Engine of Progress

2010
When returning to their dorm to grab a lost computer, Theo Bell, Rob Grandon, Tim Pasco, Dorothy Griffin, and Cheyenne Space are transported to 1938 along with their school campus.

1938
The five students decide that the likelihood of returning to their time is slim to none, and elect to start new lives in the past with the hopes of ending World War Two much sooner, and at a lesser cost than in their time. Skilled in Electrical, Aerospace, and Mechanical Engineering Theo, Cheyenne, and Rob, decide to make their way to Roswell, New Mexico to join Dr. Goddard's team and advance space technology. Dorothy, a Biologist, decides to make her way to Carnegie Mellon to advance genetics; while Tim leaves to find Nicola Tesla and work towards advanced computers.
 * By August 1938 the three engineers are working with Dr. Goddard to build the first rocket capable of space flight. Designed mainly by Theo, the rocket is nearly twenty feet tall, and utilizes Hybrid Rocket Propulsion, similar to OTL SpaceShipOne.
 * Tim and Tesla create the first programmable transistor computer. While fairly basic, it is a mark improvement over vacuum tubes. Tim sends a refined model to the Goddard team for the first artificial satellite.
 * The Goddard team launches their rocket, Hermes 1 with the first artificial satellite in November. It is identical to OTL Sputnik.
 * Dorothy has successfully entered Carnegie, but not without a confrontation with 1930s sexism. Her work with Eugenics however, quickly erases all doubts to her ability. Using her knowledge of Rosalind Franklin's study of the Genome, Dorothy proves the existance of the double helix by November. She is hailed, much like her friends, for changing the course of history.

1939

 * Nazi Germany invades Poland, World War II officially begins.
 * The Goddard Team launches the first communication satellite, they place a call from New Mexico to Washington DC to inform President Roosevelt of the launch. The team is invited to DC to speak to the President about the military applications of the rocket.
 * Dorothy and her colleagues begin experimenting with Adult Stem Cells. The biggest challenge is creating the necessary equipment to handle the cells.
 * President Roosevelt contracts the Goddard Team to work for the US Army Air Corps on a secret project to develop the first ICBMs. To finance the project all funding is pulled from bomber development, as well as a number of other experimental programs.
 * Tim and Tesla create the first integrated circuit. Tesla's reputation is reborn, and he is able to reclaim his patent as inventor of the radio.
 * The first series of spy satellites are launched into orbit. They are equipped with the first digital cameras to digitally relay images directly to the Office of Naval Intelligence.

1940

 * Theo and Cheyenne perfect the Turbofan, research begins on the F-1 Mustang (It is not a Pursuit aircraft, but rather a fighter since all bombers are being retired to make way for the ICBMs.)
 * Tim designs a computer comparable to the CER-22 (the first transistor based computer.)
 * Dorothy builds the first device capable of extracting adult stem cells, it takes up a whole room.
 * The Winter War Begins.
 * The first electronically fired gun is built by Theo, Rob, and Tim; the XEFR.
 * The Goddard Team tests the first ICBM, it works flawlessly. President Roosevelt approves the construction of two permenant faciliteis to launch the rockets; the first to be built in Pearl Harbor, the second in Anchorage.

1941

 * The Empire of Japan stages the attack on the US at Pearl Harbor. The attack is a disaster for the Japanese as US spy satelites were able to detect the fleet weeks before they arrived. By the end of the day, Japan is only able to destroy a few ships of the fleet, while its own ships were completely decimated by the US. While Pearl Harbor became more of a battle than an attack, the psychological damage is done. The US declares war on Japan just as they would have in OTL.
 * Germany declares war on the US. President Roosevelt orders an invasion of Greenland to build another launch sight.
 * The F-1 undergoes its first test flight.
 * The Goddard Team begins developing the first practical VTOL craft with Sikorsky. It is to be a tilt-rotor similar to the V-22.
 * December: The Pearl Harbor Launch Sight is completed.
 * The Invasion of Greenland: US Forces capture and secure Scoresbysund and begins construction of the new launch sight.
 * The Navy orders the construction of next generation submarines. The Balao class attack subs.

