差一点扭转历史的10件小事(下)

5.A Copyright Claim Could Have Balkanized The Internet

5.一份差点分裂万维网的版权文件

Imagine living in a world where "the" Internet had been replaced by multiple Internets, where competing browsers were completely incompatible, information was kept on strict, closed loops, and getting online meant choosing which company's vision of the web you wanted to buy into. There'd be no vast, shared experience like Twitter, no popular list-based websites, and no Internet as we know it. In 1992, this world nearly happened.

想像一下，如果我们生活在这样一个世界——在那里英特网被分散独立，不同的浏览器之间完全不兼容，信息被封锁，而上网也变成选择购买哪间公司的网络版本。那儿也没有诸如推特这样的大型分享平台，没有最受欢迎的网站，也不存在我们所知的网络。1992年，世界差点就变成那样。

In an interview with Time magazine in 2001, Tim Berners-Lee revealed that he seriously considered patenting the web not long after its launch. He and a friend consulted with lawyers about going the money route and setting up their own company, something which potentially could have made them both millions. Ultimately, Berners-Lee rejected the idea, preferring to focus on the tech side of things and keep the web open to all. That decision could have easily gone the other way. Had that happened, you wouldn't be reading this now. In 2011, TechDirt compiled a list of potential differences if the web had been patented, and the results were insane. You'd have no Google. Search would be abysmal. Everyone would be restricted to tiny, walled gardens, only able to communicate and interact with those subscribed to the same company. Smartphones would have probably never come about. Our whole world would be less connected and more technologically backward.

《时代》杂志2001年的一则采访中，蒂姆·伯纳斯·李表示他曾认真的考虑过在创办网络不久后为其申请专利。他和一个朋友向律师咨询过融资和创办公司的事。这很有可能使他们成为百万富翁。最后，伯纳斯·李放弃了这个想法，他更倾向于关注高科技方面的东西，并向大众开放万维网。这样的一个决定做得很艰难。如果事情真如那样，你现在就不可能读到这个文章。在2011年，TechDirt列出了万维网申请专利可能带来的改变。结果令人疯狂！我们没有谷歌，几乎无法搜索。每个人被限制在小小的防护墙内，只能够与购买了相同公司网络的人交流。智能电话也许永远不会见诸于世。整个世界不像现在这样高度连接在一起，并且技术也落后很多。

4.A School Bus Almost Helped Timothy McVeigh Escape Justice

4.一辆校车差点帮助蒂莫西·麦克维逃脱法律制裁

On April 19, 1995, a truck packed with a powerful fertilizer bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The blast killed 168 people, including 18 children. At the time, it was the worst terror attack committed on US soil. By sheer dumb luck, the bomber, Timothy McVeigh, was pulled over 90 minutes later for driving without a license and arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. But luck nearly swung back in McVeigh's favor. Two days later, he came within minutes of being set free.

1995年4月19日,一辆满载炸药的车在俄克拉荷马城的阿夫尔莱德·默拉·巴尔迪联邦大楼外爆炸。168人死于这场爆炸，其中包括18个儿童。那是当时美国最严重的一次恐怖袭击。但罪犯蒂莫西·麦克维运气太好了，爆炸发生90分钟后，他因无证驾驶被逼停，警察搜查出他藏匿的武器并将其拘捕。但是幸运再次眷顾了这个罪犯，两天后，他就被释放了。

At the time, no one thought this that disheveled loner could be connected to the blast. The CIA thought Saddam was responsible, and the FBI was gunning for Islamic terrorists. McVeigh was just a guy being held on a concealed carry charge and was due to make bail any minute. The day after he was arrested, he was to go before a judge, but the hearing was delayed due to an ongoing divorce case. The very next day, he was brought in again. He would have certainly gone free had it not been for an unknown bus driver. That morning, the judge's son had just missed his school bus. Instead of going to McVeigh's hearing, the judge had to drive his son to school. This delay meant that McVeigh was still in the courthouse when the FBI called up, urgently asking the police to detain him. If that bus had been running slightly behind schedule, or if the judge's son had gotten ready faster, the bomber would have made bail and vanished into the morning heat. How long it would have taken to recapture him, or if he would have killed again, is anyone's guess.

那时，没人会将这位衣冠凌乱的独居者与这次的爆炸联系在一起。美国中央情报局认为萨达姆才是罪魁祸首，而美国联邦调查局则在大肆枪杀伊斯兰教的恐怖分子。麦克维则成了一个虽因携带武器入狱但能分分钟被保释的人。拘留的后一天，他本应去法庭，但一场进行中的离婚案件延迟了听证会。之后，他再次被带入法庭。若非因为一名无名巴士司机，他绝对会被早早地释放。那天早上，法官的儿子恰好错过了校车，于是他不得不先载他儿子去学校再去审判麦克维。这个延迟意味着麦克维在这段时间一直被扣留在法院，所以FBI才有时间调查清楚爆炸事件，并立即致电警察将他逮捕。若这辆校车来的稍晚一些，或是法官的儿子赶上了校车，这位罪犯就已经被保释且消失在晨雾中了。谁也不知道什么时候才能再次抓到他，也不知道他是否会再次行凶。

3.A Change Of Weather Could Have Altered European History

3.天气的变化可能会改变欧洲历史

The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9 is a military engagement that almost nobody has heard of. Fought between three Roman legions and local Germanic tribes, it ended in a blistering defeat for the Romans. But it could easily have gone the other way. If it had, the entire course of European history would have changed dramatically.

公元前9年的条顿堡林山之战是一场几乎无人知晓的军事战斗。罗马的三个军团和当地日耳曼部落发生了战争，且以罗马的迅速惨败告终。然而，罗马当时差一点就赢了。如果是那样，那么整个欧洲的历史会产生翻天覆地的变化。

The ambush was a major psychological setback for the Romans. Around 12,000 legionnaires were slaughtered in the most gruesome way possible, their heads nailed to trees as a warning to the empire. As a direct result, Emperor Augustus halted Rome's expansion. A border was set up along the Germanic frontier that lasted 400 years. Subsequent emperors were warned against trying their luck there. For the descendants of the Germanic tribes, the battle was just as important. It became known as the "big bang" that started the German nation. This myth would eventually become an important part of German nationalism. It would even be used by Adolf Hitler to inspire hatred against the Jews. However, victory for the tribes was not a foregone conclusion that day. In his phenomenal essay "What If?" Lewis H. Lapham argued that any number of things from tiredness to slightly drier weather could have thrown the battle to the Romans. In that case, world history would have changed completely. Germany would have come under Roman rule, Germanic languages would be replaced by Romance ones, and the Reformation would likely never have happened, nor would the Thirty Years War or World War I. The modern world wouldn't just be different; it'd be completely unrecognizable.

因为曾被伏击，所以这种战术给罗马人造成巨大心理创伤。约12000的军团队员被以最残忍的方式屠杀了，且头还被敌人钉在树上来作为对罗马帝国的警告。而直接导致的结果是，罗马君主奥古斯丁停止了扩张。罗马边境因此划定了持续400年的国界，来警示后代君主别在那试运气。对日耳曼部落后代而言，这场战争也是极其重要的。日耳曼民族从那时开始兴盛。这个传说最后成了日耳曼民族的重要部分。它甚至被阿道夫·希特勒用于激起人民对犹太人的怨恨。然而，那天部落的战争并非定局。在刘易斯拉帕姆的著名论文《如果当时是这样》中，他说道，如果德国人疲倦一些或者是天气稍干一点，都有可能令罗马获胜。那样的话，世界历史就会完全改变。德国会臣服于罗马，德语也将被罗马语替代，新政改革很可能不会发生，更不用说三十年战争或一战了。世界格局将会重新"大洗牌"。

2.A Piece Of Advice Could Have Killed One Million People

2.小小建议可能杀害数百万人

In politics, what you don't say can frequently have even more impact than what you do. For US Secretary of Defense William Perry, this point was forcibly rammed home in the summer of 1994. At the time, tensions on the Korean Peninsula were about to boil over. North Korea was rushing to get a nuclear bomb at its Yongbyon facility. South Korea wanted to stop them. As the guarantor of South Korean integrity, the US was duty-bound to get involved.

政坛上，没说出口的话更有影响力。这句话充分体现在美国国防部长威廉·佩里身上。1994年夏，朝鲜半岛核武器问题岌岌可危，一边是朝鲜着急在宁边制造核弹，一边是韩国又想阻止邻国大哥这样做。作为韩国的强大后盾，美国注定要来插一脚。

On June 16, Perry and Joint Chiefs Chairman John Shalikashvili were called in to brief President Clinton. Clinton wanted to discuss the possibility of bombing Yongbyon. The main sticking point was the potential nuclear contamination that could result. Perry himself was certain that the US could take out Yongbyon without washing the peninsula in radiation. However, he was equally certain telling the president that this would result in the bombing being green-lit. This would in turn ignite a catastrophic war. At the last minute, Perry chose to keep silent. The bombing was delayed. It turned out to be the right decision. Two days later, Jimmy Carter flew to Pyongyang as a private citizen and brokered a peace deal. The crisis ended without a shot fired. The Pentagon later released its scenarios for what would have happened if war had come that fateful day. They predicted a minimum of one million dead Koreans, the total destruction of Pyongyang and Seoul, and the deaths of at least 50,000 American servicemen.

