History Buffs Break Down Little-Known Historical Events That Actually Shaped The World

We must learn and appreciate the history that has come before us; or else we are doomed to repeat it. Truth in knowledge. That reason alone makes historical knowledge imperative. It is fascinating to know the drama of life. There are so many turning points that crafted the way we live, it's criminal not to be aware.
Redditor u/Kalehfornyuh wanted to hear from all us history geeks. Let's teach people some lessons. it was asked..... History buffs of Reddit: what historical events dramatically shaped world history but for some reason are nearly forgotten about?In Threes
The 3rd Battle of Panipat.
Completely winded the Afghans, turned the Mughals into puppets and weakened the Marathas greatly.
This turmoil was astonishingly good fortune to the lucky British who were then able to scrap their way to the top of India.
Once the British had India, the history of Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa was set.
The "Dark Era"
Clouded in darkness for 18 months:
The "dark era" of 536 AD which was also one of the worst years to be alive. A mysterious dust cloud had engulfed Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia into darkness for 18 months!
Temperatures during summers dropped to as low as 1.5° C and it is the coldest decade in the past 2300 years. The "dark" era witnessed snow falling in China, people starving, famine and failure of crops.
The culprit of this phenomenon is a cataclysmic volcanic eruption in Iceland which expelled ash around the Northern Hemisphere. This was followed by two more volcanic eruptions.
The historical event was especially deadly for Europe as it wiped out nearly a third of its population!
Oh Fritz....
Frtiz Haber, in 1910, invented the Haber-Bosch process, which allowed for the production of ammonia from nitrogen gas. This ammonia would end up allowing for increased fertilizer production, allowing millions more people to be fed and clothed by agricultural processes. However, nitrogen compounds are also used heavily in explosive compounds such as artillery shells and smokeless powder. Basically, Haber provided the means for the world powers of the day (And especially Germany) to cheaply produce all the armaments that would be used in WWI and beyond.
the cool
The invention of air conditioning.
Fun fact is that it was invented for its dehumidifying ability; cold was just a side effect.
False Alarm
Stanislav Petrov was the Soviet duty officer in charge of an early-warning system on September 26, 1983. The system detected a missile launch from the United States. Then another... and another (up to 6 total). He decided that the reports were false alarms (spoiler... they were), and probably saved humanity from a nuclear holocaust. In an investigation later conducted by the Soviet military it was discovered that the sun's reflection was creating false positives on the warning system.
Being Blunted
Might be too recent to qualify, but James Blunt (the singer) prevented World War Three.
He was the captain in command on the ground leading NATO forces into Kosovo.
They got to an airfield that had been occupied by 200 Russian soldiers, and General Wesley Clark (US) ordered Blunt to attack and take the airfield by force.
Blunt refused. Questioned his orders up two different chains of command until a British general (Mike Jackson) intervened, declaring he would not have his men starting World War Three.
They later agreed to share the airfield with the Russians.
Jonas Salk
That one time when humanity was worth more than money.
Before there was a cure, polio would paralyze as many as 20,000 kids a year. In the US, everyone had at least one relative stricken with it: it was deadly in up to 5% of children and 30% of adults. Enter Jonas Salk who in the early 1950's invented a cure for this scourge. While within his right to take out a patent and charge royalties for it, he passed on the prospect and gave the cure away.
Let me say that again: he didn't lose the window of opportunity to patent, he didn't not know what a patent was or face any form bureaucratic, institutional or political resistance: he knowingly and willingly donated his cure to the world without expecting anything back. By doing so, he lowered the cost of his treatment by as much as 25% and cut the red tape required to manufacture the medicine worldwide. Forbes estimates that Salk could have made as much as 6 billion dollars off his patent: if he had wanted to, he could have easily built and lived in an average 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1600 square ft suburban home... but made of gold.
Because of his outstanding act of kindness and all the suffering he ended, Salk was known nationwide and barbers, shoe shiners, tailors and diner owners would frequently refuse to charge him for their services as an act of gratitude. As of 2018, there have been less than 40 reported cases worldwide, and polio is on track to be eradicated by the end of the decade.
