A very small cause which escapes our notice
determines a considerable effect that we cannot fail to see and then we say the effect is due to chance.
If we knew exactly the laws of nature and a situation of the universe at the initial moment
We could predict exactly the situation of that same universe at a succeeding moment
But even if it were the case, that the natural laws have no longer any secret for us
We could still only know the initial situation
If that enables us to predict the succeeding situation, with the same approximation
That is all we require and we shall say that the phenomenon has been predicted, that it is governed by laws
But it is not always so it may happen that small differences in the initial conditions produce
very great ones in the final phenomenon
A small error in the former will produce an enormous error in the latter
Prediction becomes impossible and we have the fortuitous phenomenon
These five butterfly effect examples will make you question everything
A civil war stabbing resulted in the invention of coke
There are few more recognizable names than Coca-Cola
But few realize it's invention came from a man being stabbed in the chest during the American Civil War
That followed a chain of extraordinary events that saw the birth at the popular drink
We know today the tale of Coca Cola's creation is perhaps one of the most chaotic
Surprising and shocking of any major brand still in business today
The story begins during the American Civil War
One of the bloodiest domestic conflicts in history that left a huge number of casualties on both sides
The use of morphine to ease their pain resulted in around
400,000 axe troops becoming addicted to the drug and the effects of the addiction became known as soldiers sickness
One of those effects it was Confederate Lieutenant Colonel John Pemberton
Who was stabbed in the chest at the Battle of Columbus
He began self-medicating with morphine to ease his pain and quickly became addicted
John was by trade a brilliant pharmaceutical chemist
And after the war he turned his attention to finding a cure for the debilitating sickness
Afflicting soldiers throughout the United States
After experimenting with a variety of different chemical compositions
Pemberton stumbled across what he believed to be a cure
Using extract from coca leaves and the Kola nut mixed with alcohol. He concocted a tonic
He called Pemberton's French coca wine as
The name suggests the key ingredient was cocaine
This was not unusual during the late 19th century as cocaine was a popular additive in many drinks even those marketed for children
claims about the tonics medical properties were hugely exaggerated and Cola wine was advertised as being an effective treatment
For both morphine addiction depression alcoholism and impotent
In 1886 Pemberton replaced the alcohol with sugar syrup and renamed the drink as Coca-Cola
But unfortunately for Pemberton and for many thousands across America cocaine was not an effective remedy for morphine addiction
And those who are already suffering from morphine addiction then became addicted to cocaine as well
Ironically, Pemberton himself became addicted and his aidil brain limited. Coca cola's early growth
At one point there were three companies using the name Coca Cola, although Pemberton always retained the original formula
In 1888 John Pemberton was dead and sole control was handed to his equally addicted son Charlie
This is when businessman Asik Handler bought out the business
And I was his aggressive marketing tactics that led to coca cola's world dominance of the soft drinks market
Up until 1909 the drink still contained cocaine, but this was reduced when fresh coca leaves were a place with spent leaves
Meaning only trace levels of cocaine remained
Nowadays, coca cola uses a cocaine free coca leaf extract if it hadn't been for a single stab wound to one man followed by an
Extraordinary series of events the name coca-cola would probably never exist
Sir Alexander Fleming and the invention of antibiotics
The discovery of penicillin revolutionized the world of medicine and the treatment of infections that were previously fatal could be cured with a simple course of antibiotics
But the way it was discovered was extraordinary
Bordering on the unbelievable and who would think that an untidy lab and a holiday was all it took
In 1928 Alexander Fleming a professor of bacteriology at St. Mary's Hospital in London
Was looking forward to a while earned holiday and in the rush to clock off
He left his lab in a mess leaving petri dishes strewn around
When Fleming returned to his lab a few weeks later, he began cleaning out the petri dishes
He had been using to experiment with bacteria before his holiday on one of the dishes
He noticed a mold grow on one of the cultures another colonies of Staphylococcus bacteria that had immediately surrounded it had been destroyed
Whereas other colonies further away were normal he had by complete accident
Discovered the first naturally occurring antibiotic drug that would become known as penicillin
However, although Fleming knew the potential of what he had discovered. It was too difficult to purify and produce on a large enough scale
So he abandoned the project
And it wasn't until in the 1930s that a team at Oxford led by Howard Florey
Picked up on the research and realized its enormous value to the world of Medicine
If Fleming had not left his lab in a mess and gone on holiday and penicillin hadn't been invented
it's estimated that 75% of the population might not be here today as
They would have either died from a bacterial infection or not being born at all as the result of their ancestors dying prematurely
Prior to his discovery the most minor of injuries could prove fatal
It's also worth remembering as another event in history namely the Second World War
