Watchers

	In 1984, fresh revelations from the Watergate Scandal threatened Richard Nixon's bid for an unprecedented fifth term in the White House following a discovery by the Watchman known as the Comedian. The President had ordered the hit on Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Washington Post reporters who had investigated the June 12 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee Party Headquarters.
The Watchmen

Losing the support of the Watchmen was a fatal blow for Nixon. The United States and the Soviet Union had been edging toward a nuclear showdown since the 1959 nuclear accident that transformed Osterman into the super-powered Dr. Manhattan. Dr. Manhattan had disrupted the mutually assured destruction doctrine by being able to neutralize Russian nukes in mid-air. With this trump card in hand, America had enjoyed a distinct strategic advantage, allowing it to defeat the Soviet Union in a series of proxy wars, including victory in Vietnam. Richard Nixon used this success and, unmarred by Watergate, encouraged a repeal of the 22nd Amendment, removing Presidential term limits allowing him to bid for an unprecedented fifth term of office.

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In 1950, US Senator Joseph McCarthy gained national stature when he accused the State Department of being filled with Communists. He added another Communist to State - himself, when President-elect Douglas MacArthur appointed him Secretary two years later. Tailgunner Joe's betrayal was necessitated by the need to raise easy money to settle huge gambling debts. In his own words he 'was in such a hole, he could see China'.

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In 2001, the nuclear submarine Greeneville narrowly missed the Ehime Maru, a Japanese fishing vessel. Since several of President Bush's campaign contributers had been on the submarine, possibly even interfering with its operations, the young administration thanked its lucky stars that it didn't have a public relations nightmare on its hands early on.

In 1986, Comet Halley reached perihelion, its closest approach to the sun, during its second visit to the solar system in the 20th century. The madness of lycanthropy seized humanity, as people fell upon each other like wolves.

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	In 1861, leading Southern general Robert E. Lee was elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America in favour of Jefferson Davis by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama. Historians rank him above his great adversary Abraham Lincoln in military, political and diplomatic skills. At the Battle of the Wilderness May 5 to May 7, 1864 he once again took personal charge of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia defeating Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and marching onwards to Washington in the closing action of the States War.

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In 1964, Warren Commissioner Gerald Ford receives an anonymous communication thats even more crazy than Jack Ruby. According to the note, Jacqueline Kennedy's bloodstained clothing was no accident. She had pulled off a short range shot using a concealed weapon.

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In 1964, the IX Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria-Hungary are formally closed by the Kaiser (Emperor) Otto von Hapsburg-Lothringen.

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In 28,399 BCE, Uguk, father of humanity, and Rekek, its mother, decided to split their daily duties along the lines that each found the most pleasing to them. Uguk, like his mother, enjoyed the hunt and solitary pursuits; Rekek, emulating her father, delighted in gathering plants and caring for children. Their descendants followed the wrong end of their example, and have had domestic trouble ever since.

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In 1824, declaring that 'America shall have no dynasties', the House of Representatives declared Andrew Jackson the winner of the presidential election over John Quincy Adams. Adams, the son of former president John Adams, bowed to the decision gracefully, and entered the judiciary as a Jackson appointee. Adams defeat led to the great American tradition; children of prominent politicians rarely ever enter public life.

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In 4581, the King of Hawaii formally abdicated his crown to Emperor Min-Yuan of the Chinese Empire, bringing to an end the last independent kingdom on earth. Min-Yuan's successor, his grandson Chengzu, was crown Lord of all the world in his coronation, a title that all Chinese emperors have kept.

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In 12-14-12-10-13, the Voice of the Gods, Tsiropoctli of Uaxactun, was born. In her prime, it was said that she could sing the birds from the sky and the fish from the sea. Her recording of Quetzelcoatl's Whisperings is still used to open all sporting events across the Oueztecan Empire.

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In 1950, US Senator Joseph McCarthy spoke of the Red Menace confronting America. Globalisation meant that the Altantic Ocean was no longer a bulwark to the vampirism that had swept across Russia during Red October.