The Fire
The Reichstag fire in Berlin in 1933. It was basically the catalyst that enabled Hitler to attain unlimited power.
Papal Ways
Battle of Tours. If Charles Martel lost, Christendom would have been destroyed by the Umayyad Caliphate. There would be no Papal States, no Charlemagne, no Holy Roman Empire, No Germany, no third reich. Quite frankly history as we know it would turn out quite different.
The Big C
The donation of Constantine, it was a forged document discovered by the midici that gave early Catholics land and power , no one really knows who wrote it, but because of it the Catholics got as powerful as they did.
Mixed Routes
The 1453 Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey). Due to the collapse of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottomans, many Greek scholars fled to Italy and started what is now known as the Renaissance.
Perhaps more importantly, due to the closure of many trade routes to Asia, European powers had to find new ways to trade with India and China.
Enter Christopher Columbus; who's original aim was to do exactly that for the Spanish crown and instead encountered the Americas along the way. The rest, as they say, is history.
Also the 1870 Franco-Prussian War. Which led to the formation of the German Empire (thereby upsetting the balance of power in Europe) and the French vowing revenge on the Germans, which had an impact on the First World War.
The Fog
The Great Smog of London in the 1950's. Killed up to 12,000 and injured thousands more.
A mysterious pea soup fog mixed with coal smog that covered the city for days. In the fog there was a crime wave where criminals were hidden by the fog and police couldn't operate, and there was even one famous serial killer who killed in the fog. John Reginald Christie. A book about it called Death in The Air is very interesting and worth a read.
Hail Mary
Mary Louvestre. She completely helped change the course of the civil war, and yet not many people know about her.
She was a newly-freed slave and worked as a housekeeper for a Confederate engineer who was a part of the group of people building the new confederate ship/vessel.
She intercepted a letter (blueprints) sent to the engineer regarding the secret plans for the confederacy's newest navy vessel, which would be the first ship of its kind. She hurriedly sketched/copied the plans onto another piece of paper and hid it on her before returning the letter back to its previous spot.
Mary Louvestre then managed to get ahold of the Secretary of the Union Navy and showed him the blueprints that she had copied. This was a turning point because this new vessel would be an element or surprise in the war and would've changed the tides had Mary not found out about it.
Mary's bravery led to the Union having the upper hand and the capability to overcome the confederacy's new vessel.
She literally risked her life and, in the end, made a drastic difference in the war. She deserves way more attention and acknowledgement. <333
Revolution
German Revolution (November 1918)
The Russian Revolution was the beginning of the end of WW1. The German Revolution was the actual end. The armistice happened because the German Navy had mutinied and the mutiny was spreading among soldiers. Strikes were widespread.
The fiercest opponents of this revolution were the German officer class. Many of them would join the Freikorps to fight against the revolution. One of them, an officer named Adolf Hitler, would later seek to recruit many of these Freikorps veterans, first in an armed uprising against the post-revolution state, then later into a new type of political party, one that maintained both a 'legitimate' wing (the NSDAP) and a street fighting wing (the SS).
Go Fish
The battle of Fishguard - the last time there was a foreign invasion in the Uk was the french invading Wales in 1797. The french came inland and some fighting was done (33 killed I think) but due to lack of discipline (and boozing) the french were taken aback.
The British then told the french they had until a certain time the next morning to surrender. The next morning the British lined the beach of Fishguard and a women named Jemima Nichols organized the welsh women to dress in the traditional welsh costume, which at the time looked (from afar) like a soldiers uniform. The french thought there were far more soldiers than there actually was and surrendered.
Thao
Pham Ngoc Thao was a high ranking commander in the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) during the Vietnam War. In actuality he was a sleeper agent working for the North Vietnamese. Thao sabotaged the Strategic Hamlet Initiative by having ARVN/US forcibly relocate rural people from their villages causing resentment of the Diem regime in rural areas along the North/South border. Thao also acted as a key player in the coup against Diem.
