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In "6955 kHz", a shapeshifter refers to "all's fair in love and war" as "something they say on this side," implying that they don't say it on the Other Side. Google tells me that the phrase can be traced back to Lyly's Euphues, published in 1578.

Is there anything older than this saying which is different on the Other Side?

I've only watched through "Entrada", so if people could spoiler-tag anything that comes later than that I'd appreciate it.

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All of these are in the background and have nothing to do with the main plot, which is why I've not bothered to spoiler them.

Among the oldest known differences:

  • Andrew Jackson isn't on the 20-dollar bill. This occurred in 1928 Over Here. However, the Fringe team Over There didn't recognize the name, either, so Jackson also likely didn't become president in 1829. (Over There, Part 1)
  • There is a map of the US Over There, with numerous differences. There is a chance that this involves jurisdictional boundaries, rather than state boundaries. (This was gotten from a close-up of a map in the background of Walternate's office; I got the list from here)
    • Texas is split into North Texas and South Texas. Over Here, Texas was made a state in 1845
    • North and South Dakota are one state, "Dakota". Year Over Here: 1889
    • Oklahoma and Kansas became "Midland", 1907 and 1861
    • North and South Carolina are just "Carolina"; years 1789 and 1788
    • Washington (the state) has a different name; 1889
    • Michigan has a different shape; 1837
    • Virginia and West Virginia are combined; 1788 and 1863
    • Louisiana is a Territory rather than a State; 1812
    • Nevada is not a state; 1864

It's entirely possible that Euphues was published Over There exactly the same as it was Over Here, but the phrase never became popular.

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  • Thanks! I guess I'm inclined to believe in an earlier divergence point than the 19th century -- even if you don't believe in the "all's fair" distinction going all the way back -- because the extremely-cursory research I've done suggests that the two-T spelling "Manhattan" was already entrenched at the beginning of the 19th century. (On the other hand, I took the references to Texas splitting to be about the fact that it was given the right to divide itself into multiple states when it was admitted to the US, which means North Texas and South Texas could easily have formed later than 1845...)
    – Micah
    Commented Oct 7, 2012 at 23:17
  • @Micah I agree, it makes sense that the split happened much earlier. We do have a date the split had to have happened after, but it's so far back that it's not useful...
    – Izkata
    Commented Oct 7, 2012 at 23:36
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    Sherlock Holmes novels were never written or never became popular (or Sir Conan Doyle used a different name for his famous character). The first story was published in 1887.
    – MPelletier
    Commented Oct 28, 2012 at 12:18
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Over There never found a cure for smallpox. Inoculation for resistance was started in 1721 Over Here. It wasn't in the show, but I assume it's "canon" since it was on the 'Sprint Fringe now' site back in the day. Fauxlivia got a message on her Pad that said "smallpox cured over there Frank [her boyfriend] would have an easier life there".

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    When did they mention smallpox? I don't remember that
    – Jason Baker
    Commented Jan 19, 2016 at 17:33
  • Wasn't in the show, but I assume "canon" since was on the 'Sprint Fringe now' site back in the day. Fauxlivia got a message on her Pad, said "smallpox cured over there Frank (her boyfriend) would have an easier life there"
    – Dan Shaffer
    Commented Jan 19, 2016 at 18:03
  • @DanShaffer can you edit that information into your answer?
    – KutuluMike
    Commented Jan 19, 2016 at 18:08

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