Culmination, Climax Or Crux In History And The Technic History

People think that their own period is either the culmination or climax or at least the crucial turning point of history:

the author of an epic that was a source for the Pentateuch thought that the Davidic monarchy was the culmination of history;

Aeneas thought that Rome would rule the world forever (maybe it does through the Pope?);

the authors of the New Testament expected the kingdom of God on Earth in their lifetimes;

Iceland converted to Christianity in 1000 A.D. - just in time for the Millennium?;

Anglo-Israel theorists thought that the British Empire was the fulfillment of the Promise to Abraham and would never end;

Stalinists thought that their regime would endure and that its opponents would collapse;

Fukuyama proclaimed the end of history;

we now think that the future will at least be completely different from what has gone before.

Poul Anderson's Technic History has several major turning points:

the Babur War;
the Falkayn family and the colonization of Avalon;
the founding of the Terran Empire (see combox);
the Merseian-Terran conflict;
potential Aenean jihad;
the Long Night;
recivilization by the Allied Planets;
new wealth from the Cloud Universe;
the later Galactic civilization.