483. Upon winning a slightly less bloody Revolutionary War, the individual states of the United States go back to being known as individual commonwealths only loosely allied as a larger country. State power grows to far greater levels, and the Federal government slowly becomes a respected but ultimately powerless body with the notable exception of waging war on other countries and weak taxation. The Civil War still occurs, however, with tensions rising far more slowly and the actual war lasting far longer and being quite bloodier as it truly is a war between individual, fractious states and not the United States of America vs the Confederate States of America- slavery does not truly end until the late 1800s as it becomes more of an economic conflict than a military one, and segregation doesn't end officially in all states until the early 1980s. The Spanish-American War is less of a cakewalk as it takes longer for the now truly United States to get federal military forces into play, as state militias on the border do the bulk of the fighting; the Texas Rangers become famous alongside the Arkansas Outriders and other similar elite state militia forces in the area. The U.S. enters WWI and II late and in a similarly fractious fashion, with the states that lost people on the Lusitania sending military forces to face German forces ahead of the actual U.S. Army, and the Hawaiian Grenadiers primarily counterattacking Japanese forces after Pearl Harbor ahead of any generic U.S. military forces respectively. The Cold War that follows the end of WWII lasts well into the late 1990s. Neither the Summer of Love nor a Vietnam engagement occur, nor does Iran/Contra or a military invasion of Panama. Overall, this United States lags about 30 years behind the current one on socio-economic levels with a much smaller middle class, considerably stronger unions and education systems due to lack of Federal interference, and an overall more militaristic bent. The United Nations is considerably stronger as a result.
484. John Henry, the famous steel driver, is not offended by the construction of a machine that can pound iron better than he can, and instead learns how to use it, making modifications that improve it even further-and testing openly to ensure he gets credit for his work. His story becomes one of ingenuity and cooperation over tradition and stubbornness, and he becomes an icon for African Americans with respect to adopting new technology.
485. Steve Jobs plans apple focusing on the idea of backwards compatibility instead of planned obsolescence. Macintosh enthusiasts have a greater width of computers to choose from and are encouraged to upgrade when they can afford to, instead of being locked into a set lifespan for their device. This results in more Macintoshes in public schools and lower middle class homes, and the dot com boom of the late 90s and early 00s is based on the Mac os, not Microsoft Windows.
489. The Fab Five win their second championship game again North Carolina. They all go on to play basketball professionally. During their careers, they speak out against what they feel is unfair practices by the ncaa towards sales of their and other college basketball players jerseys and memorabilia, and they garner enough pressure to change practices in the industry. While there remains a swinging business in black market counterfeit and knock off college basketball jerseys, overall, the consumer based fanaticism seen in the basketball wanes.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Arise--
490--2000 Butterfly ballot nixed several months before the election. This lead to several 1000 more votes for him in Florida and Democratic win in the 2000 election. After 9-11 more boots are put on the ground in Afganistan. Osama Bin Laden is captured and tried in NY State Court where he manages to discredit himself in the eyes of not only the world but many Muslims.
491-- 1962 The Dallas Texans ownership group, led by Lamar Hunt wins its lawsuit against the Dallas Cowboys, forcing them to move. This sours relations between Hunt and San Antionio Cowboys owner Tex Shramm. The two do not work out the NFL-AFL merger agreement three years later. Prices of professional football talent continues to rise and the AFL, led by Commissioner Al Davis, gradually outmanuevers the Pete Rozelle led NFL adding new franchises in Seattle, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Tampa Bay. By 1975, several of the weaker franchises in both leagues are out of business, most notably the Pittsburg Steelers, Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos.
Several joint Championship games in the mid 70's is a turning point, with the AFL Jets, Chargers, and Dolphins embarassing their NFL competition. That and the 77 Saints defection to the AFL spells the end of the 'football war'. In 1980 the 12 remaining NFL teams join the AFL.
493. During the interwar period, two US Army officers, named Patton and Eisenhower, are observing tank maneuvers when a tow cable snaps and strikes them both. They are both injured and medically retired from the Army. Montgomery is named SACEUR, the Normandy landings don't take place until September and the Soviet and Western Allies meet at the Rhine River.
