Top 10 Human Decisions That Instantly Changed EVERYTHING

#10: Steve Jobs Greenlighting the iPhone

(2000’s)

Before smartphones launched in 2007, you would have to carry numerous devices just to achieve what can be done on one modern day device. If you wanted to take a picture, listen to music, or get in contact with someone, you needed a separate device to do each task. Well, in the early 2000’s Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple, decided to greenlight the iPhone, turning Apple’s famed iPod touch into a cellular device. Not only did this decision spark a whole new popularity of the app and phone market altogether, it also changed the way we do our everyday computing. If the future for humans involves integration with technologies, products like the iPhone are the first steps.

#9: Franklin D. Roosevelt Enacting the New Deal

(1933)

From 1929 to 1939, the United States of America experienced what is known today as “The Great Depression.” When the American stock market fell in October of 1929, it led to record unemployment, critical banking failures and an overall deflation of the U.S Dollar, an impact felt around the globe. After becoming president in 1933 Franklin D, Roosevelt launched “The New Deal,” establishing relief efforts such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and introducing the Emergency Banking Act. Both helped protect depositors and the banks themselves, stabilizing the banking system during an otherwise unstable period. These reforms along with many other programs and relief efforts helped pull the American people out of one of its lowest points in its still very young history.

#8: Mahatma Gandhi Launching the Salt March

(1930)

From 1858 to 1947, the people of India were under the rule of the British Raj. The colonization of the country was accompanied with economic exploitation, unfair taxation, and an overall hemorrhaging of wealth from India to their occupier's homeland. The Raj held monopolies over vital resources like salt and other necessities. On March 12, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi gathered 78 of his most trusted followers and marched 240 miles in protest of the British monopoly, amassing thousands of others who joined them in their journey. This highlighted the injustices of colonization, gaining international attention and pressuring the occupiers to allow the Indian people the right to limited salt production. The “Salt March” would go on to inspire civil rights movements around the world.

#7: Harry Truman Authorizing the Use of Atomic Bombs

(1945)

The world was at war. After being elected to a fourth term as President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away on April 12th, 1945 and Harry Truman was sworn into office as President that same day. Soon after becoming president, the Axis powers had been toppled. The United States and its allies demanded Japan surrender or face “prompt and utter destruction.” The Japanese Empire refused to give up and Truman ordered the use of atomic bombs on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The president's unimaginably difficult decision took hundreds of thousands of lives but did achieve the goal of promptly ending WW2 after Japan's immediate surrender.

#6: Mikhail Gorbachev Refusing to Use Force

(1989)

In 1968, after the invasion of Czechoslovakia, the leader of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, asserted that the Union had the right and the obligation to protect communism in its satellite states through military means. In 1989, when facing the uprising of revolutions throughout Eastern Europe, General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, decided to defy the Brezhnev Doctrine. Gorbachev attempted to democratize the Soviet Union's political system, create the Congress of the People’s Deputies and became the first and only elected President of the Soviet Union in 1990, along with winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Gorbachev’s decision proved to accelerate the downfall of the Soviet Union, and with it, communism.

#5: Abraham Lincoln Issuing the Emancipation Proclamation

(1863)

The United States was in a Civil War. The Union forces in the North were clashing with the confederate rebels in the South. On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, announcing that all who were held as slaves in rebel territories were declared as free and would be accepted into the Union forces. This sparked widespread escape efforts from the enslaved in hopes they could make their way to union ruled states where they would be liberated and be given a chance to liberate others. The Emancipation Proclamation helped turn the tide of the Civil War and accelerated the end to slavery in the country.

#4: Gavrilo Princip Pulling the Trigger

(1914)

In order to dismantle the Austro-Hungarian rule in Europe, a secret Serbian nationalist military organization called the Black Hand aided a group of young Bosnian Serb students in executing a world changing assassination. On June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a 23 year old Bosnian Serb would make a symbolic strike on the Austro-Hungarian empire. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was to them the ultimate symbol of oppression against the Southern Slavs. After his coconspirators' failures, Princip shot down the Archduke and his wife, which was viewed as a direct attack by Serbia against the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This event sparked a number of war declarations that would end up involving almost all of Europe, leading directly into World War 1.

#3: Napoleon Selling the Louisiana Territory

(1803)

By 1803, the French were in dire need of funds for future military campaigns, and quickly. The French colonies in North America were vast but scarcely populated with French settlers. Holding control of the North American territories was unrealistic if a British invasion were to take place. American President Thomas Jefferson was seeking to gain access to the Mississippi River, a vital trade route originally blocked by the French. New Orleans was that access point. It came as a pleasant surprise when the President learned that the American people would be gaining not only New Orleans, but the entire Louisiana Territory. The purchase doubled the size of the nation allowing for growth, leading to the country to become a leading world power.

#2: Martin Luther Posting the 95 Theses

(1517)

What if we lived in a world where we can literally pay for our sins? Well, in the 1500’s you could, through what was called indulgences. Indulgences were tickets sold by the church that would supposedly “reduce the temporal punishment” in purgatory for the sins committed by the ticket holder or their loved ones. Martin Luther, a German theologian, disagreed with the church's use of “indulgences,” claiming that repentance and being forgiven for your sins, is of a spiritual nature and indulgences are just a way to bypass that. Luther’s 95 Theses would go into print and spread across Germany. The publishing of thes theses is said to have sparked the Protestant Reformation, rapidly affecting both religion and politics across Europe.

#1: Julius Caesar Crossing the Rubicon

(49 BCE)

Expanding Rome's territories through his conquest of Gaul, Roman General Julius Caesar gained immense popularity among the Roman Republic. As Governor of Gaul, he amassed wealth, armies and influence. Of course, gaining power means gaining enemies as well. Caesar was slowly but surely gaining political opponents in the Roman Senate who were seeking to take away both his power and influence. Staying in Gaul would lose him favor in the Republic, and going back to Rome by himself would surely be his downfall. Julius Caesar decided to cross the Rubicon River with his armies and it resulted in Civil War, ultimately leading to the downfall of the Republic and the uprising of the New Roman Empire.

What are some world changing decisions that weren't on our list and which ones would you like to see on the next one? Let us know in the comments!