13 Last-Minute Decisions That Changed World History

Martin Luther King Jr. used "I have a dream" in a powerful speech on civil rights on August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial. King expressed his vision of racial harmony through this "dream." Originally, the speech did not mention dreaming.

King had a speech written and ready. Then, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson shouted, "tell ‘em about the dream," and King started to improvise.King spoke from his heart, not his notes. This created perhaps the greatest example of public speaking in American history.He spoke from the heart instead of his prepared notes. The result became perhaps the greatest example of public speaking in American history.

Teddy Roosevelt, America’s action movie president, loved big speeches. In 1912, while seeking the presidency as leader of the Progressives party, Roosevelt prepared a 50-page speech for an audience. Before going, Roosevelt folded the speech.Roosevelt put the speech in his breast pocket.That small decision soon saved his life.

An assailant shot Roosevelt in the chest while he stood to speak. The paper in his pocket greatly slowed the bullet. Still, Teddy Roosevelt got on stage and gave a rousing speech, even with a lead bullet in him.

February 3, 1959, known as "The Day the Music Died," marks an infamous moment in music history. Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and JP Richardson, Jr. (the Big Bopper) died when their plane crashed in Iowa. Holly's rash decision put them on that plane.

The musicians had been on the road for some time. They started to run out of clean clothes.They were scheduled to take a bus to their next show in Minnesota. Buddy Holly wanted clean clothes. He convinced the others to charter a plane so they could arrive early and do everyone's laundry. This desire for fresh clothes proved fatal.Buddy Holly wanted clean clothes. They planned a bus trip to Minnesota for their next show. Holly convinced the others to charter a plane so they could arrive early and do everyone's laundry. This desire for clean clothes proved fatal.

The sinking of the Titanic is a huge naval tragedy. The ship, called "unsinkable," hit an iceberg in the Atlantic and sank soon after. One part of the blame for the massive loss of life belongs to a...last-minute decision.that switched officers.

Second Officer David Blair left the crew before the ship sailed. He forgot to hand in his key to a locker holding binoculars for the lookout. The ship left before he knew, so the crew watched for icebergs with only their eyes. This proved very inadequate.

The US did not plan the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with great detail. The US did not know if they would use nuclear weapons until just before they dropped them; their list of target cities was long. The US did not think about which Japanese cities to hit since Japan's surrender seemed certain with the nuclear weapons.

The original plan aimed to hit Kokura right after Hiroshima. A young crewman named Kermit Beahan decided it was too cloudy to see Kokura, so hecanceled it.This was good luck for Kokura, but not for Nagasaki, the backup target.

Gavrilo Princip felt he missed his chance to change history. He belonged to a Bosnian militant group aiming to remove the Austro-Hungarian Empire's rulers, meaning he had a conflict with Archduke Franz Ferdinand.On June 28, 1914,Princip and others planned to take out Ferdinand as his car paraded. They threw a bomb under the car, but the blast lagged, and Ferdinand escaped without harm. Later, Ferdinand went to a local hospital to see the victims and told his driver to take a different route than before.

The driver took a wrong turn, ended up on the same street, and drove right by Gavrilo Princip,who was still there.Princip could not believe his luck and walked up to take the shot that started WWI.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 is a major 20th-century event. It alsohappened by accident.Guenter Schabowski, a spokesman for the East German Politburo, held a press conference about East Germany allowing travel through the Wall. Right before the conference, Shabowski got a memo from the Politburo about what to say, but he did not read the whole statement.

After nearly an hour, Schabowski got confused about actual policy versus what the Politburo discussed, and he overestimated the pre-conference memo's contents. He mentioned opening their fortified border and travel for every citizen, which caught the room's attention.

When a reporter asked when the changes would start, and someone yelled “Immediately?!” Schabowski replied with a distracted “Immediately. Right away.” This was not totally accurate, but the word spread fast, and the rest is history.

The storming of Normandy on D-Day is perhaps the biggest moment in WWII from an Allied view. A different outcome might have happened without a surprise birthday party. German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, commanded the Normandy defense, but he decided on a whim to surprise his wife with aErwin Rommel decided to surprise his wife with a vacation for her birthday right before D-Day..

Erwin Rommel decided to surprise his wife with a vacation right before D-Day. This caused him to leave his post for a few days. Had the most skilled German military tactician been present, things could have turned out differently. Third Reich troops could not gauge weather without Rommel's expertise, and the Allies used this lack of foresight.

Johann Rall is a lesser-known German Colonel.Rall commanded the Hessian troops.These troops aided the British in the American Revolution. Rall is known for being the victim of George Washington’s near-mythic crossing of the Delaware. Rall did not need to be that way. Rall received intelligence about Washington’s crossing the night before, but the note was in English; he did not read it, and he was busy playing chess.Rall was busy playing chess.Some accounts say Rall was also playing poker.

Rall decided to stuff the note in his pocket and leave it for later. He had no later time because he died from the fighting.

Everyone owes a great debt of gratitude to Stanislav Petrov, yet few know his name. Without Petrov, a nuclear battle between the US and the Soviet Union would almost certainly have started, devastating humankind.

On September 26, 1983, Petrov monitored the Soviets’ early warning systems. Several sensors triggered, showing the US launched missiles toward the Soviets. Petrov’s job was to start returning fire. Sensing trouble, he quickly decided to delay telling his superiors.Petrov delayed telling his superiors.Petrov knew the world would face awful repercussions if he did not.

Petrov hesitated, weighing the chance of an apocalypse against personal consequences if he was wrong. The triggered sensors proved false. Petrov’s decision to disobey his duty—a deliberate disavowal—saved his country and the world.

History shows little brightness for Marie-Antoinette. While not all her reputation is earned, her death story does not help. Marie-Antoinette was beheaded during the French Revolution, and she did not say “Let them eat cake.”She did not say “Let them eat cake.”She did not say “Let them eat cake.”

She and her family could have avoided death had she not made some bold choices.She made some bold choices.The royals planned to flee in an ordinary carriage. Marie insisted on a fancier model, which was slower and more noticeable. Antoinette did not want to split the family, which would have happened if they took two smaller, faster carriages.

This likely led to the family's final capture and killing.

In 1994, the United States nearly fought North Korea, which built nuclear weapons. Defense Secretary William Perry briefed President Clinton on stopping the North Korean nuclear program options. One man holding his tongue prevented a fight.

One of his best options was a strategic bombing of the country's nuclear facility. Perry thought this would work but likely cause a full fight. He did not share this plan with Clinton, sensing Clinton would use it. Perry held back from sharing the plan for the country's nuclear facility with Clinton. Perry thought this move would work but expected a fight. A few days later, a breakthrough happened, and a peaceful agreement formed.

Hannibal Barca was a famous Carthaginian military leader. He led combat elephants over the Pyrenees and Alps into Rome. Hannibal failed to take Rome, but a single poke with his cane might have changed that.

Hannibal struck a large snow drift to prove the ground was solid.He used his walking cane.This action started an avalanche that destroyed much of his army.