Mary & Jack; The Night Stalker

August 31st, 2005

in 1888, the first of a series of murders in London’s seedy Whitechapel district occurs; Mary Ann Nichols, a lady of the evening, is found in pieces on Buck’s Row. Although the crimes were never solved then, the murderer, Jack the Ripper as he was known, was later revealed to be none other than children’s author Charles Dodgson, who wrote under the pen name of Lewis Carroll.

in 1896, Charleston, South Carolina was evacuated as the local weather-control station had detected an earthquake coming; when the quake hit, some buildings were damaged, but no lives were lost. This was the first test of the new Congress of Nations regulations regarding weather control; they would allow catastrophic events to occur, as long as the inhabited areas could be evacuated, first.

in 1935, Leroy Cleaver, leader of the Semitic-African Resistance in the 70’s, was born in Wabbaseka, Arkansas. During the 60’s, he had chafed at the S.A.R.’s policy of not seeking out violence; with the election of George Rockwell to the presidency in 1968, he moved to the forefront of the Resistance, organizing several attacks on the American Bund and other Nazi-sympathetic organizations.

in 1945, Pascal-Edison’s electric cars finally get a competitor – British Motor Works produces the Apollo, an electric car which recharges its power cells with solar power. It sells fairly well in the U.K., but does extremely well in warmer climes, such as the American Southwest and the Arabian peninsula.

in 1959, common sense maven Dr. Garilyn Taylor-Strawn was born in Texas. After revolutionizing the family dynamic with her ground-breaking bestseller A slap upside the head, Dr. Taylor-Strawn is now in semi-retirement, working on her latest project, Serenity Knitting. Dr. Taylor-Strawn is married to Bob Strawn, world-renowned author/inventor, with whom she raised Devon, Nathaniel, Taylor and Natalie Strawn - the first siblings in history to win a joint Nobel Prize in Mathematics.

in 1959, the ship carrying Li Huang-Sen and his young lover, Huan Yue, is buffeted about by something very large underwater. Li gets Huan Yue to a life boat, but then dives into the water himself to confront what he knows is there – only to find nothing. The waters calm and the ship’s crew calls off the emergency. Li anxiously returns, wishing he knew what it was that was following them beneath the sea.

in 1985, a Los Angeles mob takes justice into its own hands as they attack and kill Richard Ramirez, an Angelino suspected of being the Night Stalker murderer/rapist. Ramirez, who shouted at the crowd that Satan would avenge him, was proven guilty of the crime by fingerprints he left on the scene of one of his grisly murders.

in 1994, after 39 years of violent resistance, the Irish People’s Army renounced armed conflict against the United Kingdom. The withdrawal of support by the Soviet States of America had left the terrorists without appreciable sources of funding.

in 1996, Dr. Melvin Courtney and Professor Malcolm Thomas return to what has become their prison: the object at Edwards Air Force base. Dr. Courtney says, “I think we need to set a higher priority on finding out if this old wreck can still move.” Professor Thomas agrees whole-heartedly.

in 1998, Titanic became the most expensive failure in Hollywood history when distributors gave up on it and stopped trying to sell it to theaters. It had cost over $200 million to make, and had brought in a little under $38 million. After this disaster, director James Cameron found it hard to get a job again.

in 2004, several members of the advisory staff for Premier Sun Bigan are named as Elders, spies of the galactic civilization responsible for destroying the Lalandians 17 years ago. When they are dragged into the street in Beijing, there is a flash of light; by the time everyone recovers their sight, the 7 accused advisors are gone. Panic begins spreading across Asia at this news, and stability is threatened even in the western democracies.


TIAH HALLOWEEN CONTEST

In order to provide for the upkeep of our new historian, Today In Alternate History is sponsoring its first contest - make a donation at our Paypal link, then email us up to 3 alternate history entries for October 31st, 2005. The best 10 entries will make up the entire content of the post on October 31st, Halloween day. Boring contest information is available on our Forum link below. Enter early and often!

Also, we still have our standard offer - everybody who donates $10 or more through our Paypal link will become alternate history entries on the site. When you donate, I will email you asking your preference for a day & timeline; if you don't reply to me, I'll place you in a day that seems to fit your name :) Thanks for your continued support!

Forum Link - Boring legal info on the TIAH Halloween Contest!
Fresh New Poll - Shall we use future dates in our entries?

Warp and Protocols still available; also, see the script I submitted for Bravo's Situation: Comedy. Speaking of which, you can vote for the winner until Sept. 2 at http://aol.com/situationcomedy

Still wishing...

As your humble alternate historian enters the downhill slope of the 40's, he still has his birthday wish - a contract with a publishing company like Workman Publishing to produce a page-a-day calendar of TIAH. If you are an editor for such a company, or can place us in touch with one, please fulfill this belated birthday wish!