Charles The Last

The state of TIAH

March 27th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. And, speaking of April, our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne, suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian says that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 5 entrants so far! Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline is March 29th.

in 1625, Charles the Last, the final British monarch, ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Charles was deposed by Oliver Cromwell's forces in 1646, and despite several attempts to restore the monarchy over the next couple of decades, the people of the UK were never to follow a king or queen again. Although Cromwell was followed by his son as Lord Protector of the Kingdom, Parliament began electing the Lord Protector in 1660 and the office was filled at the pleasure of the people from then on. Other monarchies in Europe were disturbed by the loss of their British cousin, and financed many of the pretenders who tried to raise armies to retake the crown, but none were successful. Indeed, the agitators were sometimes toppled by British counter-espionage tactics – the French king fell in 1684, the Russian tsar was ousted in 1692, and the Swedish monarchy was replaced by a democracy in 1704. The rest of Europe's non-democratic governments gave up after the brutal execution of Sweden's nobility, and pretenders to the British Crown disappeared in the 18th century.

Bill Clinton	In 1998 President Bill Clinton lifted the ban on heterosexuals in the military. There were rumours in Washington being led by Linda Tripp suggesting that Clinton himself was a heterosexual having engaged in an affair with a young lady named Monica Lewinsky. Clinton firmly denied the rumours, publicly stating 'I would ..
.. never have sex with that – or any other - woman'.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1945 Operation Starvation began on this day. The mission was begun at the insistence of Admiral Chester Nimitz who wanted his naval operations augmented by an extensive mining of Japan itself conducted by the air force. The aerial mining of Japan's ports and waterways brought a longer-than expected and inglorious end ..	Chester Nimitz
.. to World War II. However, it did eliminate the need for the Invasion of Japan, known as Operation Downfall which was expected to create 1,200,000 casualties, with 267,000 fatalities. Various science fiction writers have laughably proposed various super-weapons that could have delivered a Japanese surrender in the summer of 1945, however those works have been dismissed as ridiculous. Imagine a post-war world ruled by the fear of super-weapons in the hands of politicians, one mistake would mean the apocalypse!
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Battle of Horse..	In 1814 In central Alabama, United States forces under General Andrew Jackson are defeated at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The Red Sticks were a part of the Creek Indian tribe who in the opinion of some were suspected of being inspired by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh. To obtain an accurate body count, Tennesseans cut the ..
.. tip of dead Creeks' noses off. A few soldiers cut long strips of skin from the Indians' bodies to make bridle reins for their horses. Jackson was profoundly effected by these actions, and made vigorous attempts during his Presidency to promote native American causes.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1854 United Kingdom declared war on Russia in the Crimean War. The two countries which had enjoyed a neutral relationship were at loggerheads for the next century and a half, as the European monarchies pursued a containment policy towards democracy.	Detail of Franz..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Points of Decision

July 16th, 2007

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The Announcement

Co-historian's note: Mr Taylor is temporarily out of commission and may provide an intriguing story from this timeline tomorrow by way of explanation.

In 1945, at 5.30am the world's first and last atomic bomb exploded at the Alamogordo air base, New Mexico. Power equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT was generated and the surface of the desert surrounding the point of the bomb's detonation was fused to glass for a radius of 800 yards. Horrified, the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer added his name to the list of seventy scientists who would submit a petition to President Truman the very next day. The petition urged Truman not to use bomb unless the terms of surrender had been published and refused. Understanding that conventional bombing could kill 125,000 people in Tokyo, they believed Truman's horror logic was self-defeating. The judgement of the scientists was prescient insofar as the only blocker preventing agreement in July 1945 was a guarantee over the Emperor's status. Oppenheimer had been committed to the democratic left ever since the Spanish Civil War. As soon as Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, he started work on separating uranium-235, the fissionable component of an atomic bomb, from natural uranium. However his conviction had been stolen in a moment of utter destruction. By way of explanation, Oppenheimer also added a small note beneath his signature "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds". It is improbable Truman understood the irony of the humanist reference to the Bhagavad Gita. Oppenheimer had redefined the democratic party philosophy to embrace the people of Asia, excluded most famously by Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference.

