Alternative History:POD

A point of divergence, or POD, is a point in a timeline where history begins to change from our time line. Prior to the POD, history runs the same as in our timeline. This page is intended as a summary of the POD's of all the althists covered on this site.


 * 200,000 BP – A small group of Homo erectus crosses the Bering land bridge and develops in the Americas. (Primary POD for Zera.)
 * 33 – Jesus of Nazareth is not crucified. In fact, he is let go. Christianity only lasts for less than a hundred years. (Primary POD for No Christianity World.)
 * 642 – Oswald of Northumbria defeats and kills Penda of Mercia at the Battle of Maserfield (Primary POD for Penda Dies.)
 * 776 – A group of West Saxon follow their bishop's dream and settle in southern Maryland. (Primary POD for New England 776)
 * 960 – Zhao Kuangyin is defeated in his attempt to take the throne of Northern China. No Song Dinasty get control of China. The diversity creates a Chinese World.
 * 1100 – Henry II of England dies less than a day after his crowning. This leads to the French and Navarran ties of the Henry II Dies In 1100 timeline.
 * 1492 – Elizabeth of Castile is not convinced by Christopher Columbus proposal to reach the Indies by sailing westwards allowing for the Cabotia and Brasil timeline.
 * Pre-1592 Yi Sun-sin dies in an accident. His death allows Toyotomi's invasion to succeed, creating the Toyotomi Japan timeline.
 * 1760: Moncalm wait for reinforcement and manage to hold on to québec. (transbellum (Alpha)
 * 1762 – The British fail to capture Cuba durign the Seven Years War. Spain does not lose Florida and Louisiana is handed to the United Kingdom instead.  (British Louisiana POD.)
 * 1822 – Bolívar and San Martin agree on a common path to free South America. (Greater Colombia POD.)
 * 1846 – Zachary Taylor killed in beginning of Mexican-American War, as are other military figures, such as Ulysses S. Grant during the course of the botched war, leading to an American defeat. (Viva California primary POD)
 * July 12, 1861 – "Stonewall" Jackson dies, Union forces win First Battle of Bull Run, ending the Civil War (Rebellion of 61 primary POD)
 * 1868 – The K&#333;mon Emperor (K&#333;mei *here*) does not die, as a result, Japan's modernization takes place differently (Rebellion of 61 primary POD)
 * April 1917 – The German railroad car smuggling Lenin into St. Petersburg is intercepted by pro-Tsarist forces, and Lenin is executed along with his compatriots. A battered Russia remains in World War I and Communism never takes root.  (Capitalists of the World, Unite)
 * 1938 – Mathematician Alan Turing extends his visit to America and builds the world's first electronic computer. Back in England, he is able to complete his dream of producing human-like artificial intelligence by the year 2000 (Cambridge Computing).
 * 1941 – Field Marshal Erwin von Witzelen successfully assassinates Hitler on May 1941 during a military parade in Paris (See Paris and Die).
 * 1948 – No assassination attempt on Jorge Eliecer Gaitán, permits him to become President Gaitan in 1950, with repercutions on Cuba and the Cold War.

Points of Divergence often center around wars, as it is in these moments that history turns one-way or another. Series of books written by Harry Turtledove and others pick these times, as one change of the result of even the smallest battle can be of great effect on the outcome of the war.

The following are a very common list of alt-history Points of Divergence. You may want to use these as starting points, or find your own to be new, fresh and original.


 * The Civil War. Any number of alternate histories have been written about this; as you can see, as well, we have two that hinge around the American Civil War.


 * World War II. Many alternate histories are based on a Nazi victory in WWII, but there are other posibilities, including earlier or later defeat of the axis, or WWII prevented as we know it.