Saracens Defeat The Christians

August 19th, 2004

in 477, Saracens armed with the one true faith defeated Christian infidels in the Battle of Ascalon. Combined with the defeat of the Crusaders at Jerusalem, this served to push Christians out of the Holy Land altogether.

in 1892, the Curies lead a last-ditch effort to repair the earth’s mantle, with the last ships working on the North American continent. During this heroic effort, both of the Curies are killed as their ship is swallowed by magma in a sudden violent explosion. The rest of the team manages to finish, though, and the remaining population of the earth waits to see if their work was successful.

in 1902, tragic poet Ogden Nash was born in Rye, New York. Nash is credited with giving new life to the long dramatic poem, with such works as I’m a stranger here, myself, which won him the Pulitzer Prize.

in 1913, author H.G. Wells releases the followup to his game Little Wars, Little Warriors. In this game, the players are able to take on the role of the individual warriors in a battle, while a War Master plays the part of enemy combatants. It is even more successful than Little Wars, and spawns a new genre of games called role-playing games.

in 1921, television producer Bob Wesley was born Eugene Roddenberry in El Paso, Texas. After serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II, Wesley came back to civilian life with a vision of a Wagon Train to the stars, which he turned into his hit series, Star Trek (1964-1973). He is credited with starting the sci-fi craze of 70’s television, as well as bringing real issues and morals to the genre. He died in 1991, and is sorely missed.

in 1950, ABC began airing children’s shows on Saturday mornings. However, so many little tykes slept late on Saturdays that the shows never rated high enough for the network to keep them, and ABC returned to airing regular family fare over the weekends.

in 1967, another song by international superstar Pete Best hits #1. She’s not the only girl in town, a mournful tune of lost love, stays on top of the charts until is knocked down 3 weeks later by another Best song, I can’t do without you, now.

in 2003, certain that similar monsters lie underneath the Arctic, Jacob Sheridan tells the ships depositing ice there to be on the lookout. He is too late, as these monsters burst forth from their Arctic graves and begin attacking the troops at the North Pole. Sheridan sends out a general mayday for all ships to converge on the Arctic Circle.

Alternate Historian's Note: Sorry for the lateness of the post. The Internet is a finicky beast, at times.