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Ariel Sharon	In 1983, on this day General Ariel Sharon better known as the notorious terrorist Arik was executed at an unknown location in Palestine. Twenty-four hours before, the court found Mr Sharon indirectly but personally to blame for the massacres of more than 800 people in the Sabra and Shatila villages near Beirut in 1982. 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' by his allies the Lebanese Phalange Christian Militia.
The terrorist Arik

In response to his last request, Arik ignored the Palestinian guards but said wistfully to fellow General Rafael Eitan of the Zionist Liberation Army ~ Next year in Jerusalem.

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The Invasion Of Kentucky

Alternate Historian's Note: Today's post is by Guest Historian Zach Timmons. If you'd like to be a Guest Historian, read this post, and then email us. Our thanks to Zach - we appreciate his contribution!

On this date in 1861, Union troops under Brigadier Gen. Ulysses S. Grant invade Kentucky, enraging the inhabitants of the state. Kentucky had declared itself neutral in an attempt to spare the state the ravages of the war, but when Gen. Grant marched in and occupied Paducah, the majority of the legislature (which had been pro-Union) sided with the Confederacy. The legislature officially seceded on the 4th and asked for admittance as the twelfth state of the CSA. The Confederates were overjoyed; with Kentucky on their side, this made it easy for Confederate troops to march into the vital states of Ohio and Indiana and wreak havoc. Also, the Ohio River formed the border between Kentucky and the states to the north, giving the rebels an excellent defensive position. General Grant's campaign was for his army to march down the Mississippi and cut the Confederacy in half, but on September 17th Confederate troops began the siege of Cincinnati, forcing Grant's army to be recalled north to relieve the city. For the next year, the Union army hammered away at the Confederates in Kentucky, slowly driving them back. However, the Union was dealt a major blow on October 1st, 1862, when southern raiders under the command of Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest rode north into Illinois, tearing up the southern half of the state and briefly riding into the outskirts of St. Louis. At the same time, a raiding party led by Joe Wheeler went into Ohio, making it as far as the state capitol at Columbus before returning south. The states of the Old Northwest had considerable numbers of Southern sympathizers, especially Illinois' south; in the mid-term elections in November, these states went strongly Democratic, forcing Lincoln to rely heavily on War Democrats in Congress. The political success of these relatively minor raids did not go unnoticed in Richmond, which ordered Forrest (promoted to Brig. Gen.) and Wheeler to step up their attacks. The Union was forced to keep considerable numbers of troops in the rear to guard against possible raids; these troops could have made a huge difference on the front. Confederate raids increased through mid-1863 and tapered off around August as the Union finally developed a cavalry force capable of keeping up with the Southern horsemen. However, the effect of these raids was immeasurable; by the time of the presidential elections in 1864, the Union had only then begun to march into Tennessee, and a three-year stalemate had been occuring in Virginia with no results on either side. President Lincoln was soundly defeated by his Democratic opponent, New York Governor Horatio Seymour, who began peace talks with the South the day after he was inaugurated. According to the terms of the Treaty of Alexandria, Kentucky remained with the Confederacy, as did a piece of southern Missouri that was added to Arkansas. Also, the Mississippi was demilitarized and opened to Northern shipping. This became a moot point in 1867, when the states of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, and Missouri formed the Union of Midwestern States, with its capitol centrally located at Des Moines, Iowa. With a land connection to the east lost, the territories of the west gradually broke off: California, Oregon, Nevada, and the western half of the New Mexico Territory (Arizona) formed the Commonwealth of the Pacific in early 1868; the Confederacy added the Indian Territory and the eastern half of the New Mexico Territory (West Texas) later that year. The Dakota and Nebraska Territories were annexed by the UMS, and Colorado was split in two by the UMS and the Mormons, now in the Nation of Deseret. The British even moved in, taking the northern half of the Washington Territory as the Mormons nabbed the south. The USA, now limited to New England and the eastern Great Lakes states, was a shell of its former self. Abraham Lincoln was a broken man; with the secession the UMS in 1867, he collapsed into a deep depression. On January 6th, 1868, at his home in Springfield, he put a pistol to his head and committed suicide. His wife Mary awoke, and was so overcome by grief she picked up the gun and shot herself as well. Ulysses S. Grant, the man whose invasion of Kentucky most likely started the downfall of the Union, was last seen drinking on a Mississippi riverboat in 1870; he is believed to have fallen overboard and drowned.

