NEW CASTLE — History is full of pivotal moments. What if
Socrates had decided against drinking that hemlock? What if
Gutenberg hadn’t developed his printing press? What if
Washington’s army failed to survive the winter at Valley Forge?
What if Edison gave up on inventing the light bulb? Events of
all sorts, big and small, shape the future. What we are today is
a product of all that has happened in the past, good and bad,
momentous and mundane. But if Edison had failed to invent the
light bulb, it’s likely someone else would have done so. In many
instances, historic events aren’t all-or-nothing propositions.
It’s just a matter of who gets the credit. Than again, there are
occurrences that absolutely send history in a completely
different direction. On Friday, an asteroid measuring about 147
feet in diameter will brush by the Earth. Its trajectory will
take it inside the orbits of some satellites. That’s a little
too close for comfort. An asteroid this size isn’t enough to
destroy the planet, but depending on w