And that doesn't mean we couldn't have researched it? China made "guns" first but that doesn't mean they had big activity in the evolution of them.
I still don't get it :/. Is it the fact that countries over in Europe are mostly Democratic so Fascist countries are getting cranky?
England introduces the Lee-Enfield rifle series, and mass produces them. It replaces all of the older muskets, although the breech guns are used for practice. (We were researching this for a 'while', I was holding it in my mind since the turn of the 18th century really.)
England continues to spread in that lot of islands. Hawaii is fully taken. Canadian, Scandinavian, and South American claims are still at a halt because "if you claim what we want even more we will blow your ass off the face of the map".
England inventors Bob Jube and Sanchal Gur (random names lol) create an aerial vehicle that "flies" for 20 seconds (only in the right conditions), but can only lift a 120 pound teenage boy, said boy fractured his legs. Flight mechanics are being researched.