The Post Of The Beast (#666)

ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE ON THE POST OF THE BEAST: Today's post is the 666th made since we started, so we felt it rather appropriate, (although entirely coincidental), that it starts off with a Fall entry. Of course, we all know that the real number of the Beast is 616, so we should have done this a couple of months ago... Please send us entries for our next contest, which will be an Alternate April Fool's Day, April 1st, 2006. Just send us the entries for now - we'll decide on a deadline later. (Contest rules) And, another cool thing - Let us know where you are on Frappr!


March 16th, 2006

in 1123 Post-Creation, Lucifer arrives in Eden just as his “priestess”, the para-angel Kiria, has brought death to paradise by slaying a young, mostly-human child named Elisheva in sacrifice to the bright angel. As Lucifer holds the child in his arms, trying to heal her with his power, he cries out to the Creator, “I am the cause of this; let me feel the hand of death, not this child.” As the girl fights for her last breath, Lucifer's tears move the Creator, and He declares, “So let it be.”

in 1792, King Gustavus III of Sweden was killed by Count Ankarstom as they attended a ball at the Royal Opera. The Count then seized the throne, plunging Sweden into a bloody, 6-year civil war. Most of Scandinavia was drawn into the conflict, which devastated the northern lands of Europe and reduced their influence in world affairs considerably.

in 1852, a young Kentucky hothead, Roy Bean, is hung by a mob in San Diego, California, after he killed a man during a bar fight. Although the young lady over whom he started the fight arrived to cut him down, she was too late; the rope had not snapped his neck, but had strangled him while he waited for her to free him.

in 1861, the Arizona Territory leaves the Union and joins with the Confederate states. This begins an exodus of western territories to the Confederate side, including California. Within the year, the Union is isolated to a handful of northeastern states struggling to hold together in the face of an enemy who surrounds them from all sides but the north.

in 1925, rocketeer Robert Goddard was prepared to send up a liquid-fueled rocket, but his notes and materials turned up missing, along with his assistant, Kadin Prideaux. Prideaux, a Conspirator of the Speaker's Line, brought his stolen goods to the Conspirator's Flight Committee, which was developing a rocket of its own.

in 1962, the American plane Constitution disappears while flying over the Pacific Ocean. The 167 people on board are presumed dead until the plane lands the next day in Bombay, India, thousands of miles off-course and unable to account for the time they were missing.

in 1964, Pete Best’s album Your Love Is Mine was released, and immediately started breaking music industry records. It shattered Elvis Presley’s record of concurrent hits on the Top 100, it held all 5 top spots at one point, and it was the best-selling record of its time, among others.

in 1968, a platoon of Marines destroy the small North Chilean village of Chiu Chiu. Led by Comrade Lieutenant Bill Calley, the platoon razed the small settlement, thinking that capitalist guerillos were using it as a base from which to attack soldiers from the Soviet States. As one observer put it later, “After that massacre, every surviving man in that village who wasn’t a capitalist became one.”

in 1996, allied troops push the South Africans out of Namibia and British soldiers raise the Union Jack in Lindetz, a particularly bloody battleground in the small African nation. South Africa now has been pushed back to their original borders, as has their ally, the United States. The writing is on the wall for the two powers, but neither President Terreblanche of South Africa nor President Shephard of America will give up.

in 2004, Livinia Sheridan orders the 7 ships they have with them to do a visual search of the Athena without using their sensors. Since the Titanian methane crabs seem to be invisible to tracking devices, the only way to find them will be to see them. After several long hours without leaving their ships, the Australians report no sighting of the crabs. The Sheridans, under pressure from the Australian government, then destroy the Athena and the Huygens, the spaceship it is carrying.

