World Cup

The state of TIAH

June 29th, 2006

in 1613, London’s Globe Theatre burns down. Suspicion immediately falls on William Shakespeare, who had been presenting himself as the author of several plays penned by Francis Bacon until Bacon revealed himself as the author. Shakespeare’s life had taken a sharp downturn since that time, and the entire theatrical community knew that he harbored a deep grudge against Bacon for stealing that prestige from him. After the fire, Francis Bacon pledged to rebuild the theatre, and King James generously provided the funds for one of the most lavish theatres in all of Europe. With Bacon's reputation and the opulence of the New Globe, British theatre became the envy of the western world.

in 1776, South Carolinian Edward Rutledge writes what will become the most influential letter of the brief war for American independence to John Jay of New York. Rutledge urged Jay to find a way to turn his Continental Congress colleagues from independence, hoping that there was still a way to “effectively oppose” the headlong rush toward nationhood that the colonials were in. When Jay took control of the Continental Congress and began negotiating for a rapprochement with the Crown, he sent Rutledge to Great Britain to argue on behalf of increased autonomy for the colonies if they would yield to continued British rule. Rutledge found many in Britain's Parliament eager to accede to American demands in order to free up forces for the disastrous war in Canada, and his own affinity for the British won him enough allies to push his measures through and end the war between the American colonies and Great Britain.

in 1942, the 4th World Cup kicks off in Venezuela. Because Europe was raging in the middle of a war, it was thought that the European teams would want a postponement of the great football tournament, but after Germany announced it would be sending a team, the Allies felt obliged to follow. Held in Brazil, the tournament drew 16 nations, mostly from the western hemisphere; the only European teams that showed up were Germany, Ireland, Spain and Switzerland. Of the four, Germany and Ireland broke out of the first round, then Germany was eliminated by host Venezuela. Ireland made it all the way to the final, where they played the former world champions, Uruguay, to a 1-1 draw before losing 2:3 in penalty kicks. When Hitler received the news that not only had Germany been eliminated, but that a team from Great Britain came in second, he eliminated all funding for German football and said, “The German people will never again play this corrupt English game.” Of course, immediately after the war, West German football surged back from their years in the wilderness and captured the 5th World Cup in 1946 when the tournament was held in neighboring Switzerland, beating Brazil 2-0 in a game that became the newly democratic nation's baptism into the international community.

in 2017, the small craft from the Dyson sphere comes within a kilometer of the Pokor and scans them, then sends a brief message over their communication system. It is completely incomprehensible to the Quarai and humans on board the Pokor, but Captain Mawrao of the Pokor replies with a Quarai message of friendship. Once the small craft receives this message, it turns around and shoots back to the Dyson sphere. “Let's follow,” Captain Mawrao tells his crew. The human crew of the Eagle wonders if they can jettison their ship before the Pokor reaches the huge sphere.

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