I'm reminded of the at least two different times in history Japan would have become completely different...if not for a perfectly-timed typhoon (what they call a hurricane) either sinking ships or making them cancel docking plans.

This includes a bunch of missionaries who the emperor of the time had requested for a follow-up visit--if not for that storm, Japan's emperor, and possibly the entire country, could have converted to Christianity.

This is, in fact, the origin of the word kamikaze: "the wind of God."