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What would it take for Project Longshot to have been launched and built? Perhaps NASA's budget isn't decreased and a more sustainable alternative to the Shuttle is developed, allowing more money for a program like this? Say it left Earth orbit some time in the early 90s. It wouldn't have...

Could Capybaras be domesticated by the natives of South America for their meat and hides? They are already farmed in some areas, and breed faster than equines. If so, how far could domesticated capybaras spread? Perhaps the Taíno could bring them north into the Caribbean. How would they affect...

Assuming his goal was to make France the lasting hegemon of Europe, what was Napoleon's first failure? What should he have done instead?

How could England get conquered as many times as possible, with a POD that doesn't prevent the 1066 invasions? Failed invasions don't count, but successful invasions with only short-term effects do. Conquests of most of England, but not all of it, do count. As does the emplacement of puppet...

As racist as the British Empire was to the common people in Africa and Asia, they seemed to have respect for colonial and foreign princes and nobles. So how could African and Indian, and if possible Pacific, princes be incorporated into the House of Lords?

How could the Greek pantheon evolve into a monotheism like Atenism or Zoroastrianism did? What era would be best for this? Might some features be adopted from Judaism?

In the Saga of Vinland, there is a mention of pretty large "warslings" used by the natives: "It was a furious battle, for the savages had warslings to help them. Karlsevni and Snorri watched them lift up a pole with a huge knob on the end, black in color, and about the size of a sheep's belly...

What if they never trekked north and conquered/settled all the areas that they did? How would the colonization of South Africa proceed?

What would an India colonized by Spain, or acquired by Spain from Portugal, be like? Would Spanish administrators lump the Indians into one or two castes and create a few more with imported settlers and slaves from Europe and Africa? Or would they just build on top of the existing regional...

Could the Iroquois remain independent after the American Revolution? If so, how long?

When the Caliphate conquered Mesopotamia and Syria, Aramaic would have been the most common language. What if they adopted it, and continued to use it, as an administrative language?

What if the Danes successfully conquered England in 1069/1070?

What if the Khazars converted the Magyars to Judaism before the Magyars crossed the Carpathians?

Is there any way the Romans could conquer Germania but not Gaul?

Sam Houston was offered a large amount of expeditionary troops by Abraham Lincoln to stay in the Union. The typically cited number is 50,000, but that is probably exaggerated. He refused the offer, but abstained from supporting the Confederates. As a result of that, he was ousted from position...

Could the USSR have collapsed after 1945 but before 1991? If so, what nations would break off and which would stay attached to Russia? What would a non-communist Russia's foreign policy be in 70s or 80s?

Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer was one of the greatest Byzantine emperors, but he never had an heir. What if he did? Three variations of this scenario: Emperor Basil marries in the early 1010s and has a legitimate son, who succeeds him in 1025. Emperor Basil marries in the early 1010s and has a...

The Mongols conquered dozens of peoples and states, forming a vast empire across most of Asia and part of Europe. But could anyone conquer the united Mongol Empire? This can happen from within the empire or from outside, and can be done by any leader or group of people, as long as they are not...

How could a civil war or coup occur in Germany in the mid-late 1930s and prevent the invasion of Poland?

Is it possible, however unlikely, for a megalomaniacal, but clever, Roman Emperor to go on massive conquests in the East with most of the Roman army, perhaps stopping only at China? In the aftermath, the giant Roman state would split into several usurped states like the Hellenistic states after...