made Florrie and his team realize how useful penicillin could be to Britain's war efforts and
With the help of the UK and US government's research and development went into overdrive
By d-day enough penicillin had been produced to use on 40 and soldiers
it's thought that the Allies had not invented and mass-produced penicillin by DD they may not have won the war as
The Germans used predominantly sulfonamides or iodine to cure their diseases and infections
but this was an inferior product compared to penicillin and
They were not able to patch up their soldiers and send them back out fighting anywhere near as quickly as the Allies
Today it's hard to imagine a world without antibiotics
Its discovery has spawned over a hundred different antibiotics. I can treat even the most serious diseases and infections
However, all good things come to an end and the day antibiotics are becoming less effective as superbugs are becoming more widespread
The overuse and misuse of antibiotics in agriculture have all contributed
significantly to the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria and
At the moment. We are sitting on the brink of disaster
With the possibility that the world could slip back into a time where people could die from an everyday infection
But we'll save that for another discussion
9/11 may not have happened if Queen Victoria hadn't been born with a random genetic mutation
Queen Victoria was born in 1819 with a rare genetic mutation of one of her X chromosomes
meaning she was a carrier of the blood disorder haemophilia in
Females this will not present any symptoms. They are just carriers
But for males the condition can be potentially life-threatening as just a small cut or grains can bleed profusely
As the condition means blood doesn't clot
So for Queen Victoria, it was not a problem
But when she had children, it was likely she would pass the condition on to them in
Fact she passed it on to three of her nine offspring
One of those children was a second daughter Alice who went on to pass the condition on to three of her own children
including her youngest daughter, Alexandra
Alexandra went on to marry tsar nicholas ii of russia and together
They had four daughters and a son alexei who she passed the faulty gene tomb
As a result of this two things happened
firstly the family became almost reclusive in an effort to protect their son Alexei and
Secondly in desperation the family became dependent on the services of the mad monk Rasputin
Who seemed to be the only person who is capable of managing Alexie's excessive bleeding?
Tsar nicholas ii was not too popular ruler among the russian people
Due to his reliance on some unreliable advisors and the common people became deeply suspicious of the family's relationship with Rasputin
this influenced what happened in late 1916 when Rasputin was murdered by minor members of the Russian nobility and
Revolution broke out in Russia
This prompted nicholas ii to abdicate in 1917 and the whole family was taken prisoner by the Bolsheviks
The following year nicholas alexandra and all five of their children were executed
This marked the end of the russian empire and it was replaced by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
With their communist ideology that spread it to boarding countries creating the USSR
over the next few decades
the USSR became a wolf power house and played an important role in the Allied victories of world war ii and
As a result of technological developments from that war entered the Cold War with the United States in
1979 they said their sights on conquering Afghanistan and in December they invaded
The Afghan people fought back and who provided them with weapons and training the United States
One of the fighters who received instruction from the US was a silent Bin Ladin
Who went on to form al-qaeda to fight against the Russians in?
1989 the USSR withdrew from Afghanistan
Leaving the country in the chaos that led to civil war
Al Qaeda chose to support and fight for the Taliban who eventually won and became the political leaders of Afghanistan
Al Qaeda planned several terrorist acts there first being against the World Trade Center in 1993
When they detonated a bomb in the basement of World Trade Center one
Although bin Laden was not the mastermind behind the World Trade Center one attacks by the mid-90s
He had developed a hatred for the u.s. Due to their presence in the Middle East
and in 1998
he declared an official jihad against the US and began planning a bigger attack if
The story is to be believed. We all know what terrible event happened next
So if Queen Victoria had not been a carrier of hemophilia
with the chain of events that followed that led to the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR never have happened and
Everything in the world would have planned out differently
Just one small random thing can change everything else in its path
Suffragette was a mistake
Emily Davison was a suffragette who threw herself in front of the Kings horse at the Epsom Derby on the 4th of June 1913
her actions
Highlighted the plight of women to get the vote and as a pinnacle moment in history that eventually changed the rights of women forever
At the time emily was hailed as a martyr who took her life so that the place of women could be changed forever
But it seems the whole thing may be a tragic mistake and that Emily never intended to kill herself for that cause at all
meaning that had fate not intervened the course of history and the rights of women may have panned out in a different way and
The lies of not one but two people would have been saved
New evidence has emerged to suggest that Emily travelled from her home in London on a return ticket
Why did she do that if she intended on taking her life?
