Nickbits.co.uk

Guy Fawkes, born on 13th April 1570 in Yorkshire, is a name almost everyone in the UK will know. After his father’s death in 1579, his mother remarried and it is known the family were then against, and resisting, the authority of the Church of England. Guy Fawkes finally converted to Catholicism when in his mid teens. At this period, religion was a big part of life and Catholicism was not the religion to be in. Catholics were openly persecuted, with harsh punishments. For example, Margaret Clitherow was caught harbouring Catholics and was punished by being crushed to death.

The Space Race was a competition, not in the traditional sense, between United States and the Soviet Union to get in to space. The Soviets launched Sputnik 1 on 4th October 1957 into Earth orbit. This was the first time a man-made object had been launched from the Earth’s surface and placed into space.

The Black Death has his many countries around the world killing millions. An estimated 100 million at it's height, may be more, in the mid 14th century. The Black Death is commonly thought to be an out break of bubonic plague, although this has been questioned.

What if the structure of DNA had not been discovered, or had been discovered 100 years earlier? Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) stores the information that tells cells how to develop and what their function is. Without this, life as we know it is not possible. It was in 1951 that James Watson and Francis Crick started their work on figuring out the structure of DNA. Since then development has increased dramatically to the point where animals and plants can be genetically engineered by altering their DNA.

What if the structure of DNA had been found 100 years earlier?

What If: Charles Darwin had never developed and/or published his theory of evolution by natural selection? This year, 2009, is Darwin’s 200th birthday, having been born on 12 February 1809 and 150 years since the publication of "On the Origin of Species." Darwin took on various studies and interests and eventually ended up studying nature. He formed varying ideas; he looked at the transmutation of species, which was essentially the forerunner to evolution, as well as other areas.

What if: The English Civil War, consisting of three distinct conflicts took place between the Royalist (Cavalier's) and Parliamentarians (Roundheads). The conflict was brought about, partly due to King Charles I wanting to unite England, Ireland and Scotland in to one Kingdom, which Parliament saw as a threat. Problems and differences in opinion between various issues gradually built up until Civil War broke. This conflict saw the creation of the Common Wealth of England followed by the appointment of Oliver Cromwell as the Lord Protector.
What If: Civil War never took happened?

What: The Gutenberg press, created by Johannes Gutenberg in 1439 (or thereabouts) was the first movable type printing press in the world. There were other movable type systems around during this period, but as far as Europe is concerned, this was invented independently by Johannes Gutenberg. The system used metal blocks with letters on them, which could easily be moved or changed and were very durable. This led to the mass publication of books, including the Bible.

Others were independently working on movable type in China and Korea, so it is without a doubt that by the end of the 15th Century, someone would have got the same system. But what if that system had not reached Europe, or at least was delayed?

What: Dinosaurs were animals that dominated the land from 235 to 65 million years ago, which included the, Jurassic and Triassic periods. Not all of the animals from this period that are thought of as Dinosaurs are actually Dinosaurs. For example, Plesiosaurs and Mosasaurs are commonly called Dinosaurs but are not, they are marine reptiles, well almost.
Around 65 million years ago, the Dinosaurs along with a significant portion of other life was wiped out. There are several theories as to what wiped them out, the most common being a comment or meteor hitting the Earth, but at the same time there were volcanic eruptions happening on a large scale. It may well have been a combination of the two which wiped them out. Either way, this raises two possible what ifs:

What: Finding your position on the Earth as if you were going around the Equator (i.e. east to west), known as your Longitude. Finding your latitude, where you are between the poles is simple. This is done by measuring the angle of the Sun at midday and has been calculated accurately for centuries. Longitude on the other hand is far more difficult.

Before John Harrison, Dead Reckoning was used to find your location. Essentially this maps out where you are based on where you were, how fast you have been travelling at and the direction you were travelling. Imagine that you are doing this at Sea, the current could easily alter your course without you even knowing it, you are suddenly hundreds of miles from where you should be.

What: The English Channel (see Google Maps) seperates England from contiental Europe, namely France. The English Channel as we know it today was formed at the end of the last Ice Age, around 10,000 BC.  Before that point it was just a river, part of the Rhine. The people of this period, Mesolithic / Neolithic ( Middle and New Stone Age) were hunter gatherers who would have followed their prey around living a nomadic life. They would certainly have walked across the English Channel following their prey.