The incident with the tow cable happened, but it missed the two officers by less a foot. This was one of three or so incidents that nearly killed or severely injured Eisenhower.
|
494. French troops wait a day during the Battle of Agincourt, thus ROFLstomping English forces.
495.During the Battle of Waterloo, an English artilleryman decides to shoot at a different Frenchman before they retreat, thus giving the French the hammer and nails they need to disable the English artillery and win.
496. What if the Earth had two moons instead of one.
497. Frederick III rules Germany as Kaiser for 20+ years instead of 3 months.
498. What if Charles I had avoided the English Civil War?"
499. Sam Houston succeeds and keeping Texas in the Union (1860)
500. Dallas, TX 1963: The right person sees Lee Harvey Oswald waiting in the window with his rifle and points him out to all moments before JFK's limousine appears. (Note: someone actually did see Oswald but thought he was Federal Agent.)
501. Confronted with certain loss at the Alamo Davey Crockett takes dinner with general Santana to negotiate. He takes with him a poisoned bottle of wine to enjoy at dinner. Through an act of self sacrifice Davey Crockett eliminates the leaders of the surrounding Mexican forces.
They would never ever ever agree to dine with Davy Crockett. He was about 12,358 times more badass than Ned Kelly, so they'd be so scared they couldn't eat or drink, much less quaff poisoned wine, which was too lame a way to kill anybody for Davy Crockett anyway.
501. Confronted with certain loss at the Alamo Davey Crockett takes dinner with general Santana to negotiate. He takes with him a poisoned bottle of wine to enjoy at dinner. Through an act of self sacrifice Davey Crockett eliminates the leaders of the surrounding Mexican forces.They would never ever ever agree to dine with Davy Crockett. He was about 12,358 times more badass than Ned Kelly, so they'd be so scared they couldn't eat or drink, much less quaff poisoned wine, which was too lame a way to kill anybody for Davy Crockett anyway.
Davy Crockett, the only man Chuck Norris is afraid of.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
502. Due to an unusual interest in the rules brought forth, the 2nd Edition Skills and Powers version of Dungeons and Dragons becomes quite popular. 3rd edition is never developed, as the following works in the Skills and Powers vein become available in smaller, thinner books, each sold for 9.95 and identified by volume number, allowing each DM to state from the beginning how their games are going to be run by giving their games a unique code.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
505. Sega, realising they have a chance to defeat Sony permanently, decides to make their new Dreamcast-Wideawake system a bit more powerful than a PS2. It barely edges out its rival thanks to joining with Atlus to put out more translated/localized Japanese rpgs and strategy games, such as valkyria chronicles and sakura wars and niche stand up arcade titles like Crazy Taxi 2 and Street Fighter 4, and includes a proprietary VCD/DVD player on the system that enterprising hackers discover can save movies to the memory card.
506. For reasons lost to time but probably rooted in a lost missive, the Fourth Crusade goes to the holy land and ignores Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire goes into serious decline but never truly falls, the church never really splits and becomes a more impotent but massive entity. Religious infighting becomes more common but rarely decends to violence.
507. George Latimer loses his case and ends up back as a slave in Virginia. His son, Lewis Latimer, never works with Thomas Edison and never perfects light bulb filament. With light bulbs only lasting a few days, and JP Morgan's investment into the light bulb is little more than a flash in the pan for the financial elite and carnivals. While improvements are made, it never really takes off, and electrical innovation in America and the world lags by about fifty years or more years, with occasional, erratic progress made by Tesla instead.
508. Henry Ford loses his court case and his company is deemed to be breaking anti-trust laws. As a result, the car becomes a strange, eccentric vehicle, owned only by the very wealthy. Instead, the engine attached to the bicycle put out by Harley and Davidson garners national attention, and motorized bicycles rise to prominence instead.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
509. FHDM sees Firefly and decides he likes Whedon. He becomes one of the few people required to keep the show alive. Firefly is still on today.
I need to kill me.
EX-TER-MIN-ATE?
