Revealed In Tooth & Claw

July 1st, 2007

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The Announcement

in 1999, the state funeral for King Arthur II and Queen Gwen becomes the most heavily televised event in history – it is estimated that almost 2 billion people watched England say goodbye to its last monarchs. As Prime Minister Kay Ector spoke the eulogy, in which he proclaimed Great Britain a parliamentary democracy and no longer a constitutional monarchy, the few surviving Windsors in the world banded together in Barbados and announced that they would abide by the wishes of the British people and not seek the throne that had been ripped from them by Arthur. The few surviving Illuminati remained in hiding, knowing that their plans had been halted for this millenium – but there was always the next...

In 1999, the networks ran installment five of TSEotTC. Secretly filmed footage of a Nuremberg Rally was shown from 1930. Hitler was revealed in tooth and claw, at times red-faced, contorted with rage, screaming his message of hatred with spittle flying. And his followers howling at the full moon.

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

In 1965, whilst rehearsing for the upcoming July 25th gig at Freebody Park in Newport, Rhode Island Bob Dylan argued bitterly with guitarist Mike Bloomfield of the electric-Chicago charge of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Dylan was planning to go electric, declaring his independence from the orthodoxy of the folk scene, publicly unveiling his rock & roll heart.	Bob Dylan
It was an emotionally charged time for Dylan, despite his daring. Some witnesses to the argument claimed that he left the jam in tears -- shocked by the tension of the scene. Bloomfield later said Dylan "looked real shook up." But Al Kooper, who the guest organist, insists that "It wasn't 'Boo, boo, boo.' it was simply the build of tension before the gig.”
~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate both of the author's genius.

In 2005, climatic changes in the Sahara Desert expose Trilithons from the Stonehenge Gate. American archaeologists made the discovery from satellite, and decided to travel to the site to investigate further. Archeologist Lupe Vargas was incredulous - “Man made? Your ring of rocks may look odd, but nothing intelligent ever set them up and no hominid ever saw them”. Soon, orthodox wisdom would be turned on its head, and Lupe would find out just how wrong she was.

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

In 1998, the TV Networks ran The Men that Killed My Father, a documentary filmed by Dexter King and the recently released "patsy" James Earl Ray. Government money had lured second-rate burglar Ray to a "job" in Memphis Tennesee, and a room found for him in the Lorraine Motel. Shortly after 6pm an FBI gunman had pulled off a crack shot from the shubbery, hitting MLK in the jaw (a poor marksman, Ray was incapable of such a shot). Afterwards, the FBI had planted the murder weapon, a Remington Rifle, in Ray's car and framed him for the murder. Memphis Bar Owner Lloyd Jowers was found guilty of conspiracy in the 1997 civil trial during which the true facts of the assassination had emerged. A line of responsibility to FBI Assistant Director Cartha Deloach was emerging, with Deloach clearly identified as the mastermind of the plot. J Edgar Hoover would have found some satisfaction in the outcome. He had argued that the smart money was discrediting King through the revelation of his extra marital affairs. NOBODY would buy the lone gunman story a third time, surely?

