1st Televised Presidential Debate

September 26th, 2004

in 1774, Jonathan Chapman, known by the popular name Johnny Appleseed, was born in Leominster, Massachusetts. Even as a young man, Chapman had a love for growing things, and this served him in good stead when he was made the longest-serving Minister of Agriculture for the North American Confederation. He served from 1811-1836.

in 1235, Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, one of the most beautiful writers in the Hindi language, was born in Birsingha in the Caliphate of Midnapore. Although his writings skirted blasphemy of the Prophet, his work was so beautiful that he was not only allowed to keep his head, but the Caliph made him a court poet.

in 1889, German philosopher Martin Heidegger was born in Messkirch, Germany. Heidegger was one of the most vocal of Richard Tolman’s followers, and wrote many papers on the subject of parallel universes crossing over into our own. Heidegger disappeared mysteriously in 1941.

in 1960, Comrade President Joel Rosenberg and Socialist candidate Lyndon Johnson of Texas engage in the first televised presidential debate. Johnson appeared distinctly uncomfortable with the cameras, where the Comrade President, who had been in front of cameras for years, appeared very relaxed. On substance, they were evenly matched, but on appearance, Comrade Rosenberg scored an easy win, just as when he carried the polls in November.

in 1965, famed musician Pete Best was decorated by the Queen with the Order of the British Empire. Her son, Prince Charles, was a huge fan of Best’s music, and Best recalled later that Charles had behaved as if Best were the royalty.

in 1975, the gender-bending sendup of 1950’s B-Movies, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, rocketed into American theaters. The outrageous farce blew away American cultural mores and made fish-net stockings very popular. In spite of (or perhaps because of) numerous protests by religious groups across the country, the film made $90 million at the box office.

in 1986, the prime-time soap opera Dallas aired an episode in which the supposedly-dead Bobby Ewing was shown showering in Pam Ewing’s bathroom. The series took a turn into the paranormal after this, and in its last season, incorporated such disparate elements as parallel universes and oil company takeovers. This confused not only the critics, but the viewers, who turned the series off in droves.

in 4697, scanners on the moon Hun-Dun detected ships coming towards them and alerted the Star Fleet and earth. By the end of the day, there were no more transmissions from Hun-Dun. The counter-attack launched by Admiral Wu proved strong enough to push the Y’T’T’li back into the asteroid belt, but they were impossible to dislodge from there. Wu formed a blockade around the asteroids and the Fleet’s command contemplated their next move.