Timelines in today's post: the Fall, the Speaker, Communist America, Pete Best, the Ralph Shephard timeline, and The Sheridans

Today's "Six Degrees of Star Trek" challenge: Connect The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean to Star Trek. Place your answers in the comments and see the Forum for previous results. For more on 6 degrees games, click here.

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King Gustavus III Assassinated; Chiu Chiu Massacre

March 16th, 2005

in 1792, King Gustavus III of Sweden was killed by Count Ankarstom as they attended a ball at the Royal Opera. The Count then seized the throne, plunging Sweden into a bloody, 6-year civil war. Most of Scandinavia was drawn into the conflict, which devastated the northern lands of Europe and reduced their influence in world affairs considerably.

in 1861, the Arizona Territory leaves the Union and joins with the Confederate states. This begins an exodus of western territories to the Confederate side, including California. Within the year, the Union is isolated to a handful of northeastern states struggling to hold together in the face of an enemy who surrounds them from all sides but the north.

in 1952, Velma Porter awakens in Heflin, the ruined village that had been the capitol of her lover Mikhail von Heflin’s barony. They had taken refuge in a hidden room in his old mansion after fleeing the mad Doctor Menchekov’s village. She felt her strength returning here, and left her lover asleep to wander about the ruins of his old home. On awaking, he joined her, saying, “Just think, my love, all this is yours, now.”

in 1962, the American plane Constitution disappears while flying over the Pacific Ocean. The 167 people on board are presumed dead until the plane lands the next day in Bombay, India, thousands of miles off-course and unable to account for the time they were missing.

in 1964, Pete Best’s album Your Love Is Mine was released, and immediately started breaking music industry records. It shattered Elvis Presley’s record of concurrent hits on the Top 100, it held all 5 top spots at one point, and it was the best-selling record of its time, among others.

in 1968, a platoon of Marines destroy the small North Chilean village of Chiu Chiu. Led by Comrade Lieutenant Bill Calley, the platoon razed the small settlement, thinking that capitalist guerillos were using it as a base from which to attack soldiers from the Soviet States. As one observer put it later, “After that massacre, every surviving man in that village who wasn’t a capitalist became one.”

in 1996, allied troops push the South Africans out of Namibia and British soldiers raise the Union Jack in Lindetz, a particularly bloody battleground in the small African nation. South Africa now has been pushed back to their original borders, as has their ally, the United States. The writing is on the wall for the two powers, but neither President Terreblanche of South Africa nor President Shephard of America will give up.

in 2004, Livinia Sheridan orders the 7 ships they have with them to do a visual search of the Athena without using their sensors. Since the Titanian methane crabs seem to be invisible to tracking devices, the only way to find them will be to see them. After several long hours without leaving their ships, the Australians report no sighting of the crabs. The Sheridans, under pressure from the Australian government, then destroy the Athena and the Huygens, the spaceship it is carrying.


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Compromise In France; War In Virginia

The state of TIAH

June 20th, 2006

in 1789, deputies of the Troisieme Estate-General, a national body that represented the commoners of France, rename themselves the National Assembly and send an ultimatum to King Louis XVI – accept a constitution limiting his powers or face revolt from the commoners. King Louis had been remarkably inept at managing French national affairs, and the common folk, as well as many of the lesser nobles, wanted a new government along the lines of the American one they had helped fight for at the beginning of the decade. King Louis was reportedly furious at this imposition on his authority, and threatened to send troops to quell this miniature rebellion, but his ablest minister, Jacques Necker, advised him to accept the Assembly's terms and work with them to create a new constitution – otherwise, he might see himself headed for the gallows as a deposed king. Although his court was outraged, Louis accepted Necker's advice and crafted a constitutional monarchy in France that resembled the one in Britain, keeping some small powers, as well as considerable wealth, for himself while doling out most governmental powers to the National Assembly. The other Estates-General, which represented the nobles and the clergy, protested at their own diminishment, but when the National Assembly threatened to abolish them completely, came back into line. This spirit of compromise has allowed France to maintain its powerless but decorative noble classes and royalty to the present day, while letting the common classes run the country efficiently.