1942

 * US factories roar to life producing Jet and rocket engines for the air force, guns, tanks, and armor for the army, and US ship yards rush to produce the Balao attack subs.
 * Theo convinces Roosevelt to meet with Mao to get the Red Chinese to fight the Japanese as allies of the US. Roosevelt, an ardent supporter of the Chiang Kai-shek government, agrees only grudgingly after Theo reminds the president that Mao is no friend of the Soviets, and will be a powerful ally if the US is willing to help him work with the Chinese nationals.
 * Roosevelt meets with Mao. He agrees to start supplying him with weapons so long as he only fights against the Japanese, and renames the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese Progressive Party. This is to allow Mao to run in the Chinese elections and gain favor with the US. Mao agrees for the support of US weapons and political support.
 * The M1 Automatic Rifle is developed, and issued as the standard infantry weapon of the US military. It is an electronically fired casteless weapon, and is incapable of jamming.
 * Tim and Rob begin designing an advanced Howitzer, capable of being computer targeted.
 * The BT fuse is introduced in a casteless weapon. It is made standard on all ships.
 * The Soviet Union joins the Allies.
 * The Battle of Bataan yields a crushing defeat to the Japanese Forces, General McCarther secures the Philippines.
 * The US launches a series of Minuteman I ICBMs at major Japanese and German military centers. The missile, while non-nuclear, carries a large lead load that acts as a man made meteor.

1943

 * The Sikorsky R-4 Heron enters service. It quickly becomes one of the most widely produced vehicles of the war.
 * The F-1 is put into full production. It is a jet aircraft similar in design to the a small F-16, and is capable of supersonic flight.
 * Cheyenne's Mithril Armor is put into service. It is comparable to OTLs, Dragon Skin.
 * January: The joint American and Chinese Invasion of the Japanese home islands begins. Having sunk most of the Japanese fleet, the US sends its new Balao class missile submarines off the coast of Japan, and readies a landing fleet while the Chinese and Vietnamese orchestrates a massive offensive against the Japanese i . Using the Chinese and Vietnamese offensives as a distraction, the US launches a barrage of Minuteman 1 Missiles against major Japanese instillations as well as a coastal barrage from Balao attack submarines. Once the missile bombardmen ends a full scale invasion of Japan begins. New F-4 Corsair, a jet fighter similar to the F-4 Phantom, achieve air superiority almost immediately. R-4 Heron's take US Marines directly into the Japanese mainland, and after only a month of fighting, the Empire of Japan surrenders to the US on March 4th.
 * With the lessons learned from the Invasion of Japan. The D-Day invasion begins on September 22nd, and after fourteen hours of fighting, the US achieves a resounding victory with minimal loss of life, using similar techniques as they had in Japan. Unlike the invasion of Japan, however, for D-Day one crucial complaint of battlefield commanders had been solved. The US sent its first airship into the field, the massive USS Manhattan Island, intended to give commanders a bird's eye view of the battlefield from a safe distance, and act as a relay for all communications and intel.

1944

 * January: The Allies Retake France. Italy falls to General Montgomery, Germany garrisons itself along the trenches surrounding Berlin and the Austrian Border. Wehrmacht moral is at an all time low, and many German soldiers are surrendering.
 * February: The Nazis recalls Rommel, and the entire 7th Panzer devision to defend Germany from the Allies.
 * Offshore subs continue to cripple the German military effort. Germany is currently broken and quardinated by only orders from Hitler's secret subterranean bunker in what is left of Berlin.
 * President Roosevelt proposes a Second Bill of Rights (as he did in OTL) in his State of the Union Address on January 11, 1944.
 * After US attack subs achieve sustained bombardment of the German Northern Front, and begin dropping high yield strikes on German encampments, Hitler begins to shift his strategy to defending Germany and its gains in Eastern Europe.
 * April, The US crushes remaining German holdouts along the Rhine, and secures Düsseldorf.
 * The Soviet Union takes Romania and the Baltics.
 * June:President Roosevelt orders a missile strike on Berlin. Casualties are in the hundreds of thousands.
 * July:The Soviets break through to eastern Poland. Hitler, hiding in the Eagle's Nest, orders that the Wermach begin a war of attrition agains the Soviets.
 * US forces reach the Eagle's nest. Hitler kills himself before he can be captured.

