ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE: We are holding another contest! Please send us entries for an Alternate Valentine's Day, February 14th, 2006. You may send us up to three entries for the day, and we will choose the best 10 to appear on February 14th. Enter now - deadline will be February 10th! By entering, you grant TIAH the right to electronically print your writing on February 14th, 2006, maintain your writing in our archives, and reprint your entry should we decide to reuse it in the future. TIAH only maintains full copyright over material it has originated that has been used by contestants in writing their own entries. And, another cool thing - Let us know where you are on Frappr!
January 24th, 2006
in 793 AUC, Caligula, who had briefly served as Rome’s emperor before a brain fever drove him mad, dies under the care of doctors in Rome. Hard as it was for Romans to depose an emperor, Caligula was clearly in no condition to continue to server Rome as its leader. Rumors that he even began speaking to his horse were never confirmed, but were not doubted.
in 1184, after a year on deserted Bermuda, Mikhail von Heflin and Velma Porter decide that they've had enough of a vacation, and strike out for the North American coast in one of the boats they have constructed. While en route, they encounter another rift in time/space. They don't try to evade it; Porter says, “I just hope it doesn't send us back to the stone age.”
in 1732, French playwright and revolutionary Pierre de Beaumarchais is born in Paris, France. He was influential in supporting both the French Revolution and the independence movement in North America that created the North American Confederation. His plays Le Barbier de Seville and Le Mariage de K’Tem’La were banned until after the revolution, since they were critical of the nobility of France.
in 1781, Canadian guerilla fighters known only as “Snow Fox and Light Foot” stage a hugely successful raid on the British garrison at Fort George in Quebec. The fort was completely destroyed, and the British abandoned the region because of the popular support for the Snow Fox.
in 1908, the Young Comrades organization begins among British Communists and quickly spreads to America. Although officially repressed by the British government, the Comrades are embraced by their comrades in America, and many leaders in the Soviet States today were Young Comrades in their boyhood.
in 1914, almost a year after vowing he would never work on it again, Franz Kafka finished his novel Amerika. Although most critics say that the beginning is a powerful tale of a European boy banished to America by scandal, the ending where the boy is turned into a sheep and eaten by coyotes in Oklahoma does tend to throw most people.
in 1943, General Friedrich von Paulus of the German Underground, commanding officer of the 6th Army, requested permission from Adolf Hitler to accept the surrender of Greater Zionist Resistance soldiers in Russia. General von Paulus had no stomach for the sort of war that the G.U. was waging, and Hitler threatened to replace him if he didn’t acquire one, saying, “The 6th Army will exterminate the Zionists down to the last man”.
in 1984, Apple Computers released the Macintosh, a personal computer with a graphical user interface, rather than the command line that most PC’s had used up to that point. This innovation, although not unique to Apple, rocketed them to the top of the computing world. By the end of the decade, they produced almost 80% of the computers used in America, and their operating system, licensed out to other computer manufacturers, today accounts for around 90% of the computing done in the world.
in 1986, Ron Hubbard, known for his rollicking western pulps in the 30’s and 40’s, and his more epic detective and western fiction afterwards, died at his home in San Francisco, California. Reverend Hubbard, who was ordained in the Church of Christ and led a huge congregation in San Francisco, always said he was unafraid to die, since that was the last promotion God could give him.
in 2005, Jeanna Best goes in to work for Austin lawyer Jack Armstrong and gets called into his office. Armstrong asks her about her illness on the previous Saturday, and she replies that it was a little 24-hour bug. She notes that he does not use the last two fingers on either hand at all, and barely contains her shudders of fear; she also notes the defense contract lying on his desk for a company called Myrmidon.
Timelines in today's post: the Roman timeline, Canadian Independence, von Heflin, the Mlosh, the GZR, and Communist America.
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! Or, here's a new one - win 5 "Six Degrees of Star Trek" challenges from me, and I'll put you in the alternate history of your choice. Here's your first one - with only the info you have on me in my profile, connect your esteemed Alternate Historian to Star Trek. Place your answers in the comments! For more on 6 degrees games, click here.
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!
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
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