510. The famed "voltron phone call" has a better connection and leads to a better conversation,resulting in Daltanious being sent instead of GoLion. The series, while popular, never hits the overwhelming popularity of GoLion, and is not given another season. Combining robots in american culture are associated with Transformers only; Mighty Morphin Power Rangers does not get big in America either.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
512. Robert Englund is accepted for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars. Mark Hamill is not selected to be Luke Skywalker, instead chosen to be an extra in the film as he is Englunds roommate and friend. His role expands to that of Biggs Darklighter, sacrificing himself so that Skywalker loves to destroy the death star.
Nightmare on elm street still is made, but with an unknown actor who never matches Englunds charisma. The Friday the 13th series continues as normal, and many years later the slasher Jason Voorhees is pitted against Michael Myers in Jason vs. Michael.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
514. Due to a love of special effects and a friendly warning that his series is facing cancelation, Roddenberry gives Star Trek is given a more brutal final story arc, detailing the Federation defeat of the Klingon Empire with the Enterprise at the forefront of the war. Several iconic characters are killed, including Scotty and Chekov, but the show's sequel series, next generation, is given a similar storyline, detailing the war between the resurgent Romulan Empire and later the Borg. First Contact is the first Star Trek major motion picture.
515. Eddie Murphy drops some projects and stars in Ghostbusters along with Murray, Ramis, and Aykroyd. The film is an even greater blockbuster, despite increased cursing and color commentary from Murphys adlibbing. Its considerably more adult tone keeps the Real Ghostbusters cartoon and toys from being made, but the movie becomes a trilogy, ending with a special effects laden and raunchy opus that not accidentally includes the 1989 cast of Saturday Night Live and is made in memory of John Belushi.
516. Marvel Comics decides to make a few last minute edits to Civil War, as the storyline is proving deeply unpopular. Captain America becomes an underground hero, creating a "non-team" of anti-registration "Defenders" to combat the pro-registration Avengers. The fight between the two teams is drawn out between several issues, and it culiminates in an epic face off between the two teams instead of an attempt on Captain America's life(although he is injured resulting in the former Bucky taking up the shield). The super hero registration act is defeated but the battle lines are drawn and tense between the anti-establishment Defenders and government operative Avengers. A team of non-aligned super heroes and former villains looking back to a simpler time call themselves the Champions and offer some competition to the two groups.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
507. George Latimer loses his case and ends up back as a slave in Virginia. His son, Lewis Latimer, never works with Thomas Edison and never perfects light bulb filament. With light bulbs only lasting a few days, and JP Morgan's investment into the light bulb is little more than a flash in the pan for the financial elite and carnivals. While improvements are made, it never really takes off, and electrical innovation in America and the world lags by about fifty years or more years, with occasional, erratic progress made by Tesla instead.
517. The destruction of Tesla's Colorado Springs lab by Edison-hired arsonist thugs finally pushes Tesla to his breaking point.
The Edison Portland Cement Company thus never exists, and the contract to build Yankee Stadium is awarded to another company. Edison's dreams of poured-concrete homes filled with concrete furniture, pianos, and refrigerators are never realized... until a former would-be screenwriter, John Whedon, instead takes up the cause. While he convinces many investors to infuse the Whedon Portland Cement Company with millions of dollars, his efforts ultimately fail. The resulting financial instability contributes in no small way to the later Wall Street Crash of 1929. "Whedon" enters the popular lexicon as a cutting swear for "an untalented idiot hack with overly-ambitious dreams".
As a result of this stigma, the producers of the television series Rosanne soundly reject another young would-be screenwriter, Joseph "Joss" Whedon, who forever forsakes writing to take up a series of dull and unfulfilling careers of negligible importance. On March 10th, 1997, exuberant from a successful job interview at a bicycle repair shop, a distracted Joss steps into an open sewer grate and is mortally injured... until less than five minutes later, a window-mounted air conditioner comes loose, falls from its twelfth-story perch, and lands on him, killing him instantly. Joss' younger brothers, Jed and Zack, are totally disheartened of any sort of writing career, instead changing their surnames to Smithee and becoming co-owners of a struggling linoleum flooring business in New Jersey.
