Practice English Speaking&Listening with: 5 Extraordinary Examples of the Butterfly Effect...

A very small cause which escapes our notice

determines a considerable effect that we cannot fail to see and then we say the effect is due to chance.

If we knew exactly the laws of nature and a situation of the universe at the initial moment

We could predict exactly the situation of that same universe at a succeeding moment

But even if it were the case, that the natural laws have no longer any secret for us

We could still only know the initial situation

If that enables us to predict the succeeding situation, with the same approximation

That is all we require and we shall say that the phenomenon has been predicted, that it is governed by laws

But it is not always so it may happen that small differences in the initial conditions produce

very great ones in the final phenomenon

A small error in the former will produce an enormous error in the latter

Prediction becomes impossible and we have the fortuitous phenomenon

These five butterfly effect examples will make you question everything

A civil war stabbing resulted in the invention of coke

There are few more recognizable names than Coca-Cola

But few realize it's invention came from a man being stabbed in the chest during the American Civil War

That followed a chain of extraordinary events that saw the birth at the popular drink

We know today the tale of Coca Cola's creation is perhaps one of the most chaotic

Surprising and shocking of any major brand still in business today

The story begins during the American Civil War

One of the bloodiest domestic conflicts in history that left a huge number of casualties on both sides

The use of morphine to ease their pain resulted in around

400,000 axe troops becoming addicted to the drug and the effects of the addiction became known as soldiers sickness

One of those effects it was Confederate Lieutenant Colonel John Pemberton

Who was stabbed in the chest at the Battle of Columbus

He began self-medicating with morphine to ease his pain and quickly became addicted

John was by trade a brilliant pharmaceutical chemist

And after the war he turned his attention to finding a cure for the debilitating sickness

Afflicting soldiers throughout the United States

After experimenting with a variety of different chemical compositions

Pemberton stumbled across what he believed to be a cure

Using extract from coca leaves and the Kola nut mixed with alcohol. He concocted a tonic

He called Pemberton's French coca wine as

The name suggests the key ingredient was cocaine

This was not unusual during the late 19th century as cocaine was a popular additive in many drinks even those marketed for children

claims about the tonics medical properties were hugely exaggerated and Cola wine was advertised as being an effective treatment

For both morphine addiction depression alcoholism and impotent

In 1886 Pemberton replaced the alcohol with sugar syrup and renamed the drink as Coca-Cola

But unfortunately for Pemberton and for many thousands across America cocaine was not an effective remedy for morphine addiction

And those who are already suffering from morphine addiction then became addicted to cocaine as well

Ironically, Pemberton himself became addicted and his aidil brain limited. Coca cola's early growth

At one point there were three companies using the name Coca Cola, although Pemberton always retained the original formula

In 1888 John Pemberton was dead and sole control was handed to his equally addicted son Charlie

This is when businessman Asik Handler bought out the business

And I was his aggressive marketing tactics that led to coca cola's world dominance of the soft drinks market

Up until 1909 the drink still contained cocaine, but this was reduced when fresh coca leaves were a place with spent leaves

Meaning only trace levels of cocaine remained

Nowadays, coca cola uses a cocaine free coca leaf extract if it hadn't been for a single stab wound to one man followed by an

Extraordinary series of events the name coca-cola would probably never exist

Sir Alexander Fleming and the invention of antibiotics

The discovery of penicillin revolutionized the world of medicine and the treatment of infections that were previously fatal could be cured with a simple course of antibiotics

But the way it was discovered was extraordinary

Bordering on the unbelievable and who would think that an untidy lab and a holiday was all it took

In 1928 Alexander Fleming a professor of bacteriology at St. Mary's Hospital in London

Was looking forward to a while earned holiday and in the rush to clock off

He left his lab in a mess leaving petri dishes strewn around

When Fleming returned to his lab a few weeks later, he began cleaning out the petri dishes

He had been using to experiment with bacteria before his holiday on one of the dishes

He noticed a mold grow on one of the cultures another colonies of Staphylococcus bacteria that had immediately surrounded it had been destroyed

Whereas other colonies further away were normal he had by complete accident

Discovered the first naturally occurring antibiotic drug that would become known as penicillin

However, although Fleming knew the potential of what he had discovered. It was too difficult to purify and produce on a large enough scale

So he abandoned the project

And it wasn't until in the 1930s that a team at Oxford led by Howard Florey

Picked up on the research and realized its enormous value to the world of Medicine

