In Judaism, we have a small section in our prayer books called "The Remembrances". In it are a short collection verses from the Torah (the Old Testament, more specifically the 5 Books) which have been designated as 'remembrances', necessary for the Jewish people to constantly remind ourselves of each day. Generally the only theme across all of them is that they explicitly mention the word 'remember' in the verse. The verses span a wide array of events, namely the Exodus from Egypt, the giving of the Torah at Sinai, attack of the people by the Amalekites, and to remember the Sabbath (a few examples-in most books it's 6, some have 10). Such a section has always been a profound section to me given that we are a people driven by memory and remembering the events of our past. The Jewish people have gone through some intense trials (and positive notes as well) throughout their history. But the reason why I am always fascinated by this is because we use these events and quotes to help shape us and our collective nature. Given that prayer books are generally not changing, I do not foresee any contemporary additions being made such as the Holocaust or the Crusades (likely because these events did not affect every Jew in the world). But perhaps we can take this notion of understanding Jewish history and limiting it to a few scant verses from the Bible and use it on human history.
The task: You have to pick 6 events that have defined human history and shaped us, for without them, we wouldn't be who we are. There should be proof that each event did something to benefit the world and make us who we are. Which would you choose? It is more difficult than you think. I am sure that Time magazine labors over how to pick even the top 100 events of human history.
What will you pick to tell humanity's story?