518. 1242 - On learning of the death of Ogedei Khan, Batu Khan withdraws his hordes from eastern Europe to return to Mongolia, thus sparing the Holy Roman Empire from its almost inevitable defeat and conquest.
519. Charlemagne does not pursue Roman revivalism and his patronage of Christian learning and Scriptoriums. The learning of the Roman world is truly lost, instead of copied and spread. The many developments in clear communicative writing do not occur during the Carolingian renaissance. Punctuation does not develop from this time and writing remains drastically limited for, quite possibly, centuries.
507. George Latimer loses his case and ends up back as a slave in Virginia. His son, Lewis Latimer, never works with Thomas Edison and never perfects light bulb filament. With light bulbs only lasting a few days, and JP Morgan's investment into the light bulb is little more than a flash in the pan for the financial elite and carnivals. While improvements are made, it never really takes off, and electrical innovation in America and the world lags by about fifty years or more years, with occasional, erratic progress made by Tesla instead.517. The destruction of Tesla's Colorado Springs lab by Edison-hired arsonist thugs finally pushes Tesla to his breaking point. ** spoiler omitted **...
it is....beautiful...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
520. The Mongols push on into the Holy Roman Empire after their invasion of Hungary and are dealt a series of crushing defeats in densely forested and heavily castled Germany. Mongol rule in Eurasia collapses early as a result of the losses of soldiers and prestige, leaving the way clear for a Persian resurgence. Timur the Lame never comes to power.
520. The Mongols push on into the Holy Roman Empire after their invasion of Hungary and are dealt a series of crushing defeats in densely forested and heavily castled Germany. Mongol rule in Eurasia collapses early as a result of the losses of soldiers and prestige, leaving the way clear for a Persian resurgence. Timur the Lame never comes to power.
Happened in one of my games. Very disappointing!
Heh.
520 (followup): Faced by a strong Persia to the east (which is more capable of maintaining a sustained threat than the unstable Timurids), the Turks are forced onto the defensive and never destroy the Byzantine Empire, which, however, does not recover its former glory. Instead, Constantinople lingers on as rebellious vassal passed around by Italian mercantile states competing over spheres of influence in a fragmented Greece, until local government is ended by (once again) the Venetians in the 16th century, this time with no Nicaeans to restore it.
The Turks manage to maintain their hold on Anatolia in the face of predatory Italians to the west and expansive Persians to the east, but never become a great power, and spend much of the following era confined to the Anatolian interior while naval powers control the coastal cities.
The Turks do find an frequent ally in Egypt, which is likewise the target of predatory mercantile interests on one side and Persian ambitions on the other. The Persians for their part are stymied in said ambitions by Italian intransigence - all too often the Italians switch sides if the Persians threaten to conquer Egypt, since an Egypt incorporated into a powerful Persian empire would be just as bad for their trading interests as Egypt under a powerful Turkish empire was. As a price for said side-switching, though, the Italians manage to wrest more and more trade concessions out of Egypt until the country finds itself in a situation similar to that faced earlier by the Byzantines, reduced to effective vassaldom. Persia is still able to wrest control of most of Syria, and struggles perennially with Egypt and the Europeans over the Holy Land and the Syrian coast.
Fueled by the wealth of eastern Mediterranean trading empires never destroyed by the Turks, the Italian merchant states remain competitive with the likes of France and Spain for centuries. Projects to build a canal through the Sinai eventually bring a shifting coalition of Italian cities into conflict with much of Europe (critically, England, France, and the Netherlands) over Oriental trade, however, and a series of bitter defeats both destabilizes the ruling city-states and fans Italian nationalism, paving the way for Italian unification circa 1800.
Russia is constrained into being rather more peaceful and less expansionistic, and develops along more liberal lines rather than as an authoritarian fortress state, while Persia dominates the steppes.
Spared Mongol environmental engineering, the Middle East experiences much less desertification, and remains a surprisingly green and pleasant land to this day.
521 - Truman decides to press the Korean War, using two nukes on China and allowing a joint RoC-US-NATO invasion occur. This inevitably draws Russia in, which launches an invasion into Europe, East Asia and the Middle East. The Cold War goes hot and bloody.
