Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about

101 EVENTS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD: TOP 5

They were acts of horror, and acts of inspiration. Something about them underlined the good or the evil in the human spirit. After they happened, it was a whole different Planet Earth.

1. The Sinking of the 'Unsinkable' Titanic

With technological advances in communications at the dawn of the 20th Century, the sinking of the luxury ocean liner Titanic on its maiden voyage from England to New York on April 14, 1912 is arguably the first historical moment where people would always remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. It resonated because the Titanic was a symbol of Western power and innovation, an ocean liner said to be "unsinkable." When it sank, it was not only a tragedy, but a sign we weren't as powerful as we had thought.

2. The Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand

With tensions already brewing, the June 28, 1914 murder of Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austria-Hungary empire, led to the outbreak of World War I a month later because he was assassinated by a Serbian Nationalist. Germany and Austria-Hungary were allied as were Serbia, Russia, England and France, so when fighting broke out, they mobilized. As a result, their allies were also dragged into the war, in effect, leading to the first global conflict.

3. The Stock Market Crash of 1929

Black Tuesday, on October 24, 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, when taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout. The crash, which wiped out many fortunes and businesses immediately, signaled the beginning of the 10-year Great Depression that affected all Western industrialized countries, and stoked the conditions that led to World War II. 

4. The Attack on Pearl Harbor

The Japanese attack on the United States Navy at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, was truly "A date which will live in infamy," as President Franklin D. Roosevelt said the next day, when he declared war on Japan and signaled U.S. entry into World War II. Until 9/11 60 years later, it was the worst foreign attack on U.S. soil, killing more than 2,400 people. Most Americans heard about it through radio news bulletins, and always remembered where they were when they heard the news.

5. The Atomic Bomb Attacks on Japan

Just as Americans knew Pearl Harbor would change their lives, they knew the dawn of the atomic era would, too. The drops on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945 ended World War II once and for all -- a cause of great joy around the world. But there was also a dread for what the threat of atomic power would mean for us in the future.

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking