Somewhere under the Atlantic a geological fault makes itself comfortable, causing barely a ripple on the shores of Portugal. In OTL an estimated 90,000 people would die that day and the world would change FOREVER. 
If this is indeed, as Voltaire's Pangloss argued, "the best of all possible worlds" - what was the alternative like?
If this is indeed, as Voltaire's Pangloss argued, "the best of all possible worlds" - what was the alternative like?