He was a key player in keeping the junta divided and would be a key player in several more coups. After a failed coup attempt, Thao's rivals in the South found out about his true loyalty and had him killed. However the division he caused in South Vietnam took its toll and was one of the factors that led to the North's successful takeover of the South.
The Occupied
Almost any decision prior to Kursk in Operation Barbarossa; Stalin moving factories north and away from the front lines, German Army treatment of Soviet civilians, Hitler's decision to not go after Moscow, Hitler not stopping Barbarossa after a certain point and negotiating surrender terms when he had enormous chunks of Europe and Asia, the Lend-Lease Program's effects on it all...
And on the other side, the entire Chinese occupation by Japan. China lost a lot of people keeping the largest chunk of skilled, veteran Japanese soldiers in China for years, sapping Japan's strength from the Pacific war with the US, and that sacrifice isn't even mentioned in US history books.
Wash your hands....
Ignaz Semmelweis. Pioneered sterilization procedures after discovering that washing your hands between dissecting cadavers and delivering babies would keep women from dying from infection after childbirth.
It's actually a pretty sad story, and I don't feel like typing it out, so here.
The Elixir
The invention of black powder! And the Mongolians introducing it to the Europeans through war.
It was created trying to make an "Elixir of Life." It is a mixture of charcoal (used for filtering water, soap, and other types of cleaning and filtering). Potassium Nitrate salt basically (was used for killing bacteria and healing infections) And sulfur that well can't remember why they added it but it was used for something.
But they mixed them together and added heat that made it explode.
If that didn't happen then we wouldn't have gotten out of the medieval period and wouldn't have started the industrial revolution.
Think about it, without black powder we would still be using swords, armor, horses, and castles. Still be dying of broken legs, a small cut, or unclean water.
In trying to make immortality and something peaceful they made the most deadly weapon in history.
Drown
There was a pharmacist who saved a boy from drowning. The boys name was Adolf Hitler.
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We don't talk about Bruno... and all of the other crazies in the family.
Maybe that is why that song struck such a chord... we can all relate to family secrets and family crazy.
Even though every generation has gotten a little more open and willing to discuss trauma, we still have a long way to go.
There is something to be said for not airing out all of the dirty laundry.
Everybody doesn't have to know private business.
Redditor istrx13 was wondering things families don't talk about...
They asked:
"What is the 'we don’t talk about that' in your family?"
I'm not getting into my family. You'll have to wait for the play.
The 30s...
"My great aunt was a nurse supervisor at a mental hospital back in the 1930s. She fell in love with a patient who was being evaluated to stand trial for murder. She helped him escape and they went to Florida to hide out. But they were eventually found and the guy was put on trial and got the chair. My aunt got off easy, but she moved far away and rarely came home."
p38-lightning
he didn't make it...
"The brother that was born between me and my first sister. It was my mothers second child. Apparently he only lived about 3 days. Neither my mom nor my dad ever wanted to talk about it much. My sisters and I both have seen the birth certificate, which my parents kept."
"We also know there were about 3 years where they waited before my mom became pregnant with my sister afterward. Both of my parents are deceased now and to be frank, I think I only got about a paragraph of conversation about it, ever, from either of my parents. Just a, 'he didn't make it.'"
"It's not creepy or some strange thing, it's just sad. You can tell it affected them both very powerfully, especially to go the rest of their lives and not really share it with current and future children they had. It must have been horrible."
suddenlyreddit
Now that she's dead...
"My mother's cult-induced severe mental illness, which caused her to viciously abuse her two oldest children verbally and physically, and forced my dad to have her committed to a mental hospital several times. Now that she's dead, we still don't talk about her much, lest she "come back from beyond the grave" and continue her lunatic ways..."
LusciousLennyStone
“drama”
"That I have been in contact with my birth family. My older brother and I are both adopted, but he has publicly stated that he has no intention to contact his own birth family, because, he feels that it would be disrespectful to the parents that have raised us, like, why mess with a good thing?"
