A bad decision. A small purchase. A single bad decision. Even…a college application? How did these things create a butterfly effect
that changed the world for generations? These are the small things that changed the
course of history. How did a star change the path of world religion
forever? The year was 306 CE, and Constantine had just
risen to the role of Emperor. Like his father before him, he was a believer
in the traditional Roman Gods - and he was not impressed with the new faith that was
gaining in popularity for the last few hundred years. Christians in Rome were still a minority and
their fate was heavily dependent on the temperament of the Emperor at the time. Constantine didn’t have time for religious
conflicts - he was focused on reforming Roman society, including restructuring the military
and introducing a new gold coin as currency. He also battled against rebellious tribes
on the frontiers and even led troops into battle personally. While he wasn’t as ruthless towards the
Christian minority as past emperors, he was ambivalent towards them at best - until he
claimed to receive a message from God directly which led him to convert to the new faith. But what did he actually see? He claimed to see the symbol of Jesus - a
cross - burning in the sky. This was enough for him not just to end the
persecution of Christians and allow for free worship, but to adopt it himself. He was baptized later in his reign as Emperor,
returned confiscated property to the Church, and declared Sunday a day of rest for the
citizens of Rome. This put the might of the entire Roman empire
behind Christianity, leading to the rise of the Roman Catholic Church - which became the
greatest religious power in Europe for over a millennium even once the Roman Empire was
no more. And it all happened because Constantine likely
saw not a message from God, but a celestial body - possibly a star, but modern scientists
believe it was likely a comet or meteor sailing through the sky. Much of what we know as modern religion - including
the evolution of faiths that developed from Christianity - likely happened because Constantine
was looking up at that exact moment. Sometimes, a death at the exact wrong time
can stop an empire in its tracks. The name Genghis Khan still strikes fear in
many people’s hearts almost a thousand years later, but another Mongol leader might have
had as big an impact. His son, Ogedei Khan, isn’t quite as recognised
as his father, but he may have been as strong a military commander if not better - and more
ruthless in the treatment of his enemies. During his time as leader of the Mongol empire,
they spread out and conquered not just central Asia, but much of China and major areas of
Europe. They were one of the most powerful military
forces in the world at the time, and it was entirely possible that they could have eventually
conquered all of Asia and Europe. From there - who knows? With the riches they were gaining, they could
have easily built a naval fleet that would allow them to travel to other continents. But there was one thing Ogedei Khan couldn’t
plan for - just like his father, he was mortal. And when the end came, everything fell apart. Ogedei died not in a heroic battle, but due
to persistent problems with his digestive tract. The infamously ruthless leader was felled
by tummy trouble, and the norms of the Mongols meant that they had to retreat back to home
base to conduct the election to pick a new Khan. The only problem was, the Mongols were not
bound by Ogedei’s choice. A five-year power struggle ensued, limiting
the Mongols' reach in the coming decades. His successor, Guyuk, faced a challenge to
his leadership from rival tribesman Batu and died in battle against him. Batu managed to restore the Mongol fighting
machine, but it would be over ten years before the Mongol army was ready to make another
push into Europe. And as Batu got ready to make his move…he
too died, bringing an end to the Mongol plan for global domination. Sometimes, a minor omission can lead to major
military fallout. The US Civil War was raging, and the Confederate
Army had faced some rough waters. Several generals had been dismissed, but they
had hope in the promising General Robert E. Lee. Lee’s sharp mind and superior tactics had
led to several surprising victories. The Confederates were fighting the United
States on their border, and the Maryland campaign was seen as key to driving the Union back. So Lee issued Special Order 191, a general
movement order detailing extensive plans for the Confederate troops on September 9th, 1862. The key was a plan to capture Harpers Ferry,
and it was to be distributed to several Confederate Generals. Lee’s officer Robert H. Chilton
took dictation on the orders, made several copies, gave them Lee’s stamp of approval,
and handed them over for distribution. But for whatever reason, one wound up in the
wrong hands. It was four days later when the 27th Indiana
Volunteers, a Union military unit, marched into the area. A young man named Corporal Barton W. Mitchell
noticed an envelope on the ground - it had three cigars in it! His lucky day! But before Corporal Mitchell could smoke up,
he noticed something odd about the paper it was wrapped in. It was a copy of Special Order 191! He quickly handed it over to his Sergeant,
who passed it on up the chain until it wound up in the hands of the commander of the Army
of the Potomac. Suddenly, they had details on just about every