1945

 * US forces reach Warsaw in February where Herman Goering, having assumed the position Führer, finally surrenders for Germany.
 * Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, and a newly elected Mao meet in Yalta to discuss end of war policy. The allies cannot agree on who will administer Poland until the post war reconstruction ends and so (much like Germany in OTL) Poland is divided though a joint US and British administration of everything west of the Curzon line, while the Soveits will administer the East. Stalin grumbles back to the Kremlin with no further gains in Easter Europe. The Iron Curtain is drawn far more in the West's favor.
 * President Roosevelt sends the Second Bill of Rights to Congress. It includes the following rights as constitutional amendments.
 * The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
 * The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
 * The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
 * The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
 * The right of every family to a decent home;
 * The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
 * The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
 * The right to a good education.
 * Roosevelt dies shortly after introducing the bill to Congress, he is remembered as a hero, and the bill passes in his honor.
 * Vice President Henry A. Wallace is sworn following President Roosevelt’s death. He signs the second bill of rights into law upon entering office.

1946

 * The Nuremberg trials find leaders of the Nazi party guilty of crimes against humanity, (though the Holocaust was stopped by December 1943.)
 * The UN signs the Decolonization Act.
 * Dorothy founds Griffin Eugenics. The company releases the first stem cell treatment for burn victims. The machine is roughly the size of a Modern MRI device.
 * President Wallace signs the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating NASA. Theo becomes the agency's first administrator. The first task of the agency is a Global Communications Network and satellite positioning system.
 * Cheyenne becomes the CEO, and majority share holder of Lockheed, she begins development of the Constellation Jet Liner.
 * Rob becomes lead designer for General Motors, he begins research into plug in hybrids.
 * Tim founds Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), he begins developing the Personal Computer.
 * President Wallace orders that American forces immediately aide in sending relief to Europe and Japan following the War. Doctors in Japan confirm that at least another million people will be dead within the year from malnutrition and lead poisoning (The material used on the Minuteman warheads.). Japan is effectively a US protectorate with no real government.
 * The military commissions Griffin to build a handheld stem cell applicator.
 * The Russians begin a nuclear program, unable to catch up to the US in rocketry. (the Manhattan project was cut to fund the ICBMs.)
 * The US is using the Philippines as a launch point for Japanese relief, the flow of goods through the island and the services provided for American planes an Aircraft create an economic boom. The Philippines apply for statehood by the end of the year. Other island territories follow shortly with similar situations.

1947

 * The US Pacific territories are all given statehood along with Alaska and Hawaii. The Philippeans become their own state, and the various islands are incorporated into the state of Pacifica. The US now has 52 states.
 * January: Mao's much more moderate Socialist practices and wealth redistribution in China lead to the beginnings of a Modern Economy. There are currently plans for a Chinese Space Program.
 * President Wallace cuts military spending back to Pre-war levels, and rediverts funds back towards airport and highway projects.
 * Robert Goddard dies, Theo names the first Space Shuttle the Goddard in his legacy.
 * President Wallace signs the Rio-Treaty with all Latin American Nations. The treaty states that the US will work with the southern nations as they did during Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor policy, but will fund the creation of new infrastructure and promote trade to help develope the economies of the south. This is largely in fear of potential communist insurections.
 * Britain nationalizes its coal mines.
 * The Communists Party takes control of Eastern Poland, the People's Republic of Poland is born.
 * The Japanese Constitution goes into affect.

1948

 * President Wallace defeats Thomas Dewey in his re-election, he signs the a constitutional amendment just before being elected, that would limit the President to two terms.
 * China begins its industrial revolution under President Mao, they also begin investing in their own space program.
 * Britain, France, West Poland, and Sicily found the European Trade Community.
 * The Marshal Plan begins sending aide to Germany and Poland.
 * Vietnam (all of Indochina) gains independence from France after a US endorsement. With no French war effort to keep Vietnam, Marshal Plan aid is spent on Economic development as it was intended.
 * GM unveils the 1949 Chevy Bel Air, the world's first plug-in electric hybrid. It utilizes similar technology to the Chevy Volt.
 * The Constellation receives acclaim for its long range non-stop flights from Seattle to London.
 * NASA launches the first manned mission to space using a small capsule on top of the Minuteman II ICBM. Chuck Yeager is the first man in space.
 * President Mao of China begins more extensive trade with the US, though tariffs are considerably high. The funds go towards the Chinese Industrial Revolution.

1949

 * The Soviet Union, lacking captured German scientists, have an unsuccessful launch of their first rocket. The US observes the test with their spy satellites, and proceeds to mock the test in the news.
 * Lockheed begins constructing the F-86 Sabre, it is similar in design to the F-15.
 * Griffin Eugenics unveils the first stem cell "gun", capable of both skin application and deep body penetration, it can heal a damaged heart in less than a day. The lifespan of the average American surges to 75 by years end.
 * NASA launches the first manned space station into orbit. Dubbed Sky-Lab, it studies Earth's climate and the Van Allen Belt.
 * President Wallace signs the American Housing act into effect, guaranteeing a home for every American with new civil works projects.
 * Great Britain cedes Newfoundland to the US.
 * Germany completes reparations payments to Jewish holocaust survivors and surviving families.
 * The British Raj is divided into the Dominion of India, the Dominion of Pakistan, the Dominion of Pashtunistan, and the Dominion of Burma.

1950

 * Fidel Castro's movement in Cuba is marginalized by US support of elections and US sponsored infrastructure development.
 * The Soviet Union detonates the world's first atomic bomb. The cold war heats up.
 * President Wallace pumps more money into space systems rather than develop a nuclear program from scratch.
 * The US spy satelite network is upgraded.
 * Many Canadian citzens begin moving to the US for its various social wealfare programs. People are talking about a possible Canadian cession to the US. The vast majority move to Newfoundland or the Pacific Northwest.
 * The Soviet Union begins a massive arms build up to counter the ever present American ICBM threat, and superior technology. These projects will be based around scale and not technology.

1951

 * GM has extended the Bel Air's platform to all of their cars, and are now dominating the market.
 * Lockheed begins constructing the F-86 Sabre, it is nearly identical in design to the F-15.
 * NASA launches the first manned space station into orbit. Dubbed Sky-Lab, it studies Earth's climate and the Van Allen Belt.
 * President Wallace signs the American Housing act into effect, guaranteeing a home for every american with new civil works projects.
 * Griffin begins delivering stem cell guns to the military. Commercial models are expected within five years, but for now the technology in the private sector is as big as a microwave.
 * France recognizes the independence of Indochina now the Democratic Republic of Indochina. Ho Chi Min is elected President of the Republic.

1952

 * Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected President.
 * President Eisenhower commission the Gemini Program. An effort to build a much larger space station, and the first manned mission to the moon.
 * Ford releases their first Plug-in hybrid.
 * Lockheed puts the Sabre into service.
 * China launches their first satellite into orbit.
 * The Soviet Union builds the world's largest aircraft, the Kalinin K-7, a huge attack aircraft large enough to cary three fighter airplanes, or the oversized soviet nuclear bombs.

1955

 * The Freedom Star space station is completed, it is capable of housing a crew of ten for two years.
 * The Soviets continue their nuclear Program. Rocketry in the Soviet Union is still embarrassingly behind the US and China.
 * GM unveils the Corvette.
 * Lockheed begins development of the HU-5 Atlas, a much larger Tilt Rotor craft capable of heavy lifting.
 * NASA lands John Glenn as the first man on the moon. He proclaims, "One short hop for a man, one colossal leap for mankind."
 * President Eisenhower vetoes the proposal to develop the Atom Bomb, stating, "If the commies want to blow themselves up, let em. But not in this country."
 * Batista looses the elections to Progressive Party Candidate Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado. Castro receives less than 10% of the vote.
 * Britain divides and withdraws from Iraq, creating The Kurdish Republic, Shia Iraq, and Sunni Iraq.

1960

 * Joe P. Kennedy Jr. wins the Presidency. His brother John died during the Invasion of Japan. Many attribute Kennedy's victory to his moderate policies and charismatic nature.
 * NASA completes construction of Tranquility Base, Buzz Aldrin is its first commander.
 * GM unveils their Jet Rotary engine, the 1960 Corvette is the first car to receive it.
 * Griffin begins the Human Genome Project.
 * Lockheed buys Boeing, they begin construction of the first supersonic jetliner.
 * China begins free trade with the rest of the world.
 * China launches their first astronaut into orbit.
 * The Soviets finally launch a satellite into space.

1962

 * President Kennedy announces Project Ares, the first manned mission to Mars.
 * AMD, now the supplier of the world's greatest computers (on par with those of the early 90s.) unveils Project Pandora, the creation of the world wide web.
 * Freedom Star is expanded to handle a twenty man crew.
 * The Soviet Union, under General Secretary Molotov, tests their first Hydrogen Bomb in Siberia.
 * Soviet "advisors" are sent into to Cuba where they begin arming Castro and his communist rebels in preparation for an overthrow of the Batista.
 * The Communist revolutionaries in Cuba try to take the capitol, they are easily put down by US marines stationed in Guantanimo, who had been warned of the attack thanks to US Spy satellites. Castro goes underground.
 * The Soviets begin planning for bolder action against the US. One idea is the assassination of President Kennedy.
 * Cuba applies for statehood.
 * France grants Algeria independence after a long and bloody Soviet sponsored war for independence.