"So, I’ve never told him that I did it. My husband also didn’t think I should contact them, he was concerned that there would be 'drama.' I keep in touch with some of my birth family mostly online and so far there’s been no drama."
Relevant_Proposal_63
Hey Stud
"That my late uncle was a gigolo. Only my father and I know the truth."
KazumaWillKiryu
Now being a gigolo has got to be a great story. Tell us more...
"always is right"
"My 'always right' aunty got proven wrong for once and rather than just accept it, she ghosted the whole family except for her immediate. Sometimes I talk to my cousins and always ask how wrong Wendi is doing?"
-AntiVegan-
"silver fox"
"How my uncle, whom is a single, 'silver fox' (so my grandma calls him), multimillionaire, executive of one of the big 3 car companies is secretly gay. We ALL know except grandma, that's why we don't talk about it. He also has no idea that the whole family knows."
laurmichele
All the Feels
"Sex, love, anorexia, emotions in general."
Constant-Memory-1069
"Mate, literally same. My parents are the most emotionally unavailable people I have ever met. It's not really their fault bc my entire family is cooked mental health wise, but damn."
"I'm convinced it was a huge contributing factor to my anorexia diagnosis. Lots of emotional turmoil but I wasn't taught how to talk about emotions, wasn't even really exposed to emotions, and no one to talk with about them anyway. Only way I could signal to the outside world I was not OK was starving myself, I guess. I'm ok now. Hope you are also ok."
Soggy_Biscuit_
Crazy Woman
"My cousin who is absolutely crazy. Got an abortion because she hated the guy, got married to him a few months later and started a family (they have 3 kids who are demons)… they moved out of state but she started coming back home once every few months to drop off the kids at her parents and then go on a bender and basically live in a motel for a few days."
"Then the divorce came, she married one of the guys she was banging on the side, got divorced again after cheating on him with husband number 1… now she’s dating her drug dealer. Again she still has custody of her 3 kids."
Old-Air1062
Whoops...
"I was a complete accident. They found out at the wedding and I’m pretty sure my Christian grandparents weren’t happy. They’ve only talked about it a few times."
AHorrorFreak
Some secrets are meant to stay in the family and meant to go to the grave.
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For the most part, survival tips have been taught to us from a young age. We know to call 911 if there's an emergency and to put pressure on a bleeding wound. Boy Scouts know to be always prepared. Hikers know to conserve water, campers know how to build a fire, and anyone who spends a great deal of time outdoors knows how to locate shelter.
However, those skills are pretty basic. If you get into real trouble, you'll need more specific survival skills in order to get yourself out of trouble.
Some people can give you survival tips that can mean the difference between life and death. Others may give you tips that seem to make sense, but will probably only lead to death. It can be a great skill to learn the difference.
That's probably the thought process that led Redditor scarredforlife164 to ask:
"What "survival tips" would probably get you killed?"
Not All Meat Is Safe To Eat
"Saw this on a survival show:
“If you find a dead animal and it’s fairly fresh (flies haven’t set in) its relatively safe to eat because a. It’s fresh b. Nothing has had a chance to spread disease to it by eating.”
"Problem is that if you can’t see a visible reason for death, it’s probably disease that killed the damn thing and you’re about to eat it."
"A girl on Naked and Afraid 40 days quoted the survivalist that said this shortly after finding a bird on the ground of the jungle she was in. The bird was fresh, still warm, flexible etc, just dead."
"She ended up contracting avian tuberculosis, which is apparently really hard to do if you’re not a bird"
– Apprehensive_Oven924
"This is why my parents always told me to not even touch dead animals (exemption: our pets, but we knew why they died). I can't believe that anyone would just eat some random dead animal."
– Nico_MyTrueSelf
The Shock Won't Save You
"Had a coworker try and tell me once the best way to disarm a guy pointing a handgun at your face was to quickly slap his hand holding the pistol because it would "shock him into dropping it". I've never tested the theory but I'm willing to bet any shock would just as likely cause that trigger finger to clench as well."