同年6月16日，克林顿总统召集佩里和美军参谋长联席会议主席约翰·沙利卡什维利展开小型作战会议。若朝鲜发射核弹则会造成全球大范围的核污染，克林顿当即提出轰炸宁边核设施的想法。佩里本人确信美军能够拿下宁边，同时不会让核辐射危及整个半岛，相当于默许了轰炸的行动。一旦开战，后果可不是闹着玩的，美韩两国肆无忌惮地拼武器，遭遇灭顶的可是咱小老百姓。但佩里在最后一刻选择了沉默，轰炸行动也就此无限期推延。我们今时今日的美好生活印证了佩里的选择是正确的。两天后美国前总统吉米·卡特以自己独特的"私人"身份飞往平壤斡旋，与朝鲜政府签订了《朝核问题框架协定》，不损一兵一卒，危机就此化解。五角大楼后来预言：假如这场战役打起来，仅平壤和首尔两个城市的伤亡人数就达到一百万，而美国也至少损失5万名士兵。这简直是在拍灾难片啊！

Man's Death Nearly Reignited World War II

1.二战差点因为一个美国兵的死重燃战火

Anthony Marchione has a dubious distinction. While flying over Japan, he became the last American serviceman to be killed during World War II. His legacy could have been far, far worse. Marchione's death very nearly reignited World War II.

安东尼·马尔基奥内的死让人煞费脑筋。飞越日本上空执行任务时，他成为了二战最后一个被杀害的美国士兵，他去世的后果可是很严重很严重的，二战差点没结束！

At the time, Japan had already surrendered. The bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima had brought Hirohito to the table, and the emperor had already survived a palace coup attempt by his warmongering generals. Standard history tells us that the war in Asia was over, but not all of Japan got the message. South of Tokyo, the 302nd and Yokosuka air groups vowed to fight on. If any Allied aircraft tried to fly over Tokyo, they would shoot them down. Care to guess what happened next? On August 16, General Douglas MacArthur decided to test the Japanese commitment to the surrender by sending four bombers over Tokyo. Although the group flew out and returned unscathed, MacArthur sent them out again. On August 17, the planes flew over the 302nd and Yokosuka groups, who took potshots at them. Worried that his peace was now unraveling, MacArthur sent the planes out one last time. If the Japanese attacked, he decided it would show that the ceasefire had already broken down. They did. The rebel Japanese groups overwhelmed the Allied bombers. In the ensuing firefight, Staff Sergeant Joseph Lacharite was severely wounded, and Anthony Marchione was killed. MacArthur now seemingly had evidence that the Japanese were preparing to fight on. Logically, he should restart aerial bombing immediately. Such an act would have certainly reignited the war. Luckily, a peace delegation was scheduled to meet MacArthur the next day. The general decided that if they showed up, the Tokyo attack must be due to disloyal rebels. If they didn't, the war was back on. The delegation showed up. Had MacArthur restarted the war after Marchione's death, it would have led to a protracted battle in the Pacific. Millions more would have died. A third atomic bomb would probably have been dropped. World War II would have dragged on for months or years to come.

日本政府当时已经投降。美军在长崎和广岛投下的原子弹迫使天皇举了白旗，而他那好战的将军还在投降前发动了宫廷政变。正史告诉我们此时二战在亚洲战区已结束，然而这个消息却没有传达到整个日本帝国。南边的302和横须贺空军战队仍浴血奋战，对敌机是看到一架打一架。后果可想而知。8月16日美国将领道格拉斯·麦克阿瑟为确保日本已经投降派了4架轰炸机飞往东京上空，尽管全员平安返航，麦帅还是让他们第二天再飞了一趟。17日轰炸机再次光临日本，飞越302和横须贺空战部队上空时遭到袭击。麦帅惊呆了：日本人这是诈降吗？！于是轰炸机的第三次日本之旅开始了，麦帅认为这次行动若仍遇到袭击则说明美国与日本的战斗仍未结束。不过轰炸机最后还是挨了子弹。"诈降"的日本军队对到来的轰炸机火力大开，参谋官约瑟夫·朗沙西堤身负重伤，安东尼·马尔基奥内更是被直接击毙，麦帅这下总算抓到小日本想重燃战火的把柄了。照理说他应该马上部署空军展开有力的回击，若按此情节发展，二战恐怕就无法结束了吧。好险呐，麦帅的日程表显示翌日会有日本和平使节前来拜访。他就琢磨着，小日本如期而至吧，这肯定是叛乱军的责任；没出现的话就继续开战！使节如约前来，二战以此告终。假使麦帅真的在马尔基奥内身亡后立马反击，太平洋的战火势必蔓延，世界又将生灵涂炭！很可能还会迎来第三、第四颗原子弹……战争又要持续到何年何月啊!

审校：suyiee 来源：前十网