ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE: we have our second anniversary coming up on May 27th, and we would like to have another contest. For our second anniversary, send us up to three of your own alternate histories, and we will publish the best - no limit on how many will end up on the final page! We would like to see as many of you enter this as possible, so please - think 'em up, write 'em down, and send 'em on to us at rat4cat@gmail.com! Help us celebrate our 2nd year of existence in style! Oh, and if you're like Sean and we owe you an appearance in TIAH - email us!
April 19th, 2006
in 1587, Sir Francis Drake’s ships, devastated by a storm off the coast of Spain, still attempt to take on the Spanish fleet at Cadiz, but are destroyed. Drake is hung as a pirate after Queen Elizabeth claims no knowledge of the adventurer’s mission.
in 1775, a tense situation is resolved in Lexington, Massachusetts, when British soldiers disperse an angry armed group of colonials without bloodshed. The possibility of armed revolt convinces Parliament and King George to reform their dealings with the American colonies and give them a limited degree of autonomy.
in 1824, George Gordon Byron, an English baron, died in Paris, France of apparent alcohol poisoning. Byron had been a poet of some esteem before rumors of incest in his family drove him to exile in France, where he drank himself to death.
in 1876, Wichita's police force decides that they can do without Wyatt Earp, dismissing him from their force because he assaulted a candidate for the office of country sheriff. There was some discussion of arresting him, but he fled Kansas with his brothers and took up prospecting in the west, where the Earp brothers became rather infamous as a band of violent outlaws.
in 1881, British novelist Benjamin Disraeli died in Beaconsfield. Although he had served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Prime Minister Derby, his own political goals were limited by British law barring Jews from holding office in Parliament. He died before this law was finally stricken from the books in 1904.
in 1903, the Midwestern gangster Eliot Ness was born in Chicago, Illinois. Ness had been raised by counter-revolutionaries who instilled a love of money in him, and he was drawn to the Chicago gangland scene in his youth. Good comrades of the Illinois soviet took him down during a bank robbery in 1947.
in 1915, the Congress of Nations authorizes an expedition to find the Kainku, a people who have disrupted life for the Q'Bar and seem to be anarchists of some persuasion. At the head of the 4-ship embassy is Admiral Esteban Rodriquez, a Spanish officer with much experience in negotiating with anarchists; he had been responsible for the settlement of territorial disputes between the Basque and Spain.
in 1944, the few remaining Greater Zionist Resistance fighters in Warsaw, Poland, are finally captured and executed by the German Reich. They had made the capture of Warsaw a heavily pyrrhic victory for the Germans, killing thousands of soldiers during their 8 ½ month struggle.
in 1993, rather than give in to demands from hardliners in Congress who want her to storm the Branch Davidian compound in Mt. Carmel, Texas and end the standoff there, Attorney General Zoe Baird goes to Texas to negotiate personally with David Koresh. After a long week, she is able to talk him into surrendering, along with his followers. Republicans decry it as a sign of the Clinton administration’s weakness in dealing with crime.
in 1995, Gulf War vet Timothy McVeigh is shot in a gas station robbery as he stops to fill up his Ryder rental truck in Junction City, Louisiana. The robbers took his truck with them, but must have punctured the gas tank in the shootout, because the truck blew up just outside of town. It was thought that McVeigh must have been running a fertilizer business, because he was carrying a load of it, which was the reason for the spectacular explosion.
in 2005, Chelsea Perkins appears back in her hometown of Jackson, Arizona, and calls her mother. When Mrs. Perkins convinces Chelsea to meet her in a diner for a reunion, the police are also there, although they are somewhat disappointed that Chelsea is alone and not with her father. After some intense questioning, she reveals that her father is dead, but manages to steer clear of any mention of magic. Satisfied that her kidnapper is dead, the police release Chelsea to her mother.
Timelines in today's post: the Mlosh, the GZR, Communist America and the Chelsea Perkins timeline
Today's "Six Degrees of Star Trek" challenge: Connect Gunfight at the OK Corral 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:
Kirk Douglas was in "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (in which he did a fine Doc Holliday.)
He was also in "Oscar" with Kurtwood Smith...
... who was in Trek VI as the president of the Federation.
- Sean Demory
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