in 1863, internal strife within Virginia led to a civil war within the civil war – loyal Unionists in the western part of the state, who had been suppressed and cajoled into joining the Confederacy when Virginia seceded in 1861, erupted into open rebellion against the Confederate government. The west Virginians had always been resentful of their eastern neighbors, and had never been an area conducive to the plantations that held most of the state's slaves. These differences with the east boiled up into war meetings across the mountains, and they became a steady sieve of information to the Union. When the Richmond government attempted to send troops to settle them down, the westerners took up arms and attacked the easterners. CSA President Jefferson Davis moved the capital back to Montgomery, Alabama out of fear that the war in Virginia would reach Richmond. General Robert E. Lee, who had pledged himself to the Confederate cause solely because Virginia had joined it, abandoned the CSA and joined the westerners, providing them with excellent leadership and organization against their more numerous eastern foes. The United States exploited the chaos in Virginia by encouraging loyalist factions throughout the former states to rise up in rebellion against their governments, which many did. Alabama itself split in two, with the pro-Union north fighting the south; Arkansas mirrored this situation, and Texas was convulsed by numerous factions within itself that fought for Union, Confederacy, independence and even a reunion with Mexico. By the end of the year, what had been the Confederate States of America was a handful of plantation owners seeking to keep their less affluent citizens in line and failing miserably. Throughout 1864, state after state rejoined the US in order to quell the disorder and save themselves from the chaos that they lay squarely at the feet of the southern elites.

Today's "Six Degrees of Star Trek" challenge: Connect the movie Marie Antoinette to Star Trek. Place your answers in the comments and see the Forum for previous results. For more on 6 degrees games, click here.

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Texas Secedes From The United States

February 1st, 2005

in 47,371 BCE, Swikolay reaches Africa again. Her clan has grown to a dozen strong, now, each dedicated to her great-grandmother’s dream of touching the sky. While they are traveling through eastern Africa, they see Kilimanjaro, and Swikolay decides that this mountain will be her final attempt to fulfill The Speaker’s wishes.

in 1861, Texas secedes from the United States, but doesn’t join the Confederacy or send troops to aid its cause. Instead, the reconstituted Republic of Texas fortifies its borders and waits out the civil war between the Confederate States and the Union. When the Union wins in 1863, Texas sues for peace and recognition as an independent nation; President Lincoln, unwilling to spill more American blood capturing another rebel state, formally recognizes them and grants their request for independence.

in 4591, Emperor Chengzu grants women full and equal protection under the law. This decree is even more controversial than the visionary Emperor’s space program, but it lays the groundwork for democratization in the next century.

in 1904, Ambassador Li’Kanto’Mk of earth makes contact with a secret organization of aliens on the Mlosh homeworld; they have kept records of the past in which his ancestors were forced to flee. After seeing them, the Mlosh Ambassador orders a quiet, but quick, withdrawal from the Mlosh home star system.

in 1908, King Carlos of Portugal is assassinated by rebels in the streets of Lisbon. His son, Luis Filipe, is wounded, but survives and succeeds him on the throne. Luis Filipe decides to follow the course of England, and transitions Portugal into a constitutional monarchy rather than face the possibility of revolt and abdication or execution. With his assistance, Italy’s Social Democrats gain power against the Fascisti, and Spain’s Republican forces win the civil war in 1936 against the Nationalists. The three nations usher in a new democratic era for southern Europe.

in 1952, Mikhail von Heflin finds the grave site of Willard Thompson in San Diego, California. Using the cemetery’s records, he discovers that Willard had a son who moved back to Texas. He prepares for another journey across the United States to find this man, Carl Thompson.

in 1959, the Japanese begin evacuations in order to save some of their people from the New Reich’s Asian conquest. After seeing China fall to power of the Germans, they knew that it was only a matter of time before the bloodthirsty Reich leadership called for more lebensraum, and looked for it in their island nation.

in 2002, the People’s Republic of America explodes a nuclear dumping ground in Nevada. Wind currents sweep the radioactive waste across the Soviet States of America, causing hundreds of deaths immediately, and possibly tens of thousands in the coming years. This criminal action is condemned by every government in the world, and the P.R.A. loses a large chunk of its international support.


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