– ArchaeoFox
The Importance of Water
"Conserving all of your water. If you’re thirsty, drink!"
– getyourcheftogether
"Not drinking your water when lost and thirsty because you're almost out of water. There are lots of people found with water left who were fully dehydrated but to scared to run out of water"
– Logitoh
Don't Let Him Catch Up To You!
"run in a zig zag away from crocodiles, it just tires you out"
– No_Government_3604
Never Arm You Opponent
"Throwing knives were a thing when I was in the Army. If you have a knife and your opponent does not, don’t give it to him or her."
–Grillparzer47
"The enemy cannot push a button...if you disable his hand."
– hardspank916
Report It Right Away
"that you have to wait a certain amount of time before reporting someone missing. no, the second someone is missing, report it"
– karleyh6
No Bear Is One Color
"If its black fight back, if its brown lay down. Brown bears can be black and black bears can be brown"
– random_person4444
Run, Run As Fast As You Can
"Any “learn to fight in a weekend” martial arts tips. Step one: run like a mother f*cker."
– dewayneestes
Don't Drink Cactus Juice
"DO NOT DRINK WATER FROM A CATUS WHEN YOU’RE THIRSTY IN THE DESERT. IT IS PROBABLY GOING TO KILL YOU BEFORE DEHYDRATION DOES."
– Consistent_Leopard77
Tornado Tips
"DO NOT lay in a roadside ditch or hide under a bridge during a tornado."
"There's a good chance the tornado will flip your car on top of you in the ditch."
"Under the bridge will turn into a wind tunnel, accelerating the debris that will rip your body to shreds."
– tyleristheman02
Did you learn something? I certainly didn't know black bears could be brown and brown bears could be black. Of course, I prefer not to need to know anything about bears at all!
Survival tips are certainly important to know. Just make sure whatever tips you get are from a reputable source.
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There are certain things you should not be skimpy about when it comes time to buy them. For example: toiletries. Why in the world would you want to use somebody else's toothbrush? A used toothbrush, we should underscore.
You'd run away screaming if you saw a used one sitting on a shelf at Goodwill, wouldn't you? Of course you would. You would immediately go to the pharmacy and pick up a brand new one, like a smart person.
People shared their thoughts with us after Redditor Idkewokorsomthing asked the online community:
"What is the one thing you should always buy new?"
"Once it's been in an accident..."
"Bike helmets. Once it’s been in an accident or even just dropped, the foam is compressed and won’t protect you as much."
beetlereads
This is very true! Do not ever use a helmet that's already sustained an accident. It could be as bad as not wearing one at all.
"Fire chief in my town once said a ladder truck. He wouldn’t ask anyone to climb a used ladder. A used tanker or ambulance maybe."
Ok-cantaloupe7160
Don't those things have maintenance and inspection protocols in place? I would certainly hope so.
"Hard drives and flash memory..."
"Any sort of computer storage."
"Hard drives and flash memory used in solid state drives and flash drives wears down over time. The more you read and write to it, the more it wears down. If you buy used, you don't know what that storage was used for, how often, or how heavily. It could last you years to come or die the next day."
Batcastle3
Considering the lifetime of SSDs, it's kinda okay. There is almost no way to break one, and the cell life time is good, and controllers help protecting them from wear leveling.
For HDDs though, buying used drives is a bad idea.
"It's one thing..."
"Fabric furniture. It’s one thing to by your friends couch, but you have no idea what was going on with that sofa sitting in goodwill."
PMme
Bedbugs are terrifying. Trust me, you never want to deal with them.
"Though really..."
"Wicker furniture. Though really, you shouldn't buy that type of furniture at all. It's the perfect nesting space for bugs."
[deleted]
See?! What did I tell you?! Don't do it!
"You can't use them..."
"Oh, and baby car seats. You can't use them after a car accident and buying secondhand means you can't always verify that it hasn't been in one."
[deleted]
I would certainly hope that people aren't still using them after accidents. That's just asking for trouble.
"Once they've been..."
