Mutiny In The Cocos; Cola-Coca

The state of TIAH

March 8th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: In 19 days, we'll hit TIAH's third anniversary. As before, that calls for a contest! Please send in your alternate versions of the Academy's beginnings (May 27th, 2004 was the date in this timeline). You can even use the fact that we lost the original day and had to restart on the 28th – whatever you can think of to provide a twist to our start. Send 'em in, and we'll print 'em! Be sure to tell us how you want your credit for the post to appear, as well as any links you want to be connected with your entry. Thanks for reading and get researching those alternate timelines!

in 1891, Major Mark Wainwright and a hand-picked team of 10 men cross the Nebraska border in the dark of night and slip into Kansas. Dressed in civilian clothes, they present themselves as volunteers to the Kansas militia-men in the morning; “I was in the Army fighting the Indians,” Wainwright tells the militia commander, “I should be able to fight these union boys.” The commander, impressed with Wainwright and his men, assigns them to guard the militia's ammunition dump, just as Wainwright and Colonel Monteith had hoped.

in 1999, Detective Reginald Clive-Owens of Scotland Yard discovers Prime Minister Merl Myrddin – or at least his body. The detective had followed a series of mysterious leads that put him in North Wales, at a small abbey outside of Conwy. Here, a brother friar took him into a secret room where a small bed was occupied by the prime minister, in a coma. The friar had been tending him since his appearance there two nights before, on orders of his superiors. Detective Clive-Owens sent for an ambulance to carry Myrddin back to London, and reporters descended on the abbey to find out why the prime minister had ended up there, and who had brought him. Answers were not very forthcoming – the friar knew nothing, and his superiors had disappeared.

in 1794, French scientist Antoine Lavoisier, 'the Father of Modern Chemistry', was tried by a revolutionary court for treason and sentenced to death by guillotine. An appeal to the judge for mercy brought only the mocking reply, 'The Republic has no need for genius', and the execution was ordered to be carried out forthwith. Lavoisier marched to his fate with a visage of resolve and confidence, which many in the not-entirely bloodthirsty audience remarked upon. A merry toast was shared by the side of the device by the executioner, the judge and several revolutionary leaders. The condemned was magnanimously offered some of the vintage but dismissed the gift with a brusque nod and flared nostrils. Lavoisier was placed into the guillotine and the execution was bare moments away when the executioner released the kill cable and sank to his knees, gripping his throat. Several others in attendance displayed the same behavior, and the assemblage was thrown into chaos. Lavoisier was quickly freed by several compatriots who had drawn scarves about their heads to protect their identities, bustled through the crowd into a waiting carriage and conveyed to safety. It was later found out that the chemical genius had developed a certain compound of ferrocyanic salts which had been used to lace the wine for the ill-fated toast shared by his would-be murderes. Ensconced safely in America the next year, Lavoisier spent the next two decades developing the foundations of the modern table of elements, advancing the till-then overlooked field of chemistry in immeasurable ways. post by Guest Historian Jake Dominguez

In 1997, at the movie premier Neal Stephenson ripped open the business card which reads SNOW CRASH tear this card in half to release your free sample. A hologram appears of a naked woman, leans forward and beckons Stephenson. She whispers something in his ear that Director Marco Brambilla cannot hear. When she leans back from the author, his eyes are frozen in their sockets. Neal Stephenson is catatonic.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 1999, hiding in the trees the author Stephen King bit into the moss and screamed as Mr Gray drove past. Mr Gray was not death, but worse than death.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

Montgomery	In 1947, the Tydings Committee proceeded with the interview of General Sir Bernard Montgomery, commander of the 21st Army Group, to which all of the invasion ground forces belonged, and he was also in charge of developing the invasion plan. Montgomery's record in 1940 was reviewed by Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy of Wisconsin. ..
.. When Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, the 3rd Division was deployed to Belgium as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Montgomery predicted a disaster similar to that in 1914, and so spent the Phony War training his troops for tactical retreat rather than offensive operations. His training paid off when the Germans began their invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May 1940 and the 3rd Division advanced to the River Dijle and then withdrew to Dunkirk with great professionalism, returning to Britain intact with only nominal casualties. During Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of 330,000 BEF and French troops to Britain, Montgomery assumed command of the II Corps. Perhaps Montgomery would like to explain why a man such as himself, a defeatist was put in charge of 21st Army Group?
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1989, on this day the British Royal household had taken the in principle decision to get tough with the republican protesters. But matters were moving too fast and the security forces were losing control of the capital.	The first build..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Coke Inventor	In 1886, pharmacist Dr. John Styth Pemberton invented a carbonated beverage that would later be named "Cola-Coca". He should have known better, it was a health hazard that was banned by the Surgeon-General alongside other 'hard' carbonated drinks. In the middle of the twentieth century, progressive liberals pushed for the ..
.. legalisation of hard carbonated drinks but were unsuccessful. The Federal Government has been accused of a running a clandestine project to flood the ghettos of America with hard carbonated drinks in an attempt to subdue and suppress the civil rights movement of African Americans. Cola-Coca remains illegal in the United States to this day.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1942, Gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery on Horsburgh Island in the Cocos Islands rebelled in the Cocos Islands Mutiny. The mutineers were to seize control of the islands, disable the British garrison and to transfer the islands to the Empire of Japan. However, the mutiny was defeated after the Sri Lankans failed ..	Cocos
.. to seize control of the islands. Many mutineers were punished, and the three ringleaders were executed; they were the only Commonwealth servicemen to be executed for mutiny during the Second World War. It was a final act of desperation by the British who were only able to defend the Raj for a further three months before succumbing to defeat.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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