If Fleming had not left his lab in a mess and gone on holiday and penicillin hadn't been invented

it's estimated that 75% of the population might not be here today as

They would have either died from a bacterial infection or not being born at all as the result of their ancestors dying prematurely

Prior to his discovery the most minor of injuries could prove fatal

It's also worth remembering as another event in history namely the Second World War

made Florrie and his team realize how useful penicillin could be to Britain's war efforts and

With the help of the UK and US government's research and development went into overdrive

By d-day enough penicillin had been produced to use on 40 and soldiers

it's thought that the Allies had not invented and mass-produced penicillin by DD they may not have won the war as

The Germans used predominantly sulfonamides or iodine to cure their diseases and infections

but this was an inferior product compared to penicillin and

They were not able to patch up their soldiers and send them back out fighting anywhere near as quickly as the Allies

Today it's hard to imagine a world without antibiotics

Its discovery has spawned over a hundred different antibiotics. I can treat even the most serious diseases and infections

However, all good things come to an end and the day antibiotics are becoming less effective as superbugs are becoming more widespread

The overuse and misuse of antibiotics in agriculture have all contributed

significantly to the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria and

At the moment. We are sitting on the brink of disaster

With the possibility that the world could slip back into a time where people could die from an everyday infection

But we'll save that for another discussion

9/11 may not have happened if Queen Victoria hadn't been born with a random genetic mutation

Queen Victoria was born in 1819 with a rare genetic mutation of one of her X chromosomes

meaning she was a carrier of the blood disorder haemophilia in

Females this will not present any symptoms. They are just carriers

But for males the condition can be potentially life-threatening as just a small cut or grains can bleed profusely

As the condition means blood doesn't clot

So for Queen Victoria, it was not a problem

But when she had children, it was likely she would pass the condition on to them in

Fact she passed it on to three of her nine offspring

One of those children was a second daughter Alice who went on to pass the condition on to three of her own children

including her youngest daughter, Alexandra

Alexandra went on to marry tsar nicholas ii of russia and together

They had four daughters and a son alexei who she passed the faulty gene tomb

As a result of this two things happened

firstly the family became almost reclusive in an effort to protect their son Alexei and

Secondly in desperation the family became dependent on the services of the mad monk Rasputin

Who seemed to be the only person who is capable of managing Alexie's excessive bleeding?

Tsar nicholas ii was not too popular ruler among the russian people

Due to his reliance on some unreliable advisors and the common people became deeply suspicious of the family's relationship with Rasputin

this influenced what happened in late 1916 when Rasputin was murdered by minor members of the Russian nobility and

Revolution broke out in Russia

This prompted nicholas ii to abdicate in 1917 and the whole family was taken prisoner by the Bolsheviks

The following year nicholas alexandra and all five of their children were executed

This marked the end of the russian empire and it was replaced by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

With their communist ideology that spread it to boarding countries creating the USSR

over the next few decades

the USSR became a wolf power house and played an important role in the Allied victories of world war ii and

As a result of technological developments from that war entered the Cold War with the United States in

1979 they said their sights on conquering Afghanistan and in December they invaded

The Afghan people fought back and who provided them with weapons and training the United States

One of the fighters who received instruction from the US was a silent Bin Ladin

Who went on to form al-qaeda to fight against the Russians in?

1989 the USSR withdrew from Afghanistan

Leaving the country in the chaos that led to civil war

Al Qaeda chose to support and fight for the Taliban who eventually won and became the political leaders of Afghanistan

Al Qaeda planned several terrorist acts there first being against the World Trade Center in 1993

When they detonated a bomb in the basement of World Trade Center one

Although bin Laden was not the mastermind behind the World Trade Center one attacks by the mid-90s

He had developed a hatred for the u.s. Due to their presence in the Middle East

and in 1998

he declared an official jihad against the US and began planning a bigger attack if

The story is to be believed. We all know what terrible event happened next

So if Queen Victoria had not been a carrier of hemophilia

with the chain of events that followed that led to the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR never have happened and

Everything in the world would have planned out differently

Just one small random thing can change everything else in its path

Suffragette was a mistake

Emily Davison was a suffragette who threw herself in front of the Kings horse at the Epsom Derby on the 4th of June 1913

her actions

Highlighted the plight of women to get the vote and as a pinnacle moment in history that eventually changed the rights of women forever

At the time emily was hailed as a martyr who took her life so that the place of women could be changed forever

But it seems the whole thing may be a tragic mistake and that Emily never intended to kill herself for that cause at all

meaning that had fate not intervened the course of history and the rights of women may have panned out in a different way and

The lies of not one but two people would have been saved

New evidence has emerged to suggest that Emily travelled from her home in London on a return ticket

Why did she do that if she intended on taking her life?

