Ok, that invention changed human history forever. Well, I have news for you. All the things that weren't invented also changed human history forever! Shocking, huh?
Maybe even more shocking is the news that everything changes our history forever. I admit that details can get lost. It is true that I can write a history of humans that doesn't face the sticky detail that each minute that passes adds to our history. Many of my own minutes have a history that is quite similar to earlier minutes, as far as I know. Some of the rabbits and chipmunks did some things that I don't know about this morning so those activities will not be described in my history of the rabbits and chipmunks in our yard.
Let's say that I reject electric light and go back to using kerosene lamps. When I get out my kerosene lamp and start using it and avoid using electric lights, I will be returning. I probably won't, being lazy and finding that flipping a switch is easier and less complicated that keeping matches and kerosene on hand, but you can see that if I return to those smokey lamps, it will be a return, not the same. Ok?
I realize that many people add the word "forever" for emphasis, a way of saying "changed history dramatically and noticeably".
