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Discussion » Questions » History » In your opinion what is the single most significant event or person of the 20th century?
Benedict Arnold

In your opinion what is the single most significant event or person of the 20th century?

In asking for a "single" event I've probably eliminated all the major wars. It still leaves tons of scope.

Posted - February 25, 2017
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Responses


  • 2960
    Steve Jobs of course.
      February 25, 2017 9:15 PM MST
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  • He was certainly one of the movers. 
      February 25, 2017 9:22 PM MST
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  • 184
    After reading all the posts I felt, for me, the single event that rippled through out the world and its repercussions are still being felt today (and will be in the future) was the attack on the World Trade Center in New York, 9/11.
      February 26, 2017 3:31 AM MST
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  • 3191
    That it will, it did not occur in the 20th century, however, but the 21st.
      February 26, 2017 4:06 AM MST
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  • 184
    Time does fly. 
      February 26, 2017 11:35 AM MST
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  • Close enough. It has changed the way the people of the world relate to each other so, ues, it's a very significant event. 
      February 26, 2017 8:30 PM MST
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  • 11005
    Carl Djerassi inventor, of the birth control pill.

    This post was edited by Jane S at February 26, 2017 8:31 PM MST
      February 26, 2017 4:37 AM MST
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  • 64
    I'm so glad you mentioned this.  When birth control pills became widely available, and I began taking them, I asked a lot of older women what they thought of this invention.  The opinions ranged from wishing they had had those little pills to wishing they hadn't been married because they didn't want children. One woman in her late eighties said she loved her husband, but loving him so much produced children she didn't want.  The stress resulted in less love, and then no love.  She couldn't imagine having lots of sex and no babies.  
    I think birth control pills are right up there with the printing press.
    Thank you so much for your answer. 
      February 26, 2017 12:31 PM MST
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  • 11005
    The freedom to choose whether to have children, when to have children and how many to have, allowed women to more easily pursue an education, compete in the workplace and rise out of poverty. This post was edited by Jane S at February 26, 2017 8:34 PM MST
      February 26, 2017 1:20 PM MST
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  • A benefactor to women and families everywhere. But in mentioning Djerassi we should also remember Rutherford and penicillin. Thanks for an original nomination, Jane. This question has attracted some brilliant answers. 
      February 26, 2017 8:33 PM MST
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  • 11005
    Thank you for posting it. It's a great question.
      February 27, 2017 2:57 AM MST
    1

  • Posting questions is interesting because you never know which ones will be successful and which will die an early death.  The few that run to three pages of responses, as this one did, are well worth while. 
      February 27, 2017 3:02 AM MST
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  • 2658
    Hedy Lamarr-Hollywood Actress.

    Lamarr and Antheil realized that radio-controlled torpedoes, which could be important in the naval war, could easily be jammed, thereby causing the torpedo to go off course.[18] With the knowledge she had gained about torpedoes from her first husband, and using a method similar to the way piano rolls work, they designed a frequency-hopping system that would continually change the radio signals sent to the torpedo.[19]

    Their invention was granted a patent on 11 August 1942 (filed using her married name Hedy Kiesler Markey).[20] Yet, it was technologically difficult to implement, and at that time the U.S. Navy was not receptive to considering inventions coming from outside the military.[16] Only in 1962 (at the time of the Cuban missile crisis) did an updated version of their design appear on Navy ships.[21] The design is one of the important elements behind today's spread-spectrum communication technology, such as modern CDMA, Wi-Fi networks, and Bluetooth technology.           https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr This post was edited by Beans/SilentGeneration at February 26, 2017 8:35 PM MST
      February 26, 2017 5:41 AM MST
    4

  • I also find Hedy Lamarr of great interest...and had read that she was an inventor.
    But did not know this, ty Beans/SG
      February 26, 2017 10:04 AM MST
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  • 2658
    YW Ms.V..Take Care.
      February 26, 2017 11:48 AM MST
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  • Beans, that is staggering on so many levels. First that Lamarr had that capability, second that the USN refused to take advantage of it, third that it was found useful on still another level. I appreciate this answer.
      February 26, 2017 8:36 PM MST
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  • 2658
    Well, it certainly is well used in today's technology Didge.  TY/Take Care.
      February 26, 2017 10:52 PM MST
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  • 2658
    A thumb up for DNA perfection and use.
      February 26, 2017 5:51 AM MST
    4

  • Yep, that's massive too. 
      February 26, 2017 8:37 PM MST
    1

  • 1326
    World war 1. Supposedly the war to end all wars. Little do most understand it is the event that marked the beginning of the end of this system of things. (Matthew 24:3-8; revelation 6: 2-8;  12:9-12)
      March 8, 2017 11:20 PM MST
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