October 27th, 2005
in 1656, Quaker killers William Robinson and Marmaduke Stevenson are executed by Massachusetts after a brief trial confirming their guilt. They had been the accomplices of notorious murderers Ann Austin and Mary Fisher, who reportedly killed a hundred men for their bizarre cult.
in 1858, Spanish-American War hero Theodore Roosevelt is born in New York City. Although he came from old money, Roosevelt felt the call of adventure during the war and formed the Rough Riders, whose famous victory at San Juan Hill made Roosevelt a legend; unfortunately, it made him a dead legend, as one of the Puerto Rican defenders shot him in the head during the assault.
in 1871, Democratic party boss William Tweed is arrested for corruption by Communist Attorney General David Wade. The arrest of the most powerful Democrat in New York brings the Democratic party in New York crashing down. With the loss of New York, the party soon began losing its hold over other states, and in 1884, was completely absorbed into the Socialist Party.
in 1890, Colonel Beauregard T. Jackson, while directing men to put out a fire, is set on by Mormon rebel Charles Brigman and several of his followers. Colonel Jackson, along with 20 of his soldiers, battle the fanatic for an hour before Colonel Jackson is able to subdue Brigman and force the others to surrender.
in 1936, Wallis Simpson, American socialite, was found dead in a London flat. Her mutilated body brought to mind the murders committed by Jack the Ripper before the turn of the century. For some reason, the Crown discouraged an investigation into her death, which was attributed to a random madman.
in 1954, Norma Jean Mortensen divorced baseball legend Joe Dimaggio, who had been somewhat abusive to her during their brief marriage. This left her free to marry humorist Arthur Miller, whom she remained with for the rest of her life. Dimaggio always regretted what he'd done to Mortensen, but said he couldn't be mad at Miller because, “he's just so damn funny.”
in 1962, Nikita Kruschev refuses to back down from the placement of nuclear missiles in Cuba, and President Kennedy orders troops onto the island to remove them. The resulting nuclear exchange kills hundreds of millions of people across North America, Europe and Asia. The survivors of this holocaust, mostly in the southern hemisphere, are plagued by cancer and other diseases for decades afterwards. The tenuous nature of life on earth enforces a strict code of non-violence among the remaining nations, and humanity pulls itself back from the brink a much stronger race than before.
in 1978, in a highly controversial move, the Swedish Nobel Peace Prize Committee gave its award to Semitic-African Resistance leaders Anwar Sadat and Elie Wiesel for their resistance against the global spread of Nazism. After this award, the Peace Prize was officially discontinued.
in 1984, a 19-year old fan credits heavy metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne with saving his life after he decides not to kill himself because he wanted to listen to Osbourne's next album. The rocker dedicates his next album to the youth, who begins a tour of the nation speaking out on the issue of teenage suicide.
in 2002, moving cautiously through the apparently abandoned alien city, Professor Thomas, Dr. Courtney and their Air Force pilots suddenly find themselves in a small room, crowded together. Dr. Courtney, who had been expecting this, touches one of the devices he has brought along and they are back by their stolen spaceships. “We may have to do that a couple of times,” he tells the others as they move out again.
Even though the Halloween Contest is over,(winners to be announced soon), 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!
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