- The Greek defeats of the Persians at battles such as Salamis and Gaugamela.
- Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon.
- the death of Alexander
- the life and death of Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, etc...
- the battles of Pearl Harbour and Midway
- the first detonation of an atom bomb
- the defeat of the Spanish Armada
- Napoleon's defeat in Russia
- Germany's defeat at Stalingrad
- the German failure in the Battle of Britain
- the Fall of France
- the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
- the invention of the computer
- the first powered airplane flight
- the discovery of electricity
- the invention of radio and television
- the invention of the camera
- the first rubber band!
- the invention of the internal combustion engine
- the invention of the written word!
- the first chimpanzee to run for president of the USA!
Really, it's an endless list. Which part of it you focus on will depend greatly on your cultural background, I suspect (most nationalities tend to be just a tad self-centered).
For Canadians, the hinge of history would be...ummm...well, I guess it would either be the British victory over the French on the Plains of Abraham...or the day Shane McBride chugged his first beer and got it all down. He was 7 years old.