Saturday, February 18, 2006

Mary, Pope Of Brits; Nude Descending A Staircase

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February 18th, 2006

in 1123 Post-Creation, in spite of the lack of order in Eden, many of the angels and partial-angels are willing to take up arms with Michael and Lucifer. Garael, guardian of Paradise's gates, joined them almost as soon as he saw them. Many others finally saw a hope where they had none before, and their ranks swelled.

in 1516, Sister Mary Tudor, first female Pope of the Holy British Empire, is born in Greenwich, England. Although her time in the shoes of the fisherman was short, she paved the way for her far more successful sister, Pope Elizabeth I.

in 1678, English satirist John Bunyan publishes his novel The Pilgrim’s Progress, a rollicking and often risqué tale of a young Christian facing sins aplenty for the first time. It was banned by many churches, but enjoyed brisk sales due to its titillating subject matter.

in 12-10-18-10-0, a laborer’s movement begins among the northeastern territories of the Oueztecan Empire. Although brutally suppressed at times, the Warriors of Toil grows across the entire empire until it is finally recognized in 12-13-2-10-10 as a sanctioned imperial organization, and allowed to help workers.

in 1904, the Congress of Nations tells Q’B’Ton’ra that his fleet will either leave the Oort cloud and return to the Mlosh homeworld, or it will be destroyed. The Q’Bar leader acquiesces, but warns the C.N., “You will not face as simple a battle should you choose to fight me in my home system; never return to my world.”

in 1913, French artists Marcel Duchamp unveiled the much-anticipated painting Nude Descending A Staircase at an exhibition in New York City. Moralist groups who had come prepared to protest took a look at the painting, utterly failed to see any nudity, and left, along with those expecting a somewhat more prurient display.

in 1918, Mikhail von Heflin, Velma Porter and Dr. Thaddeus McCaine put their heads together in McCaine's London home, attempting to figure out how to return Porter and von Heflin to their own time. McCaine has a few ideas that are very dangerous, which the Baron and his wife shelve; Porter tells McCaine, “We'll call those Plan B. Now, give us a Plan A.”

in 1930, astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, working at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, notices something strange at the edges of the solar system. The hideous and non-Euclidean planet of Nemesis was making its way to earth, to feast upon the people teeming on its surface; all Tombaugh could do was shudder and pray.

in 1953, Gestapo, or state police, of the New Reich arrest a small band of pacifists known as the White Rose. They were non-Jewish allies of the old Greater Zionist Resistance who had been agitating for a return to the democratic rule the G.Z.R. had imposed on most of Europe. The capture, and subsequent execution, of most of their leadership in Bonn gave pause to many other peace movements in Eurasia.

in 1967, peace activist and physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer dies at his home in Princeton, New Jersey. During World War II, Oppenheimer had been charged with creating a so-called atomic bomb by the U.S. government, but the project he headed in Los Alamos, New Mexico never produced a working weapon. Some felt that Oppenheimer sabotaged the project, but there was never any evidence of this; the war ended with victory for the U.S. and its allies, anyway, in 1946.

in 2003, troops of the Soviet States of America capture Couer d’Alene, Idaho, in spite of heavy resistance from People’s Republic die-hards. The last few rebels disappear into the mountains of Idaho, effectively ending the brief civil war in the Pacific Northwest. Although they have made a few attacks on civilians since the end of the war, the People’s Republic of America officially dissolved on this day.

in 2005, after much searching and acquisition of Ingredients, Chelsea Perkins hopes to shed the form she has been in for the last two weeks, that of a 40-year old man, and return to her own 12-year old girl's body. She and her “teacher”, Alma May Watson, begin the spell at midnight; only when it is too late do they realize that one of the Ingredients is wrong.

in 2005, Save Earth members track suspected “Claw” Daniel Evans to a small hill outside of Tucson, Arizona. He presses his hand into a rock on the side of the hill, and a door opens; when he enters it, the door shuts. The SE members hurry back to the gun shop of Mike and Edna Beauregard, (Jeanne and Dave Lange in disguise), to report what they have learned.

Timelines in today's post: the Fall, the Holy British Empire, the Oueztecan timeline, the Mlosh, von Heflin, the GZR, Communist America, the Chelsea Perkins timeline and The Claw.

Today's "Six Degrees of Star Trek" challenge: Connect the 1971 film Mary, Queen of Scots to Star Trek. Place your answers in the comments and see the Forum for previous results. For more on 6 degrees games, click here.


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Margaret Furse designed the costumes for Mary Queen of Scots, and also designed costumes for Scrooge (1970), in which appeared Gordon Jackson, who was also in Hamlet (1969) with Anjelica Huston, who was in the Postman Always Rings Twice with Christopher Lloyd, who was in Star Trek III

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