Division

	In 1952, on this day Princess Elizabeth proclaimed herself Queen, Head of the Commonwealth and Defender of the Faith in a ceremony at Rideau Hall, the Governor's Residence in Ottawa. The proclaimation was met with a cool response from London. Prime Minister Oswald Mosley had made common cause with continental fascists Mussolini of Italy, Franco of Spain and Hitler of Germany during his premiership, but where they were all gone by the end of the decade, Mosley's rule of Britain had only begun.

The death of King George VI was a potential catalist to perhaps end the dynastic crisis in the British monarchy. Ironically the Queen's Uncle, King Edward VIII had been forced to abdicate having married an American divorcee, Wallace Simpson. He returned from the Governorship of the Bahamas as the titular Head of a Nazi Client State when the remainder of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha fled to the Americas during Operation Sealion in 1940. Of German origin themselves, the British Royal Family traced their routes to the House of Wettin in Saxony. This dynasty of German counts, dukes, prince-electors (Kurfürsten) and kings ruled the area of today's German state of Saxony for more than 800 years as well as holding at times the kingship of Poland. Agnates of the House of Wettin have, at various times, ascended the thrones of Great Britain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Poland, Saxony, and Belgium.

.

In 1952, Juan Escobar, a man who has made a small living studying the paranormal in Mexico and eastern Europe, hears of the destruction of a small diner in Bryan, Texas by a tall, dark German man. He has heard of this man before, the Baron von Todt, and immediately travels to Texas to find him.

Devils Footprints	In 1855, the Devil's Footprints mysteriously appear in southern Devon with the contemporaneous sightings of Spring Heeled Jack, a mysterious figure known for his extraordinary jumps. Jack was described by alleged victims as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with diabolical physiognomy that included clawed hands and eyes that resembled red balls of fire. He was finally trapped in the East End of London where he was captured for the Whitechapel Murders of 1888 and later executed at the Tower of London.
Spring Heeled Jack

.

In 1974, the temporary American space station Skylab returns to earth after 84 days in space. The crew included a stowaway, the alien intelligence known as the Avatar who quickly establishes a global tyranny.

.

In 9816 BCE, Egyptian taskmasters, looking for a way to keep their slaves both happy and nourished, concoct a beverage that is essentially liquid fermented bread, from grains, yeast and water. Slaves cannot stomach the bitter, foul drink, and the recipe is lost to time.

.

In 1692, Abigail Williams and Betty Paris uncover a coven of witches within the community of Salem, Massachusetts. For their great service to the crown, they are made Royal Witch-Hunters for the colony on reaching their majority. Through their diligence, hundreds of witches are driven from Massachusetts.

.

In 1914, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien began working on the Middle-earth stories. A good deal was written while Tolkien, then a British officer returned from France during World War I, was laid up in a military hospital and at home with trench fever. Truth be told, Tolkien's imagination was over-stimulated by the horror of the Somme. In escapist fantasy writing, Tolkien's inner hero struggled to restore his own dissipated life force.

And when the tidings came of the fall of Gondolin, .. Morgoth [Tolkien's fear] though that his triumph was fulfilled, recking little of [Tolkien].. and he called upon them to forgive them, and rescue them back from the overmastering might of Morgoth and win back the Silmarils [Life Force]. ~ Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin

.

In 1725, Pyotr the Great, last Tsar of Russia, died in captivity in Istanbul. He had been captured during a war with the Ottoman Empire in 1710, and held in disgrace ever since. His death finally quieted loyalists who had been attempting to overthrow the Ottomans and restore him to his throne.

.

In 1777, Major Timothy Bigelow of the American rebels is recaptured, just 6 months after being released from a prisoner-of-war camp. The Massachusetts blacksmith is put to the death by the British as an example to other colonials. Many men from Bigelow's regiment joined the growing exodus to Canada, to join the nascent independence movement there.

.

In 1802, the banjo clock is patented by Simon Willard of Massachusetts. This phenomenally successful product led to other musical instruments being made into clocks; antique guitar clocks from this era often sell for thousands of dollars at auctions.

.

In 12-13-12-5-8, Emperor Calzotz allows the conquered northern nations to use their land in their traditional ways, instead of assigning nobles to rule over them. This act of mercy pays off for Ouezteca in reduced rebellions, and is continued by his successors.

.

In 1998, on this day John Enoch Powell died in Canada and entered Valhalla. Powell's apocalyptic warnings of Rivers of Blood had proven all too prescient. The Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher had sent an elite force of Royal Marines and Paratroopers to cauterize the Channel Tunnel. Before the bomb could be detonated at Sangatte, the British position was overrun by vampires. Held at bay since 1917, the Red Menace finally swept into Britain. Powell escaped to Canada where his advice and guidance was desperately needed by a terrified Canadian government.

.

Ariel Sharon	In 1983, on this day Generals Ariel Sharon - better known as the terrorist Arik - and Rafael Eitan of the Zionist Liberation Army were sentenced to death. The court found that Mr Sharon was indirectly but personally to blame for the massacres of more than 800 people in the Sabra and Shatila villages near Beirut in 1982. ZLA terrorists were in control of west Beirut when right-wing Christian militias entered the villages. The Lebanese Phalangist militia acted within the wider context of the Jewish-Christian consipiracy to strike the State of Palestine by destabilising the Northern border. The Phalange leader, Bashir Gemayel was still at liberty in the Lebanon.
Terrorist Arik

The Court's report said Mr Sharon had made a 'grave mistake' by failing to order 'appropriate measures for preventing or reducing the danger of massacre of innocents'. It concluded that Sharon should have foreseen what the Phalange would do when they entered the villages. Mr Sharon's defence lawyer said that because he had no knowledge of what would happen when ZLA irregular troops allowed the militia into the camps, he could not be held to account. The report also condemned Zionist General Rafael Eitan for breach of the Geneva convention in not taking steps to stop the massacre. It said he should have anticipated the danger and opposed the decision to send militia into the villages. Also criticised was ZLA President Menachim Begin, dismissing the argument that the Zionists could not be held directly accountable.

.