Monstrous

In 388, a ten year old boy named Cyrill died in the Roman City of Alexandria. His Uncle Theophilus discovered strange alphabet formations in the dwelling. Soon he too would be victim, but of a more powerful force - Nestorianism which was spreading like wildfire out of Constantinople.

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Balrog	In 1892, the scholarly giant of modern England, John R. R. Tolkien, was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. His escapist fantasy writing was greatly influenced by combat tension suffered as a Second Lieutenant in 1916. Whilst Tolkien was with the eleventh battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers, this tension reached a new and frightening level of intensity for Tolkien as his imagination was over-stimulated by the horror of the Somme. At night, he saw that most frightening of creatures charging across no-mans land. A creature of the imagination which he would never speak directly. Only W.H. Auden would guess at the depiction of the 1916 apparition. Later in the year, Tolkien was invalided with trench fever. And it was as this time he was gripped by the epic struggle, as Gandalf battled a Balrog, an ancient demon creature, and fell into a deep chasm under the Mines of Moria, apparently to his death.
Tolkiens Phantasm

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In 1967, Jack Ruby's cancer went into remission, allowing him to be placed on trial for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. From the stand, Ruby spun a story of conspiracy, deception and treason, and the judge was forced to place a gag order on news from the trial. When the courtroom blew up the next day, it was blamed on a “gas leak” under the courthouse.

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In 1521, German monk Martin Luther was excommunicated by Pope Henry VIII of the Holy British Empire. Brother Martin was disgusted with the corruption of the British Papacy, and nailed a series of theses on his local church door, enumerating and protesting the wickedness of the English Church. Pope Henry, who had never been one to tolerate protestants, excommunicated then executed Brother Martin.

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In 2006, International Visit Today In Alternate History Day receives the unwelcome attention of most security agencies in North America. In a deft manoerve, Reverend Rattie reports that “Apparently, when you post before turning off your feed, your post appears on the feed anyway. So much for our vaunted computer skills.” Within the CIA, older hands suspect that Rattie was attempting to understate the real number of online alt-lifers.

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In 1892, the scholarly giant of modern England, John R. R. Tolkien, was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. At Oxford, Tolkien penned some of the greatest literary criticisms of the 20th century, delving into the mythic roots of Beowulf, the legends of King Arthur, the Germanic and Celtic influences in English literature, and dozens of other subjects. In recent years, his son Christopher published a few of the bed time stories Tolkien wrote for his children, of which the most famous are his Father Christmas stories. There has even been talk of making a movie of these stories, although no one really expects they would be very popular.

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In 4620, Egyptologist and adventurer Luo Gan discovers the ancient tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen, and its hideous curse. Over the next five years, he and the twenty members of his team die gruesome deaths. Although most dismiss this as mere coincidence, the Imperial Ministry of Antiquities has forbade further digging into ancient Egypt’s past.

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In 12-17-10-5-15, Pachacamac, Incan musicians famed throughout the Empire, give their first performance before the emperor at Oueztec City. The music of the sweet mountains of their birth lofted throughout the court, bringing smiles and tears to the assembled courtiers. The emperor himself is so moved by their performance that he ennobles them all.

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In 1977, the number one computer company in the world, Apple Computers, was incorporated by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in California. From humble beginnings as a machine for hobbyists, Apple computers soon made their way onto desktops in businesses and homes around the world with the introduction of the Macintosh line of computers. They might have stumbled in the 80’s when IBM’s operating system supplier, Microsoft, made a graphical interface to match the Macintosh, but a successful lawsuit against the company crushed that dream.

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Silmarillion	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.

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In 1947, the pederast Thomas Edward Lawrence was exposed in the Times newspaper following evidence of an inappropriate relationship with a fourteen year-old Arab boy, Selim Ahmed in 1914.

A clue was carefully hidden in Chapter 2, of Seven Pillars of Wisdom which describes homoerotic behaviour "quivering together in the yielding sand, with intimate hot limbs in supreme embrace." The book itself is dedicated to "S.A." with a poem that begins: "I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands and wrote my will across the sky in stars To gain you Freedom, the seven-pillared worthy house, that your eyes might be shining for me When I came.", which had previously been considered a reference to Saudi Arabia, the chosen name of Abdul-Aziz bin Saud's Republic that was eventually founded in 1932.

Shortly afterwards, Lawrence was stripped of meritous awards that he had received after the war - Companion in the Order of the Bath, Distinguished Service Order, French Légion d'Honneur and Knight Commander of the British Empire which he received in October 1918.

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Snippet

August 16th, 2007

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The Announcement

Alt-Historical Snippet: I've got a sampling from a larger work for you today that I would appreciate comments on, if you have them – it's from a different kind of alien invasion story. Let me know what you think. Also, we have Steve's birthday to think of – November 22, 1967, and we expect some alternate birthdays from you folk on that!