major Confederate troop movement in the coming battles. The Union soldiers got the drop on the Confederates. They won the Maryland campaign and successfully
pushed the Confederates back south. This gave the Union a major confidence boost,
improved Lincoln’s political fortunes, and helped pave the way for the Emancipation Proclamation. That was some costly littering. Being an admissions director is challenging
- but rarely this significant. The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was one of
Europe’s crown jewels. Not only was it one of the best places to
study the history of art or practice your craft in paint and sculpture, but it was incredibly
diverse and cosmopolitan for the time. It was a hub of culture in the early 20th
century - and getting in wasn’t easy. They rejected many promising applicants - and
even more non-promising ones, like Adolf Hitler, who applied twice in 1907 and 1908. The aspiring painter moved to Vienna to apply,
only to be rejected, and stayed in the city to try to sell his paintings. By 1913, he would leave for Munich. And when he returned, it would be under very
different circumstances. No one knows what would have happened if Hitler
got into the academy. He wasn’t a great painter, so maybe he would
have flunked out. Maybe he would have still found his love for
far-right politics and brought them to the liberal Academy. But what did happen is that in Munich he found
like minded people who were willing to follow his right wing ideology. After a failed coup, a prison sentence, and
a disturbingly fast rise to power in Germany, he returned to Austria - and took over the
country just a year before the start of World War II. And under German occupation, the proud institution
was forced to purge its student body and faculty of Jews and comply with Nazi dogma. Something Hitler likely took some personal
pleasure in. But sometimes, misfortune can lead to great
fortune. Ole Kirk Christiansen was a humble man. A carpenter from Denmark, he worked as a carpenter’s
apprentice and fought his way out of poverty. He bought a small woodworking business in
1916 and focused on restoring local businesses and producing household goods. He was also raising a family - but then tragedy
struck. His two sons, Karl Georg and Godtfred, were
playing with wood shavings in the workshop when some embers caught fire. The whole family was able to get out alive,
but the business and the family home were both destroyed. Christiensen was at rock bottom - but was
able to rebuild and expand the business. The larger workshop would be a mixed blessing
when the Great Depression hit Denmark in the 1930s. He was forced to lay off staff and man the
building himself, and refocused on making cheap wooden toys for children. And one type of toy caught on in particular. While his business as he knew it was no longer
profitable, his blocks made from birch wood were popular with locals. When he faced bankruptcy, he let his old woodworking
business go and focused on toys rather than carpentry - and the new company he started
would eventually become The Lego Group. While the toys caught on slowly and expansion
was hampered by World War II in the region, he would eventually buy a plastic molding
machine in 1974 and the rest is history. While Ole Kirk Christiansen would die in 1958,
his son Godtfred - the young firebug himself - would take over management and build it
up into one of the largest toy brands in the world, complete with a hit movie series. Would any of it have happened if a simple
carpenter didn’t face fires and economic downturns? The world may never know. We’ve all probably told our boss to take
that job and shove it once or twice - but rarely with these consequences. David Blair was a merchant seaman who had
attained a prominent position - a crew member on the White Star Line, one of the premiere
cruise lines in the world. And what’s more, he was about to make history
- being appointed to serve on the most impressive liner in the world, the Titanic, on its maiden
voyage. He sailed with the ship on its trial voyages,
and everything looked like smooth sailing - but plans changed in a hurry. The White Star Line decided at the last minute
to bring in the chief officer from the Olympic, Henry Wilde, to take over the position on
the Titanic. The ship’s top two officers were both demoted
one step down - and Blair, the third in rank on the ship, was bumped off the Titanic entirely. He was less than pleased, writing to his sister-in-law
that he was disappointed to miss out on history. He had no idea how right he was - due to one
simple omission. Blair had to switch ships in a hurry, and
when he vacated the Titanic, he left with one important item - the key to the crow’s
nest locker. This locker kept the binoculars that the lookouts
would use locked securely away, which raised the question - if the lookouts had the binoculars
available, would they have been able to see a certain iceberg coming? David Blair’s absentminded pocketing of
the Titanic’s key was brought up during the many inquiries about the deadly sinking,
and the lookouts on duty said they were told there would be no binoculars available. Was this part of the plan - or simply a story
the company came up with after the fact? While Blair continued his career after the
Titanic sinking, even becoming a hero when he jumped into the water to rescue a drowning
man a year later, the key remained in people’s minds. His daughter eventually donated it to the
