Close calls that could have changed the course of history

[k1976]

Chelyabinsk meteor​

Many might remember the feeling of terror when the Chelyabinsk meteor crashed in Southeastern Russia in 2013. The meteor's size and velocity gave it a power equitable to that of an atomic bomb, and it could have easily razed a city to the ground had it landed in a more populated area.

Tiagong, Russia use S500 air defence complex to hoot this rock

 

[k1976]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-500_missile_system

 

[jw5]

NORAD's mistaken message​

One of the numerous terrifying mistakes made by NORAD during the Cold War occurred in 1971, when an Air Force base accidentally sent out an emergency communications message that confirmed that it was not a drill. Reporters and radio listeners held their breath for around five minutes waiting for the news that the entire nation had been fearing for years, until it was made apparent that NORAD officers had sent the wrong recording to radio stations and that it was, in fact, a routine drill.

 

[jw5]

Chernobyl disaster​

One of the most terrifying nuclear collapses in history, and certainly the most infamous, was the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. After the collapse of one of the site's main reactors, astounding levels of radiation were released into the surrounding area.

 

[jw5]

Chernobyl disaster​

The meltdown made a ghost town of nearby Pripyat nearly overnight, a city that is still too radioactive to inhabit to this day. The Chernobyl reactor itself has been relegated to a massive concrete sarcophagus that will stay in place for the next century.

 

[jw5]

Idaho Falls explosion​

The Idaho Falls explosion of 1961 could have proven catastrophic for Idaho, potentially equating to a North American Chernobyl. After mistakes were made during the removal of a control rod, the Idaho Falls nuclear plant collapsed and could have caused widespread destruction were it not quickly and properly dealt with.

 

[jw5]

The Bollina observation​

The comets observed by Mexican amateur astronomer Jose Bollina were of no great importance at the time, but further studies of the 450-strong meteor shower revealed that these objects were in fact dangerously close to Earth, possibly missing our planet by just a few hours.

 

[jw5]

Able Archer 83​

War games were common around the world during the Cold War in order to keep the various militaries in top shape. Sometimes, however, these practice exercises were misunderstood, and brought the superpowers to the brink of World War III. This is exactly what occurred during NATO's Able Archer 83 exercises, which the USSR thought to be a legitimate preparation for war. The world almost ended over a simple misunderstanding before the training program ended.

 

[jw5]

Flooding of the Yangtze 1931​

When China's most important water formation, the Yangtze River, flooded in 1931, the consequences proved catastrophic and could have easily caused a local societal collapse. No less than 3.7 million people died from the flooding and the widespread crop failures it caused.

 

[jw5]

Klebsiella planticola​

Back in the 1990s, scientists came dangerously close to wiping out all agriculture on the European continent. A German GMO manufacturer was just about to release a new organism, Klebsiella planticola, before a third-party study discovered that the product would quickly and efficiently decimate any and all crops it came in contact with. If Klebsiella planticola ever reached the market, it could have caused the worst famine humanity has ever seen.

 

[jw5]

Shaanxi earthquake​

One of the most devastating earthquakes in recorded history occurred in 1556 in the Shaanxi province of China. An estimated 830,000 people died in the disaster, surely setting the area's development back by decades upon decades.

 

[jw5]

Norwegian rocket incident​

Rockets aren't always fired with violence in mind, but you'd be forgiven for assuming they were. In 1995, Norway launched an experimental rocket in order to study the Northern Lights. When Russian scanners picked up the rocket, they perceived it as an act of war, and were dangerously close to retaliating and starting World War III before the truth was revealed.

 

[jw5]

Hyakutake Comet​

The Great Comet of 1996, also named the Hyakutake Comet after the astronomer who discovered it, Yuji Hyakutake, is the closest a comet has come to Earth in two centuries.

 

[syed putra]

Toba Supervolcano​

Around the same time as the eruption, human life in the area dramatically decreased and was almost entirely wiped out. This was truly an apocalyptic event for the ancient peoples in the region. Today, the massive caldera of the volcano is filled with water and is referred to as Lake Toba (pictured).

I was told, yellowstone may erupt soon.

 

[k1976]

I was told, yellowstone may erupt soon.

The California people are preparing for that... Tiagong the backup plan is our Aussie land

 

[jw5]

Spanish Flu​

More lethal than World War I, more deadly than even the Black Plague, the Spanish Flu of the early 20th century claimed the lives of as many as 40 million people. Had it not been stopped, it would have continued to decimate the global population.

 

[jw5]

Soviet nuke scare​

During the Cold War, the USSR had its own fair share of false alarms. A glitch in Soviet radar technology sent warnings of a full-scale nuclear assault initiated by the Americans. The technician on shift at the time, Stanislav Petrov (pictured), trusted his instincts that something wasn't quite right, and chose not to alert his higher-ups, who surely wouldn't have wasted time ordering a counterattack.

 

[myfoot123]

Tan Cheng Bock garnered 737,128 valid votes to Dr Tony Tan's 744,398, which resulted in the latter becoming Singapore's seventh president with a margin of just 0.34 per cent of total votes cast.

 

[Eisenhut]

If only LKY decide to shoot outside or use a condom, we will not have the dishonourable son .....sigh...