He'd boarded the tram for Pittsburgh on a hunch the city would be a major flashpoint.
It was a major flashpoint in the 1996-2006 Civil War.
He also recommended the creation of undetermined number of operation centers at the major "flashpoints" around South Africa where violence is most likely to occur.
In the third wave of the great wars against the Turks in the 16th century, Kőszeg became the major flashpoint of the campaign of 1532.
Money is another major flashpoint.
It became the major flashpoint of their disputes.
In fact it was one of the first major flashpoints when I joined Parliament in 1984, yet we still have not reached a satisfactory conclusion.
But the nominee is not talking nearly enough to satisfy Democrats, and how he is interpreting his standard has become a major flashpoint in the hearings.
At the end of the year, the city remained a major flashpoint.
The BBC looks back with a guide to the year's major flashpoints.