as Jesus, though, depending on your personal believes, his significance may not be as great.

Regardless, it appears that the development of organized religion has been pretty important.

masturbation