October 1 1788 - Catherine II is laying in her bed trying to coax sleep to come after a thoroughly enjoyable birthday. The POD occurs in an instant. A simple idea to see if the north coast of OTL Alaska has any profitable resources to make the Russian colonies more profitable. Now in OTL this simple little thought Catherine had laying in her bed never occurred. October 3 1788 - Catherine II announces the plan to expand father into the North American continent, and that Gregory Shelikhov will lead the expedition.