Also, she had made holiday plans with his sister in the near future

Suggesting she had no intention of killing herself on that

Fateful day despite film technology being in its early days

The race was captured on three newsreel cameras a new technology has revealed that when Emily stepped out onto the track

She had a clear view of the King's horse Aminah and she did not as is always being perceived

Recklessly charged out in front of the galloping horse

Intent on throwing herself under its hooves

Instead it's claimed. She only meant to reach out and attach a flag to the horse's bridle

This theory is backed up by the fact the police found a flag on the floor after Emily was hit in

addition to this it is claimed that Emily and other suffragettes were seen practicing had grabbing horses in the park near her mother's house an

Elated you'll opt to determine who would go to the Derby

After colliding with aamna Emily collapsed unconscious on the track and died of her injuries four days later in Epsom Cottage Hospital

And she was hailed as a martyr for the cause

However, despite using her name proved beneficial

Inequality between men and women had she simply attached a flag to the horse as research suggests was intended her name may never be known

Amana's jockey that day was Herbert Jones and after his horse hit Emily. He was thrown to the ground and suffered a mild concussion

But the psychological damage was much more severe and he was haunted by the face of Emily for the rest of his life

In 1951 his son found him dead in a gas-filled kitchen

Wolf reintroduction

changes ecosystem

In 1914 in an effort to protect the deer population on public lands in the US

Congress released funds for the sole purpose of destroying deer predators

Mainly wolves and prairie dogs and by 1926 they'd virtually eliminated wolves from Yellowstone National Park in the US

However, no one could have foreseen that this one premeditated act of removing

a species

would have such an effect on the whole ecosystem of the park and

Higher the domino effect of killing off the Wolves nearly brought it to its knees

initially as predicted the deer population thrived and built up to unmanageable levels and

the lack of predators meant they didn't move around as much especially in winter and

Gorged on young willow Aspen and cottonwood plants

Reducing some areas to nothing. This was tough for the beaver colonies who needed willow to survive the winter. So their numbers started to dwindle

Things got so bad that by 1995 there was only one beaver colony in the park

This is why I was decided to reintroduce the gray wolf back into Yellowstone and the direct and indirect

consequences of this one decision were astonishing

the predatory presence of the Wolves when the deer no longer stayed in one place for long and

So did not intensely graze the vegetation meaning it had time to recover

This benefited the beavers who rediscovered an abundant food source

That hadn't been there for years and just six years after the walls returned

the ones bear valley sides were regenerated with an abundance of cottonwood willow and Aspen as

The Beavers expanded and built new dams and ponds. They provided habitats for birds

muskrats and aquatic life and the now robust forests saw the return of songbirds that hadn't been seen there for years and

Not only did the world's keep the deer population down

They also killed coyote as a result

The number of rabbits mice and small rodents increased which in turn encouraged more hawks foxes and badgers

the bear population and other scavengers like Ravens Eagles and Magpies also increased

As they feasted on the carcasses of the animal killed by the walls and fed on the regenerated vegetation in

Addition to all these benefits an extraordinary thing happened the behavior of the rivers changed their banks were now stabilized by the newly regenerated

Forests, so the meander glass formed more pools and suffered less erosion

All this was great news for the wildlife and the overall health and appearance of the park

Today the park is thriving as other creatures who live there as all. Thanks to the wolves the advantages of their reintroduction

Continues to astonish biologists and it's incredible to think that is one relatively small change can have just a massive impact

Not only the ecosystem of the park but its physical geography as well

The butterfly effect is all around us in a simpsons movie if Homer hadn't hits himself with a hammer while fixing the roof

The town wouldn't have been trapped under the dome

The hammerheads led to the dare contest the dare contest led to Bart skating to krustyburger

naked with Homer met the pig the pig led to the silo the silo led to the lake being poisoned and

The poisoned Lake led to the dome

We are all living breathing examples of the butterfly facts every little thing that your ancestors and everyone before you has done

Led up to you and everything you do today tomorrow next week will change the course of not only your life

But an untold number of lives around you

So if you think for one second that you're not important and your life doesn't matter you couldn't be further from the truth

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