Butterfly Effect in Official History Examples

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The official history sometimes gives very strange explanations for the past events. A small mistake in life turns out to be only a minor nuisance, but for historians, mistakes lead to wars, epidemics and catastrophes. The fatal mistakes in the generally recognized world history will be discussed today.

Butterfly effect - a small impact on a system can have large and unpredictable consequences, even in a completely different place

1. The bombing of Hiroshima

The bombing of Hiroshima is one of the most terrible events of the Second World War. However, the dire consequences could have been avoided had the American translator been more qualified. The fact is that in the Postdam Declaration, the United States demanded that Japan surrender immediately. To which we received an answer from the Japanese Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki, where the rather ambiguous word "mokusatsu" appeared. Most likely, the prime minister asked for time to think, and the translator read this word as a categorical “refuse”. As a result of this stupid oversight, the United States dropped the first ever atomic bomb on Hiroshima just a few days later.

2. Sale of Alaska

In 1867, Alaska was a desert area covered with snow. Therefore, Russia happily agreed to sell it to the United States of America for $ 7.2 million. Then no one could have imagined that in a couple of decades Alaska would become a major gold mining object. And a little later, oil was also discovered there. It turns out that the Americans bought a real treasure of valuable resources from Russia for very little money.

3. Destruction of cats

It was in cats that the British saw a source of threat many years ago. Then the first foci of bubonic plague appeared in the country, the carriers of which, in the opinion of the people, were precisely the cats. In the same year, all cats and cats were mercilessly exterminated. Imagine their surprise when, after the cruel massacre of animals, the scale of the epidemic only increased. It turned out that the carriers of the plague were not cats at all, but rats, of which there were a great many in England, as well as throughout Europe.

4. Forest fire

During the worst fire in 2003, which engulfed California, 1200 square kilometers of forest were destroyed, 2322 houses and 14 people died. It is hard to believe that such a terrible fire is the work of man. The fact is that the hunter got lost in the woods near San Diego. In the hope that he would be found, he lit a signal fire, which quickly spread over the dry grass, spread to the trees and began to acquire a spontaneous scale.

5. The wreck of the Titanic due to the lack of binoculars

The sinking of the Titanic has become almost the most famous tragedy of the century. Then in 1912, no one could have imagined that the dire consequences could have been avoided if not for a chain of minor events. So, just before sailing, the management company decided to replace one of the officers. And he, without any malicious intent, forgot to give the successor the key to the pantry, where, in addition to household equipment, binoculars were kept. Without the proper equipment, Fred Fleet, who was in charge of obstacles on the way, failed to notice the approaching iceberg in time.

6. The beginning of the First World War

The wrong turn accelerated the outbreak of the First World War.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the contradictions between the largest European countries grew every year, and the outbreak of the First World War was simply inevitable. However, none of the active parties was in a hurry to go on the attack, and several more decades could pass, if not for one accident.

During the first attempt on the life of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, an explosion occurred, as a result of which many innocent people were injured. Then Franz decided to visit the victims in the hospital. On the way there, the driver missed the right turn and drove past the coffee shop, where at that moment there was a Serbian terrorist Gavrilo Princip, who was preparing for another atrocity. He, without hesitation, fired two shots, which took the lives of the Archduke and his wife. After such a bloody massacre, the beginning of the war was not long in coming.

7. Great London fire

It is hard to believe that the Great Fire of London, which engulfed the central districts of the city, began through the fault of an inattentive baker. The fire started at Thomas Farriner's bakery on Padding Lane and quickly spread to nearby buildings. In three days, the fire destroyed 13,500 houses and 87 churches, leaving 70,000 people without a roof, out of a total population of 80,000.

8. The emergence of penicillin

The accidental discovery of penicillin is the only item on our list today that has produced positive results. It all happened in the dirty laboratory of Alexander Fleming, who discovered mold on his plate at lunch. Further research led to the identification of penicillin - the first antibiotic in history. Fleming received the Nobel Prize for this invention.

9. Capture of Normandy

The defense of the northern coast of France was led by the best general of Adolf Hitler, Erwin Rommel. On June 6, 1944, the general, assessing the unfavorable weather conditions, decided that the opponents would postpone the landing in Normandy, and went home to celebrate his wife's birthday. However, the rivals acted differently. On that day, they captured all 5 beaches, killing about 9,000 German soldiers.