this is no ordinary honest it is
disgusting and painful
its victims fall into terrible fever and
dark despair
welcome to watch mojo and today we're
counting down our picks for the top 10
mind-blowing alternate histories um
uh i i don't read books
yeah that's it yes science the questions
persist
did they try to colonize the americas
and how much of their
seafaring skill did they bequeath to
medieval europe
for this list we're looking at various
hypothetical alternate histories
that could have occurred if events had
played out just a little differently
which alternate history do you find the
scariest or most intriguing
let us know in the comments number 10
the internet doesn't become commercial
if you own a computer
here's how to get the most out of it
without buying lots of expensive
software
the internet could be very different
today writing for intelligencer
author brian feldman notes that had the
national science foundation not allowed
commercial activity in 1991
the internet would still be confined to
academia
we'd be getting all our information from
you know doing research
in books can you name a book
um uh i i don't read books
yeah that's it of course that wasn't the
last hurdle the internet had to jump
over
if the fcc had been put in charge in the
mid 90s the internet would likely be
heavily censored like network television
what the hell is this the fcc has
forbidden audible flatulence everyone is
now required to wear this device that
converts all fart sounds into steven
wright jokes
i spilled spot remover on my dog and now
he's gone
oh this is bogus in a similar vein in
1998
congress passed an act that would have
banned children from using certain sites
fortunately it was shot down for being
too broad and unenforceable oh what do
you think kids
yeah surf's up see you on the net number
nine
washington is killed in battle as
hamilton
taught us george washington was a major
figure in the american revolutionary war
why are you telling me this i'm being
honest i'm working with a third of what
our congress has promised
he led the patriot forces and following
the country's victory
helped establish the u.s constitution
and served two terms as the first
president of the united states
suffice it to say the man was pretty
darn important
so what if he had been killed in battle
author eric marozzi opines that if he'd
been killed before france joined the
fray
america could well have lost the war and
remained a british colony it may be
doubted whether so
small a number of men ever employed so
short a space of time with more lasting
results upon the history of the world
if he died later in the war it's
possible that the two-term precedent for
u.s presidents would never have been set
allowing one person to lead the country
indefinitely
well general uh
uh you are you are here i am
number eight no protestant reformation
in the 16th century german theologian
and monk martin luther
challenged the authority of the catholic
church leading to the reformation and
the birth of protestantism
never before had a man of the people
excited such enthusiasm
ordinary people peasants and members of
the lower aristocracy in particular
put their hopes in this monk from
wittenberg this significantly eroded the
catholic church's authority
and led to the birth of new christian
denominations this movement
known as protestantism swept across
germany and then on to france
the netherlands belgium
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but in every place it took a different
form today
it's estimated that 37 of all christians
or 1 billion people are protestants if
this never happened
then catholicism would be far more
prevalent today it's possible that the
pope would be the most influential and
powerful man in the world
english novelist kingsley amos explored
this idea in his novel the alteration
describing a world in which the catholic
church rules with an iron fist
suppressing literature technology and
human sexuality
for centuries people simply followed the
path laid out for them by their church
and their leaders
the reformation showed them another way
number seven
the south wins the civil war fifty-six
thousand died in the prisons of north
and south
now so many decades after the event the
hurt
is still there and people still ask why
fought from 1861 to 1865
the american civil war ended with the
union defeating the confederacy
and the abolition of slavery in the u.s
but what if abraham lincoln had failed
and the self had won instead in 1960
writer mckinley cantor offered one
possible answer suggesting that the
southern forces would have annexed
washington dc
and continued to enslave black people
leading to
mounting international pressure and
further civil strife
all through the south the tremor runs
the convulsion of a once serene society
that feels itself threatened with
extinction on the other hand
novelist harry turtledove southern
victory series imagines the union and
confederate states continuing as
separate nations
and choosing separate sides in world war
one however you look at it
it seems clear that slavery would have
continued for far longer
and that the united states might not be
united today
number 6. hitler is killed adolf
hitler's hypothetical death or
assassination
has served as a popular think piece for
decades
and many theories have been put forth
regarding its potential ramifications
hitler claimed that a british soldier
spared his life in world war one
if he'd been killed instead the nazi
party may not have risen to power
potentially averting world war ii from
the time he was elected chancellor in
1933
hitler seized every opportunity to
influence the masses inside germany
there were also numerous attempts to
assassinate hitler
both before and during the second world
war most famously
the 20 july plot in 1944 during this
attempt
a table leg shielded hitler from the
bomb blast if it hadn't
the war may have seen a faster and more
peaceful end
of course that's just one of many many
possibilities
number five christianity fails to spread
christianity has had a major impact on