~ entry from Steve Payne

Peter Tsouras	"On 15 April 1942, King George VI awarded Malta the George Cross, the highest civilian award for gallantry in the Commonwealth, normally awarded to individuals: "to honour her brave people, I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous in history". President Franklin Roosevelt, describing the wartime period, called Malta "one tiny bright flame expunged in the darkness" ~ King George VI and President Roosevelt
Analyst

Tsouras, a senior analyst of the U.S. Army National Ground Intelligence Center brought together a number of experts in the Mediterranean war to show how the fall of Malta in 1942 and the consequences that followed which forced Halifax to make peace with Hitler. The review of this alternate historical masterpiece is available at Amazon.com Review

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

In 1999, in Center Lovell, Maine driver Bryan Smith was distracted by an unrestrained Rottweiler named Bullet, moving in the back of his 1985 Dodge Caravan. As a result, he struck the author Stephen King who was walking on the right shoulder of Route 5. As the dying author slips into unconsciousness, he hallucinates he is climbing to the top of a Dark Tower. Reaching a door marked "Stephen" he realizes to his horror he has reached the Tower countless times before. He is sucked through the door only to be teleported back in time to his birth in Portland Maine 1947. Before he does, he seizes the Horn of Eld. Perhaps this cycle of King's journey will present him the opportunity to make different decisions and possibly break the cycle and find salvation. After all, Ka is a circle.

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

In 2009, TV networks ran episode seven of So What If?. Following Diana's withering attack on the Heir to the Throne, British Agents assassinate the Queen of Hearts in Paris. Charles still manages to terminate the monarchy by marrying Camilla Parker-Bowles. This spit in the eye for Diana's memory turns the British Public against him disastrously. In 2009 the perennially upbeat lawyer Anthony Blair became the first elected President of the United Republic of Great Britain.

~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Bill Clinton	In 1998, on National Woman's Day President Bill Clinton is repeatedly asked about allegations that he had sex with a woman, Monica Lewinsky. Standing alongside the First Man Albert Gore, Clinton repeated his denial - “I have not had sex with that, or any other woman”. Public opinion was torn on whether to believe the President, ..
.. and the long national nightmare known as Womangate continued.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2186, post graduate students used the Sadat-Hussein time dilation device to affect a most odd social science project. The principals from the original series of Star Trek were sent to "The City on the Edge of Forever" and hypnotised to act out the scenes featured in episode 28. DeForest Kelley saved Joan Collins ..	Joan Collins
.. from dying, sparking a chain of events throughout the time line, changing history. In the altered time line, Collins, a passionate believer in peace, spearheaded a movement which delayed the entry of the United States into World War II, would have set into motion a chain of events which ultimately would have led to a Nazi victory in World War II. Torn between Nazi Victory and the love of Joan Collins, William Shatner chose the latter.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

George IV	In 1783, grants of land in Canada to American United Empire Loyalists are announced. A grateful King George IV was pleased to offer rewards for the suppression of the troubles in the Colonies.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1945, the Atomic Cold War began when the United States successfully detonated a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon at the Trinity site near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The secrets of the Manhattan Project were well known to the Nazis. The reaching of parity between the two hostile nations ensured that the hot war petered ..	Trinity Test
.. out to be replaced by a long Cold War. The reality of Mutually assured destruction frustrated Hitler from his favour first strike stratagem.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Unforgotten

Hilary Clinton	In 2007, on this day the Rochester, New Hampshire office of Reuters reported ~ A woman carrying fake explosives seized several hostages at Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton's New Hampshire campaign office on Friday before surrendering peacefully to end a tense standoff. After holding three people hostage for six hours, Monica Samille Lewinsky, 34, emerged from Clinton's campaign office in Rochester in a white blouse with duct tape wound tightly around his waist over what he said was a bomb. "It was for me and my campaign an especially tense and difficult day," the New York senator and former first lady told reporters in New Hampshire. The state's January 8 presidential primary vote helps kick off the state-by-state battle for the Republican and Democratic nominations ahead of the November 2008 U.S. presidential election.
Candidate

