December 28th, 2005
in 47,392 BCE, Swikolay, great-granddaughter of Telka the Speaker, has a dream of standing on the top of the Himalayas and still being unable to reach the stars. Disturbed, she wakes Telka and tells her that they will still fail, in spite of all their work. Telka tells her, “We will still climb. Dreams can lie; only believe what you have done with your own hands.”
in 1781, the British fortify Prince Edward Island with hundreds of troops under the command of Major James Henry Craig. He was reinforced by American colonials, which sparked a huge degree of resentment among the Canadians and led to a chill in relations between the Nationalists and the Americans.
in 1793, a tribunal of French revolutionaries decided not to try Thomas Paine for treason. He had traveled to France to take part in the revolt of the people against their monarch, but had run afoul of some in the revolutionary leadership because of his resistance to the death penalty. His moving speech in his own defense led to a change in the revolution’s direction, and an abolition of the guillotine and the death penalty in France.
in 1832, Andrew Jackson's vice-president, John C. Calhoun, resigns to take a Senate seat from South Carolina. The move is widely seen as a lack of confidence in Jackson, and is proven right when Jackson loses the presidential election that year, leaving office after only one term.
in 1849, French industrialist Jolly-Bellin accidentally spills turpentine and oil from a lamp onto his dirty clothes and notices that they have become cleaner. Unfortunately, his clothes ignite from the flame he brings closer to see this, and he is killed in the resulting fire.
in 1900, fiery brothel owner Carry Nation attacks a small group of Temperance protesters outside her establishment in Wichita, Kansas, injuring one of them with an ax. Nation had tumbled into the darker side of life since falling into alcoholism herself with her first husband, and ran the brothel after his death in order to support herself. She resented the self-righteousness of Wichita's Temperance movement and hated Cora Weathers, the woman she attacked with the ax, more than anything. She was jailed for assault and spent many months behind bars.
in 1904, a hastily-arranged second mission to the Mlosh homeworld is launched in secret from the Plutonian base of the Congress of Nations. This one is carrying heavy armament, and is crewed by an all-military team.
in 1908, a massive earthquake strikes Europe, centered on Italy. In the aftermath of the quake, strange beasts and people were seen on the Mediterranean coast. There were strange sailing vessels from China and South America, as well as some kind of flying ship, spotted over Italy. When authorities arrived to investigate these claims, the strange sightings were already over, except for an aerial phenomena over Messina. It was thought to be a cloud, but it pulsed with colors like a rainbow. An American scientist, Dr. Richard Tolman, consulted with the Italian government about it.
in 12-19-11-16-5, Manpuigachet, high priest of the written word, is born in Chuquisaca, among the Inca. His words moved armies and quieted emperors; he could seduce the most chaste of virgins, or douse the flame of passion in the most arduous lovers. At his death in 12-18-17-4-12, the whole of the civilized world mourned.
in 1973, Norman Mailer's The Leavenworth Soviet is published in Europe to huge acclaim. Mailer, an American ex-patriat living in Paris, maintained that the repression of capitalist ideas and dissent against the American “Worker's Paradise” were vital for the continuation of the Soviet state, and not just a byproduct of the few repressive Soviet leaders, as the Americans maintained. Mailer was stripped of his citizenship after the book was published.
in 2003, the peace of the reign of Heaven begins on earth, as every person acknowledges Estelle Gerard as their savior. Death is banished; the wages of sin have been paid. For a thousand years, the world will know the glory of Her rule, until She allows the False One to rise back up from the lake of fire for his judgement.
ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE, in an effort to find out exactly how many readers we have, Today In Alternate History will be holding an International Visit TIAH Day. Our Atom feed will be turned off for one day, January 3rd, 2006, and we encourage you all to visit our site on that day to read our material. The feed will be turned back on January 4th, so you can return to reading TIAH normally.
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The Forum lives again! My esteemed Co-Historian has brought the forum back to life, and in spite of the issues we've had with the forum in the past, we think that this time, it'll stay up!
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