Not that many comments on the Titanic, but quite a few ideas for similar scenarios:
1)Lots of potential fun with this idea, though some should be explored on the Eye
(9/11/08: the Day the Towers Returned [from one minute before the first
impact...the planes do no come with them]).
Less currently political
possibilities:
The Constitutional Convention arrives today.
The Mayflower
arrives today.
The Spanish Armada appears in the English Channel expecting to
invade the England of Queen Elizabeth I.
The Mongol Invasion of Japan gets
blown to now.
The Japanese invasion fleet aimed at Pearl Harbor arrives
today.
Lots of fun:-)
Jason B.
2)
> Now, before I can get to the wonderful drama of these early 20th century
> class-stratified folks adjusting to the "chaotic" modern age, I need to
> figure out the consequences of the arrival. I'd need to figure out how
long
> the old ship can cruise around without realizing anything's wrong
except a
> "damned strange weather phenomenon last night, wot?" And just
what modern
> ship will encounter Titanic first.
two possibilites
for the first modern vessel:
a C-130 of the coast guard on international
iceberg patrol circling
around the titanic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Ice_Patrol
or
the fully loaded Emma Maersk tearing past the titanic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Maersk
>
I'd like it to be the Queen Mary 2 on its own transatlantic crossing, but
> I'd also need to realize how long it would be before the Titanic was
picked
> up on radar, etc, getting the various Coast Guards riled up when
it only has
> a Morse spark-gap "wireless" system or semaphore for
communication...
a spark-gap radio is sure to get someone angry
3)
Any mid-Atlantic slave ship showing up at port in the 21st century,
with
human cargo intact.
Columbus on his first voyage arrives today. Or
better yet, Columbus
on any subsequent voyage to the Americas arrives in the
21st century.
Pope Benedict XVI switches place with Pope Urban VIII as
Galileo's
trial gets underway.
WWII Luftwaffe squadron appears over
modern London (although that
might be too easy: the Luftwaffe is escorted
down after the first RAF
jet interceptors show up, and the pilots are
debriefed and sent back
to Germany) OR Rommel's Afrika Korps sent forward to
modern Libya and
Egypt. A WWI or WWII German U-boat showing up in the north
Atlantic
shipping lanes in 2008 might be more problematic, at least until
the
first modern naval vessels are encountered.
Custer's 7th Cavalry
brought forward just before Little Bighorn
starts. Bonus points if they
show up in a modern Indian
reservation. ;-)
4)
I can see escalating hysteria on the part of the Coast Guard once
they
spot a rather large ship making for New York that doesn't respond to
any
standard radio communications....
I have this mental picture of
Captain Smith and Mr Ismay, already
rattled by the helicopters that've been
buzzing the ship for a few
hours, unloading both barrels of full Edwardian
indignation on the
junior officer in charge of the boarding party after a
cutter has
ordered them to heave-to for inspection. Emphatic demands to speak
to
someone from the British Consulate will be the least of it
*Lots* of
opportunity for comedy-of-manners and massive culture shock,
and the
situation will turn into a full-blown circus when the press gets
hold of it
5)
- Have some Viking ships arrive in modern York, with everyone thinking
it's
reenactors.
- Move the Trinity Test Site from July 16, 1945 05:29:45 to
July 16,
2008 05:29:45.
- Have Napoleon escape Elba to modern France.
-
Have Washington cross the Delaware into Trenton, NJ during morning
rush
hour.
- Have the Peasant's Crusade ferried across the Bosporus into
the
Republic of Turkey with a burning desire to kill the infidels.
- Have
Pancho Villa run into the Border Patrol.
6)
Though there's a lot of fun with other scenarios in the region. How
about
having a large Byzantine Army of around 100,000 from the
Bulgarian wars get
transported to 1821, at the start of the Greek War
of Independence?
7)
Colosseum brought forward--with all spectators, gladiators, etc.--from
107
AD (Trajan's victory celebrations) to modern Rome
All combatants at
Battle of Gettysburg brought forward just as the fun
is about to start to
modern town of Gettysburg
D-Day invasion force hits beach of modern
France
Enola Gay brought forward to August 6, 2008 to drop bomb on
Hiroshima.
In this timeline, Hiroshima was never bombed--the Enola Gay was
presumed to have been shot down when it never returned--but the
follow-
up attack on Nagasaki succeeded in ending the war.