International Sailors’ Society, where it was purchased by Chinese investors. How could a slight change in route accidentally
cause World War I? The events that led to the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand were a long time in the making, but they almost never happened. The presumptive heir to the Austro-Hungarian
throne was seen as a representative of the empire’s power. A group of young radicals was ready to take
action with the hope of advancing their cause for independence. Six conspirators of Bosnian descent plotted
to assassinate the Archduke and his wife as they visited Sarajevo, and they planned it
ruthlessly. The group had bombs, pistols and worked through
a network of safe houses in the city. The six assassins were placed among the motorcade
route, but when they made their move, things started to go wrong. One assassin threw a bomb at the Archduke’s
car - but it bounced off and damaged the car behind it. The motorcade sped up and safely delivered
the Archduke to his destination at Town Hall. The plot had been an embarrassing failure
- so far. A rattled Archduke gave his speech, and his
security team decided to visit the wounded in the hospital. Gavrilo Princip, one of the assassins who
had gotten away in the initial chaos, staked out a position in front of a local sandwich
shop. Was he planning out the Archduke’s route,
or was he just stress-eating? The world will never know - but what we do
know is that the Archduke’s car turned onto the wrong street, stopping in front of the
sandwich shop as it tried to reverse. That gave Princip the opportunity he needed,
and the young assassin quickly did what the complex terror attack before failed to - he
stepped up to the car and shot both the Archduke and his wife and close range. The two were fatally wounded, Princip was
arrested, and Serbia was soon engulfed in a diplomatic crisis. Austria-Hungary would soon declare war on
Serbia, Germany would take their side, and the second most brutal war in history would
start - maybe, because one assassin was hungry that day. Sometimes, events take decades to play out. In the early 20th century, Vietnam was under
French occupation. Like many countries around the world, it was
a colonial holding and the country’s natural resources were exploited. But a growing youth movement for independence
was building, and many of them traveled around the world. One of them was Ho Chi Ming, who came from
a middle-class family and had the opportunity to live abroad. While he visited France and Britain, during
the 1910s he found one place he connected with more than any other - the United States. He worked as a chef in Boston and developed
a love for the country - so much so that he even thought that its leader could help his
country. As the world restructured itself in the aftermath
of the First World War, Ho Chi Minh saw a similarity between his own country’s battle
for independence and the one the US fought in 1776. Perhaps the President, Woodrow Wilson, would
support his cause? What could go wrong? Ho Chi Minh penned a passionate letter to
Wilson amid the backdrop of the 1919 Versailles Peace Conference. No one is sure what happened next, but we
do know that he never received a response. Maybe Wilson didn’t support his cause. Maybe he was preoccupied and his team never
gave him the petition. Maybe he was in poor health due to a stroke
he suffered in the middle of the lengthy negotiations. One thing is for sure - Ho Chi Minh did not
maintain his love for the United States after this snub. In the 1920s, he became a communist and turned
his focus to revolution during the 1940s. While he did briefly work with the United
States in the aftermath of the Second World War, it’s impossible to look at the eventual
consequences of the Vietnam War and wonder - what if Wilson had responded to that letter? Speaking of World War II, how did a birthday
party help to turn the tide of the war? It was do-or-die time for the allies. A possible victory against Hitler had become
a bleak concept, with the Nazis occupying much of mainland Europe and viciously bombing
Great Britain. But now they had new hope - the Americans
were coming! Hitler had foolishly declared war on the USA
in solidarity with Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and now the entire war would
hinge on one critical battle - D-Day, the storming of the beaches of Normandy. But the Americans were coming into rough waters. They had never fought a major war outside
of North America. They were entering into enemy territory. And worst of all, they would be facing one
of the most ruthless and brilliant generals in history, the German warrior Erwin Rommel,
known as the Desert Fox. But the Americans who landed didn’t find
the well-oiled German war machine that day - in fact, the Nazis’ army seemed to be
unprepared for them. Where was the Desert Fox? It turned out that it was his wife’s birthday
- and he had been given leave to attend her party. Complicating things further, the commander
of the feared 21st Panzer Division was away from the battlefield as well - spending time
in Paris with his mistress. While the Americans still sustained heavy
losses and faced brutal conditions as they headed into France, they were able to establish
a beachhead in the country and move into Europe from there. Rommel’s feared war machine never quite
deterred the Americans, and the losses only enraged Hitler further - weakening the Nazi
