Columbus Day

October 12th, 2005

in 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in India. Although the voyage was hard, it did cut some time off the land route, and soon, the western trade to India, spearheaded by Columbus, outpaced the eastern. The only problem seemed to be that the western Indians were nothing like the eastern ones.

in 11-13-12-4-4, the islands of the Yucatan Gulf sent word to the Emperor in Ouezteca that strange barbarians had landed on their shores. The Emperor sent several warships, but the barbarians fled at the sight. The islanders told the sailors that the barbarians had been pale men with strange markings and color on their bodies; this disturbed the Emperor enough to place a permanent naval base in the Gulf.

in Hellenic Year 5253, Herakleus of Sparta’s expedition to seek the land beyond the farthest seas found a land inhabited by a people that called themselves the Seneca, who were part of a larger polis known as Iroquois. Herakleus traveled across their continent and found another sea, which he sailed across until he was back home in Hellas. His voyage proved the ancient belief that the world was round.

in 2245 AUC, Colonius Maximus Agrippa landed his vessels at what the ancient northern barbarians had called Vinland, and claimed it for the greater glory of the Republic of Rome. Vinland’s legend as a land of great bounty was sadly untrue, and Agrippa sent back word that the continent across the Atlantic seemed to be a frozen wasteland. Subsequent expeditions, though, found a more fertile country and civilized people to the south, and Rome soon had many ships plying the Atlantic to trade with them.

in 1507, after many years of trying to make trade with the western continents work, Spain and the rest of Europe return to the richer lands of Asia and Africa and leave the West Indians to their own devices. Although there seemed to be plenty of resources in the western lands, the cost of travel was too much to make it worth Europe's effort.

in 1837, an economic panic struck the young American nation as the rather unsound fiscal policies of President Andrew Jackson came home to roost. The ineffectual President Martin Van Buren appealed to Congress for assistance, but Congress was unwilling to take strong measures to halt the country's slide into poverty. When 5 northern states seceded to try to make their own way, America soon dissolved into the petty military dictatorship it is today.

in 1890, Charles Brigman attacks the farms of 4 Mormon collaborators. In what came to be known as the Columbus Day Massacre, he and his band of rebels slaughtered 82 people, most of whom were children. News of the massacre begins to turn most of the Latter-Day Saints against Brigman.

in 1915, the execution of British nurse Edith Cavell by a German firing squad for essentially doing nothing more than her duty of aiding Allied soldiers causes a firestorm of protest against the Kaiser's realm. The situation causes a rift in the Central Powers; Austria-Hungary withdraws from the war, and the Ottoman Empire halts aid to Germany. The Germans, surrounded by enemies now, sues for peace with France and Great Britain, and by spring, the continental war is over.

in 1960, Comrade President Joel Rosenberg, making the first visit of a Soviet American leader to the League of Nations in Europe, began pounding the table and shouting back at the Irish Ambassador's speech criticizing America's Central American activities. Calling the Irish diplomat an “imperialist lackey”, Comrade Rosenberg stormed out of the meeting.

in 1997, an alternate historian tied the knot with a lovely songbird in a ceremony punctuated by beautiful singing. In another timeline, perhaps they have more mundane occupations…


TIAH HALLOWEEN CONTEST - no donation required, just send us your stuff! Only 8 days left!

In order to give us a tad more time for Halloween, 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. Entries must be received by October 20th! 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. 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!