Due to various reasons, the population of 'empowered people' was relatively low and unknown until after world war 2, where many people had begun to develop powers, most notably in Japan where sudden adaptions to survive on the outer edges of the blast zones of the two nuclear bombings (all who were close enough to the blast zone to be directly and immediately affected did not gain powers, at the best they miraculously recovered before whatever ability they had gained seemingly burned out). This is where the divergence in history began. From there the whole world has changed to be drastically more forward in civil rights and general technology than ours was at the time.

Russia

Stalin's repressive regime didn't last long after the war. The few empowered had banded together on the allies side, including those from the soviet Union. The empowered of the soviet Union having regrouped during part of the battle of Moscow, which finished in 1942 on the 7th. Thanks to their abilities the soldiers manage to join the Lyuban offensive as a unified and concentrated force of empowered bringing along only minor artillery(specifically the ZiS-3) to be as swift as possible for breaking enemy lines. The formation of the group had been partially unofficial, but was ignored as their effectiveness assisted in the lyuban offensive's success.

The heavy screening for traitors and many imprisonments developed great resentment in the population of the empowered. In 1950 when the empowered- now heavily respected and influential members of society for their importance of national security were labelled by Stalin as suspects in the Leningrad affair, they pushed back, having gathered much renown over Stalin as they gathered supporters against him in secret during the 1946-1947 famine of Russia as they assisted in efforts to feed as many people as possible. By 1952 this power grab by a much smaller force to a much larger government brought the soviet union under Stalin to an end. It also drew the attention of the potential danger people with powers presented to state security, specifically to the C.I.A.

With the soviet union now under reconstruction as the empowered who took control make sense of the infrastructure needed to better feed and protect their people, the cold war ceases with America having no further use of the CIA, with the exception of the empowered that have finally been noticed by the wider population.

In 1950 as the atoms for peace movement introduced atomic gardening, Members of the CIA took notice of the similar process of people gaining either power or sickness from radiation poisoning.

While this did not stop future nuclear tests, it did get the CIA involved which influenced later events.

Bikini and Rongelap Atoll

In 1946 and 1954 America relocated the people of these islands of each atoll to other areas before being returned to their homes.

While the bikini islands played out similarly, albeit with an abnormal amount of powers showing up, which were then documented before being relocated.

Utrik Atoll

The C.I.A's growing caution of the ability for a few empowered to turn a rebellion of civilians and imprisoned soldiers to a genuine threat to Stalin drives them to involve themselves, while also trying to prove the agency has worth in a post-cold war world.

The CIA having taken their time to investigate and make note of any now called 'deviant' people, got to the Utrik atoll weeks instead of days after the detonation. Thanks to this, not only was the population lowered and less trusting of the American government- but they had gained the most numerous and dangerous 'empowered'. This lead to widespread problems for America internationally. Meanwhile, McCarthy is causing unrest, claiming the people of the atoll are going to try to destroy America. This sparks fear of the newly discovered empowered.

The C.I.A is Replaced

By 1960, fears of the empowered and worries over the involvement the C.I.A had in the nuclear tests leads to the C.I.A being disbanded and replaced by the F.D.D.I (Federal Department of Dangerous Individuals) which is a government organization under the control of both the president and congress to keep checks and balances in place When tackling a threat, while also allowing for quick action when needed. This organization also answers directly to the supreme court for handling legal proceedings with unique cases involving empowered individuals.

Shift of societal influence

By 1968 The F.D.D.I has become a major organization, tackling both internal and external threats effectively. However many empowered are oppressed by the system even when they are not considered a threat, because of remaining fears.

However by 1975 with no one to fight besides rogue individuals and many civil rights movements happening, many in the organization began to split on their opinions on how to go forward. Vigilante crime was one the rise, but so was nonviolent protests that were protected by empowered. Many of these empowered being directly inspired by paragon, also tended to act well within the law to the best of their ability to stop crime and protect people. These factors lead to a fundamental shift in the methodology of the F.D.D.I as a tool to suppress the empowered, to an organization for mobilizing them to stop greater threats than are normally dealt with pertaining to other empowered.

Paragon

Born in 1952 Paragon was the first empowered to gain notoriety and popularity.

He gained his powers at 16 during the civil rights movement a little after Martin Luther King jr. died.

He sought to use his power to protect all people looking to be respected and recognized. His acts of both helping the civil rights movement and saving innocent lives made him an individual even the F.D.D.I Couldn't touch without consequences, and even began to work with him on a rare occasion to prevent catastrophes they could not stop alone.

He along with like-minded empowered were the catalyst that shifted the perspective of empowered from simply a threat, to a potential new age of humanity in the mid 70s. This change in perspective pushed out the old mindset of the F.D.D.I shifting a change in their methods and means of dealing with unordinary threats.