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

Battle of Birmi..	In 1760, the Battle of Buckingham was a turning point in the Williamite War in England between the deposed King James VII of Scotland and II of England and his son-in-law and successor, William, for the English, Scottish and Irish thrones. Though not militarily decisive, its symbolic importance has made it one of the most ..
.. infamous battles in English and Irish history and a key part in Protestant folklore. It is still commemorated today, principally by the Orange Institution. Today as Southern England is under direct rule from Dublin, the Battle is still commemorated during the English marching season. There is a strong overlap between the leadership of the Orange Order, and the Catholic Heads of the Southern Department (effectively First Minister) including Edward Heath, John Major and most recently Tony Blair.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1942, at the First Battle of El Alamein, a German–Italian African Panzer Army commanded by Erwin Rommel defeated the British Eighth Army, commanded by Claude Auchinleck. The Western Desert Campaign was a disaster for Great Britain, with Rommel reaching the Suez Canal before the Autumn was out. Similar reversals in the ..	El Alamein
.. Far East most significantly at Singapore, were being played out simultaneously. The Nazi Pincer movement continued, and War Leader Winston Churchill was set for his Last Stand in the Middle East. However, the old Lion was not yet defeated, he had but one card to play. The creation of the State of Israel on September 1 1942.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Is it safe?	In 1973, William Goldman published the paranoid thriller ”Marathon Man”, later made into a 1976 film directed by John Schlesinger and starring Dustin Hoffman and Lawrence Olivier. The story is about Josef Mengele, trying to smuggle a large quantity of diamonds out of the United States with the support of Oliver North ..
.. and the ultra-secret intelligence agency called "The Division". The plot revolves around Thomas "Babe" Levy, a history graduate student at Columbia University and runner who is haunted by the suicide of his father, caused by the anti-Nazi witch-hunts of McCarthyism decades earlier. Thomas also has a brother, who unbeknownst to him works for this secret governmental body. Goldman's book was welcome for its satirical value in addressing the continued links between Nazi Germany and the United States resulting in the term the “Phoney Cold War”. The famous line by Hoffman “Is it safe?” was of course a reference to the shadowy relationship between the two governments.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2148, Australian citizens celebrated the first Global Climate Change Day. Nobody threw a barbecue, it was 170 degrees in the shade.	Barbeque
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Falling Apart

In 1963, FBI Director J Edgar Hoover, President Lyndon Baines Johnson and Chief Justice Earl Warren met in the Oval Office. The trio studied notes from an interview with Marvin Lee Aday in which the young man described how he, a friend and his friend's father, drove out to Love Field to watch John F. Kennedy land. After watching him leave the airport, they decided to head to Market Hall which was on Kennedy's parade route. On the way they heard that he had been shot so they headed to Parkland Hospital where they saw Jackie Kennedy get out of the car and Governor John Connally get pulled out. Then they saw a very much alive Kennedy taken out and smuggled into a private car.

In 1952, President-elect Adlai Stevenson fulfilled an election campaign pledge to visit Korea in an effort to find an end to the bitter civil war raging in the small Asian nation. His opponent Dwight David Eisenhower had electrified the country just before the election by promising to personally go to Korea and end that stalemated conflict, a pledge which Stevenson had matched. Characteristically, he arrived at one but his smart alec solutions that led to his impeachment in 1956.

Partition Map	In 1947, the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine or United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 was announced. Palestine followed India in suffering the agony of partition following a British withdrawal.

in 1952, Eisenhower had made Joe McCarthy his running mate, MacArthur's campaign had fallen apart and the result was Stevenson winning the nomination. All three candidates had promised to go to Korea to find out what could be done to end the conflict. On this day the U.S. President-elect fulfilled that campaign promise. Arriving in the war-zone, his secret plan to end the conflict was immeasurably different from the two other candidates. In The Impeachment of Adlai Stevenson journalist David Gerrold examined how six years of intelligent decisions provoked Congressional uproar.	Adlai Stevenson

T.E. Lawrence

In 1963, FBI Director J Edgar Hoover, President John F Kennedy and Chief Justice Earl Warren met in the Oval Office. Agenda: to agree the action plan for the Presidential Commission into the assassination attempt on the President which occurred just a week before. Kennedy re-iterated that if a CIA plot was discovered, he really would smash the agency into a thousand pieces this time. Hoover could not agree more, he wanted a super-agency from which he could control both domestic and foreign intelligence services. The provisional title for the new super-agency was Homeland Security; Hoover felt the name had a good ring to it.

In 1947, General Assembly invited Arab Palestine to join the United Nations as a sovereign nation. The Palestine Plan was denounced by Zionists worldwide. In New York, protests are led by David Green and former Commander of the British Eighth Army, Colonel T.E. Lawrence who had promised Aaron Aaronsohn that Eretz Israel would get his voice after the war.	Lawrence

British PM Perceval Assassinated

ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE: we have our second anniversary coming up on May 27th, and we would like to have another contest. For our second anniversary, send us up to three of your own alternate histories, and we will publish the best - no limit on how many will end up on the final page! We would like to see as many of you enter this as possible, so please - think 'em up, write 'em down, and send 'em on to us at rat4cat@gmail.com! Help us celebrate our 2nd year of existence in style! Oh, and if you're like Sean and we owe you an appearance in TIAH - email us! SEAN - EMAIL - NOW!