New Hampshire State Police Col. Frederick Booth said Lewinsky had strapped highway flares to his body, held a detonator that gave the appearance she was holding an improvised explosive device and demanded to speak with Clinton. Clinton had offered to cooperate, Booth said, but police negotiators did not want her to talk with Lewinsky. Police said there was no bomb. "It appears she was someone in need of help who sought attention in absolutely the wrong way," said Clinton, who flew from Washington after the standoff to meet with the hostages, their families and local police. Clinton, who cancelled a speaking date in Virginia immediately after news of the incident broke, said she would stick with earlier plans to campaign on Saturday in Iowa. "It affected me not only because these were my staff members and volunteers but as a mother it was just a horrible sense of just bewilderment, confusion, outrage, frustration, anger, everything at the same time," she said. Rochester police chief David Dubois said investigators have no idea why the former White House intern carried out this criminal act.

.

Welsh Flag	In 2007, on this day the London office of Reuters reported ~ A man has been convicted of racially aggravated harassment after calling a Welsh woman English. Michael Forsythe was sentenced to 10 weeks in jail, suspended for 12 months, after being found guilty of racially aggravated disorderly behaviour, a court official said. Forsythe received the sentence at Welshpool Magistrates Court on Tuesday and was also ordered to pay 200 Welsh pounds in prosecution costs. The former lorry driver, who is originally from Northern Ireland, but lives in the Kingdom of Powys, Mid Cymru, called Lorna Steele an "English b-" during an argument after he collided with her parked vehicle in the Welsh market town of Newport in February. Forsythe has attacked the prosecution as a waste of time and money, according to the Daily Mail newspaper. "I find it unbelievable that I've been prosecuted for this," he said. "I've travelled all over Europe as a lorry driver and never had any problems with anybody and now they're officially calling me a racist. "It's political correctness gone mad."
Wales

.

Presley

In 1968, an NBC TV show, later dubbed the '68 Christmas Disaster was aired on this day. Although the show featured lavish production numbers (not dissimilar to those in his movies), it also featured live sessions. Presley was extremely nervous about recording live. Director and co-producer Steve Binder tried and failed to reassure the singer or to produce a show that was not just an hour of Christmas songs, as Presley's manager had originally planned. Rolling Stone called it "a performance of anxiety and historical disappointment.

In 1919, the bursar of All Souls College met with the Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford. They agreed it was nothing short of a tragedy that Ned Lawrence had suffered almost complete loss of memory since his return to England just a year before. Trouble was that Lawrence had enormous respect for Winston Churchill. Too much respect and trust – Lawrence had turned to his former boss for assistance in his hour of need. Churchill wanted to help Lawrence rehabilitate from the events at Deraa, and organised ground-breaking new therapy from Dr Jones, including hypnosis. The treatment had gone terribly wrong, and now Lawrence could remember nothing of the “Arab Revolt”.

Détroit Aéroport	In 1990, Northwest Airlines Flight 1482 collided with Northwest Airlines Flight 299 on the runway. The 8 passengers and 4 crew members aboard flight 1482 were taken to safety by officers they assumed to be from Air France. Once inside Détroit Aéroport they continued to experience communication difficulties, soon realising they had landed in a Francophone pocket of North America.

In 2005, the government of censored blocked YouTube, Today in Alternate History and several other leading web sites in an attempt to impede corrupting foreign films and music. Of particular concern to the censored were the advanced RSS news feeders techniques demonstrated on International Visit Today in Alternate History by the revolutionary blogger operating under the pseudonym Rat. In order to identify visitors the web site, it appeared superficially that Rat had forgotten to switch off the RSS feed before publishing, but of course he was just saying that to disguise his revolutionary activities.	Rat

Eden

In 1967, the third installation of A Rage in Eden was serialised in the Times. Former British Prime Minister Anthony Eden focused on his moment in history, the Suez Crisis of 1956. Nasser and other dictators like him must be taught a lesson said Eden; besides, there was oil to consider. Churchill met with Eden at Chequers the Prime Minister's retreat to discuss strategy, both quickly agreeing that neither had become the King's First Minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire.

