The Big Question
The Atlantic|October 2017

Q: What Crime Most Changed The Course Of History?

The Big Question

Benjamin Percy, writer, Green Arrow and Teen Titans

 If the Sons of Liberty, in defiance of the Tea Act, hadn’t boarded those ships in Boston Harbor in 1773 and heaved overboard shipments from the East India Company, then the British Parliament wouldn’t have responded with the Intolerable Acts. The American Revolution might not have erupted into all-out war, and the Constitution might not have been written

Tana French, author, The Trespasser

Gavrilo Princip’s assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, precipitated World War I, which reshaped large parts of the world politically, culturally, and psychologically and laid the groundwork for World War II.

Reginald Hudlin, director, Marshall

This story is from the October 2017 edition of The Atlantic.

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This story is from the October 2017 edition of The Atlantic.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.