Various Possible PODs I've Found

JRummy

Hey everyone, this is my first thread but I've been a committed lurker and reader for awhile now. But I wanted to start my own thread about a littany of possible historical PODs I've found just by reading articles and stories on the Internet and elsewhere. Mind you, basically all of these events I've come across through Cracked.com, which is supposed to be a humorous site, but they have a historical and science section that usually has several links attached to the articles to back up their stories. I don't know how you go about listing multiple PODs, as I'm simply looking to see what people's opinions are about what might happen as a result of some of these events. They aren't all happening at the same time mind you, but it's just interesting to consider the course of events that would follow. I have a rather long(ish) list, so I'm probably going to make another thread in the pre-1900 forum to cover those that take place initially prior to 1900. Most of these have to do with something being discovered earlier, somebody being recognized for their work instead of whoever stole it, or somebody living that would have died otherwise, etc. If this is too long of a list, I'm sorry, just starting to get used to posting. If you need more specifics about a certain POD, just ask and I'll try to elaborate. I'll try and attach links if I can find them. Here we go:


- In 1918, British soldier Henry Tandey VC decides to shoot the wounded soldier he encounters at the battle near Marcoing, France, instead of deciding to spare him. That soldier that was spared IOTL was Adolf Hitler. http://www.cracked.com/article_1955...ing-acts-battlefield-mercy-in-history_p2.html

- In 1980, Gary Kildall decides to not go flying on the day that IBM approached his company's office to ask him to manufacture the computer operating system for their new launching of computers. IOTL, IBM went back to Microsoft instead, and we are where we are now. http://www.cracked.com/article_20286_6-inventors-who-changed-world-got-screwed-in-return_p2.html

- Sally Ride is not recognized as the first woman in space, as that achievement belongs to Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who preceded Ride started in June of 1963, when Ride was only 12. http://www.cracked.com/article_20250_5-groundbreaking-firsts-that-your-history-books-lied-about.html

- The Soviet Union is not the first country into space, as that was technically achieved by Germany on October 3, 1942 by the Nazis with their V-2 rockets. http://www.cracked.com/article_20250_5-groundbreaking-firsts-that-your-history-books-lied-about.html

- Antonio Meucci and/or Elisha Gray is correctly credited with inventing the telephone instead of Alexander Graham Bell. http://www.cracked.com/article_20250_5-groundbreaking-firsts-that-your-history-books-lied-about.html

- Around the end of WWI, urban railways and streetcars accounted for 90% of U.S transportation, and so the big auto companies were in a jam with only 10% of people using cars. Over the next few decades, they fundamentally sabotaged the railway industry, setting up the automobile industry as it's replacement by about 1947. What about if they didn't get away with it? http://www.cracked.com/article_19884_6-insane-conspiracy-theories-that-actually-happened.html

- Nixon does not get elected in 1968 due to him being caught in the act of sabotaging the peace talks with South Vietnam that were about to be agreed upon from the work of then current VP, Hubert Humphrey. http://www.cracked.com/article_19884_6-insane-conspiracy-theories-that-actually-happened.html

- The Gulf of Tonkin incident does not work (or is discovered to be a false flag) and the U.S. is not drawn into the Vietnam War (or at least not at that specific time). http://www.cracked.com/article_19884_6-insane-conspiracy-theories-that-actually-happened_p2.html

- Lee Harvey Oswald, who originally defected to the USSR and then subsequently returned, is allowed to defect then to Cuba instead of being held in America for good. Would the JFK assassination be butterflied away due to a lack of shooter then? http://www.cracked.com/article_19547_5-turncoats-who-changed-tide-history.html

- Igor Gousenko, a Soviet secret message decoder stationed in Canada, is either killed or abducted by the USSR after he initially tries to report his findings to the Canadian authorities, and therefore isn't able to be taken into protective custody and eventually starting off the Cold War. Either this simply pushes the Cold War's start to a later date, or maybe it butterflies it away? http://www.cracked.com/article_19547_5-turncoats-who-changed-tide-history_p2.html