522. The famed X-Men/Doom Patrol rivalry goes in the other direction as fans grow angry what what they see as a blatant rip off the DC team. Marvel's X-Men remain popular only with hardened Marvel fans, the Doom Patrol comic goes on to get a movie in the very late 90s. As a result of this, neither the Shiar Imperial Guard is not created and the career of Grant Morrison never takes off.
522 addendum-
Wolverine remains a minor hulk villain/antihero for the length of his use, with elements of his later storyline being woven into Daredevils storyline. Storm, Banshee, Colossus, nightcrawler, Thunderbird, Sunfire, are either never created or exist in very different forms. Alpha Flight is never created.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
523- Chrono Trigger is released a year after it's current launch date as Final Fantasy 7. Proving to be incedibly popular as a part of the Final Fantasy Family and not a "little brother" title, it goes on to spur a direct sequel in Final Fantasy 8, also for the SNES, with an updated Job system and story elements from Radical Dreamers. A considerably expanded and detailed Chrono Cross is released on the PS1 as a crossover title, moving fans of the series to the PS1. The world of Chrono Trigger becomes the basis for Final Fantasy moving forward, with different games taking place in different time lines; final fantasy 1-6 are folded in as events taking place in the very very distant past. Cloud, Sephiroth, and other Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, and 10 characters are either never created or exist in vastly different forms, Final Fantasy Tactics is also vastly different in that it exists only as a trilogy of games for portable Nintendo and later playstation systems, never getting a dedicated console release. Xenogears and it's sequels are never made.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
524- The Seattle Seahawks give the ball to Marshawn Lynch instead of going for a pass on 2nd down. Lynch bowls through his opposition relatively easily, resulting in a win for the Seahawks in super bowl 49.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
509. FHDM sees Firefly and decides he likes Whedon. He becomes one of the few people required to keep the show alive. Firefly is still on today.
Intead of directing all of his hate against Joss Whedon, he directs all his hate into supporting him. This creates a substatial rift in the entertainement society. Due to a mistanslation of his remarks, both China and Russia are offended by the US and start World War III, thus ending all human life.
~thinks~ Damn, we are all alive bcause Freehold DM hates Joss istead of liking him?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
523- Chrono Trigger is released a year after it's current launch date as Final Fantasy 7. Proving to be incedibly popular as a part of the Final Fantasy Family and not a "little brother" title, it goes on to spur a direct sequel in Final Fantasy 8, also for the SNES, with an updated Job system and story elements from Radical Dreamers. A considerably expanded and detailed Chrono Cross is released on the PS1 as a crossover title, moving fans of the series to the PS1. The world of Chrono Trigger becomes the basis for Final Fantasy moving forward, with different games taking place in different time lines; final fantasy 1-6 are folded in as events taking place in the very very distant past. Cloud, Sephiroth, and other Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, and 10 characters are either never created or exist in vastly different forms, Final Fantasy Tactics is also vastly different in that it exists only as a trilogy of games for portable Nintendo and later playstation systems, never getting a dedicated console release. Xenogears and it's sequels are never made.
On the one hand, CT and CC as part of the FF family has an immense appeal.
On the other hand, no Xenogears or Xenoblade ever and the possible loss of FF9? Not worth it.
525. Gasoline engine never invented. Due to continued problems with the early electrical engines that plagued cars and the resulting collapse of the automotive industry, automobiles never take off and humanity continues to rely upon horses as a primary form of transportation; this results in a massive environmental disaster due to epic amounts of house manure released into the environment by 1950.
526. Environmentalists fail in their early effort to get what they view as a pollutive grocery bag semi-replaced by one less pollutive. As a result, plastic bags are not adopted and the resulting environmental impact from humanity is lessened when people finally become aware, on the large scale, just how much of an impact humanity is having.
527. Environmentalists fail to get the United States to produce biofuel. As a result, high-fructose corn syrup is never made extremely cheap due to government subsidy and never replace sugar in most American products.
528. Oprah never supports the anti-vaxxers, and as a result they fail to gain the large-scale support they otherwise would have enjoyed. This results in far less epidemics in the short term.
