Top 10 Real-Life Events That Caused Massive Domino Effects
#10: The Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show
If you had access to the Internet at any point in 2004, chances are you’re probably more than familiar with this particular controversy. If not, we’ll just sum it up by saying that this infamous incident is the origin of the term “wardrobe malfunction.” While debate still rages as to how much of the performance was preplanned, Justin Timberlake’s unveiling of Janet Jackson’s breast made Jackson the most-searched person of that year and the next. However, according to Jawed Karim, clips were difficult to find online. This led to Karim, Steve Chen, and Chad Hurley overhauling their video dating service to accept any kind of video… on the website they proceeded to call “YouTube.” We imagine you’ve heard of it.
#9: The Year 2000 Problem
It’s all too common to think that the “Y2K panic” was totally unfounded, and that any concern about its consequences was leaning into “conspiracy theory” territory. In reality, the bug was only prevented by the hard work of computer programmers correcting a lack of foresight decades earlier. After Canadian engineer Peter de Jager drew attention to the problem in the early ‘90s, software companies and IT experts went into overdrive to prevent potential disaster. When it was realized that more hands on deck were needed, American companies hired offshore in places like India, where there was already an abundance of English-speaking computer experts. This move, intended as a temporary fix, ushered in the era of outsourcing labor to other countries.
#8: The Sinking of RMS Titanic
Don’t worry, Jack… you didn’t die for nothing. After the legendary ocean liner was destroyed following a collision with an iceberg, the argument was made at the time that certain disaster might have been avoided if the Titanic’s crew had been alerted to the iceberg’s presence. The disaster led to President Taft signing the Radio Act of 1912 into law, which required radio stations to be licensed so that the airwaves would remain uncluttered and clear of as much potential interference as possible. The Radio Act was amended and replaced numerous times, with the Telecommunications Act of 1996 now in its place. As such, it can be argued that the Titanic is almost directly responsible for innovations in wireless communication.
Don’t worry, Jack… you didn’t die for nothing. After the legendary ocean liner was destroyed following a collision with an iceberg, the argument was made at the time that certain disaster might have been avoided if the Titanic’s crew had been alerted to the iceberg’s presence. The disaster led to President Taft signing the Radio Act of 1912 into law, which required radio stations to be licensed so that the airwaves would remain uncluttered and clear of as much potential interference as possible. The Radio Act was amended and replaced numerous times, with the Telecommunications Act of 1996 now in its place. As such, it can be argued that the Titanic is almost directly responsible for innovations in wireless communication.
#7: The Indian Independence Movement
British colonial rule of India began in 1858 and lasted nearly a hundred years, until the efforts of activists and revolutionaries — chiefly among them, Mahatma Gandhi — dismantled the oppressive system. Beginning formally with the establishment of the Indian National Congress in 1885, Gandhi’s emphasis on peaceful protest proved highly effective in the aftermath of World War I, and he became leader of the Congress in 1921. What began as a series of small-scale demonstrations protesting British rule eventually ended up as a sweeping nationwide movement led by Gandhi, whose goal was accomplished in 1947 when the United Kingdom acquiesced to India’s demands and granted the country its independence.
#6: The 1968 Buffalo Bills Season
The NFL icons sorely needed a win following their 1968 season — it was the second-worst in the team’s history, becoming one of only two teams ever to close out the season with just a single victory. Enter: O.J. Simpson. Granted the first draft pick the following years, the Bills recruited the immensely promising Heisman Trophy winner, who became a superstar and media darling… until he was accused of murdering his wife Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. Simpson opted to hire a friend as his defense attorney. That friend? Robert Kardashian, whose daughters Kim, Kourtney, and Khloé rose to fame as reality television stars during the 2000s.
#5: The Development of the Nintendo 64
It’s okay, we can admit it: it’s disappointing to learn that Nintendo was, at one point, actively developing an online multiplayer functionality for the N64. Having said that, it’s somewhat comforting, then, that we got the Internet as we know it instead. Following the collapse of his business relationship with Sega, computer scientist James H. Clark pitched Nintendo the aforementioned multiplayer feature. The deal didn’t work out, and Clark, along with engineer Marc Andreessen, turned his energy to Netscape, commonly credited as inventing the first major web browser in Netscape Navigator. If Nintendo had accepted Clark's proposal, today's digital landscape might have looked remarkably different.
#4: World War I
The onset of the Great War led to immediate societal repercussions. With men drafted to fight the war overseas, women went to work to fill the gap that had been left. This dramatically altered the fabric of the United States. Public perceptions of women’s roles in society had begun to change, and the National American Woman Suffrage Association supported the war effort as a means of granting women further agency as U.S. citizens. Along with the National Woman’s Party, they were successful in convincing President Woodrow Wilson to adopt the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920. The amendment only enfranchised certain groups of white women at the time, but was an important first step nonetheless.
#3: The Cold War
Following the end of World War II, the West briefly enjoyed a period of peaceful progress and prosperity — that is, until 1947, when the Cold War began simmering as the result of escalating geopolitical tensions between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies. The Soviet Union eventually fell in 1991, planting the seeds that would end apartheid in South Africa. Since it was allied with the United States during the Cold War, U.S. President Ronald Reagan defended it from anti-apartheid tariffs and sanctions. The end of Reagan’s presidency, and mounting international pressure, influenced South African President F.W de Klerk to terminate apartheid once and for all.
#2: The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
If Ferdinand had survived Gavrilo Princip’s attack on him and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, it’s possible that World War I might never have occurred at all. The June 1914 shooting was intended as retaliation by Young Bosnia, a group of revolutionaries who intended to establish an independent slavic state, against the presumptive heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. The archduke’s death kicked off what is now known as the July Crisis, in which Austria-Hungary eventually declared war on Serbia. The declaration sent off shockwaves across Europe, and the tangled web of loyalties eventually escalated into the Great War.
#1: The Death of Ögedei Khan
Genghis Khan is considered today to be the founding father of Mongolia, owing to his establishment of the Mongol Empire — history’s largest-ever contiguous empire. The speed and brutality with which Khan conquered foreign territory and claimed it as Mongolia’s, establishing important trade routes that rapidly accelerated the flow of commerce worldwide. In fact, at one point, the Mongol Empire covered over 9 million square miles, stretching from Hungary to China. Considering this dominance, it’s surprising, then, that the death of Ögedei Khan, Genghis’ successor, sent it spiraling. Unable to determine who was worthiest of the throne, the surviving members of the Khan succession initiated a period of bloody infighting that essentially broke up the Empire.
What’s your favorite historical domino effect? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!