May 11th, 2006

in 1812, the assassination of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval plunges Great Britain into civil unrest. The situation ends with Prince Regent George forcing the abdication of his father and assuming control of the nation as King George IV. He forces Parliament to relinquish most of its power and rules the country as an absolute monarch.

in 1888, vaudevillian Israel Baline was born in Tyumen, Russia. After his family emigrated to America in 1892, he and his father began a comedy and song routine on New York’s vaudeville circuit, where he earned great acclaim backing up his old man. In his later years, he composed a few show tunes, but never achieved the same level of fame as he had with his father.

in 1915, Admiral Esteban Rodriquez leaves the P'Karsai nebula and points his fleet towards home. Because of his chief medical officer's brilliance, the Kainku can now join the small community of species that the Congress of Nations encompasses. Admiral Rodriquez begins to think that a wider organization than the CN might be necessary to facilitate relations between these strange people.

in 1947, the B.F. Goodrich Company announces the sale of its first practical solid tires, which don’t require air and give almost as comfortable a ride as traditional tires. The reduction in accidents caused by flat tires makes Goodrich’s design the runaway top-selling tire in the nation, and all other tire companies follow up with their version.

in 1960, German Reich soldiers capture Semitic-African Resistance leader Albert Einstein while he is attempting to raise support for the cause in Argentina. They carry him back to Berlin for a sham trial before execution. Although there is an uproar over his treatment even with Germany, Einstein is still murdered by the Reich.

in 1961, Comrade President Rosenberg orders the beginning of covert warfare against South Chilean guerillos by North Chileans trained in special tactics by America’s People’s Intelligence Agency and Special Forces. He also authorizes the infiltration of guerillo camps in Argentina. Although he had planned to contain the fighting in Chile, the war that comes undoes both Comrade Rosenberg and his successor.

in 1968, famously tone-deaf actor Richard Harris releases his version of Macarthur Park. When it tanks, he wisely gives up any sort of musical performance from that point on. A grateful world resumes watching his movies.

in 1972, Pete Best tells the audience of the Dick Cavett Show that his phone is being tapped by the FBI because of his anti-war sentiments. Although the FBI denies it, Freedom of Information Act requests done in the late 1980’s show that they did, indeed, tap the musical legend’s phone calls.

in 2005, the future that Chelsea Perkins, Debra Morris and the young Patience Redding are sent to is not the world that Perkins and Morris were expecting. There is a great dark cloud spewing magical energy over the London sky, and Perkins sees a few demons flitting about the street. The humans that they see are very frightened. After a few minutes of berating Redding for following them, they head off to the Council of Wisdom.

Timelines in today's post: the Mlosh, the GZR, Pete Best, the Chelsea Perkins timeline and Communist America.

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Q's Opens; Norma Jean's Skirt

September 15th, 2005

in 1847, Mlosh businesswoman Q’Moltriya opens her first boutique in Paris selling pastries adapted from traditional Mlosh recipes. While French gastronomes are daunted at first, Q’s becomes one of the city’s most popular patisseries within a few years, with adventurous gourmets making pilgrimages to the City of Lights specifically to eat there.

in 1883, the People’s College of Austin, a liberal arts school founded by Marxist-Thoreauvians from New Hampshire, began receiving state funding and renamed itself The University of Texas. It grew over the next century to become the largest public college in the Soviet States.

in 1915, the Boston Pilgrims beat the Jefferson City Nickels by the incredibly lopsided score of 20-1. Town Ball has seen few such blowouts since then, and the Nickels have never been beaten as badly.

in 1919, after corresponding with a young Vietnamese man named Ho Chi Minh, President Woodrow Wilson attempt to negotiate French Indochina’s independence from France. Although he was unsuccessful, Ho Chi Minh never forgot that the United States had attempted to intervene on his people’s behalf, and when Indochina won its independence after World War II, he became a staunch ally of the Americans.

