Friday, January 27, 2006

McGill Founded; Apollo 1 Fire

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January 27th, 2006

in 1000 Post-Creation, Yahweh grants autonomy to humans and angels, but adds one requirement – that none will follow a god other than Him. All the angels readily agree to this, as do the humans, since none can conceive of a god other than the Creator. Lucifer is slow to agree, though, thinking that perhaps there is something to this requirement that he is not seeing; in the end, though, he agrees along with the rest.

in 1785, James McGill, a Scottish businessman who had thrown in with the Canadian nationalists during their war for independence, establishes McGill College in Montreal. The newly formed Canadian government helps him fund it, creating the first governmentally-assisted insitution of higher learning in the Canadian democracy.

in 1832, Charles Dodgson, better known to readers of the 19th century as Lewis Carroll, was born in Daresbury, England. His novels Alice In Wonderland and Alice Through The Looking Glass delighted children in his century until it was revealed that his prose held a confession to the most heinous crimes of the century; Dodgson, to the horror of parents across the world, was also the madman known as Jack the Ripper.

in 1904, the embassy ship from the Congress of Nations went into orbit around the Mlosh homeworld. The dozens of Mlosh aboard the ship clamored to volunteer for the shuttle that would descend to the surface, but the only one that went was the ambassador himself. Li’Kanto’Mk became the first Mlosh from earth to set foot back on their ancestral homeworld.

in 1918, Mikhail von Heflin and his wife, Velma Porter, cause a stir; the ship they're taking to mainland America is filled with southerners who consider their interracial relationship quite shocking. Never ones to shy away from controversy, the pair flaunt their love for each other at every opportunity, particularly in front of the southern passengers. This catches the notice of one Milo Cranston, who watches the von Heflins throughout the journey.

in 1943, American volunteers with the Greater Zionist Resistance fight German Underground units for the first time in Petrograd, Russia. These daring young people manage to fight back the horrendous assaults of the G.U. until nuclear weapons are used.

in 1967, a fire erupts inside the Apollo 1 command module as tests are being conducted prior to allowing the astronauts inside. Although the astronauts escape unharmed, Apollo 1 is destroyed, and America’s lunar exploration program is set back 6 months trying to find out why the fire happened. It was eventually discovered to be faulty wiring inside the command module.

in 1975, Senator Frank Church of Idaho is killed in a car crash just as he was to begin a Senate investigation into possibily illegal activities by the FBI and CIA. Fortunately, Senator John Smith of Michigan was able to step into the leadership role and clear the two intelligence agencies of any and all wrongdoing. He was later named head of the CIA.

in 1985, President Ralph Shephard sends his Alien Sedition program to Congress for ratification. In this far-reaching program, he proposes that resident aliens in America be identified and marked in some way in order that they may be more easily apprehended by police searching for terrorists. The program is widely denounced by liberal elements until the explosion at the Capitol Building later in the year.

in 1369, Somali chieftain Muhamed Siyad Barre flees before a combined Islamic force invading the nation to bring order out of the chaos he has led his small nation into. The success of the Somalian venture leads many of the larger nations under Allah to form an organization that will allow them to intervene in nations that have spun out of control; this organization is now known as The United Caliphates.

in 2001, the People’s Republic of America is officially recognized as an independent nation by Great Britain, France, Germany and Russia. The monarchies begin funneling money and materiel into the breakaway soviets, hoping to lessen the power of the Soviet States of America.

in 2005, Jeanna Best and Dave Lange travel to Houston to see J. Burton Howell, head of the mysterious company Myrmidon, whom they have been tracking for a couple of days. Howell is giving a lecture at Rice University, and they record it. When they play it back afterwards, though, there are sections of the speech that only give off static.

Timelines in today's post: the Fall, the Mlosh, Canadian Independence, von Heflin, the Chinese Empire, Islam Ascendant, the Ralph Shephard timeline, 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. So far, we have no clear leader - three different challenge winners have given us excellent answers. For today's challenge, connect British actor Ian Holm to Star Trek (and for a bonus point, explain his connection to today's post!). Place your answers in the comments! For more on 6 degrees games, click here.


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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ian Holm was in Naked Lunch with Judy Davis...

... who was in Deconstructing Harry with Kirstie Alley...

... who was in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan with the original crew and El Montalban!

Holm also played Sir William Withey Gull in the less-than-ideal film adaptation of From Hell.

(Once again, taking advantage of a favorite movie... Naked Lunch is high in my film pantheon.)

- Sean Demory

Alien Truther said...

And Sean surges into the lead...

The bonus point for Sir Ian is for something much closer to today's post - although you got pretty close with From Hell.

Anonymous said...

Ooh! He played the White Knight in a 1998 TV version of Alice Through the Looking Glass!

Alien Truther said...

You're getting warmer... - but he's even more closely linked than that!

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