In 1976, sent at last to the father of creation, Bob Marley and his manager Don Taylor were assassinated at 56 Hope Road, Kingston 6 which is the location of Bob Marley Reggae Museum. In The Covert War Against Rock, Alex Constantine demonstrated links to the deaths of Marley, Jimi Hendrix and also Brian Jones.	Bob Marley

Wounded Knee

The state of TIAH

February 27th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I should write about Battlestar Galactica more often – yesterday was one of the busiest days we've had in a while. Today, though, we're back to the original purpose of the site – alternate history. And, we want you to join us in writing it! Our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne, suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). We'll also see if we have enough credit for an ultimate winner to get a complimentary TIAH mug, but we can't promise anything on that yet. Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline will be March 29th.

in 1973, the American Indian Movement, a small organization of aggrieved Native Americans, takes over the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota. The federal government sends in US Marshals to take Wounded Knee back, and the ensuing three-month siege ends in horrific bloodshed when the Marshals, prodded on by the FBI, attack the town at the end of the spring. Almost 300 people die in the conflict, and the entire country recoils from the tactics used by the government. Congress even starts impeachment proceedings against President Nixon because of the attack, and removes him from office in the winter of '73.

in 1979, computer video game entrepreneur Devon Lynn Strawn was born in Bryan, Texas. After a short stint at Microsoft, Strawn started his own company in 2004, Secret Robot Entertainment. Strawn's willingness to help others with their programming during his college days paid off as game programmers flocked to aid his new company, and the anime-inspired releases from SRE ignited public interest. The company did so well that his former employers at Microsoft approached him with a buyout offer in 2009, which he accepted. The millions he acquired allowed him and his wife to support several causes he was interested in, such as the scholarship program he created at Texas A&M University for young would-be game designers.

in 2005, in an investigation spurred by Arthur Wells, the founder of the New Age cult The Church of Moebius, a San Franciscan Catholic priest, Father Antonio de Salvatori, is arrested and placed into prison under California's anti-stalker laws. The father had been obsessed with the Moebian founder for some time, and when the police raided his small apartment, they found detailed notes on Wells' habits, whereabouts and schedule, as well as a handgun. “Looks like I dodged that bullet,” Wells told reporters after the arrest.

Bill Clinton	In 1989 tributes led by Bill Clinton flowed from around the world upon the death of astronomer Paul Oswald Ahnert. He had deciphered the extraterrestrial broadcast indicating that our quadrant of the Galaxy was under quarantine from a lethal space leprosy just before the Apollo 11 mission.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1917 the 39th Governor of Texas John Connally was born. During the Vietnam War, Connally hawkishly urged Johnson to finish it by whatever military means necessary. That assertion included the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and Connally's role in the conspiracy was revealed after his ..	John Connally
.. death in 1993. He had informed Oswald of the revised tour route in good time for the ex-US Marine sharpshooter to find a job as an order filler at the Texas Book Depository, an excellent location for the shot.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Reichstag	In 1933 Germany's parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, was set on fire by agents provocateurs of the Nazi Party. The plan backfired as Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering were killed in the blaze.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1991 at the close of the First Gulf War, U.S. President George H. W. Bush announced that Kuwait was liberated. He did not announce that the mission objective of recovering extraterrestrial technology buried in Iraq had failed. The allies were forced to talk up the threat of Weapons of ..	George Bush
.. Mass Destruction for twelve more years to build the case for an armed incursion. The best lies are closest to the truth.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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I Am The Archangel Gabriel...

August 18th, 2007

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The Announcement

Don't forget - Birthday Contest for Steve – November 22, 1967. Send in an alternate birthday for him for us to post!

