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They Changed the Course of Human History...

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  • They Changed the Course of Human History...

    I was surfing on wikipedia a few days ago and I came upon a mini biographical about Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer. Apparently he correctly summarised that an American nuclear strike showing up on his sensors was a computer malfunction and an alarm for a retaliatory strike was not to be raised.

    After reading that article, I am wondering how many more such people who have influenced the course of human history in such a huge way are out there. People who have remained relatively unknown and often, unsung or unblamed.


    Here are a few that I could find, seniors please do feel free to add more content or comment on the existing one:

    • Gavrilo Princip:
      Gavrilo Princip was a Yugoslav nationalist associated with the freedom movement Mlada Bosna (Young Bosnia). Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his pregnant wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.

    • Richard Sorge:
      Sorge supplied the Soviet Red Army with information about the Anti-Comintern Pact, the German-Japanese Pact and warned of the Pearl Harbor attack. In 1941, Sorge is said to have informed them of the exact launch date of Operation Barbarossa.

    • Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov:
      Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov was a Soviet naval officer. During the Cuban Missile Crisis he prevented the launch of a nuclear torpedo and therefore a possible nuclear war.

    • Oleg Penkovsky:
      Oleg Vladimirovich Penkovsky, codenamed "Agent Hero", was a colonel with Soviet military intelligence (GRU) in the late 1950s and early 1960s who informed the United States about the Soviet Union placing missiles on Cuba, which led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

    • Stanislav Petrov:
      Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov is a retired Soviet Air Defence Forces lieutenant colonel who deviated from standard Soviet doctrine by correctly identifying a missile attack warning as a false alarm on September 26, 1983. This decision most likely resulted in preventing an accidental retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its Western Allies.



    These are basically some people that I feel are relatively unknown by the public at large vis-a-vis their actions, good or bad as they may be.

  • #2
    Wiki, is know for misleading information. A nuclear torpedo from the Soviets in 63 and during the cuban missle crisis? That alone should have tipped you as the the reliability of Wiki.?

    *Actually is was a US Admiral that almost started a war by threatening to open fire with turret #1 onboard USS Newport News against a Soviet freighter carring missles towards Cuba unless they were uncovered for inspection. Needless to say looking down 3 auto 8" guns changed their minds and they quickly uncovered them.;)

    *There is video of this encounter and narrated by a crewmember at the time of engagement.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rOKwMTjZYM
    Last edited by Dreadnought; 07 Oct 09,, 21:30.
    Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

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    • #3
      Wiki, is know for misleading information. A nuclear torpedo from the Soviets in 63 and during the cuban missle crisis? That alone should have tipped you as the the reliability of Wiki.?
      Ah, Wiki reliability, you and my professor must be members of the same anti-wiki cult :P. On a more serious note, I did check the nuclear torpedo story and it seems that there might be truth to it after all.

      Cold War submarines: the design and construction of U.S. and Soviet submarines, By Norman Polmar, Kenneth J. Moore: Basically states that the Soviet Foxtrots were in fact carrying nuclear torpedoes. Also, from a cross reference of resources Vasili Arkhipov's Foxtrot was designated B-59. (Pg. 203-204)


      The Submarines of October, By William Burr and Thomas S. Blanton: This one also details that the Soviet Foxtrots were carrying nuclear weapons on board. Interestingly enough, this paper also states that the aborted nuclear torpedo launch should be taken with a pinch of salt. I guess it is up to the defense professionals on the forum to corroborate.


      *Actually is was a US Admiral that almost started a war by threatening to open fire with turret #1 onboard USS Newport News against a Soviet freighter carring missles towards Cuba unless they were uncovered for inspection. Needless to say looking down 3 auto 8" guns changed their minds and they quickly uncovered them.
      Wow, did not know that... great youtube video too, thanks :) Btw, for the life of me I think I have seen the presenter somewhere else on the net or maybe even this forum

      Also, thanks for the info and critique Dreadnought, I am not a defense professional and hope to learn as much as I can from u guys.

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      • #4
        *Could have easily have become a "Mexican standoff" had a nuclear torpeo have been used they would have risked sinking some of their own ships since there were so many in the area and with the cruiser targeting one ship carrying those missles it could have gotten very interesting. I dont know if those missles were nuclear tipped but I can imagine that if an 8" round hit one the effects would not be all that good for either side. Even if they sunk the ships carrying them, thats an awful lot of rubles that just went under and then would most likely would have had to have been retrieved by their Navy.
        Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

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        • #5
          Actually, Wikipedia is pretty bad because it precludes a multiplicity of viewpoints. The greatest threat Wikipedia poses is not towards the existing encyclopedias, but rather other websites. Since everyone can just look up stuff on Wikipedia, why start your own website with your own viewpoints on various matters?

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          • #6
            George Stephenson , commonly called the father of the railways which without would not have opened up the world to overland travel , not to say it would not have come about by other inventors but he gets the credit , his house still stands in Darlington , used as offices now , but with a memororative plaque
            Last edited by tankie; 14 Oct 09,, 14:06.

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