529. Due to a law passed in the 1980s, politicians have to fight to the death to gain political office. While this still mostly results in people getting in office who couldn't add two plus two without the help of a professional mathematician, the American public is far more entertained and feels more positively about the election process.
530. Instead of giving me a series of lectures on why environmentalism in politics is important, the scientist gave me access to the research I was asking for so I could include her in my report. So she would have had her research included in the report instead of not only having it excluded but also finding her job for the next two years consists of making coffee and being reminded how she used to be a lead scientist up until she had a big helping of stupid for breakfast.
523- Chrono Trigger is released a year after it's current launch date as Final Fantasy 7. Proving to be incedibly popular as a part of the Final Fantasy Family and not a "little brother" title, it goes on to spur a direct sequel in Final Fantasy 8, also for the SNES, with an updated Job system and story elements from Radical Dreamers. A considerably expanded and detailed Chrono Cross is released on the PS1 as a crossover title, moving fans of the series to the PS1. The world of Chrono Trigger becomes the basis for Final Fantasy moving forward, with different games taking place in different time lines; final fantasy 1-6 are folded in as events taking place in the very very distant past. Cloud, Sephiroth, and other Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, and 10 characters are either never created or exist in vastly different forms, Final Fantasy Tactics is also vastly different in that it exists only as a trilogy of games for portable Nintendo and later playstation systems, never getting a dedicated console release. Xenogears and it's sequels are never made.
The loss of FFT on console is a total no-sell on this timeline for me. It would suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
531. Maurice allows his soldiers to winter south of the Danube. There is no mutiny and the Roman succession later proceeds stably to Theodosius II. Under Theodosius and Khosrau II, the Romans and the Persians remain allied and the mutually devastating war of 602-628 is never fought.
523- Chrono Trigger is released a year after it's current launch date as Final Fantasy 7. Proving to be incedibly popular as a part of the Final Fantasy Family and not a "little brother" title, it goes on to spur a direct sequel in Final Fantasy 8, also for the SNES, with an updated Job system and story elements from Radical Dreamers. A considerably expanded and detailed Chrono Cross is released on the PS1 as a crossover title, moving fans of the series to the PS1. The world of Chrono Trigger becomes the basis for Final Fantasy moving forward, with different games taking place in different time lines; final fantasy 1-6 are folded in as events taking place in the very very distant past. Cloud, Sephiroth, and other Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, and 10 characters are either never created or exist in vastly different forms, Final Fantasy Tactics is also vastly different in that it exists only as a trilogy of games for portable Nintendo and later playstation systems, never getting a dedicated console release. Xenogears and it's sequels are never made.The loss of FFT on console is a total no-sell on this timeline for me. It would suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
a trilogy of fft that I could play anywhere? Sounds fun to me.
532. There is no Sunni Shia schism. The earth knows 10000 years of peace
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
(This is an American-ish ATL, and kinda crunchy.)
533. George W. Bush does not attend a school session promoting reading awareness on 11SEP2001. Speculation runs rampant that it is 'an assault on the educational system' until it is revealed that he was spirited away by the Secret Service to a secure location in light of the developing attacks.
Dick Cheney is rendered inconsequential in discussions going forwards, and during a future hunting trip is shot fatally in the face by his hunting partner by accident. The death of the Vice President induces a debilitating stroke in George W. Bush.
Citing personal reasons, Speaker of the House Denis Hastert declines the Presidency, claiming 'I can do more for the people of this country from where I am at right now.' He does not get re-elected.
Ted Stevens is about to accept the Presidency as President of the Senate when he is arrested on corruption and conspiracy charges by the FBI regarding a public works project that didn't exist.
Colin Powell becomes the first African-American President of the United States, and immediately refocuses international and domestic attention on economic matters. This has the effort of buoying the markets and the Great Recession is forestalled for two more years until the 'housing bubble' bursts in a much more dramatic fashion. Given efforts he made to try and prevent the collapse, he's seen in a much more positive light, and business makes greater strides in recovery faster, and government oversight is not relaxed.
Hillary Clinton tries to run against Colin Powell, but is soundly defeated in the 2012 election...