Also, she had made holiday plans with his sister in the near future
Suggesting she had no intention of killing herself on that
Fateful day despite film technology being in its early days
The race was captured on three newsreel cameras a new technology has revealed that when Emily stepped out onto the track
She had a clear view of the King's horse Aminah and she did not as is always being perceived
Recklessly charged out in front of the galloping horse
Intent on throwing herself under its hooves
Instead it's claimed. She only meant to reach out and attach a flag to the horse's bridle
This theory is backed up by the fact the police found a flag on the floor after Emily was hit in
addition to this it is claimed that Emily and other suffragettes were seen practicing had grabbing horses in the park near her mother's house an
Elated you'll opt to determine who would go to the Derby
After colliding with aamna Emily collapsed unconscious on the track and died of her injuries four days later in Epsom Cottage Hospital
And she was hailed as a martyr for the cause
However, despite using her name proved beneficial
Inequality between men and women had she simply attached a flag to the horse as research suggests was intended her name may never be known
Amana's jockey that day was Herbert Jones and after his horse hit Emily. He was thrown to the ground and suffered a mild concussion
But the psychological damage was much more severe and he was haunted by the face of Emily for the rest of his life
In 1951 his son found him dead in a gas-filled kitchen
Wolf reintroduction
changes ecosystem
In 1914 in an effort to protect the deer population on public lands in the US
Congress released funds for the sole purpose of destroying deer predators
Mainly wolves and prairie dogs and by 1926 they'd virtually eliminated wolves from Yellowstone National Park in the US
However, no one could have foreseen that this one premeditated act of removing
a species
would have such an effect on the whole ecosystem of the park and
Higher the domino effect of killing off the Wolves nearly brought it to its knees
initially as predicted the deer population thrived and built up to unmanageable levels and
the lack of predators meant they didn't move around as much especially in winter and
Gorged on young willow Aspen and cottonwood plants
Reducing some areas to nothing. This was tough for the beaver colonies who needed willow to survive the winter. So their numbers started to dwindle
Things got so bad that by 1995 there was only one beaver colony in the park
This is why I was decided to reintroduce the gray wolf back into Yellowstone and the direct and indirect
consequences of this one decision were astonishing
the predatory presence of the Wolves when the deer no longer stayed in one place for long and
So did not intensely graze the vegetation meaning it had time to recover
This benefited the beavers who rediscovered an abundant food source
That hadn't been there for years and just six years after the walls returned
the ones bear valley sides were regenerated with an abundance of cottonwood willow and Aspen as
The Beavers expanded and built new dams and ponds. They provided habitats for birds
muskrats and aquatic life and the now robust forests saw the return of songbirds that hadn't been seen there for years and
Not only did the world's keep the deer population down
They also killed coyote as a result
The number of rabbits mice and small rodents increased which in turn encouraged more hawks foxes and badgers
the bear population and other scavengers like Ravens Eagles and Magpies also increased
As they feasted on the carcasses of the animal killed by the walls and fed on the regenerated vegetation in
Addition to all these benefits an extraordinary thing happened the behavior of the rivers changed their banks were now stabilized by the newly regenerated
Forests, so the meander glass formed more pools and suffered less erosion
All this was great news for the wildlife and the overall health and appearance of the park
Today the park is thriving as other creatures who live there as all. Thanks to the wolves the advantages of their reintroduction
Continues to astonish biologists and it's incredible to think that is one relatively small change can have just a massive impact
Not only the ecosystem of the park but its physical geography as well
The butterfly effect is all around us in a simpsons movie if Homer hadn't hits himself with a hammer while fixing the roof
The town wouldn't have been trapped under the dome
The hammerheads led to the dare contest the dare contest led to Bart skating to krustyburger
naked with Homer met the pig the pig led to the silo the silo led to the lake being poisoned and
The poisoned Lake led to the dome
We are all living breathing examples of the butterfly facts every little thing that your ancestors and everyone before you has done
Led up to you and everything you do today tomorrow next week will change the course of not only your life
But an untold number of lives around you
So if you think for one second that you're not important and your life doesn't matter you couldn't be further from the truth
You