In 2008, mega-rich playboy Buford Rogerson III received a “first day” model of the BlueberryPie EyeFone Quartz Midnight. Absolutely thrilled to bits, Rogerson told the TV Audience “I've got absolutely no idea how it works, but when I'm hunched over, holding it to my head and zapping myself with X-Rays I feel like a real winner.” Clearly, any one who could waste expensive per-minute call charges for a hush-hush call that just can't wait must either have someone who loves them, be important to the smooth running of space ship earth or the need to demonstrate one of the two pre-requisites for meaningful social status. Shortly thereafter, Rogerson returned home where a member of his personal staff spent many hours trying unsuccessfully to initialise the device on the EyeTooneys web site. In a great step forward for America, early adopters echoed the sentiment that when you owned one of these babies, you're street credibility received escape velocity. As Ali G would say, “Hear me now! Respect.”

~ entry by Co-historian Steve Payne

All around me are familiar faces, Worn out places, worn out faces Bright and early for their daily races, Going nowhere, going nowhere And their tears are filling up their glasses, No expression, no expression Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow, No tommorow, no tommorow And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad
Tears for Fears	The dreams in which I'm dying Are the best I've ever had I find it hard to tell you 'Cos I find it hard to take When people run in circles It's a very, very Mad World ~ Lyrics to “Mad World” - Click to Watch Sample
Mad World

Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith met as teenagers in their home town of Bath, England. Their first professional stint was a Mod Revival/New Wave act drawing on the major influences of the time, including The Jam and Elvis Costello. By 1981, Orzabal and Smith were becoming more influenced by artists such as the Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno. They departed from Graduate and formed a band called History of Headaches, a moniker which was then changed to Tears for Fears. The plan was for Orzabal and Smith to form the nucleus of the group and bring in surrounding musicians to help them complete the picture. The band's name is derived from the Primal therapy treatment of the same name developed by Arthur Janov, which was made famous after John Lennon became Janov's patient. While undergoing primal therapy, a patient is encouraged to "re-experience" his early, dramatic emotional states (even perinatal ones), including screaming like an infant, hence the expression "tears for fears". Orzabal tried primal therapy in the early 1980s, and he has been screaming ever since. The lyrics are available at at Astraweb

~ quotation by Co-Historian Steve Payne from Counter-history – You're the Judge!

In 2002, Chris Bunch's Tarnished Glory placed Custer and Patton as contemporaries in the Allied invasion of France. With Eisenhower and Bradley lost in a plane crash, the pair were appointed to Supreme Allied Command by a reluctant White House.

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

In 2007, sitemeter statistics reported that Mozilla Firefox was the most popular browser for users of the Today in Alternative History web site. This trend followed national patterns in North America which had emerged over the course of twelve months. The "smoking gun" was an article in the Washington Post which reported an exploit code for unpatched critical flaws in Microsoft's Internet Explorer which had remained open for 284 days of 2006, compared with 9 days for Mozilla Firefox.

~ entry by Steve Payne (without prejudice) sharing a laugh with alternative lifers.

In 1977, singer Elvis Presley was having a short break at Graceland following a June 26 performance in Indianapolis at the Market Square Arena. August 17 was to be the starting date of another tour. However, the day before, Presley was found semi-conscious on the floor of his bathroom by fiancée, Ginger Alden. Presley had stumbled or crawled several feet before he was taken to the Baptist Memorial Hospital.

~ entry from Steve Payne

In 1942, at the old Spanish Prison in Manilla Japanese officers searched the cramped quarters of escaped General Douglas MacArthur. They found a note with the enigmatic message I will return. MacArthur himself hooked up with sympathetic Filipinos and got a ride south aboard a fishing boat. He eventually became a famous guerilla leader - rendering the Japanese occupation of the islands untenable.

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

Elimina Castle	In 2082, out of Burkina Faso and out of unspeakable imprisonment was brought the child Kwame, blinking in the bright sunlight. Around him stood the fellows of his six hundred year confinement, praying and wailing over the fallen St. George El Mina Castle. This house had fallen. He recalled the words of the soft voice saying ..
.. “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”. He smiled, a new day was dawning in Ghana.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1956, delegates of the European Monarchies continued to point #2 of the formal agenda for the Berlin 2 Conference. The definitions for spheres of influence agreed in 1884-5 (Berlin 1) were overlaid on top of African nationalist activity. Problem #1 was the Congo; an area the size of Western Europe, supplying uranium and ..	Spheres of Infl..
.. secured by the smallest imperial power, Belgium. And about to explode.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Columbus	In 1923, Amerindian explorers land in Andalusia to find a fallen civilization. Speculation had burned for half a millennia, since the blond-haired monster and his crew had fled the Turtle Island in 1492. After a day's march, they soon discover the dreadful and shocking truth.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1976/1750, in a dream the author Alex Haley witnesses a Mandinka naming ritual in the village of Juffure in the Gambia, West Africa. Omoro holds his newborn son Kunte to the heavens and tells him “Behold - the only thing greater than yourself.”	Omoro Kinte
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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