Miracle In Constance; Flight From Yang Gao

September 10th, 2005

in 1349, a small number of Jewish people who had survived a massacre of their fellows in Constance, Germany, are tied to the stake to be burned to death. One of the number, a young man barely in his teens, cries out to G_d, and two men suddenly appear among the crowd, urging them to let the Jews go. These oddly persuasive men untie and shepherd the Jewish captives away from Constance before the crowd can react.

in 1608, John Smith is elected president of the Jamestown colony. Although he’d had some small success in dealing with the natives of the area before, once he is leader of the colony he begins to act more arrogantly towards them; his offenses against the young girl Pocahontas, the native chief’s daughter, lead the Powhatan tribe to declare war against them; by the following summer, Jamestown is wiped out.

in 1882, Astrid Pflaume and Kurt Weimer, Neo-Nazi time travelers from the future, infiltrate the Congress for Safeguarding of Non-Jewish Interests, an anti-Semitic international conference being held in Dresden, Germany. They manage to steer the gathering of crackpots and bigots into establishing a paramilitary organization that Weimer utilizes in the 1920’s to combat the Greater Zionist Resistance that Pflaume builds.

in 1893, Sir Patrick Spindle, long believed to be allied with the Avalon party, (the political arm of the Human League), calls for a vote of no confidence in Parliament. “If this is all the response Her Majesty’s government can muster against terrorism,” he proclaimed, “it’s a wonder they haven’t driven the Mlosh into the sea.” Although Mlosh supporters of Prime Minister Rogers’ government are loath to join with someone they rightly perceive as an enemy, the Premier hasn’t been their best ally, either. With an overwhelming vote, Rogers’ government comes crashing down, and elections are called for.

in 1941, Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould is born in Queens, New York. When the Intelligent Design movement began taking hold across the United States in 1983, Dr. Gould led the protests against its inclusion in college curricula; his vehement opposition to the teaching of God’s creation of the world led to his expulsion from the upper echelons of academia in 1997, and he is now regarded as little more than a crank, publishing such pro-evolution nonsense as The Panda’s Thumb.

in 1950, Eddie Iskowitz made the move from radio to television when he started hosting the Colgate Comedy Hour on NBC. The popular variety show featured many comics and musicians from Iskowitz’s vaudeville days, and gave another generation many belly-laughs.

in 1996, Professor Malcolm Thomas assists Dr. Melvin Courtney down to the object at Edwards Air Force base. Slipping inside, Dr. Courtney begins manipulating controls swiftly and expertly, much to Professor Thomas’ astonishment. “They showed me how to do this,” Dr. Courtney tells him. Then, in a flash, they disappear.

in 2000, Li Huang-Sen finishes telling the tale of his lost love, Huan Yue, to Mikhail von Heflin and Velma Porter. “I haven’t seen her again, nor have I felt the touch of her mind. I had to tell the farmer, Po, that his daughter was lost, but that my oath to him still held.” Li drops his head and weeps for his love; the baron and his wife think they catch a glimpse of a young Chinese woman in the window, but when they look, there is nothing there.

in 4697, the trailing ship of the Yang Gao expedition is overtaken by the lead vessel of the fleet following them from the doomed colony; for several, tortured hours, fleet commander Wu listens to the crew bravely fight against the metal Y’T’T’li. In the end, the captain of the vessel engages its self-destruct mechanism, and the resulting explosion slows down the Y’T’T’li vessels long enough for the remaining 2 Chinese ships to gain enough of a lead to where they will make it safely back to earth.

in 2004, the meeting at the White House is filled with talk of surrender to the Elders. Only President Gore and Dr. Emilio Carrera are opposed to this plan, with the president saying, “The first two people that we know the Elders destroyed seemed to be working with them all right at first; I don’t think they want to expand their galactic civilization by being inclusive. We have to fight them.” The others at the meeting are persuaded, but no one is able to come up with a way to fight them.


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, the winning writers have been announced; not the ones I voted for, but you can make up your own mind by seeing the pilots 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!