hold on Europe and eventually leading to many Generals including Rommel, plotting to remove
the Nazi leader from power. Did the Americans know Rommel would likely
be absent when they set the date of the invasion? It’s unknown, but the date of Lucie Rommel’s
birth may have boosted the allies when they needed it most. It wasn’t the only time a vacation saved
millions of lives. Alexander Fleming was hard at work, studying
the nature of microorganisms and diseases. During the first world war, he was key in
trying to minimize casualties by developing antiseptics that would prevent infection while
not injuring the patients more severely. However, his innovations weren’t fully adopted
by the military. He would later discover the natural antimicrobial
enzyme Lysozyme and increase understanding of our immune system, but his greatest discovery
would come by accident. In 1927, he was experimenting with staph bacteria
and took two weeks off to spend a vacation with his family. When he returned, he noticed that one of the
samples had developed a fungus, contaminating the sample. Or so he thought. On further inspection, he discovered that
the fungi hadn’t just surrounded the bacteria - it had killed the staph bacteria. He investigated the mold and found it was
from the genus Penicillium. Working on cultivating it, it became clear
that this mold had a powerful inhibiting effect on bacteria - far better than any antibiotic
substance discovered up to this point. When he published a paper on his findings,
reaction was slow - how exciting could another announcement on fungus be? But when other scientists refined the process
and made it easier to produce Penicillin in large amounts, it started to catch on. Soon, it would be the premiere antibiotic
in the world, and Fleming would receive a Knighthood for his efforts. Would any of this have happened if Fleming’s
family didn’t pull him away from his lab for a well deserved vacation? Sometimes, light can bloom in the darkness. In the 1970s, New York City was a powder keg. A poor economy, high crime, and a Presidential
administration that wasn’t interested in helping, set the city up for disaster - and
disaster arrived on July 13th, 1977. During a heat wave, the city’s power infrastructure
failed and plunged almost the entire city into darkness for close to two days - and
sent most of the city into a panic. Some people responded by bunkering down in
their homes, trying to keep their families safe and helping their neighbors. Others had less helpful approaches to the
crisis, including rioting, arson, and looting. It was one of the worst days for crime in
the city’s history, with 134 stores looted, forty-five stores set ablaze, over five hundred
police officers injured, and over four thousand looters ultimately arrested. But many looters got away with it. And some took some interesting items. While many of the rioters just took whatever
they could, others used the opportunity to grab items they had their eyes on for a while
from already-looted stores - including a young man named Curtis Brown, only 17 years old
at the time. He admits he stole a sound mixer from a music
store, and used it to launch his career as a hip-hop DJ - one of the pioneers in the
field. Many people in the field say that there seemed
to be a lot more DJs after the blackout, although others say the impact of the blackout is overstated
on hip-hop’s launch. Brown soon took on the stage name Grandmaster
Caz and went on to influence legends of music including Will Smith and Jay-Z. While the blackout waged a terrible toll on
New York City, some used it to help launch a new genre of music that changed the world. Sometimes, a misspoken word can change the
course of history. The year was 1989, and the Iron Curtain was
still high over Europe, dividing it between the spheres of influence of NATO and the Soviet
Union. Nowhere was this more evident than in Germany,
where the country was split down the middle between a democracy and a communist dictatorship,
divided by a powerful wall in the city of Berlin. As the Soviet Union began to falter and liberalize
its policies, many Germans demanded freedom of travel between the two sides - especially
with many families split down the middle by the wall. Gunter Schabowski had the unenviable job of
calming the tension one November day. There had just been a change in leadership
and Schabowski was the new spokesman, addressing policy changes. The government issued new travel rules liberalizing
border controls, and he was in charge of explaining them to the people. To say he didn’t do a great job would be
putting it lightly. While the regulations made it easier to travel
between the two sides of Germany, Schabowski mistakenly said that all travel regulations
were suspended. This led to mass jubilation - and then mass
outrage as the people realized it wasn’t the case. Soon, huge numbers of East Berlin residents
were at the wall, demanding to be let through. The guards were massively outnumbered and
had no choice but to start letting people through the gates. A spontaneous celebration erupted where citizens
began taking down the wall piece by piece - with many taking bits of the wall as souvenirs. The images went around the world, and it was
the biggest sign yet that the Soviet Union was on its last legs. Sure enough, a few years later, an attempted
coup against Mikhail Gorbachev’s moderate leadership by Communist radicals was foiled,
and Gorbachev was replaced by Russia’s first democratically elected leader. In some cases, one hit can change the sports
