Things that look like alternate history, but aren't

[Orko]

Originally Posted by Prem_Rack

LOLZ is this shiz real?

[charl]

Originally Posted by Orko

LOLZ is this shiz real?

You've never heard of the space command? Lots of countries have shiz like that, why not the UN?

[QuoProQuid]

I personally think a Dutch Australia would have been much more interesting than the OTL version.

[charl]

Originally Posted by QuoProQuid

I personally think a Danish Australia would have been much more interesting than the OTL version.

Don't you mean Dutch?

[QuoProQuid]

Originally Posted by charl

Don't you mean Dutch?

Err... yes. I apologize. I wasn't thinking.

[Ephraim Ben Raphael]

This man genuinely saved human civilization as we know it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

[Readman]

Oh snap, I know a girl who's last name is Petrov; she's Romanian though (and very beautiful )

[wilcoxchar]

Originally Posted by Readman

Oh snap, I know a girl who's last name is Petrov; she's Romanian though (and very beautiful )

Well, Petrov just means "of Peter" so it's a fairly common Slavic surname.

[Halcyon Dayz]

Originally Posted by Prem_Rack

UN 'to appoint space ambassador to greet alien visitors'

[Tim Thomason]

Originally Posted by Halcyon Dayz

UN 'to appoint space ambassador to greet alien visitors'

"Under the Outer Space Treaty on 1967, which Unoosa oversees, UN members agreed to protect Earth against contamination by alien species by “sterilising” them."

That's straight out of X-Files, where it was policy to kill EBEs (Extraterrestrial Biological Entities) on sight. I always thought it was made-up.

[Susano]

Originally Posted by wilcoxchar

Well, Petrov just means "of Peter" so it's a fairly common Slavic surname.

....Oh come on! Its even in the nationalitys name! Romanian belongs to what language group...?

[Stephen]

These are some wierd looking guns: Arquebuses; Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, Turkey

[Glegg]

Originally Posted by wilcoxchar

Well, Petrov just means "of Peter" so it's a fairly common Slavic surname.

In fact, Petrov don't really sound romanian : Romanian people have more latinized familly names, like "Neagoe", "Eliade" or "Dreascu".

[SavoyTruffle]

Originally Posted by Glegg

In fact, Petrov don't really sound romanian : Romanian people have more latinized familly names, like "Neagoe", "Eliade" or "Dreascu".

On that note: Romanian as a Romance language far from its relatives.

[Alternatehistorybuff5341]

From a world where Atheism is organized as a church like entity?

[Orville_third]

http://politicalhumor.about.com/libr...hbillboard.htm
A campaign billboard in NC...but for who?

[I Blame Communism]

Originally Posted by Susano

....Oh come on! Its even in the nationalitys name! Romanian belongs to what language group...?

As with most cases though, groups in geographic proximity trade names around. Ain't that right, Pascal? Romania has quite a few Slavic borrowings. Think of Tudor Vladimirescu. And it also has small ethnic Russian and Bulgarian populations.

[DireSituation]

Originally Posted by Alternatehistorybuff5341

From a world where Atheism is organized as a church like entity?

Attachment 114286

That is pretty awesome. What's the story behind that?

[Petike]

Originally Posted by Ephraim Ben Raphael

This man genuinely saved human civilization as we know it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

Yep. He's also the guy who was apparently absent from the Doomsday 1983 TL on the AltHistWikia.

Also, IIRC, the bloke (I think he was a professor... or a technician ?) who went into the damaged reactor chamber in Chernobyl on the first or second day of the rescue works and closed some valves manually. They could have theoretically leaked some liquids onto the radioactive pile beneath and cause some chain reaction or something.

The man died pretty early afterward, but if he hadn't done it, the mass would probably go kablaam sooner or later and the ensuing radioactive heat wave would probably run throughout the entire territory of Ukraine, right towards the Czechoslovak border. I, for one, am pretty happy that he had the guts to do such risky work.

Originally Posted by wilcoxchar

Well, Petrov just means "of Peter" so it's a fairly common Slavic surname.

Sort of like "Peterson / Petersen" in English and some Scandinavian languages. And yeah, Petrov is one of the few Slavic surnames that has nearly no variation in any language of the whole group.

[Thande]

I always find it hilarious that that 'atheist' symbol is a model of the atom that was discredited in the 1920s, which shows you how much those supposed science-worshippers actually know about science