15 People Share the 10 Minutes of History They’d Pick to Watch in Person
If you could watch exactly ten minutes of any moment in history, what would you choose? The question is simple, but you literally have all of history to choose from. Reddit users posed with this question came up with everything from famous historical events and unsolved mysteries to moments that happened long before humans existed. Some choices are about finally answering questions that have fascinated people for generations, while others are simply about witnessing something impossible to experience today. The answers are wildly different, but they all share one thing: ten minutes would probably never feel like enough time once you were there.
The Big Bang
One commenter would use the ten minutes to witness the beginning of the universe, even though another user pointed out that the event itself unfolded on timescales far shorter than ten minutes.
The Cretaceous Period
One person chose any ten minutes during the Cretaceous period, simply to see what a prehistoric world filled with dinosaurs actually looked like.
The Krakatoa Eruption
One commenter picked the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa to witness an explosion heard thousands of miles away and that produced enormous tsunamis.
The Death of Julius Caesar
One person wanted to witness the assassination of Julius Caesar and follow the events from the perspectives of both Caesar and those involved in the plot.
The Berlin Wall Opening
One commenter chose November 9, 1989, specifically around 10:45 p.m., to watch Harald Jäger open the Bornholmer Straße checkpoint and let people cross the Berlin Wall.
The Chernobyl Disaster
One person would spend their ten minutes inside the Chernobyl control room during the disaster, specifically wanting to witness the moment the reactor’s enormous lid was blown into the air.
The Roswell Incident
One commenter chose the Roswell crash site in 1947 to finally see what actually happened in the New Mexico desert that sparked decades of UFO speculation.
The Titanic Sinking
One person picked the final minutes of the Titanic to witness the sinking firsthand, while another commenter included the event among several historical moments they would want to see.
The Lincoln Assassination
One commenter wanted to watch Abraham Lincoln’s assassination while following John Wilkes Booth afterward to see what happened from his perspective and hear the conversations with the people who helped him escape.
The Disappearance of Roanoke
One person chose the final moments of the Roanoke colony because ten minutes of observation could potentially solve one of America’s oldest historical mysteries.
The Mona Lisa Being Painted
One commenter would travel back to ten minutes before Leonardo da Vinci finished the Mona Lisa simply to watch the final stages of one of the world’s most famous paintings being created.
The Trial of Socrates
One person chose the trial of Socrates, giving themselves ten minutes to witness one of the most famous philosophical and political episodes of ancient Athens firsthand.
A Moment With Martin Luther King Jr.
One commenter wanted to watch Martin Luther King Jr. speak, specifically mentioning his first televised speech as a moment they would like to experience in person.
Jesus Performing a Miracle
One commenter chose ten minutes with Jesus while he supposedly performed a miracle, mentioning the feeding of the five thousand, turning water into wine or walking on water as possibilities.
The 1992 Dream Team Scrimmage
One commenter picked the secretive 1992 Dream Team scrimmage, a legendary basketball moment that has generated plenty of stories about what actually happened on the court.