world. Drew Bledsoe was a strong quarterback, and
while he had never won a Super Bowl for the Patriots, he had led them to the playoffs
four times and even became the youngest player ever named to the All-Star Game. In 2001, the season was off to a bad start
as the Patriots had dropped their first game to the Cincinnati Bengals. In their second game against the New York
Jets, Bledsoe was hit by Jets linebacker Mo Lewis - just as Jets defensive end Shaun Ellis
knocked Beldsoe off-balance. Bledsoe seemed to have suffered a concussion,
but after the game it became clear that he was much more seriously injured. He had suffered a near-fatal tear in a blood
vessel in his chest, and was bleeding internally. He underwent emergency surgery, and the doctors
managed to save his life. But he would be out of action for a long time. The Patriots backup quarterback got the call-up
- an unknown by the name of Tom Brady. While Brady was unable to win the second game
of the season, he led the Patriots to victory in their third game, and eventually took the
Patriots from an opening record of 0-2 to a final record of 11-5 - good enough for the
playoffs. The team tore through the opposition and won
the Super Bowl that year, with Bledsoe eventually playing again - as Brady’s backup during
the playoffs. However, Brady was now the new starter, and
would lead the Patriots to one of the greatest football dynasties of all time. And it almost never happened - he was barely
drafted into the NFL in the first place and was unlikely to be traded to any other team
if Bledsoe didn’t get injured. While neither man committed any violation
of the rules, Lewis and Ellis’ bad timing led to the rise of one of the NFL’s greatest
legends - who would torment the Jets for the next twenty years. How did a bad marriage lead to the rise of
a President? The year was 2004, and Jack Ryan was riding
high. The former investment banker for Goldman Sachs
had a net worth in the tens of millions, and now he wanted to parlay that wealth into a
United States Senate seat from Illinois. He easily won the Republican nomination on
a moderate platform, and had high hopes for the fall - his opponent was a State Senator
who had recently lost a Congressional race, and while Illinois leaned to the Democratic
side, Ryan had the cash to swamp his opponent. There was just one problem - Ryan was the
ex-husband of popular Star Trek actress Jeri Ryan, and the two waged a nasty custody battle
in 1999. The records were sealed, but as he ran for
office, his opponents petitioned for them to be released. It revealed that Jack Ryan had been emotionally
abusive to his wife, wanted her to engage in public sex with him, and liked to visit
sex clubs. Needless to say, the reaction was swift. Jack Ryan had an image as a wholesome, family-values
candidate, and the disclosures blew that up. He immediately lost the support of the party,
and less than a week later he was forced to drop out. The Republicans needed a new candidate, and
they settled on Alan Keyes, a controversial political pundit without long roots in Illinois. And that’s how Illinois State Senator Barack
Obama went from being in a tough race against a powerhouse millionaire to essentially being
able to walk into the Senate. That same year, he got a key speech at the
Democratic National Convention which made him a rising star - and only four years later,
he was elected President of the United States. And his path to get there was a lot smoother
because ten years earlier, Jack Ryan had some dirty habits. But maybe no modern move had more political
implications than what one TV executive did in the early 2000s. As the 2000s dawned, NBC was riding high and
its new President, Jeff Zucker, was inheriting a lot of success. But there was trouble brewing. The network’s signature Thursday night Must
See TV comedy block was a shadow of its former self. Seinfeld was gone, Friends was getting close
to the end of its run, and few of the replacements were catching on. Remember Veronica’s Closet? Working? Yeah, us either. NBC needed something new to catch the public’s
eye - and they got their opening from their rival CBS. The show Survivor was the hottest thing on
TV, and suddenly everyone wanted their own reality TV competition. Zucker decided to follow suit - but he would
give his shows an NBC superstar twist. The two hosts he picked would have world-altering
implications. The first of the two big NBC reality TV hits
of the early 2000s was Fear Factor, a gross-out stunt show that had contestants eating bugs
and riding on moving cars to earn money. Critics hated it - and audiences loved it. And to host the show, Zucker picked former
Newsradio comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. Then there was The Apprentice, a business-based
competition where job-seekers competed to earn a position with a prominent real-life
businessman. The host of The Apprentice would be colorful
New York real estate magnate Donald Trump. Neither Rogan nor Trump were obscure before
being hired, but the two gained massive new exposure from the shows. Rogan parlayed his success into becoming one
of the world’s most successful - and controversial - podcasters. As for Trump, you know the rest. For major effects on the future of the world,
check out “Worst Days in the History of the World”, or watch “How Agent 355 Changed
the Course of the American Revolution” for another key turning point.
