Most Important and Influential River in Human History?

[Ayreonia]

Why do people keep saying Mississippi? It wasn't even important until a few centuries ago.

[Shofercia]

Tigris
Euphrates
Rhine
Danube
Nile
Yangtze
Yellow
Ganges
Indus

No Tiber and you're using the Latin alphabet.
No Volga and you're not speaking German.

Ferchrissake.

Anyway, should I select just one, my vote would go to the Tigris-Euphrates.

Aw fuck it.

*Joins the Italian Ninja Program*

If you can't beat 'em

Why do people keep saying Mississippi? It wasn't even important until a few centuries ago.

Cause Freedom is the Only Way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhnUgAaea4M

[Farnhamia]

Yes, it's a bit random, but it's NSG. So, what was it? The most important and influential river to homo sapiens' history, development and everything about them. Consider all factors; environmental, scientific, war, etc. However, only consider fairly direct effects; no pulling some prehistoric river out of your ass saying without it reptiles and therefore humans would never have been, or something like that.

Here's a list of rivers which I'm fairly sure will make it to the top:

Tigris
Euphrates
Rhine
Danube
Nile
Yangtze
Yellow
Ganges
Indus

I won't be choosing one, merely discussing, by the way. Poll will be up after there's an idea of the main candidates, which I am guessing will be those 9, plus an "Other" option, because the Po or the Rhone or the Mississippi and the Amazon probably aren't quite as important.

Why no Volga or Don or Yenisei?

Make a case for their impact on human history.

[Scholencia]

Egypt is part of the Roman civilisation (at least its last phase). Except few inventions that the Greeks got from the Phonecians there is nothing significant coming from the middle eastern people.

There would be a Rome or Greece, maybe in a diferent form.

Because, like, y'know, agriculture and civilization aren't important or anything, sure.

The barbaric Assirians and other had agriculture yet that did not helped them.

[Magna Libero]

Yes, it's a bit random, but it's NSG. So, what was it? The most important and influential river to homo sapiens' history, development and everything about them. Consider all factors; environmental, scientific, war, etc. However, only consider fairly direct effects; no pulling some prehistoric river out of your ass saying without it reptiles and therefore humans would never have been, or something like that.

Here's a list of rivers which I'm fairly sure will make it to the top:

Tigris
Euphrates
Rhine
Danube
Nile
Yangtze
Yellow
Ganges
Indus

I won't be choosing one, merely discussing, by the way. Poll will be up after there's an idea of the main candidates, which I am guessing will be those 9, plus an "Other" option, because the Po or the Rhone or the Mississippi and the Amazon probably aren't quite as important.

Why no Volga or Don or Yenisei?

They have not been very important for the development of the human being.

[Risottia]

Yes, it's a bit random, but it's NSG. So, what was it? The most important and influential river to homo sapiens' history, development and everything about them. Consider all factors; environmental, scientific, war, etc.

River Song.

[Risottia]

Why no Volga or Don or Yenisei?

Make a case for their impact on human history.

Volga's got Stalingrad.

[Risottia]

Doesn't even exist.

Wait, what? Please explain.

So important people can't even spell it.

[Shofercia]

Why no Volga or Don or Yenisei?

Make a case for their impact on human history.

Volga - stopping Nazi Germany, also, breadbasket of Russia/USSR, there's a reason that it's called the Mother of Russian Rivers.
Don - place where Mongols were massively defeated, provided supplies, barriers, etc. Later led to the Birth of the Don Cossacks, who played an important part in not just Russian History, but also numerous other parts of Europe. Uvarov, for instance, was quite influential in utilizing Don Style tactics and Mir, which considerably slowed down Napoleon, enabling the Russians to successfully recall the armies engaged with the Ottoman Empire.
Yenisei - played a key role in preservation of Native Societies and Customs. Instead of giving them smallpox blankets, the Russian Empire tried to, occasionally, help out the Natives, but the Empire didn't always control every single person who went out there, and thus, the Natives didn't know what to do about those crazy and damn good Russki Warriors and Yenisei enabled them to communicate with one another, and thus, best figure out a way to survive modernization. So if you're into Native Studies, you love Yenisei.

[Magna Libero]

Make a case for their impact on human history.

Volga's got Stalingrad.

And?
I guess Kim Jong Un owns a seized river or two.

[Shofercia]

Why no Volga or Don or Yenisei?

They have not been very important for the development of the human being.

And in other news, Russia's a small and insignificant country, amirite?

[Magna Libero]

They have not been very important for the development of the human being.

And in other news, Russia's a small and insignificant country, amirite?

Less significant than Nile, Euphrat, Tigris or Yellow River. For instance.

[Shofercia]

Volga's got Stalingrad.

And?
I guess Kim Jong Un owns a seized river or two.

There's a "slight" difference between playing a crucial role in the Great Patriotic War, and thus the development of Human History, and being owned by Kim Jong Un.

[Magna Libero]

And?
I guess Kim Jong Un owns a seized river or two.

There's a "slight" difference between playing a crucial role in the Great Patriotic War, and thus the development of Human History, and being owned by Kim Jong Un.

Okay, but the rest of the world wouldn't have developed as significantly without the ancient fertile crescent region (basically Middle East)

[Shofercia]

And in other news, Russia's a small and insignificant country, amirite?

Less significant than Nile, Euphrat, Tigris or Yellow River. For instance.