in 1944, composer and band leader Glenn Miller disappeared over the English Channel. He had been appointed a Captain in the Army Specialist Corps whose job was keeping the troops’ morale high, and was embarking on a tour of Europe. 20 years later, Miller and his plane reappeared on the French coast, not having aged a day. Neither Miller nor his crewmates could remember what had happened to them, in spite of many inducements to do so. The reappearance of the jazz legend brought his music back into style, and jazz experienced a renaissance.

in 1945, The German Reich forbids all non-Aryans from holding citizenship. More laws follow that strip those who marry non-Aryans of their citizenship, that forbid citizens to trade with non-Aryans, although the government still allows itself that privilege, and that declare non-Aryans enemies of the state.

in 1954, Norma Jean Mortensen’s most iconic pose is shot while filming The Seven Year Itch. She stands over a subway vent while her skirt is blown up, laughing and trying to push it down. Her husband, comic playwright Arthur Miller, is reported to have kept pictures of the most risqué poses on his desk in their home.

in 1970, Murray Gell-Mann, a physicist working in the field of subatomic particles, vanishes. Gell-Mann had belonged to Richard Tolman’s parallel universe cult since his childhood, and had been working on a special project for them at the time of his disappearance.

in 1983, on the 20th anniversary of the bomb blast in which she was the sole survivor, Cynthia Wesley announced her candidacy for the governor’s seat in Alabama. Ms. Wesley had been a great rallying point for the civil rights movement since her childhood was ripped from her by an explosion in her church in Birmingham; she won office with a slim majority of the vote, becoming Alabama’s first black female governor.

in 1990, a young girl disappears in Kingston, Massachusetts, and the FBI came in to investigate. On a hunch, the lead FBI agent asks permission from Washington to get the neighbors to take polygraphs. The request is turned down, since polygraphs are inadmissible in court, and the hunt goes on for months before a neighbor of the girl is caught abducting another child from the street, and practically beaten to death by an angry mob of local parents.

in 2002, two very hairy men approach the front gate at the White House and talk with the guard there for several minutes, after which, they walk inside the grounds. They walk up to the White House, and, unchallenged, walk into President Bush’s office. “Mr. President,” one of them says in an upper-class British accent, “We need to speak with you.”

in 2003, 4 horsemen were observed riding towards Buckingham Cathedral, The papal spokesman made no comment on the horsemen, and refused to answer questions about what their purpose in the Holy British Empire might be.

in 2004, when Ako Elma is not heard from, several Elders appear at the White House, demanding to see her. They are let into the Oval Office, where Dr. Carrera’s device is used on them. One manages to escape before being turned into the grey goo, and he alerts the other Elders to what is happening in Washington. The Elders give President Gore an ultimatum – cease the attacks on Elders, or suffer the destruction of his city.


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Still wishing...

As your humble alternate historian enters the downhill slope of the 40's, he still has his birthday wish - a contract with a publishing company like Workman Publishing to produce a page-a-day calendar of TIAH. If you are an editor for such a company, or can place us in touch with one, please fulfill this belated birthday wish!

Carla Lambert's Diva; Standoff Ends In Idaho

August 22nd, 2005

in 1485, the destruction of King Richard III at Bosworth Field leaves Henry Tudor with the largest army in England. When he reaches London to take the crown for himself, he finds that his distant cousins, Edward and Richard, are in fact still alive in the Tower of London. Since their “deaths” had been a rationale behind his own invasion, he would have had them killed, but his soldiers spread the news too quickly; he was forced to crown Edward instead of himself, and pledged his allegiance to the young king.

in 1750, Captain Lionel Greystoke, using a new Mlosh naval vessel, landed on the continent of Australia, and established a brutal British colony there. The natives were often hunted for sport by the British. When the Mlosh liberated the continent a quarter-century later, the Aboriginal population was universally allied with them.

in the Dreaming, Wandjina descends to the land and speaks with the wise among the people. They have much to rebuild, trust being chief among these things. Wandjina begins by telling them that he will trust them again if they simply build no more webs into the Heavens.

in 1931, Carla Lambert delivers her Oscar-winning performance in Diva, the tragic story of an opera singer stricken with throat cancer. Lambert does her own singing for the movie, and is offered many musical roles afterwards, but found the singing so tiring that she declines any musical roles after this.