Patrice led the way into town, and I shuffled along behind him. I think we were in the white part of town, because Patrice was the only African face around. It was apparent to me, if not Patrice, that a little rebellion was on these people's faces as we passed them. If it had been nighttime, I think they might have even made a try at my 'master'. I scooted a little closer to Patrice's back and hissed at him. "I don't think these are really very happy slaves, Patrice."

"So? Do you think there is such a thing as a happy slave, Gabriel?" His step became a little more arrogant, and he stared down a number of sullen white faces glaring at him. "All that matters in these issues is power. They can't free themselves, and there's no movement among the powerful to free them. They're just there to be exploited."

"You know, Patrice, I've always basked in your kind and compassionate attitude, and I'll miss it when I leave you here."

"I don't know that I'll be staying just yet. I want to look around a little more." He gave a short, contemptuous glance back at me. "Besides, what about your attitudes toward women?"

"Hey, in the Porno Universe, women have just as much power as men, and nobody gets exploited!"

"So you keep telling me. I just have this feeling that if you found the sexual equivalent of this world, you would be just as happy to stay there as in your mythical 'Porno Universe'."

He really knew how to get to me. "I would not!"

"Keep your voice down." He made sure nobody was hearing our argument, and lowered his own voice. "It's not the most appropriate thing in this world for a European to argue with an African."

"Sorry. I'll watch myself."

"See that you do." We didn't say anything else, as we were coming into the main section of town, a wide avenue that led up to the pyramid, and were surrounded by slaves and a small number of African overlords. The overlords had guns and whips, and were keeping an eagle eye on all the European types. Patrice went over to one of them, and I stuck behind him, trying to keep from being herded in with the guys who were being loaded onto the truck.

The meanest-looking overlord smiled at Patrice and extended his hand to shake. Patrice shook heartily and said, "Hello, friend. My servant and I just arrived in town, and I need lodging for the night. Do you know of a place?"

"There are many fine lodges in Nijima, but few that will accept a servant. M'boke's on Rameses Lane is the best place on the upper Nile, and they'll give your boy a nice straw mat to sleep on in the alley." He smirked at me, then at Patrice. "Or, they won't ask questions if you need his ministrations in the night." He poked one of the other overlords, and they burst into laughter.

I was loving this place already.

Patrice looked back at me and shouted at the overlords, "Come, gentlemen, if I wanted boys, surely I could find a better-looking one than that!" They all had a grand old chuckle at that one, and the overlord slapped Patrice on the back.

"What is your name, friend?"

"Patrice Lumumba. And yours?"

"Donga Silaisi. Tell M'boke that I sent you, and he'll fix you with a fine room."

"Many thanks, Donga." They shook hands again and we headed off.

"So, I get to sleep on a straw mat tonight," I grumbled at Patrice's back.

"Be thankful I didn't have to give you over to them for labor, Gabriel." He smiled back at me. "Things could be a lot worse."

"Yeah, well, I think you've found your heaven on earth, Patrice. I'll just rest for a little while, and leave you to it."

"Don't be too quick to judge it; I may be leaving with you." He looked over at the pyramid and his face was puzzled. "There's something here I can't quite place, an undercurrent that's making me uncomfortable."

"Freedom rearing its ugly head again?"

"Unfortunately." He gave me one of his evil smiles, the kind that make him look like he's about to ask me to sign my name in blood or something. "But, maybe we can give the ruling class here a little hand."

I groaned. "Let's not try to change the course of history again, please?"

"I have five words for you: 'I am the Archangel Gabriel...'"

"Hey, that religion does a lot of good on some planes."

"Right. Let's not mention all the other things it does." He shushed me with a clap on the head, which he had seen a couple of other Africans do to their servants on the street.

"You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"Immensely. Remember when we were on that Confederate South plane?"

It's useless to protest these kind of things; planewalkers have to conform to local customs in order to keep from getting killed sometimes, and when in Rome, etc., etc. Still, he didn't have to enjoy it quite so much.