"Shoes, especially for kids. Once they've been worn in to conform with someone else's foot, you don't want your kids putting their growing feet in there to get reshaped."
i_know_tofu
Also... gross. Just gross.
Get your kids feet measured regularly and listen to your kids if they tell you that their shoes are too tight of they hurt.
"They're expensive..."
"Children's car seats. They're expensive but there's no guarantee what condition they are in second hand, particularly if they've been through an accident already."
[deleted]
Parents, take note! You'll definitely thank yourselves later.
"Climbing rope. You can't tell how many falls its had or how old it is, and it's literally your life line when you're rock climbing."
JudeoCrustacean
Very important! People die in climbing accidents each year – don't be one of them.
"It's actually not healthy..."
"Shoes. It’s actually not healthy to walk in some other person's shoes. It has an impact on your whole body and can cause severe different pains in your body."
pulpriot
You don't want to have issues with your feet in later life! Again, you'll be thankful you listened to this advice.
Some other things I'd add off the top of my head: Mattresses, power supplies, oh, and... this should go without saying, but underwear,
Yes, underwear. The human race pains me.
Have some recommendations of your own? Tell us more in the comments below!
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I've got a decent amount of animals - some fish, turtles, dogs, etc. - but out of all of them, Optimus Prime is definitely *my* pet.
He's kind of a jerk to everyone else, but a with me he's a the biggest bestest beefaroni boy.
That is an outright lie, this dog is awfully behaved and taught himself how to open doors so he stays letting mosquitos in the house and air conditioning all of South Florida instead of just my living room. I just have a soft spot for him.
But here's the thing - soft spot or not, if someone offered me $50k for this dog, my reaction wouldn't be horror because I just love my "shmoopies" and even can't imagine. I'm not that privileged.
I grew up poor, believe me I've imagined $50k a lot. "Shmoops" might get voted off the island when $50k keeps your babies safe and housed. Relax, animal lovers. Optimus Prime is in no danger of going anywhere.
Nobody is tryna pay $50k to be headbutted and farted at all day.
That fact is precisely why my reaction to someone offering me cash for him would be straight up suspicion.
Optimus is a big beautiful male pit bull with so much muscle that he has abs on his butt.
He doesn't have any official papers, and he's fixed so he can't be used for breeding.
He's not a therapy dog and doesn't do any special tricks (on purpose) and in the time it took me to write this intro he farted so loudly that he scared himself awake and then got so excited by the sudden wake up that he did 3 bunny bounces. It's clear this would not be a high-skilled-labor kind of hire, ya know?
So why would someone want to spend that much money on this dog specifically?
Hmm?
I'd be suspicious that anyone willing to drop serious money on him was going to try to use his size and strength in dog fights and THAT is not gonna fly with me. Not a chance.
The person offering would have to convince me that they're willing to spend that much money on a giant dumb pit bull for some non-fighting reason and that he would have a dope life. Maybe I'd say yes because they sincerely believe he's the reincarnated spirit of their college bro who died in a horrific skiing accident, and they need to take him on a cross country road trip to fulfill the last thing on their bromantic bucket list?
Maybe.
Reddit user spondgbob asked:
"If someone offered you $50,000 to buy your pet, how would you respond?"
Here's what Reddit has to say.
Outside
"I'd tell them to meet me outside the local PetSmart in an hour and then rush there and buy a hamster or something."
"Kind of my only option since I don't have a pet."
- eleven_eighteen
"You sir, are playing 3D chess while the rest of us are all playing checkers."
- StillAll
Irrational Love
"Great question."
"Made me think for a second because my immediate answer is no but upon thinking about it, and how badly I need the money, the answer is still no."
"Irrational love is crazy."
- To_Fight_The_Night
"Same."
"I could desperately use that money and there's nothing special about my cats. Took a moment to realize it's completely irrational but I could never part with these idiots."
"The harder question after this is at what price point, if any, would you do it?"
- joyfall
Everything Has A Price
"Everything has a price, and they’re in luck that the price for my blind, deaf, arthritic dog happens to be $50k"
- DoctorDblYou
"I mean $50k is $50k."
