Supermen

Supermac

In 1986, Lord Stockton, the former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, died peacefully on this day aged 92. Members of his family were by his bedside at Birch Grove House, at Horsted Keynes, East Sussex, when he died at 1820 GMT following a short illness. Tributes have begun flooding in for the former Conservative leader nicknamed "Super Mac". The Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said his death left a void in politics which could not be filled. Fellow former Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath described Lord Stockton as one of the most creative minds in British politics.

Count Nikolai Tolstoi said Supermac would always been remembered fondly by the Cossack nation of Russia, referring of course to his decision at Lienz, Austria not to repatriate troops to the Soviet Union where they would face imprisonment and death. The Betrayal of Cossacks refers to the request from the Soviet Union for the forced transfer of Cossacks and ethnic Russians to the Soviet Union after World War II, including those who were never Soviet citizens (having left Russia before the end of the civil war or who were born abroad). Ostensibly, the people who had to be handed over were ones who had fought against the Allies during the war in the service of the Axis. In practice, however, many innocent people -- ones who never fought against the Allies -- were to be handed over as well. The Cossacks who fought against the Allies saw their service not as treason to the motherland, but as an episode in the Russian Revolution of 1917, part of the ongoing struggle against Moscow and Communism. This relatively little known event, as well as other events that are results of Yalta, is referred to by Nikolai Tolstoy as "The Secret Betrayal" because of its lack of exposure in the Western hemisphere. The most recognized of these events was that which took place in Lienz, Austria. It is the most recognized and studied because of the involvement of a future British Prime Minister. The British arrived in Lienz, where over 2,700 Cossacks resided, on 28 May 1945. They arrived to tell the Cossacks that they were invited to an important British conference with British officials and would return to Lienz by 6 o'clock that evening. Some Cossacks began to worry but were assured by the British that everything would be fine. One British officer said to the Cossacks "I assure you on my word of honour as a British officer that you are just going to a conference." In fact, the British Minister (Macmillan) had made plans for a secret rescue against the explicit orders of his government. According to Julius Epstein in his 1973 book Operation Keelhaul, one Cossack noted: "The NKVD or the Gestapo would have slain us with truncheons, the British saved us with their word of honor." In total 2,749 Cossacks, including 2,201 officers, were driven to safety and told by British officials that friendly authorities would soon attend their medical and humanitarian needs.

In 1997, Chinese authorities in Hong Kong, fearful of the economic damage that would result from killing all chickens possibly infected with influenza, disregard the recommendations of health professionals around the world and let the sale of chickens continue. The resulting epidemic of flu kills over 20 million Chinese, as well as an additional 2 million worldwide. The sanctions against Chinese food products that follow send China spiraling into the worst depression in its history.

In 1998, Cambodian strongman Pol Pot dies. The hated Khmer Rouge that had placed him in power begin a civil war for power that devastates the small Asian nation for the next three years. After the death toll of the war passes a million, Vietnam invades to put an end to it. The move is surprisingly supported by the international community, and marks a turning point for both nations; Cambodia, although it remains communist, becomes a freer country, and Vietnam is accepted into the community of nations.

Supermac	In 1986, on this day Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom died. “Supermac” achieve national stature as a politician whilst Minister-Resident in Central Europe May-June 1945. Blocking moves to honour a promise made at Yalta, he refused to return thousands of Cossacks to the Soviet Union, where they faced certain death. At this time, this was considered a dangerous move that brought the Allies to the bring of war. However, it was the first of many Cold War stand-offs, and the Britain nation saw that MacMillan had taken a principled stand at a pivotal moment in history.

Agents	In 2005, agents of the government of (censored) get a trace on Rat. He is somewhere in central Texas subscribing to revolutionary feeds using the Yabadabadoo! RSS alternative lifer Newsreader.

In 1999, US President Bill Clinton consults with his presidential advisors; he asks them for an assessment of the threat identified by Linus Torvald, that all computerized activity will cease on news year's eve. A Rhodes Scholar, Clinton had spent time in England and was aware of the British emergency system - was this anything to do with dialling 999? he asks.

Clinton

In 1813, the North American Confederation city of Buffalo was burned to the ground when a plant manufacturing an experimental propellant exploded. The horrific flames resisted all attempts to put them out until the local governor was able to order in enough demolitions to level the town. The N.A.C. adopted the world’s most stringent regulations on the handling of propellants after this disaster.

In 1986, on this day Lord Stockton, the former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, died aged 92. “Supermac” sought to subdue the Winds of Change blowing across the continent by appointing indigenous Viceroys such as Jomo Kenyatta and Idi Amin. During the early sixties he worked closely Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson on the No Independence Before African Rule formula.

In 1170, Henry II sends four priests to bring him the head of Thomas Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Beckett reciprocated, he ate the priests on a bed of fava beans with a fine Chianti :-)

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