- In 1899-1900 the U.S. had electric cars and they were more popular than gas-powered cars. Even Edison started working with Henry Ford on making good electric alternatives. What if those electric cars were still commercially viable and still researched up to the present day? More efficient electric cars? http://www.cracked.com/article_19531_5-scientific-advances-that-should-have-changed-everything.html

- Scientist Robert Goddard's rocket technology was not ignored by the U.S. and is instead undertaken as a legitimate scientific and military venture, instead of defecting to the Nazis. A different WW2 as well as advanced American Space Race? http://www.cracked.com/article_19531_5-scientific-advances-that-should-have-changed-everything.html

- Robert Galbraith Heath, who invented electrodes for the brain, has his research undertaken as serious in the 1960-70s and his technology improves over time as well as it's uses for medical treatment. http://www.cracked.com/article_1953...s-that-should-have-changed-everything_p2.html

- British pilots John Alcock and Arthur Brown are correctly credited and recognized as the first pilots to complete a trans-Atlantic flight instead of Charles Lindbergh, as they flew in 1919 from Newfoundland to Ireland in 16 hours. http://www.cracked.com/article_19430_6-famous-firsts-you-learned-in-history-class-are-total-bs.html

- In 1929, George E. Q. Johnson and Frank J. Wilson are correctly recognized as credited with capturing Al Capone instead of Eliot Ness. http://www.cracked.com/article_19076_5-important-people-who-were-screwed-out-history-books.html

- In 1940, Percy Julian isolated the hormones progesterone, estrogen and testosterone from soybean oil, therefore inventing steroids. He made a pretty big blunder by badmouthing his former coworkers at Howard in letters to one of his colleagues as he was finishing his Ph.D. in Vienna. Perhaps he decides against insulting his alma mater, and therefore remains in their good graces enough to be properly published and possibly earn a Nobel Prize? http://www.cracked.com/article_19076_5-important-people-who-were-screwed-out-history-books_p2.html

- Gen. Charles de Gaulle decides to go against norms and allows the Free French Army to retake Paris from the Germans in WWII instead of waiting to be replaced by all-white soldiers to keep up appearances for the Allies. http://www.cracked.com/article_18857_the-6-greatest-war-heroes-who-got-screwed-out-history.html

- Richard "Demo Dick" Marcinko is kept in the U.S. military even through his Red Cell assignment, and either is instructed to head up a new military force, or is still used to better instruct and prepare U.S. defenses? http://www.cracked.com/article_18857_the-6-greatest-war-heroes-who-got-screwed-out-history.html

- In 2009, record-holding Canadian snipers Arron Perry and Rob Furlong are not railroaded by the Canadian military brass because of political correctness. http://www.cracked.com/article_18857_the-6-greatest-war-heroes-who-got-screwed-out-history_p2.html

- Nikola Tesla's life's work isn't destroyed in an apartment fire as perpetrator is caught beforehand. IOTL it was possibly started by rival Guglielmo Marconi, who subsequently wins the Nobel Prize soon after for work almost exactly like that of Tesla. http://www.cracked.com/article_18539_7-lost-bodies-work-that-would-have-changed-everything.html

- Ernest Hemingway's suitcase, containing his all his works up until 1922, including his war years, is not lost on the way to Geneva, Switzerland, therefore saving years of his writing and it can be published. http://www.cracked.com/article_18539_7-lost-bodies-work-that-would-have-changed-everything.html

-Albert Einstein cites Henri Poincare as a source of his relativity theory. http://www.cracked.com/article_16072_5-famous-inventors-who-stole-their-big-idea.html

- HIV/AIDS was discovered in 1981-83 and immediately began being researched by a joint US-French team instead of squabbling over who gets credit until 1987 like IOTL. http://www.cracked.com/article_1850...fic-innovations-held-back-by-petty-feuds.html

- Tesla's AC current wins out over Edison's DC current instead in the U.S. http://www.cracked.com/article_1850...fic-innovations-held-back-by-petty-feuds.html

- German Alfred Wegener's theory of plate tectonics is accepted in 1915 by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, instead of being discredited and refused for nearly 36 years. http://www.cracked.com/article_1850...-innovations-held-back-by-petty-feuds_p2.html

- American General George Patton and British General Bernard Montgomery don't get into a pissing match in WWII about the invasion at Messina, therefore the German and Italian troops do not escape. http://www.cracked.com/article_19926_5-petty-feuds-that-shaped-modern-world.html

- What if Bruce Lee didn't die? How would he affect the future martial arts and action movie industry as well as representation of Asians in entertainment?

