Buonaparte's Exile; Kent State Demonstration

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!

May 4th, 2006

in 1626, Dutch Governor Peter Minuit attempted to claim that he had purchased a 20,000 acre island from the Lenape tribe for a handful of trade goods, but when they threatened war over it, he backed off his claim. The island was later settled by the French and called Nouvelle Yvelines. It became the hub of the greater expansion of French influence in the Atlantic northeast.

in 1814, former Italian Emperor Napoleon Buonaparte commenced his exile to Corsica. His old home had many sympathizers, and he was soon able to escape and attempt to regain his throne, but the allied northern Europeans forces soon captured him again and sent him back to his exile in Corsica. Broken and bitter, he died alone on the Mediterranean island.

in 1930, Congress found the arguments of a thousand economists more compelling than those of the president, and defeated the protectionist Smoot-Hawley tariff act. Without the protections that would have been granted by the act, cheap foreign goods continued to flood the American market and the depression worsened.

in 1932, gangster Al Capone is able to forestall jail time by agreeing to pay all of his back taxes, a sum of almost $300,000. The government accepts the fine, much to the chagrin of the Treasury agents who have brought Capone in. Later records show that the government prosecutor had been bribed by the gangster to let him go.

in 1941, one of communism’s most strident voices, Comrade George F. Will, was born in Champaign, Illinois Soviet. Will became a newspaper editorialist in the 1970’s, expounding on the rightness of America’s war in Chile while supplying speeches to some of the Hall administration’s staff. He continues to blur the line between government and media even today.

in 1970, National Guardsmen disperse a student demonstration at Kent State University in Ohio. Although one hothead in the troops had fired at a demonstrator who threw a rock at him, officers were able to keep a rein on the situation and prevent bloodshed. The student organizers of the protest, also wishing to avoid violence, cooperated after the brief initial confrontation and got the crowd to go back to their dorms.

in 1975, real estate tycoon Moses Horwitz died in his Long Island home. Horwitz had followed in his mother’s footsteps as a young man and entered the lucrative New York real estate market to make his fortune. As a hobby, he supported his brothers’ vaudeville routine for many years before it became evident that their Stooge act was going nowhere.

in 1989, Oliver North was convicted of several counts of governmental malfeasance for his role in the Iran-Contra affair. Fortunate to have escaped charges of treason, North served 11 years before being paroled. After getting out, he attempted to enter the still-thriving world of conservative talk radio, but was so infamous that no station would touch him.

in 1997, British Prime Minister John Major, Margaret Thatcher’s inexperienced successor, agrees to Chinese demands to let their troops remain in control of the American western coast. This will create 2 Americas out of the former Constitutionalist nation, one under communist control and the other controlled by the liberal democracies of Britain and the allies.

in 2005, Chelsea Perkins and Debra Morris begin the spell to transport them back to the Great Tree. Unfortunately for them, the spell that had been cast on Chelsea by Patience Redding warps their teleportation spell into something else; when they exit the small vortex, they find themselves on an English country road.

Timelines in today's post: Italian Napoleon, Communist America, the Ralph Shephard timeline and the Chelsea Perkins timeline

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