Greatest iconic moments/speeches in history?

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gutterball321

Well-known member
I am working on a video for a fun project and need quick clips of the most iconic speeches in time. examples of what i have are below. I would like something with steve jobs or the tesla car to show more iconic moments of recent time. What can you guys think of?

-Cavemen paintings

-Pyramids being built

-Abraham Lincoln (1863) all men are created equal

-Wright Brothers first flight (1903)

-Einstein pic and speech “e=mc2” (1905)

-Roosevelt (1933) – Only thing we have to fear is fear itself

-Jesse Owens running/winning olympics (1936)

-JFK (1961) – ask not what your country can do for you

-MLK (1963) – I have a dream

-Neil Armstrong (1969) – One small step for man…

-Muhammad Ali (1975) – Imma show you how great I am

-Ronald Reagan (1986) – The future doesn’t belong to the faint hearted, it belongs to the brave.
 
There is a lot of dispute over the Wright Brothers being the first. There are multiple other claims to the first powered heavier than air flight(s)

Other than "cavemen" and the pyramids our list seems to be recent US history. what is the audience for the film? What about the other 6 ancient wonders apart from the pyramids?

What about the Greek philosophers, Romans, and Italian Renaissance? Churchill, Newton, Shakespeare, Voltaire, Rene Deescartes. Confusious, Bruce Lee, Lots of quotes from them that have endured 100's to thousands of years.. Not sure Reagan's quote was significant. Also Ali was famous for other quotes rather than the one you give.
 
it will be shown to a classroom of students. They wont recognize things from churchill/newton/shakespeare etc... So i am just looking for iconic images american high school students would be familiar with. Does ali have any other quotes you know off hand that are appropriate? Most I could find would not really have a positive attitude. I also need more diversity in here, any women you can think of to add in?
 
Is this for a history class? The reason I ask is, if they won't recognize things from Churchill, Shakespear and the like, what makes you think they will recognize any of this other stuff from before they were born? Might limit yourself to quotes or music videos from the last 10 years.
 
gutterball321 said:
... They wont recognize things from churchill/newton/shakespeare etc...
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Wow, that's sad. Yep, stick with musicians.

Kanye West

"When you’re the absolute best, you get hated on the most."


Beyonce

"I get nervous when I don't get nervous. If I get nervous, I know I'm going to have a good show"

Taylor Swift

"I'm intimidated by the fear of being average."

Justin Beiber

"I want my world to be fun. No parents, no rules, no nothing. Like, no one can stop me. No one can stop me."
 
in which case:
Beatles, Sex pistols, Who and Stones had some good lines.

BTW what age are these students?
 
First off, Neil Armstrong said "That's one small step for A man, one giant leap for mankind." He insisted that for decades, noting that it doesn't really make sense otherwise. But anyway...

If you want to talk motivational speech, while JFK's "Ask not" quote is great, I would argue that "We choose to go to the moon" is better. It defined a goal, set the parameters and time frame, and most importantly explained why we should strive to reach for such heights. It is the absolute definition of a great motivational speech, and it's pretty iconic as well.

A better Reagan quote might be "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Reagan was always better at effective one-liners rather than complete speeches anyway.

American students may not directly recognize the source with Churchill or Shakespeare, but they will likely somehow connect to a truly great quote.

Churchill after Dunkirk with "We shall fight on the beaches" is a brilliant construct of repetitive and building rhetoric, and there's no one who cannot be stirred by its brilliance.

There's so many choices with Shakespeare, from "To be or not to be" to "St. Crispan's Day" and to what I would suggest, "Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears" I would find it hard to believe that students would not have somehow heard that phrase. It's also a great sly speech rather than a monologue, as it sounds like he is supporting one argument while he is actually carefully undermining it so by the end of the speech he's comepletely turned the crowd around. That's a great speech!

Of course you say you only want quick clips that you'll be stringing together, so there won't be room for a lot of context. But there are some incredibly recognizable and stirring moments in these examples. I'd also suggest a bit of Bob Dylan and John Lennon in there. SO MANY choices in them, but starting off with "Come gather 'round people whoever you roam" and finishing with "imagine all the people living life in peace" should pretty much cover you.
 
Mitch Gross said:
I keep wondering when this forum is going to add a LIKE button!
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Yes, it would be useful!


The comments from the OP make me wonder what the age of these students are. I assume quite young or it is one hell of an indictment of the US education system.
 
Once you know he's saying "fora" (pronounced, basically, "fra" in Ohio-ese) it's pretty easy to hear. And his own explanation makes total sense: the statement is utterly inane if it's "that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." The only way it makes any intelligible sense is if it's "for a".
 
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