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Pelindaba Nuclear Center was where South Africa's nuclear weapons were developed, produced, and stored. What if it had been attacked by aircraft from Cuba, Angola, or the Soviet Union during the Border War period with Angola?

Transporting petroleum by trains costs $10 to $15 per barrel, compared to around $5 for pipelines, but both systems have around the same capital construction costs. Railroad networks also tend to have greater coverage than pipeline networks and can carry a greater variety of cargo (this is...

Enron and several other individuals and firms were involved in an extensive conspiracy to manipulate electricity prices on the West Coast of the United States through activities such as exporting electricity generated inside of California outside the state before reimporting it for greater...

There were many explosions at ordnance plants, warehouses, and ports in New Jersey during World War I, including the 1916 Black Tom Explosion, 1917 Kingsland Explosion, and 1918 Morgan Munitions Depot Explosion, some of which may have been caused by Imperial German agents. What if Imperial...

Artillery seems to have significantly declined in prominence since World War II in favor of support from aircraft and missiles. However, aircraft and missiles take at least a few minutes to reach the site of a battle and can do little more than observation after deploying their payload (although...

Bob Dylan has written many songs whose cover versions became far more prominent than his own performances. In some cases the covers are so much more prominent that people think the Bob Dylan original is the cover. What if he had chosen to focus solely on songwriting instead of performance?

The Becker 20 Type M2 mm autocannon began development in 1913 and first entered production in 1916. It was an advanced design for its time, with its weight of 30 kilograms comparable to medium and heavy machine guns of the era and the ability to feed from a 10 or 15 round curved box magazine...

Some sources state that the United States experienced the first post-World War II petroleum shortages starting in summer 1972, continuing into winter 1972/1973. This photograph was apparently taken in Rhode Island in June 1972 (not 1973): There is also a report on hearings before the Joint...

Smith & Wesson had numerous issues with patent infringement, enforcement lawsuits, and contract cancellations throughout the 1800s. The company's lawsuits relating to unauthorized production of the Smith & Wesson Model 1 during the American Civil War led to resentment among military officials...

What if the Watts Truce had not been brokered between the African-American gangs in Los Angeles in the days leading up to the 1992 Los Angeles Riots? Would gang members have called for a temporary truce among themselves for the duration of the riots, or might the city have had a major gang war...

What would the United States military have looked like without Vietnam? Would there be any major changes in tactics/strategy and military procurement? Would there be more funding of strategic defense, the nuclear Navy, and advanced missiles for Air Force aircraft and Army ground forces?

It seems that something akin to a paintball gun could have found a niche in trench warfare. Modern recreational paintball guns are capable of firing 3 gram projectiles to speeds of 120 meters per second or higher (capped to 90 meters per second for field play), giving them a kinetic energy...

What if Ross Perot had decided to run as a Libertarian to take advantage of their existing ballot access across much of the United States? Could the Libertarian Party have broken through to consistently secure 5% of the vote and become eligible for federal campaign fund matching?

Although currently not economically competitive with other means of producing nuclear fuel and power, could a breeder reactor produce plutonium and other isotopes at a lower cost than other nuclear technologies? Is there a way to determine how much plutonium and other isotopes a breeder reactor...

The disappearance without a trace of the USS Cony in the Bermuda Triangle on October 27, 1963, continues to be one of the greatest maritime mysteries of the 20th century. It might even have influenced the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis. What if Cony hadn't vanished?

Apollo 13's return to Earth and breakup over the Caribbean five weeks after bouncing off the atmosphere and missing Earth by 2,500 miles came as a great surprise to everyone, as most projections had the spacecraft either bouncing off the atmosphere or coming in too steep and breaking up during...

When Alaskan statehood first started being considered many were concerned that it would be economically unsustainable and a literal welfare state. The military also had interest in Alaska for air defense, strategic basing, radars, and the testing of weapons technology, including nuclear weapons...

For almost one hundred years Nevada was the least populous state in the United States. The 1960 Census was the first time Nevada wasn't the least populous state, and that was only because Alaska was even less populous, although Nevada has rapidly increased in population since. How plausible...

In 1943 an unknown aircraft from either the British, American, German, or Italian military dropped four bombs over the Vatican. They fell in the Vatican Gardens near the Vatican Radio receiver, Vatican Tribunal (diplomatic housing), a mosaics workshop, and the Vatican Archpriest's office. What...

What if the Korean War had escalated into Manchuria after the intervention of the PRC, akin to the Vietnam War's escalation into Cambodia and Laos? Could the Manchurian power grid be crippled to the extent that the DPRK electric grid was? Could strikes on the coal, iron, and industrial...