1963

 * President Kennedy is assassinated while Campaigning in Havana after Cuba in admitted to the Union. One Jose Machado, a supporter of Castro, is convicted of the attack.
 * Vice-President Adlai Stevenson is sworn in as President.
 * The Soviet Union moves submarines five miles from US territorial waters in Alaska.
 * President Stevenson orders the US Navy to be on high alert for the Soviet Subs.
 * The Civil Rights Act is passed.
 * The Soviet Union upgrades the Kalinin K-7 to have jet engines.
 * The first American moon base opens at the Ocean of Storms.

1964

 * President Stevenson is re-elected in a sweeping majority.
 * Canada passes the Canada Health Act in an attempt to keep its citizens from moving to the US.
 * The Soviet Union launches their first astronaut.
 * The Bering Straits Crisis escalates when the Soviets test a 70 megaton Nuclear weapon in the Bering Sea.
 * President Stevenson negotiates an end to the Bering Straits Crisis. The Soviets and the US agree to end weapon's testing in the Bering Sea.
 * The UK and Portugal sign the treaty of Taipei, giving Macau and Hong Kong back to the Republic of China.

1967

 * Theo Bell becomes the first man on Mars. The first words on the Red Planet are, "This is for all those who saw it before we got here."
 * China lands a man on the Moon.
 * Griffin Genomics completes the Human Genome Project. With the human genome fully sequenced, Griffin unveils a whole new line of treatments from Cancer to Anthrax.
 * AMD unveils the Juke, the world's first digital music player.
 * Lunar mining generates so much funds for NASA that they become the first profitable government program.

1968

 * President Stevenson narrowly looses his re-nomination to Ronald Reagan, who is elected the President of the United States.
 * Germany and Italy join the ETC
 * China begins construction of their First lunar base.
 * President Reagan unveils the Orbital Weapon's Program, better known as "Buck Rogers." The goal is to create a military space program to deter the Soviets.
 * Canada's population is now only 12 million. Visas to move to the US are banned.

1971

 * Canada, now at an almost negligible population due to Canadian immigration to the US cedes themselves to the United States.
 * President Reagan sends troops to Panama to quell Soviet funded revolutionaries demanding autonomy form the US.
 * The first terabyte hard-drive enters production.
 * Space mining produces so much revenue that the government is able to supplement most US tax dollars for space resource revenue.

1972

 * The Soviets create their first true ICBM after decades of trial and error.
 * President Reagan is reelected with a strong majority.
 * President Reagan and Soviet Primeir Molotov sign the SALT I treaty. Placing a tonnage cap on all space based weapons.
 * China sends their first mission to Venus.
 * The war in Panama begins to loose favor within the US.
 * The Soviets first lunar attempt ends in disaster when the whole crew dies on the launch pad.

1974

 * The Soviet Union sends troops into East Poland after the Solidarity movement wins the elections.
 * President Reagan becomes the first American President to be removed from office for his involvement in the illegal wiretapping of prominent Republican candidates and the Afghan-Contra Affair. Vice President William E. Miller is also impeached.
 * The US Speaker of the House Albert is sworn in as President.
 * President Albert agrees to hand control of the Panama Canal Zone to the Panamanians.

1975

 * AMD unveils the first multi-touch computer interface.
 * GM begins using lithium ion batteries for their vehicles.
 * NASA begins establishing the first Martian base.
 * Griffin begins selling Gene-Mod Pets.
 * Lockheed begins development of a stealth hypersonic fighter.
 * Theo Bell invents the EmDrive, an electro magnetic propulsion system that converts electricity into microwaves for propulsion.

1976

 * Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is Elected the first African American President of the United States, he promises to begin rapid efforts towards global disarmerment. King ran a campaign on restoring the Republican party to the Party of Lincoln.
 * NASA discovers evidence of fossilized life on Mars, and liquid water, President King approves the expansion of Mariner Base.
 * China begins construction of a Martian Base as well.
 * The UN's Warsaw Protocol is put into effect, it provides international subsidies to developing nations.