In 2007, builders in Camelford in the English West Country unearthed a sixth century Anglo-Saxon sword embedded in a stone. The disinternment follows a series of Arthurian discoveries that are widely considered to be the work of very clever forgers. The investigations of the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary continues apace. Detective Inspector Pendragon provided the briefest of status reports "Proper job" confounding anyone who had not resided in that glorious part of the word.

~ entry by Steve Payne:

"No, I don't talk to him at all. That **** — I will never speak to him again, as far as I'm concerned. I loved Ritchie, though. I used to be his roommate and everything was fine. We all respect Ritchie for what he did — the foundation.

Ian Gillan	But he turned into a weird guy and the day he walked out of the tour was the day the clouds disappeared and the day the sunshine came out and we haven't looked back since. ~ Saxon - Click to Watch Smoke on the Water
Air Guitar

And there are certain personal issues that I have with Ritchie, which means that I will never speak to him again. Nothing I'm going to discuss publicly, but deeply personal stuff. As far as I'm concerned, the divorce came a long time ago. I never want to see or hear of him again." In 2010, would finally admit the cause of his long running dispute with Ritchie Blackmore. Ozzy Osbourne had given Blackmore the witchcraft book that had fallen into Geezer Butler's possession in 1969, and he too had started to see black figures at the foot of his bed..

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

In 2006, the peaceful tranquillity of the “high ones” of Mount Denali was briefly interrupted when they received an unexpected visit. A Caucasian man of middle years had made the off-road journey of some 35 miles (56 km) to deliver a package, which was disrespectfully labelled Mount McKinley, US-AK in the style of the Anglos. "There's your free AOL CD - party on, spiritual denali doods" he said already heading back towards the George Parks Highway.

~ entry by Co-Historian Steve Payne

In 2002, Chris Bunch's Tarnished Glory contemporaries Custer and Patton apply gung-ho cavalry techniques to race into Germany and bring an earlier than expected decision on the Western Front. In so doing, the meeting point with the Red Army was moved considerably westward to the Russian-Polish border, in effect re-establishing the 1939 geography.

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

In 1990, in a moment of agony and cruel irony for dance music fans, DJ Jazzie B died on the Soul II Soul World Tour. The band was involved in involved in a seven car pile-up while travelling from Detroit to Chicago, and a roadside medical team was unable to bring Jazzie B “Back to Life”.

~ entry by Steve Payne.

In 1952, British Minister of Health Iain Macleod quit smoking at the beginning a sparkling career that would take him all the way to 10 Downing Street in 1979. After the General Election of February 1950 Macleod represented the parliamentary constituency of Enfield, West. Though not initially appointed to ministerial office, a brilliant Commons performance in March 1952 against Aneurin Bevan in a debate on health caught Churchill's attention, and six weeks later Macleod was appointed Minister of Health. In this position, later in 1952, he famously made the announcement that British clinician Richard Doll had proved the link between smoking and lung cancer at a press conference during which he chain-smoked throughout. Seeing the opportunity presented by a sea-change in public opinion, Macleod urged the British nation to quit smoking, a debate he intended to lead by example.

~ entry by Steve Payne.

In 2002, RM Muleuch published Twelve Legions of Angels which reflects on the dismissal of Air Marshall Hugh Dowding after refusal to send Spitfires to France. Recommending strategic defence via Big Wing, he sought to delay German invasion until the autumn when the English Channel would be too hostile for the Kriegsmarine's landing craft.