1)Lots of potential fun with this idea, though some should be explored on the Eye
(9/11/08: the Day the Towers Returned [from one minute before the first
impact...the planes do no come with them]).
Less currently political
possibilities:
The Constitutional Convention arrives today.
The Mayflower
arrives today.
The Spanish Armada appears in the English Channel expecting to
invade the England of Queen Elizabeth I.
The Mongol Invasion of Japan gets
blown to now.
The Japanese invasion fleet aimed at Pearl Harbor arrives
today.
Lots of fun:-)
Jason B.
2)
> Now, before I can get to the wonderful drama of these early 20th century
> class-stratified folks adjusting to the "chaotic" modern age, I need to
> figure out the consequences of the arrival. I'd need to figure out how
long
> the old ship can cruise around without realizing anything's wrong
except a
> "damned strange weather phenomenon last night, wot?" And just
what modern
> ship will encounter Titanic first.
two possibilites
for the first modern vessel:
a C-130 of the coast guard on international
iceberg patrol circling
around the titanic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Ice_Patrol
or
the fully loaded Emma Maersk tearing past the titanic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Maersk
>
I'd like it to be the Queen Mary 2 on its own transatlantic crossing, but
> I'd also need to realize how long it would be before the Titanic was
picked
> up on radar, etc, getting the various Coast Guards riled up when
it only has
> a Morse spark-gap "wireless" system or semaphore for
communication...
a spark-gap radio is sure to get someone angry
3)
Any mid-Atlantic slave ship showing up at port in the 21st century,
with
human cargo intact.
Columbus on his first voyage arrives today. Or
better yet, Columbus
on any subsequent voyage to the Americas arrives in the
21st century.
Pope Benedict XVI switches place with Pope Urban VIII as
Galileo's
trial gets underway.
WWII Luftwaffe squadron appears over
modern London (although that
might be too easy: the Luftwaffe is escorted
down after the first RAF
jet interceptors show up, and the pilots are
debriefed and sent back
to Germany) OR Rommel's Afrika Korps sent forward to
modern Libya and
Egypt. A WWI or WWII German U-boat showing up in the north
Atlantic
shipping lanes in 2008 might be more problematic, at least until
the
first modern naval vessels are encountered.
Custer's 7th Cavalry
brought forward just before Little Bighorn
starts. Bonus points if they
show up in a modern Indian
reservation. ;-)
4)
I can see escalating hysteria on the part of the Coast Guard once
they
spot a rather large ship making for New York that doesn't respond to
any
standard radio communications....
I have this mental picture of
Captain Smith and Mr Ismay, already
rattled by the helicopters that've been
buzzing the ship for a few
hours, unloading both barrels of full Edwardian
indignation on the
junior officer in charge of the boarding party after a
cutter has
ordered them to heave-to for inspection. Emphatic demands to speak
to
someone from the British Consulate will be the least of it
*Lots* of
opportunity for comedy-of-manners and massive culture shock,
and the
situation will turn into a full-blown circus when the press gets
hold of it
5)
- Have some Viking ships arrive in modern York, with everyone thinking
it's
reenactors.
- Move the Trinity Test Site from July 16, 1945 05:29:45 to
July 16,
2008 05:29:45.
- Have Napoleon escape Elba to modern France.
-
Have Washington cross the Delaware into Trenton, NJ during morning
rush
hour.
- Have the Peasant's Crusade ferried across the Bosporus into
the
Republic of Turkey with a burning desire to kill the infidels.
- Have
Pancho Villa run into the Border Patrol.
6)
Though there's a lot of fun with other scenarios in the region. How
about
having a large Byzantine Army of around 100,000 from the
Bulgarian wars get
transported to 1821, at the start of the Greek War
of Independence?
7)
Colosseum brought forward--with all spectators, gladiators, etc.--from
107
AD (Trajan's victory celebrations) to modern Rome
All combatants at
Battle of Gettysburg brought forward just as the fun
is about to start to
modern town of Gettysburg
D-Day invasion force hits beach of modern
France
Enola Gay brought forward to August 6, 2008 to drop bomb on
Hiroshima.
In this timeline, Hiroshima was never bombed--the Enola Gay was
presumed to have been shot down when it never returned--but the
follow-
up attack on Nagasaki succeeded in ending the war.