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What if the Soviets picked Yo Un-Hyung instead of Kim Il-Sung as the leader of North Korea? Yo was a moderate Leftist with clout across the political spectrum and well respected for his life long involvement for Korean independence. He was certainly more popular than Syngman Rhee and far better...

What technology could be developed earlier that would result in a lower carbon footprint society today? Also other helpful green technology would be welcome. For example I think algae fuel and fertilizer could've been ready years ago if we invested in it earlier. Also biochar could've been...

Now what? Could the Soviets continue fighting without access to the oilfields of the Caucasus? Did they have enough left for a campaign to retake the south, or is the eastern front over? How does the war end if the bulk of German forces remain? I think it's impossible to pull of D-Day. The...

With a POD as early as 1947, how could Sufism become the most widely practiced version of Islam in both Pakistan and Afghanistan?

The boll weevil was a dreaded cotton killing pest that invaded the US at the end of the 19th century. It proved devastating on the south's economy, forcing cotton farmers to diversify their crops. There was no effective countermeasure until the 1970s. So what if this pestilence hit a century...

US was a crucial trade partner to Japan in the pre-war period. The Japanese imported 80% of its oil from America and the importation of scrap metal was essential to its armament industry. However the US did not cut this lifeline until 1941, enabling the Japanese military to modernize and...

I always thought it rather peculiar that the Philippines was so lacking of development when it was so close to other Asian civilizations. The Spanish swept up the Philippines with even less difficulty than some of the American peoples they recently conquered. The challenge is for the...

I was watching Greek protests the other day and it occurred to me that though the riot police have re-adopted the phalanx formation, what keeps the protesters from doing the same? After all an organized crowd carrying shields can hardly be described as dangerous and warranting lethal response...

What effect would an earlier invention of the cotton gin have on history, say it was invented a century earlier? Would it allow alternative cotton superpowers, would America be too valuable for Britain to lose, would it the international slave trade ban be still born, or perhaps a non-slave...

The Andean people had a number of technologies which would be very advantageous to the North Americans. The Llamas and Alpacas for a start, but also the potato, quinoa, and peanut. The latter did make as far north as the Aztecs. Finally terra preta was also known in some parts of Ecuador and...

Why did the Incans limit themselves to the Andes? Why didn't they expand east into Argentina for example? They had the crop and animal package that would allow them to prosper in temperate regions after all.

POD Elizabeth born a man. Is there any way he can be accepted as a childless ruler and "married to England".

I realize this borders on ASB, but who really knows why and when a volcano comes back to life. So let's say Eyjafjallajokull blows thirty years earlier. The skies of Europe is covered with airplane grounding ash as now. I assume the superpowers would be on high alert due to the possibility of a...

What would be needed for a homeland for Jews be created in Western Sahara in lieu of in the un-Holyland? Is it even possible to build a country in such arid terrain, and how would the Islamic world react to it? POD: anytime post 1900

I believe it was Victor Hugo who is credited with that line. What would it take for it to be commonly accepted that Iberia is more African than European? Perhaps greater North African migration during Moorish rule?

During WWII China depended on the Burma road to move supplies from Rangoon to southwestern China. It was built during 1937-38, when it became clear that Chinese ports were in dangered by Japanese advances. However its carrying capacity was limited, in fact a fraction of the Hanoi to Nanning...

What if instead of the Nazis popularizing the Roman stiff arm salute, it was instead the Soviets? Would it still be in use today and how would people react to it?

Is it plausible for Australian Rules Football to be much more popular than it is? It's a great game, but Australia itself doesn't have the population size and economic impact to market the sport better.

POD 2000. Make Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain the fastest growing European economies today.

After WWII a number of German aircraft engineers like Kurt Tank and Reimar Horten went to live in exile in Argentina. There were others like French designer Émile Dewoitine. At the time Argentina was financially well off and Peron had big plans to industrialize. The country invested a lot of...