Speculative Timeline

For an alternate timeline we must begin in the 1880s when practical applications for electricity were being developed. By the 1890s we saw electric subway trains in London & the first hydroelectric power station in Niagra. Interesting, however, was the infrastructure of piped gas during this time--cities all had night lights supplied by natural gas, and most homes & apartments had gas supplied for lighting; it wasn't long before this infrastructure was replaced by electric wires, but let's consider that the gas supply & use could continue for a bit longer as it was so life would generally remain the same into the new century.

We could still see cars with internal combustion engines, only we're talking about diesel engines which don't require electric spark plugs. And it might be interesting to consider a car with kerosene headlamps.... The problem with the turn of the century is things were developing so fast. A telegraph network already encircled the globe operated with DC current; trans-atlantic telegraph cable was in place & working by the end of the American Civil War & in following decades was a big part of how Great Britain managed her huge empire, including India & parts of Africa. So, really, let's start with the ACW for possible twists in our timeline, a time when our respective NPCs were still boys....

1860: Early experiments with electric current never leave the lab setting as destructive results put laboratories in flames, and few scientists are mad enough to pursue such inquiries.
1864: The Carnival of Spirits opens in New York, which draws thousands of citizens curious about relatives killed on the battlefield to the advertised notion of speaking with the dead; show results in massive implosion which kills thousands & leaves a sinkhole of destruction in the city.
1865: New England secceeds from the Union, Texas secceeds from the Confederacy.
1866: ACW peters out, Union fragmented, Lincoln goes inexplicably mad (from exposure to telegraph operations) & is removed from power by Congress.

Fast forward 50 years: The British Empire dominates the globe. Slavery has come to an end in the Confederate States which remains largely an agricultural supply for GB. The Northern States still attract immigrants from Europe, mostly as a gateway to the gold fields of the West. There is some manufacturing in the North, but on a limited scale, mostly guns to supply the Empire or those rebellious to the Empire. The world is basically under the British thumb or fighting against it. Can we imagine a 20th century without America's Great White Fleet, the Spanish-American War actually the Spanish-English War? Is this too much alternate history?