SortStack #3628 — 2036-05-15

By year · Order from earliest to most recent.

1. The last Western Roman emperor is deposed, ending the empire in the west 476

   The final emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was a teenager. The Germanic general Odoacer didn't execute him — he pensioned him off to a villa.

2. The Suez Canal opens, linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas 1869

   The canal cut the sea voyage from Europe to India by roughly 7,000 km, ending the age of sailing around the entire African continent.

3. The Wall Street Crash wipes out the stock market boom 1929

   The market didn't permanently regain its pre-crash peak until 1954, a quarter of a century later.

4. Christiaan Barnard performs the first human heart transplant in Cape Town 1967

   The first patient lived eighteen days. Barnard's second transplant patient lived more than eighteen months, proving the operation could work.

5. Richard Nixon becomes the first US president to resign 1974

   A month after he left office, his successor Gerald Ford granted him a full pardon — a decision many believe cost Ford the next election.

6. Steve Jobs unveils the first iPhone 2007

   The demo units were so buggy that engineers mapped a single 'golden path' of actions for Jobs to follow on stage — deviating risked a crash.

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