history
and it's hard to envision a reality
without it christianity is a
monotheistic religion
that centers on the teachings of jesus
christ believed to be the son of an
almighty universal
god it is through faith in jesus christ
and his teachings
that believers have access to god and
afterlife
the possibilities are almost endless
what would european history have been
like
would the dark ages have been dark would
a different religion occupy its place
perhaps a polytheistic one well to start
with the roman empire would not have
adopted christianity in the 4th century
a.d
one empire one god
one emperor
greco-roman mystery cults might have
boomed instead fulfilling hope for
reward in the afterlife
scientific and academic institutions
would have been free of the catholic
church's authority
yes science but would have lacked the
church's patronage
which was key in their development
basically
modern-day western civilization would be
unrecognizable
possibly in very unexpected ways gone
it's all gone number four the black
death is even worse
the deadliest pandemic in human history
the black death occurred from 1346 to
1353
and killed up to 200 million people in
the crisis
every part of medieval society was
strained to breaking point
medicine failed the sick
violent a macabre religious cults
appeared
a morality collapsed as men turned on
each other
in brutal acts of cruelty it's estimated
that between
30 and 60 percent of europe's population
was wiped out
for people at the time it must have
seemed like the end of the world
this is no ordinary illness it is
disgusting and painful
its victims fall into terrible fever and
dark despair
had the plague been worse it would have
left an even larger power vacuum
allowing other cultures to propagate and
grow in influence
in turn however the disease helped
catapult crucial advancements in science
and public health
very well making plague pandemics a
thing
of the past in kim stanley robinson's
epic alternate history novel the years
of rice and salt
europe is repopulated by muslim pioneers
a war breaks out between muslim states
and china and
the indigenous population of north
america forms a league to fight back
against muslim and chinese invaders
number three vikings remain in north
america
in the 10th century five centuries
before christopher columbus was born
norseman colonized north america today
there's proof that it was these viking
explorers
and not christopher columbus who were
the first europeans to reach
north american shores but knowledge of
this period is incomplete filled with
speculation and controversy
vikings settled in greenland in
northeast canada
including lanso meadows on the
northernmost tip of newfoundland
however the vikings didn't stay in north
america for long
we also know from the archaeology that
the vikings stayed here for only two or
three years
but why but what if they did they would
have continued trading with the local
population
but likely clashed also as their
settlement expanded
while they would have been outnumbered
at first the viking's superior weapons
would have given them an important edge
the norse colony spread a governing body
would have been established
and trade initiated with europe
eventually they would likely be invaded
by european powers themselves
and likely overrun still perhaps a
viking nation might persist today within
north america
but until recently just how the
scandinavians manage this navigational
feat remained a mystery
the questions persist did they try to
colonize the americas
and how much of their seafaring skill
did they bequeath to medieval europe
number two romans win the battle of the
teterberg forest
at the turn of the first century a.d the
roman empire was attempting to conquer
magna germania
the name given to north central europe
the romans are in for the fight of their
lives
facing treacherous terrain guerrilla
tactics
and the unfathomable fury of a cyclonic
storm
roman emperor augustus wished to expand
into the region
but his occupation was prevented in 9ad
with the battle of the tudoburg forest
when we look at a number of the other
defeats in roman history
what's interesting with this one is it's
so very explicitly
actually stops a pattern of expansion in
one area
and that has very long lasting
consequences it is also
something that actually has a direct
impact on the very shape of the roman
empire as
harper magazine's editor louis h lapham
noted in the anthology what if
things would have turned out very
differently if the romans had emerged
victorious instead
for here in 9 a.d the unthinkable had
happened
three of rome's finest legions wiped out
by a horde of iron age savages
their commander publius quintillious
virus decapitated
had the romans successfully expanded
into magna germania
the roman empire may have endured for
far longer upending the course of
european history
and the english language might never
have been created
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number one germany wins world war ii
hitler was the personification of evil
no one has been responsible for more
deaths than him perhaps the most popular
and debated scenario within alternate
history
is the victory of hitler and the axis
powers in world war ii
the second world war would see the
height of nazi popularity
but it would also be their ultimate
downfall in robert harris's fatherland
germany defeats the allies and threatens
the us
with nuclear weapons leading to a peace
treaty in contrast
philip roth's the plot against america
has the u.s voluntarily siding with
germany
after american aviator and
non-interventionist charles lindbergh
becomes president
one of the most nightmarish scenarios is
explored and philip k
dick's revered the man in the high
castle
right i can hardly stand to watch
germany has conquered europe and the
soviet union
and occupies the eastern united states
while japan
controls the west it seems like a crazy
scenario
but who knows how history could have
unfolded had just a few things changed
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