History Forum / General / What If / July 2008

In a letter to George Hay of 23rd August 1823, printed in
Rives & Fendall, 'Letters and other writings of James Madison',
1865, Madison wrote 'nor is it impossible that the progressive
assimilation of local institutions, laws and manners, may overcome

Illinois senator Jack Ryan, the presumptive Republican nominee, wowed
Germany today by promising to break down new walls between America and
Europe in the need to fight terrorism.  This came toward the end of a
successful foreign trip, and recent polling showing Senator Ryan

Illinois senator Jack Ryan, the presumptive Republican nominee, wowed
Germany today by promising to break down new walls between America and
Europe in the need to fight terrorism.  This came toward the end of a
successful foreign trip, and recent polling showing Senator Ryan

18.2
[18.1 was a version with minor corrections as to three details, two of which
pointed out by the kind readership. It was not posted. This version features
significant changes, instead]

Lurking around this group I’ve noticed the debates of an ATL more
popular D&D. So why not discuss about how to prevent the decline of
space combat game. Anyone remember Wing Commander, Elite, Freelancer,
X-Wing or Freespace? Well try to get nowadays a decent space flight

1.the marathas lost the battle of panipat in 1761 against afghans and
they disintegrated into many smaller kingdoms,
which become a easy prey for the british who already established
firmly in bengal and south.

It is well known and accepted that simple steam engines -- mostly used
for toys to amuse the wealthy -- existed under the Roman Empire from
the early centuries of the Christian era.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_of_Alexandria

"Karl Marx, the archetype European revolutionary, had a lifelong
interest in the
United States. As early as 1845, when he was twenty-seven years old
and

It has been occasionally pointed out that Mexico was lucky OTL - that
the odds were good that the US would have taken more of northern
Mexico.
So: an alternate Guadalupe-Hidalgo. As well as the territories taken

The election in 1946 goes - 54% in favor of retaining the monarchy,
46% opposed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Emmanuel_III
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto_II_of_Italy

I was reading the recent issue of MHQ magazine today, when a paragraph
in the article on 1683 siege of Vienna caught my eye:
"For Suleiman, Vienna (1529) was merely a setback. In 1551, the port of
Tripoli, held by the Knights Hospitalers for Charles V, fell to a joint

Canada is a country full of bitter people who were ALMOST Americans,
but they just were not good enough.......Just didn't have what it
takes.

I have recently read "The Road" by Cormack McCarthy. Although it was a
short book, I thought it was extremely well written – brilliantly
crafted. I am trying to find other books (and) movies of this genre,
but it hasn’t been easy.

Thomas Paine and his little pamphlet of Common Sense is credited with
making the American and French Revolutions anti-monarchical. WI Thomas
Paine is killed during one of his voyages as a crewman on a privateer.
We would not have The Case of the Officers of Excise, Common Sense,

I was just thinking
was there any plausible way that Nicholas II and his family could have
survived?
his daughters might have lived to the 1970s and 80s - would they have