- What if Elvis Presley didn't die the way he did? From what I understand, he supposedly missed a colonoscopy that would would have caught what killed him, and he supposedly was severely congested/blocked with fecal matter in his intestines. Impact on music?

Holy hell this is a long list, but I didn't know whether or not it'd be worth it to basically shell out about a dozen separate threads and clutter up the forum, rather than have people cherry pick and discuss PODs that they're interested in discussing. Let me know what you all think!
 

Amakan

I am interested in the implications of the brain electrodes TL.

Most because I see the potential for a Deus Esque world. :p
 

MattII

Just a few points of contention there.

- Sally Ride is not recognized as the first woman in space, as that achievement belongs to Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who preceded Ride started in June of 1963, when Ride was only 12. http://www.cracked.com/article_20250_5-groundbreaking-firsts-that-your-history-books-lied-about.html
Click to expand...
Can't see it happening, it would be like their admitting that Bushnell's little melon-sub got nowhere near the Eagle.

- The Soviet Union is not the first country into space, as that was technically achieved by Germany on October 3, 1942 by the Nazis with their V-2 rockets. http://www.cracked.com/article_20250_5-groundbreaking-firsts-that-your-history-books-lied-about.html
Click to expand...
Sputnik 1 was the first object to orbit the earth, whereas the V-2 only made a parabolic flight, much like Alan Shepard years later, so this is hardly a tarnish.

- In 1899-1900 the U.S. had electric cars and they were more popular than gas-powered cars. Even Edison started working with Henry Ford on making good electric alternatives. What if those electric cars were still commercially viable and still researched up to the present day? More efficient electric cars? http://www.cracked.com/article_19531_5-scientific-advances-that-should-have-changed-everything.html
Click to expand...
Can't be done, petrol's just too potent.

- British pilots John Alcock and Arthur Brown are correctly credited and recognized as the first pilots to complete a trans-Atlantic flight instead of Charles Lindbergh, as they flew in 1919 from Newfoundland to Ireland in 16 hours. http://www.cracked.com/article_19430_6-famous-firsts-you-learned-in-history-class-are-total-bs.html
Click to expand...
Refer to my comment about Sally Ride, oh, and the Orteig Prize was for the first flight from NY to Paris, not the first across the Atlantic.

- Nikola Tesla's life's work isn't destroyed in an apartment fire as perpetrator is caught beforehand. IOTL it was possibly started by rival Guglielmo Marconi, who subsequently wins the Nobel Prize soon after for work almost exactly like that of Tesla. http://www.cracked.com/article_18539_7-lost-bodies-work-that-would-have-changed-everything.html
Click to expand...
How does a 20-year-old genius in Italy get involve with an arson in NY?

- Tesla's AC current wins out over Edison's DC current instead in the U.S. http://www.cracked.com/article_1850...fic-innovations-held-back-by-petty-feuds.html
Click to expand...
You mean the US is still running on DC power?

- American General George Patton and British General Bernard Montgomery don't get into a pissing match in WWII about the invasion at Messina, therefore the German and Italian troops do not escape. http://www.cracked.com/article_19926_5-petty-feuds-that-shaped-modern-world.html
Click to expand...
The two despised each other, so the 'pissing match' is pretty much guaranteed.
 
Shadow Hawk

Shadow Hawk

British pilots John Alcock and Arthur Brown are correctly credited and recognized as the first pilots to complete a trans-Atlantic flight instead of Charles Lindbergh
Click to expand...

Lindbergh never recieved credit for first flight over the Atlantic, he got first solo non-stop credit. For first flight, we can go with LCDR Read in May of 1919, with his crew of five, taking 23 days with six stops...
 