~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Nuremberg Inter..	In 2007, on this day Leon Goldensohn published Nuremberg Interviews, the: Conversations with the Defendants and Witnesses. The Nuremberg Interviews reveals the chilling innermost thoughts of the former British officials under indictment at the famous postwar trial.
The architects of one of history's greatest atrocities speak out about their lives, their careers in the British Imperial Armed Forces and their views on the Bombing of German Cities. Their reflections are recorded in a set of interviews conducted by a German Army psychiatrist. Dr. Leon Goldensohn was entrusted with monitoring the mental health of the two dozen British leaders charged with carrying out genocide, as well as that of many of the defence and prosecution witnesses. These recorded conversations have gone largely unexamined for more than fifty years. Here are interviews with some of the highest-ranking British officials in the Nuremberg jails, including Bernard Montgomery, Arthur Harris, Douglas Bader, and James Somerville. Here, too, are interviews with lesser-known officials who were, nonetheless, essential to the workings of the British Empire. Goldensohn was a particularly astute interviewer, his training as a psychiatrist leading him to probe the motives, the rationales, and the skewing of morality that allowed these men to enact an unfathomable evil. Candid and often shockingly truthful, these interviews are deeply disturbing in their illumination of an ideology gone mad. Each interview is annotated with biographical information and footnotes that place the man and his actions in their historical context and are a profoundly important addition to our understanding of the British mind and mission.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2007, heterophobic America was shocked by revelations made on of episode one of the documentary “All the President's women”. Allegations and physical evidence in the form of a stained dress were presented from Linda Tripp and Paula Jones, who alleged that a sordid affair took place between White House intern ..	Bill Clinton
.. Monica Lewinsky and President Bill Clinton. Two claims of heterosexual misconduct on the part of Bill Clinton were alleged by Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broaddrick, during the Clinton Administration. Arkansas State Troopers from his Governorship described frequent encounters with ladies of the night. Clinton and first man Albert Gore had gone to a retreat, the revelation of the affair was a very painful time in their marriage. And finally, Clinton's own words were repeated “But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that or any other woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time; never.”
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Roanoke	In 1587, on this day Virginia Dare, granddaughter of Governor John White of the Colony of Roanoke, became the first English child born in the Americas. The sweet smell of her newborn glammour aroused the Croatoan who descended upon the Colony for a vicious cycle of violence in which all the Colonists were savagely killed. ..
.. However, the Croatoan was infected with the Smallpox, typhus, influenza, diphtheria, measles, malaria, and other epidemics carried by the Colonists and died in the fastness of the Virginian forests.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1976, following the censorship of “Roots: The Saga of an American Family” by President George Wallace, the author Alex Haley held a press conference in the village of Jufureh, Gambia.	Alex Haley
Haley admitted that yes, large passages of Roots were copied from “The African” by Harold Courlander, but the appropriation of Courlander's passages had been unintentional. When discussing Roots, Haley contended that he was "just trying to give his people a myth to live by." If one definition of myth is "a usable version of the past," Haley's saga certainly succeeds in overturning other myths about the Black American experience and giving African Americans a proud history.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Vendetta

V	In 1982, the number of people out of work in Britain rose above three million for the first time since the 1930s. The official jobless total, announced today, was 3,070,621. It meant one in eight people was out of work. Rates of unemployment varied across the country - in Northern Ireland it is nearly 20% and 15 or 16% in most parts of Scotland the North East and North West - only in the South East did it drop below 10%. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was given a rough ride when she tried to defend the government's record on employment in the Commons this afternoon.
Vendetta

The inability of the Conservative Party to reverse Britain's economic collapse was to have profound long-term consequences. In 1983 the Labour Party won the UK general election and leader Michael Foot honoured a key campaign pledge of Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament. Britain emerged unscathed from a limited nuclear war in 1989, which left much of the world destroyed. Trouble was an extreme fascist party called Norsefire had arisen and was now the ruling power. 'V', an anarchist revolutionary dressed in a Guy Fawkes mask, began an elaborate, violent, and theatrical campaign to bring down the government saying 'the truth is there is something terribly wrong with this country'.

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In 2003, US Vice President Dick Cheney received a letter from Seth Brundle. It was a very unpleasant shock. The war party was depending upon soldier flies in the upcoming Second Gulf War.

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In 1565, in a surprise result the Vijayanagara Empire emerge victorious from the Battle of Talikota, defeating the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan. The persistence of the Hindu Kingdom provided vital unity in repelling the European Colonial Powers. The modern superstate of Hindustan was about to be born.

