Your help with an experiment please.

[RainbowSingularity]

argumentative
victory over Europe day millions of americans would never have been born because their parents would have been exterminated.
victory over japan day slightly similar but probably worked to death in death camps
along with systemised mass rape the chances of the average american or brit or European being alive today is not soo great.

20th century the day the Russian commander decided to not hit the launch button because of the computer glitch. the computer said it was a launch by the usa. but the commander thought it may be a glitch, went against standard protocol and decided not to launch

Cuban missile crisis when the Russian sub commander decided not to launch the nuclear torpedo which would have likely triggered nuclear all out war
when his orders were to launch if he lost radio contact etc... (seen several movies and read stuff on the internet)
mind boggling

 

[DaveC426913]

Wrong century

Not sure if I'm flattered or offended.

 

[sideshowbob]

Logic would dictate it would be your own birthday because without such you would be unable to answer this question.
variant reality the birthday of your parents

Since he set the start date at the 19th century, it seems likely that he intended a date in the 19th century (which, I now realize, would exclude my own suggestion).

 

[DaveC426913]

Since he set the start date at the 19th century, it seems likely that he intended a date in the 19th century

That seems a tenuous assumption.

I think the operative word is "since" (the beginning of the 19th century).

 

[sideshowbob]

That seems a tenuous assumption.

I think the operative word is "since".

Sure, and if I say, "since sunrise", I don't mean, "since noon."

I'd say the assumption is at least 50% good.

 

[DaveC426913]

Sure, and if I say, "since sunrise", I don't mean, "since noon."

Correct, you mean from sunrise until now.

'since the beginning of the 19th century' means from the beginning of the 19th century until now.
How is there any other interpretation?

 

[sideshowbob]

Correct, you mean from sunrise until now.

'since the beginning of the 19th century' means from the beginning of the 19th century until now.
How is there any other interpretation?

I'm just saying, if you mean, "since noon," you don't say, "since sunrise," even if that includes everything since noon. And if you say, "since the beginning of the 19th century," you probably don't mean today. Why would you broaden the scope unnecessarily?

 

[James R]

Right. Where has nicolaou got to? The answer is now 14.5 years overdue, and I want to know if it's coming soon. Once we have it, then I can leave.

 

[James R]

Ooh. What if 26 January was the date of nicolaou's death? That would explain why he never returned to give us THE ANSWER.

Spooky! (Magical Realist is going to love this shit.)

 

[River Ape]

This is a very difficult question to answer as nothing terribly important has happened recently (since 1801).
You really need to go back to 26 August 1789, the key date in the Declaration of the Rights of Man . . .
The development and propulsion of the notion that morality should be governed by "Rights" rather than by scripture -- in effect, for the Western World, the supplanting of Christian Scripture (including the Old Testament) by the Religion of Rights -- has had the most profound impact of anything to occur in at least the last five hundred years.

Of course, this could be regarded as a Eurocentric answer. I do not mean to dismiss the impact of the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, but at that time the population of the British colonies in North America is estimated to have been only one-eighth that of France.