What happens when:
- A graduate from the University of Chicago moves to Plattsburgh, New York?
- An Indian-born PHD graduate is offered a position as a professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary?
- An estranged father fails to make it in the United States, and reunites with his family in Alberta?
- One media company outbids another for a newspaper in New England?
- And the first black governor of Virginia mounts a long-shot bid for the U.S. Senate?
Not much, at first.
At least in the grand scheme, nothing happens in immediately following these five events - they are bolded for reference. The world, however, is slowly and permanently altered.
For better or for worse, history lurches away from our present.
The timeline can found here.
Points of Divergence[]
- A graduate from the University of Chicago moves to Plattsburgh, New York?
- In OTL, Bernard Sanders graduates from the University of Chicago. In this timeline, he decides to move to the other side of Lake Champlain, into New York.
- An Indian-born PHD graduate is offered a position as a professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary?
- In OTL, Professor Ajit Singh Randhawa, an Indian immigrant to Canada, accepted a position to teach in Voorhees College, South Carolina. He would later raise and mentor his daughter, Nikki, through South Carolina politics. In this timeline, Nikki stakes her political fortunes in Canada.
- An estranged father fails to make it in the United States, and reunites with his family in Alberta?
- In OTL, Rafael Cruz, Sr., a Cuban immigrant to Canada, undergoes a religious awakening while in Texas, and convinces his family to follow him southward. In this timeline, he remains in Alberta, guiding his son Rafael "Felito" Cruz through his legal and political career.
- One media company outbids another for a newspaper in New England?
- In OTL, the Providence Journal became publicly traded and was sold to the Dallas-based Belo Corp. in 1996, before being sold to Gatehouse Media in 2014. Belo had a feud with the state's longstanding Chafee family. In this timeline, Gatehouse acquires the Journal 18 years previously, granting the Chafee family more favorable coverage and boosting his political fortunes.
- And the first black Governor of Virginia mounts a long-shot bid for the U.S. Senate?
- In OTL, Doug Wilder, the first African-American Governor of Virginia (1990-1994) launched a bid for the United States Senate in 1994 against incumbent Chuck Robb, Oliver North, and former state Attorney General Marshall Coleman, before dropping the bid; Robb was re-elected. In this timeline, Oliver North is elected, and is challenged by First Lady Hillary Clinton in 2000.
All other divergences - such as the intensity of Hurricane Gonzalo, the election of Dan Hynes as governor of Illinois, the election of Vincent Sheheen as Governor of South Carolina, or Bobby Jindal becoming a one-term Governor to seek the Presidency in 2012 - stem from the butterfly effect caused by these original divergences.
Rules of Operation[]
Some events I would have liked to have happened, and some I would have rather not. My goal with this timeline is to let events progress naturally from these points of divergence, without letting my own biases get in the way. I prefer to let historical figures grow and develop as they would within this timeline - some exceeding their OTL goals and others falling short.