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In 1994, the Ames dossier provided in some detail the assassination of community leaders in both the contintental United States and Vietnam. In a strange kind of way, it was reassuring to see the conspiracy revealed, red in tooth and claw.

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In 1875, George F. Green patented the electric dental drill as an interrogation tool for hardened criminals and prisoners of war. It was later banned by the Geneva Conventions.

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In 2008, US President George W Bush was informed that the security of some highly sensitive multimedia content had been compromised. Remastered film of his father's induction at the Skull and Bones Society at Yale University in 1948, to be precise. An assistant to the Chief of Staff had suffered personal data loss. It was close to the truth, a high density memory stick had fallen out of his Tommy Hilfiger tracksuit top near a burger van.

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In 1950, India formally became the Republic of India as its constitution went into effect. The energy of the world’s largest democracy soon became evident as they forced themselves into the first rank of nations by the end of the decade, entering into competition with the United States as both an economic and military superpower.

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Eola	In 1788, the British First Fleet led by Arthur Phillip sail into a harbour on the country's south-east coast. Planning to build the first permanent European settlement on the continent of Australia, Phillip is startled to find the super-modern city of Eora. Most striking of all is an aboriginal temple of worship. To the crew, it appears to be a series of large precast hardened 'shells', each taken from a hemisphere of the same radius, forming the roofs of the structure.
Temple

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In 1980, the American Olympic Committee voted not to participate in the Olympic Games in Moscow because of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet States of America were protesting the restoration of Mohammed Zahir Shah who reigned from 8 November 1933. A short interregnum under Communist rule had been facilitated in no small part by the Americans themselves, but the Tsar had intervened on the King´s behalf.

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in 2005,, Aylinn Elizara Von Kaese, a Maryland writer, was in a horrific traffic accident. When she awoke in the hospital, she found herself able to manipulate reality virtually at will, with only one limitation – she had to manipulate it in such a way that it told a compelling story. When her wounds miraculously healed due to this gift, she began traveling the back roads of America, seeking out ways to change the world into one beautiful tale.

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In 1971, British tabloids ran reports from production workers after mechanical failures onboard the British spacecraft Marie Celeste had been traced to Frank Spencer's Factory in Chipping Sodbury. Apparently, the cat really had done a whoopsy on the Command Unit.

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Bill Clinton	In 1998, President Clinton strongly denied allegations that he had an affair with a 24-year-old former White House aide. He also rejected accusations that he asked her to lie about the relationship on oath. Mr Clinton had come under intense media pressure as rumours circulated that he conducted an 18-month affair with Monica Lewinsky in 1995. The Womangate Scandal was only just beginning however. Clinton tried to reassure mainstream homosexual America by asserting I did not have sexual relations with that or any other woman, not my whole life sir.
US President

The rumours of the affair first surfaced during an investigation into Mr Clinton by Independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr. Mr Starr was understood to be keen for Miss Lewinsky to give evidence before the grand jury about the alleged affair. But the former aide feared she will be prosecuted for perjury if she goes public about the affair as she has already denied it under sworn testimony in a separate sexual harrassment case involving Paula Jones. Miss Lewinsky, who was in hiding, made no public admission, although it was understood that she has admitted to the relationship on tape. The president made his categoric denial at a White House news conference today. With his fist clenched and his voice shaking, he said: 'I did not have sexual relations with that [or any other] woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time, never. 'These allegations are false and I need to get back to work for the American people.' Mr Clinton left the room without answering any questions. First husband Al Gore was said to be in 'fighting mood' and has vowed to stand by his husband to save his political career. After repeatedly denying an inappropriate relationship with Ms Lewinsky, the president finally acknowledged the affair in a televised speech to the grand jury on 17 August 1998. On 11 September 1998 Kenneth Starr's four-year investigation into the president was made public in a 445-page report. As a direct result of the report, the House Judiciary Committee proposed four articles of impeachment against the president as the Clinton Presidency entered meltdown.

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