Pompey Allies With Ptolemy

September 28th, 2005

in 801 AUC, Pompey convinces his old friend King Ptolemy of Egypt to give him shelter from Caesar’s pursuit. With Pompey’s direction, Ptolemy’s armies hold off Caesar and provide a base for Pompey to gather support for his eventual ascension to the dictatorship of Rome.

in 1066, William of Normandy makes his claim for the throne of England through force of arms. He and his forces attempt a landing at Pevensey, but high storms drive him off and damage his ships. This delay allows King Harold to recoup after battling the Norwegians and Scots at Stamford Bridge, and with this rest, is able to defeat William and retain his crown.

in 1634, the Earl of Bridgewater is highly entertained by the comic masque Momus by young John Milton, whom he sponsors afterwards. Milton’s comic writings are a huge hit, but his social pamphlets, including one arguing for the legalization of divorce for reasons of incompatibility, scandalize English society and prove a headache for the Earl.

in 1915, time-traveling neo-Nazi Astrid Pflaume positions several operatives throughout Europe, in strategic positions to prolong the World War. She takes great pains to train them well, so that they will be able to recruit other Jewish people into her Greater Zionist Resistance.

in 1938, rhythm & blues singer Ben Nelson was born in Henderson, North Carolina. After he moved to Harlem, Nelson became a member of a street corner doo-wop group called The Four B’s. The young men became a great success, but their greatest hit was Nelson’s solo Stand By Me on their album There Goes My Baby.

in 1959, Soviet leader Kruschev and U.S. President Eisenhower gave a joint announcement after their summit meeting that hostilities between the two superpowers were going to be set aside; the two men had come to an historic agreement ending the decade-long cold war between them. Soviet society became more open, and socialist reforms were introduced into America. After much initial resistance, some of it violent, both countries became closer and more like each other under the Accord.

in 1964, concert harpist Adolph Marx, a genius that some considered the finest classical musician in the Soviet States of America, died in Los Angeles, California. Marx single-handedly made harp music popular in the Soviet States during the 30’s and 40’s, and continued to fill concert halls up to his death.

in 1978, Cardinal Albino Luciani of Belluno uncovered a plot by the Comte de Saint-Germaine to acquire ancient relics of the Church in order to further some strange occult ends of his own. Before he could communicate this information to anyone, he died of a heart attack in his mansion.

in 1988, Canadian police, acting on a tip from someone inside the cult, invaded the home of Roch Theriault and stopped him just as he was about to perform surgery, without anesthetic, on a female member of his cult. Theriault was not taken alive, but most of his cult went quietly, happy to finally be freed from the madman’s grip. This incident led Canada to pass what some deemed draconian anti-cult laws that outlawed even such fairly harmless groups as the Raelians.

in 2002, with Professor Thomas’ and Dr. Courtney’s agreement, the object at Edwards Air Force base is moved to a classified facility in the Nevada desert, and twenty pilots are sent there to train with them. The pilots who have already been trained by the pair begin complaining of strange dreams in which they see hundreds of black birds descending on a field. The Pentagon urges Thomas and Courtney to hurry up their training.


TIAH HALLOWEEN CONTEST - no donation required, just send us your stuff!

In order to provide for the upkeep of our new historian, Today In Alternate History is sponsoring its first contest - 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 was available on our Forum link below, but since the forum has been hacked, we'll email it back to you if you want to know what it is. And since, no one noticed yesterday's comment, boo-boo-rabooh. 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 not working for now - Forum has been hacked! We're working on getting it back, and will let you know once it's back up.
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 see the one I did at http://www.marktreitel.com

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!