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The old thread on this subject is worth a lookIdea: Martians launched an *abortive* Earth attack in 1899, per Wells, but with only a few cylinders. One fell in UK, one in the US, one in Europe somewhere, maybe one in Russia... and they kinda went THUNK on landing, killing the occupants. So the various powers got to examine the hardware (*badly* mauled in the landings) and were able to boost tech development *a* *bit.* But the knowledge that there's Martians wholly changes the direction of history. Martians => no WWI => no WWII. But as they always do, Commies spoil everything, perhaps somehow still take over Russia. The lines between Commies and free folk could be anywhere... perhaps Russia, or Poland, or Germany, or France has been consumed by the 50's.
With crushed hardware (and likely melted/burned by the Heat Ray fuel), the nations of Earth probably wouldn't glean much of real use about Marstech. But the knowledge that such exists would spur tech development. So even if the early 20th century isn't filled with World Wars, we still develop tech as fast as if it was.
The Martians themselves would be shapeless charcoal briquettes, and humans would learn little of use. We wouldn't know of their lack of immune systems, for instance.
Scarlet Traces mentioned above is especially worth a look