Equinoxes (and solstices) are caused by the tilt of the Earth.  If Earth had no tilt, there would no seasons, because Florida (or any place on Earth) would be at the same distance from the Sun every day of the year.  If there were no seasons, Earth's ecosystem would not be as varied, and humans and other life forms would not thrive, might suffer, or might not even evolve at all.  

Earth's tilt was caused by a hit from another body in the early moments of the Solar System.  So humans have two terrestrial collisions to be thankful for: the asteroid that hit Earth and wiped out dinosaurs so humans could evolve, and the collision that gave Earth its tilt.  The Solar System had several other "happy accidents" like this, without which humans might not exist at all.

Our Moon was another happy accident.  It was formed by the same event that gave Earth its tilt.  Our Moon is unusually large compared to Earth's size, and that is another happy accident.  Moon is so big that it affects Earth's tide.  If the sea didn't rise and fall, its ecosystem wouldn't be as varied and many species wouldn't exist.  Since Earth's is mostly water, many other species would also be affected if there no tides.

Jupiter was another happy accident.  Its huge size gravitates asteroids away from the inner Solar System, so Earth is less likely to get hit.

Humanity: one big happy accident after another. :)

Columbus's discovery of America (abrupt change of subject) was certainly a happy accident, as he was looking for something else entirely.  If he hadn't done that, all of us here probably wouldn't have been born.  Columbus has got a bad rep in recent years.  But sometimes it's about doing it first rather than doing it best.

Oh sure. Lots of happy accidents in our history. The discovery of the Americans by Leif Erikson and the Vikings (long before Columbus) is one of them. How many discoveries were accidental? Penicillin, insulin, radioactivity, X-rays, microwave ovens, anesthesia, the Post-it note! LOL. And let's not cosmic microwave background radiation... two scientists thought they were dealing with bird shit. Ha ha. Oh, excuse me... what did they call it? "White dielectric material." Saw that in a documentary and laughed pretty hard.

And I can see why Columbus gets a bad rap. I was taught in school that he was this great explorer who "discovered" America, but just like we're talking about - it was a complete accident. He thought he was in Asia. He completely miscalculated the size of the globe and got really lucky. Then once he got here, he wasn't exactly a "nice guy" to the locals. So... not quite the hero I learned about in grade school. I can see why lots of folks want to replace "Columbus Day" with "Indigenous People's Day." Columbus to many is a symbol of European colonialism and exploitation.

Columbus wrote about the locals that they make excellent slaves.

From GPT:

Christopher Columbus wrote about the indigenous people he encountered, describing them as suitable for enslavement. For example, on October 12, 1492, he noted in his journal that the natives "should be good servants." He also stated that with just fifty men, the natives could be subjugated and made to do whatever was needed. Columbus recommended sending some of the natives back to Spain as slaves on multiple occasions, and he took part in enslaving and exporting the indigenous people of the Caribbean.

You can find more details at the following links:

1. https://secure.understandingprejudice.org
2. https://libcom.org/article/columbus-indians-and-discovery-america
3. https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/journal-of-christopher-columbus-1492

I mean, it's hard to treat the guy so harshly because if you put yourself in the mindset of his day, slavery was considered normal. Slavery has been justified in cultures going back as long as there has been civilization. It wasn't until the 17th and 18th centuries that people started to say, "hey, maybe slavery isn't such a good thing."

Oh... and I'm NOT justifying slavery IN ANY WAY. I think it's evil and wrong. I'm just saying in Columbus' time, it was considered business as usual. Heck, even the Bible gives instructions on how you should treat your slaves... it doesn't say slavery is wrong. That has been the thinking of humanity over the past several thousand years.

Recognizing slavery as inhumane doesn't change the fact that whenever two cultures collide, it almost never bodes well for the less-advanced culture.  We might not be enslaved per se if that happened to us, but bad things would surely happen one way or another if we fell behind.  This fear of falling behind still exists today, and it will never go away.  It exists in the micro-level (our daily lives) and the macro-level.

Yep. There have been a couple Star Trek episodes on that topic.

If or when we discover alien life, we'd better hope that it's some primitive exo-microbic organisms, and not some intelligent sentient beings from a Type VII civilization.

Type I civilization - can control own planet.
Type II - can control own solar system.
Type III - can control own galaxy.
Type IV - can control own local group of galaxies.
Type V - can control the whole universe.
Type VI - can control multiverses.
Type VII - can control megaverse (all multiverses).

Our civilization is currently a TYPE ZERO -- we have no total control of our own planet, as we face energy, climate, medical, and many other technological challenges and have yet to find solutions for all.  Carl Sagan once said we might reach Type I by the year 2100, but he said that a long time ago.

I see they've expanded the Kardashev Scale. :)