- MinnesotaMiller
"Like I get that some people view pets as family, good for them. I don't, so as long as they weren't gonna torture the animal or something, then 100% would do it."
- avelak
Poo Problems
" 'You may have the one that runs from it's own poo after it sh*ts' "
- Blastin-Ass
"Had a cat get spooked while sh*tting... when it finished he managed to nuke 4 rooms :( "
- tuffymon
"I call what my dog does a 'poop-about.' "
"Like a walk-about, but she is pooping as she waddles around the yard sniffing rocks and stuff. She's a weird critter and I love her more than anything."
- cycloptopussy
"One of my earliest memory is having a blast farting in the bathtub... and then..."
"Don't make fun of your pet, your own poop can be very scary and we deserve love no less than more courageous creatures."
- RaccoonyDave·
Bye
"Give it to them."
"I love my aquarium and fish in it. But I could build a sweet aquarium set up with $50k."
- Inner-Nothing7779
"Exactly! I wouldn't sell my dog but I'd give my aquariums away for 50k."
"One of them is a custom that a built a background for and I'd still give it away for 50k."
- RPC3
"Yeah, I would sell my cat in a heartbeat. Call me a narcissist I guess."
"Good thing I dont have kids."
- Maggy_Monster
$100k
"I'll take the $100,000 in cash."
"50k to give him to you and another 50k to take him back tomorrow when you've finally reached your limit and can't keep him anymore."
"My dog has his own spirit animal, and that spirit animal is a bag of dicks."
"My dog has separation anxiety and a powerful set of lungs."
"I have to drop him off at my mom's house on the way to work so he can be with someone familiar or else he'll be howling all day. He sounds like a dying bison."
"I'm talking loud enough to hear inside your house half a block away. While he's *inside* my house!"
- Tobias_Atwood
Medical Needs
"I'd sell."
"My kitty is old at this point and I worry now. Someone willing to pay $50k for her probably has the money to take care of medical needs that will be coming soon. That's money I dont have."
"I love her, she has been my family for 17 years now, but if she gets sick reality is I'm gonna have to get her put down probably. She'd have a better chance with someone rich to spoil her at the end."
- BlueClouds42
Sick Sh*t
"I'm shocked by everyone saying they'd do it?!"
"If someone is willing to pay that much, just imagine the sick sh*t they are planning on doing. No way I could live with myself."
"Would you sell your kid? You can get a lot more than 50k for one of them..."
"I have a hard time believing someone willing to sell a dog for a 'lot of money' wouldn't be tempted to or actually sell a child."
"It's alooooot of money for children, so if money is the motivator...."
- Pepperclue_55
Little Napoleon
"Couldn't sell."
"My a$$hole cat is a jerk, but family. Though I would expect a lot of push to sell him since he is mean to everyone with only rare moments of niceness."
"Plus they whoever got him would likely kill him."
"He is allergic to fish, can't wear a collar even a breakaway one (somehow almost strangled himself twice), sits in the middle of the road if he escapes, eats the random stuff on the ground, randomly attacks people (full on claws, teeth- goes for the veins usually breaks skin and causes a bruise), has diseases, and goes after other animals in the house regardless of size."
"I hate it and get mad at my boyfriend every time he says it, but he jokes that natural selection is trying its best with my cat. He's kind of right."
"He is untrainable and awful, but incredibly cute and everyone wants to pet him (but quickly learn not to go near him.) At least he does not attack kids 5 and under though."
"I wanted to name him lil Napoleon as he is perpetually ready for a battle and a short legged munchkin. I took him in from my sister but couldn't change his name so it became my nickname for him."
- Wolfling
Get Over It
"It is a beta fish that we have had for six days. The kids are currently celebrating it still being alive because they accidentally killed our first fish in about six hours."
"Suffice to say, I’m pretty sure we can get them over it."
"Yes please on the $50,000."
- NurmGurpler
Time to be honest with yourself—would you do it?
What would your reaction be?
Let's argue in the comments!
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