The question was: the most important and influential river to homo sapiens' history?

I could easily make the argument that Volga trumps them. If a country like Russia says you're awesome as a river, and a country like Egypt says you're awesome, I'm going with Russia.

[Magna Libero]

Less significant than Nile, Euphrat, Tigris or Yellow River. For instance.

The question was: the most important and influential river to homo sapiens' history?

I could easily make the argument that Volga trumps them. If a country like Russia says you're awesome as a river, and a country like Egypt says you're awesome, I'm going with Russia.

Why on earth would you say that?
A lot of technological development came from the Nile area.

[Shofercia]

There's a "slight" difference between playing a crucial role in the Great Patriotic War, and thus the development of Human History, and being owned by Kim Jong Un.

Okay, but the rest of the world wouldn't have developed as significantly without the ancient fertile crescent region (basically Middle East)

China developed independently of the Middle East. Societies in Egypt developed independently from societies in Tigris and Euphrates. And the Tiber River was home to the first truly global empire, which carried culture and technology Worldwide. One could argue that each one of those was a crucial development, more important than the Fertile Crescent.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

There's a "slight" difference between playing a crucial role in the Great Patriotic War, and thus the development of Human History, and being owned by Kim Jong Un.

Okay, but the rest of the world wouldn't have developed as significantly without the ancient fertile crescent region (basically Middle East)

I don't think it's fair to deny the importance of these rivers to the Russians. It's history and influence, just in one area. Still important.

[Shofercia]

The question was: the most important and influential river to homo sapiens' history?

I could easily make the argument that Volga trumps them. If a country like Russia says you're awesome as a river, and a country like Egypt says you're awesome, I'm going with Russia.

Why on earth would you say that?
A lot of technological development came from the Nile area.

Even more technological development came from the Tiber area.

[Rio Cana]

The Amazon river. It supplied the world with rubber from the late 19 century and early 20 century. Manaus in Brazil and Iquitos in Peru, both jungle towns by the Amazon, became the two Paris of South America because of the tons of money being made from growing, selling and shipping of rubber. At this time world rubber demand was very high. Amazon rubber was also important during during WW II.

Read the spoiler

Until the turn of the twentieth century Brazil and the countries that share the Amazon basin (i.e. Bolivia, Venezuela and Peru), were the only exporters of natural rubber. Brazil sold almost ninety percent of the total rubber commercialized in the world. The fundamental fact that explains Brazil’s entry into and domination of natural rubber production during the period 1870 through roughly 1913 is that most of the world’s rubber trees grew naturally in the Amazon region of Brazil. The Brazilian rubber industry developed a high-wage cost structure as the result of labor scarcity and lack of competition in the early years of rubber production.

If you were to travel up the Mississippi River in the United States, it is possible that, in a canoe or kayak, you could reach the end of the Mississippi, where the banks of the river are 20 feet apart, a distance of around 2,300 miles.

If you were to travel up the Amazon River, at 2,300 miles you would arrive at Iquitos, Peru. And you could have traveled the full distance in an ocean-going vessel.

Iquitos has an amazing, if rather seamy, history.

In the heyday of the rubber boom at the beginning of the 20th century, millions of dollars were being made by the rubber barons. The money came out of the jungle in balls of crude rubber, often stained with the blood of natives at the hands of merciless overseers.

With the great quantities of money pouring into Iquitos, a city isolated thousands of miles from society, the rich rubber barons and their hangers-on attempted to bring society to Iquitos.

From France came the "Iron House" designed by Gustav Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame, which was purchased at the Paris World's Fair by a rubber baron, disassembled and brought to Iquitos where it was re-assembled in 1886 and still stands on the Plaza de Armas.

From 1,000 miles downriver at Manaus, another rubber center with its famous Opera House, came Caruso and other world-class artists.

Manaus also had the first electric generators supplying power to the city, has well has, the first tram in Brazil. US and European auto manufacturers most likely relied on Amazon rubber for tire manufacturing.

Video of the Manaus (Brazil)Opera House that Rubber paid for. An opera house in a city surrounded by jungle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jE7n5iRTRg

Short video showing the famous french builder Eiffel iron house which was in exhibit in Paris was bought up by a rich Peruvian rubber plantation owner and shipped back to Iquitos which is located on the Peruvian part of the Amazon river.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8SooiRqqmU

[Magna Libero]

Also the battle at Volga/Stalingrad was less than a century ago, while Nile has been important for several Millennials.

[Farnhamia]

Okay, but the rest of the world wouldn't have developed as significantly without the ancient fertile crescent region (basically Middle East)

I don't think it's fair to deny the importance of these rivers to the Russians. It's history and influence, just in one area. Still important.

Important in the area, sure, no one's disputing that. The thread does ask "in Human History," though, a somewhat wider field.

[Wendenland]

Oder, anyone?

At least in the last century, it formed an important boundary between East (communism) and West (capitalism). And in ancient times the Oder Basin was a homeland of Slavic peoples before they migrated to the Balkans.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

I don't think it's fair to deny the importance of these rivers to the Russians. It's history and influence, just in one area. Still important.

Important in the area, sure, no one's disputing that. The thread does ask "in Human History," though, a somewhat wider field.

And there have been several influential rivers. Trying to pick one doesn't do this subject any justice.

[Nazis in Space]

'nother suggestion.

The Rio Grande.

Single most-frequently mentioned river in the history of westerns, and hence, a cultural icon.