1978

 * Iran, one of the recipients of the Warsaw Protocol begins a cultural revolution as their government reforms into a Theocratic Republic, becoming a much more moderate Muslim State.
 * President King signs the Montreal Protocols, outlawing CFCs in aerosol cans in response to the newly confirmed Hole in the Ozone layer.
 * China joins the first joint US/Chinese mission to Mars.
 * The nations of Europe begin efforts for a manned mission to the moon through the ESA.
 * GM releases the first Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the Cadillac Proton.
 * Intel begins developing Internet II.
 * Griffin releases a series of Gene-Mod drugs that can increase brain activity, muscle mass, and increase the size of certain extremities ;).

1980

 * President King wins his re-election in a fair majority over challenger Walter Mondale.
 * Texas outlaws Cosmetic Gene-Mod drugs.
 * Columbia Base on Mars reaches a population of 1000 people.
 * Harvey Milk is elected as the first openly gay man to Congress.
 * NASA begins the Voyager Project, an effort to send a Manned mission to The outer planets by the end of the century.
 * President King goes to Warsaw and makes an impassioned speech ending with the words, "Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down this Wall."

1984

 * The supreme court rules in Texas v. McCormick that the use of Genetic Modifiers are a type of freedom of expression.
 * Vice President John Glenn is elected President of the United States over challenger Governor Harold Stassen.
 * NASA launches the first manned mission to the Jovian Moons, Theo Bell is the mission's captain along side veteran astronaut John Young.
 * China lands the first man on Venus, though due to the extreme heat and pressure of the planet, he only stays on the surface for ten minutes.
 * The Soviet Union begins the Glasnost Reforms.

1985

 * President Glen and Soviet President Gorbachev sign the START I treaty, dropping the number of ballistic missiles in the world to a mere 1500.
 * Ford becomes the last company to end production of petrol burning automobiles.
 * The Soviet Union pulls troops out of East Poland, Slovakia, and Romania. Solidarity wins elections in every nation.
 * The Warsaw Wall comes down, Poland re-unifies. The Cold War is over.
 * Storm City on the moon reaches a population of 110,000 workers and technicians, 98% are now private citizens.

1988

 * President Glen wins re-election over Ted Kennedy.
 * Judith Resnik becomes the first woman on Europa, John Young the first man on Ganymede. The crew discovers water and multicellular life beneath the surface of both cryospheres, it is hailed as the greatest discovery in human history.
 * Europe lands their first person on Mars.

1990

 * President Glen sends troops to Kurdistan to divert Sunni Iraq Dictator Saddam Hussein from beginning his plans for conquest and genocide.
 * The Soviet Union joins the coalition of forces sent to stop the Mesopotamian War.
 * Storm City applies for statehood.
 * The human population of Mars reaches 23,000 people.

1992

 * Senator Hillary Diane Rodham becomes the first female president of the United States, and the first democrat in 16 years.
 * The Soviet Union opens trade to the West for the first time since WWII.
 * Iraq withdraws its forces from Kurdistan, peace is declared.

1995

 * John Young lands his shuttle on Titan, discovery of a methane sea, and simple single celled extremophiles bolsters the growing theory of a living galaxy.

1996

 * President Rodham loses her re-election to Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, most will blame her loss due to her ties to the firing of intern Monica Lewinski for partisan reasons. Ron Paul is the first Libertarian President, however due to the Second Bill of Rights, the definition of Libertarian is far more moderate than in OTL.

2000

 * President Paul wins a second term.
 * Storm city, now with half a million people, is granted statehood.

2004

 * John McCain is elected President.

2008

 * President McCain elects to not run for a second term based on his age. Many expect Governor Bill Richardson to succeed him.
 * The Voyager pushes past pluto and reaches interstellar space, the craft however, is forced to turn around due to limited food and water, and fear of prolonged exposer to galactic radiation. Voyager turns around for a non stop flight back to Earth; ETA ten years.
 * New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson wins the Presidency. He runs on a campaign of continuing the global military drawdown and integration into the UN Multinational Force.

2009

 * Today the Soviet Union is not seen as a communist state by much of the world, but rather what China is seen as in OTL.
 * The Republicans have returned as the socially liberal party, albeit are still Eisenhower fiscal conservatives.
 * The Democratic party is under the leadership of Clinton Democrats.