JRummy

Alright in terms of people getting credit for their work, that might be less plausible because that pretty much involves people giving up being famous, which as I think about it, is probably as likely as a fish deciding to fly, so I'll leave those more alone.

I am more interested however in what would've happened if Tesla's work hadn't gone up in smoke. Would the salvaging of his research kickstart any specific industry or scientific venture? And when I meant the Tesla vs. Edison deal, I meant that Edison's DC current system initially won out against Tesla's AC, but over time people realized that Edison's system wasn't as efficient and powerful as AC. I believe it said they were still changing over the whole electrical system from DC to AC up into the 60s, so I'm wondering what would've happened had they stuck with AC in the first place and had so many years already using AC?

I'm not sure if it's been used in previous timelines, but has anyone covered the implications of Oswald being allowed to leave the U.S. for Cuba after returning from the USSR? He wouldn't have been angry with the U.S. for keeping him in the country as he was an apparent communist sympathizer, so I'd suspect that would butterfly the JFK assassination because he's not in town when Kennedy rolls through?

Also, what does anybody think of the possibility of the U.S. keeping Robert Goddard for their own purposes, therefore robbing the Germans of the V-2 rockets? And could the rocket technology subsequently kickstart and earlier start and finish to the Space Race?
 

Paul V McNutt

Banned
\
- Nixon does not get elected in 1968 due to him being caught in the act of sabotaging the peace talks with South Vietnam that were about to be agreed upon from the work of then current VP, Hubert Humphrey. http://www.cracked.com/article_19884_6-insane-conspiracy-theories-that-actually-happened.html
President Humphrey works for progress on civil rights and continues the Great Society. The Goldberg Court hands down liberal decisions.
-
- Lee Harvey Oswald, who originally defected to the USSR and then subsequently returned, is allowed to defect then to Cuba instead of being held in America for good. Would the JFK assassination be butterflied away due to a lack of shooter then?
Yes

- Igor Gousenko, a Soviet secret message decoder stationed in Canada, is either killed or abducted by the USSR after he initially tries to report his findings to the Canadian authorities, and therefore isn't able to be taken into protective custody and eventually starting off the Cold War. Either this simply pushes the Cold War's start to a later date, or maybe it butterflies it away?
The Cold War starts on schedule. What did this have to do with it?

- Gen. Charles de Gaulle decides to go against norms and allows the Free French Army to retake Paris from the Germans in WWII instead of waiting to be replaced by all-white soldiers to keep up appearances for the Allies.
Not much changes


- Ernest Hemingway's suitcase, containing his all his works up until 1922, including his war years, is not lost on the way to Geneva, Switzerland, therefore saving years of his writing and it can be published. Hem
Hemingway becomes famous earlier.

- HIV/AIDS was discovered in 1981-83 and immediately began being researched by a joint US-French team instead of squabbling over who gets credit until 1987 like IOTL.
Many lives are saved. There is much less panic about AIDs.


- What if Elvis Presley didn't die the way he did? From what I understand, he supposedly missed a colonoscopy that would would have caught what killed him, and he supposedly was severely congested/blocked with fecal matter in his intestines. Impact on music?

He continues making music but still dies young because of his lifestyle.
 

Dathi THorfinnsson

Shadow Hawk said:
Lindbergh never recieved credit for first flight over the Atlantic, he got first solo non-stop credit. For first flight, we can go with LCDR Read in May of 1919, with his crew of five, taking 23 days with six stops...
Click to expand...

Actually, im afraid i have to disagree here. I cant count the number of times ive seen the statement that he was the first to cross the atlantic. If you polled Americans 'who first flew the Atlantic?', id bet about 90% would answer 'lindbergh'.
 

phx1138

JRummy said:
U.S. keeping Robert Goddard for their own purposes, therefore robbing the Germans of the V-2 rockets? And could the rocket technology subsequently kickstart and earlier start and finish to the Space Race?
Click to expand...
:confused::confused::confused:

What did Goddard have to do with the A-4? Aside von Braun knowing about his work on liquid fuel rockets?
 
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