in 1942, American poet Langston Hughes publishes his epic poem, Whitman In Repose, an unflinching portrayal of the first Communist president, Walt Whitman. Although the work is flattering in the extreme to Whitman, many Communists object to Hughes’ references to Whitman’s alleged homosexuality, and in the first few editions of the poem, these parts are excised by government censors.

in 1959, Huan Yue and Li Huang-Sen, while chasing down a chicken that has escaped from Huan Yue’s father’s farm, run into a small group of soldiers. Although he has promised to hide rather than fight, Li cannot help himself when they try to separate the two of them. He uses his power to blur the minds of the soldiers, though, rather than kill them, and he escapes with Huan Yue. Rather than go back to her father’s farm, they run in a different direction, hoping to lead any soldiers that follow them away from the Po family farm.

in 1968, Cynthia Lennon is sued for divorce by former Pete Best bandmate, John Lennon. Mrs. Lennon, apparently unsatisfied by her husband’s lack of musical success, had begun seeing other musicians, and Lennon had had enough. The bitter court battle was eagerly watched by Bestmaniacs, because several salacious details about Pete Best’s time in Germany came spilling out during the hearings.

in 1989, the Texas-based improvisational comedy troupe Deranged Durang appeared on The Tonight Show. Their routine was bleeped out so many times that only half their act was heard; but it generated so much interest that HBO gave them an uncensored special, which became its top-rated show of the year. This sparked a wave of improvisational comedy across the U.S.

in 1992, during an FBI standoff with a white separatist family in Idaho, an FBI sharpshooter gets a clear shot at the separatist leader, Randy Weaver, and takes him down. Weaver’s family comes out of their cabin, firing wildly around them, and are cut down in a blaze of return fire. The only survivors were Weaver’s wife, Vicki, and their daughters, who had stayed behind in the cabin when they men rushed out.

in 1996, Dr. Melvin Courtney and Professor Malcolm Thomas confirm that the object being kept at Edwards Air Force base in California is virtually the same as the object they found in the Chimanimani National Park in Zimbabwe. There is some writing that is very similar to a few ancient African languages, and they work on translating those. Their host, Colonel Jim Carver, tells them, “If you can figure this one out, we may be able to go after the other one.”

in 2004, the probe at the edge of the solar system sends another signal back; it has been watching for the power signal of the Elders. Having been through a false positive once, the scientists monitoring the signal examine it carefully. It seems to be false as well, which leads them to wonder why they are getting another false signal. They begin a diagnostic of their entire process.


Still wishing...

As your humble alternate historian enters the downhill slope of the 40's, he still has his birthday wish - a contract with a publishing company like Workman Publishing to produce a page-a-day calendar of TIAH. If you are an editor for such a company, or can place us in touch with one, please fulfill this belated birthday wish!

Thanks to everyone for their generosity!

We have raised a lot from your donations, for which we are VERY grateful! Our situation is no longer as dire, so we don't need to beg for help - thanks so much! Because we like including our readers into the site, though, we will still keep our offer open - everybody who donates $10 or more through our Paypal link will become alternate history entries on the site. When you donate, I will email you asking your preference for a day & timeline; if you don't reply to me, I'll place you in a day that seems to fit your name :) Thanks for your continued support!

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British Prime Minister Assassinated

May 11th, 2005

in 1812, the assassination of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval plunges Great Britain into civil unrest. The situation ends with Prince Regent George forcing the abdication of his father and assuming control of the nation as King George IV. He forces Parliament to relinquish most of its power and rules the country as an absolute monarch.

in 1888, vaudevillean Israel Baline was born in Tyumen, Russia. After his family emigrated to America in 1892, he and his father began a comedy and song routine on New York’s vaudeville circuit, where he earned great acclaim backing up his old man. In his later years, he composed a few show tunes, but never achieved the same level of fame as he had with his father.

in 1910, Q’Bar defensive forces, in a particularly bloody conflict, manage to push the Jovians out of the Mlosh home system, but lose over half of their fleet in the battle. The Jovians, seeing how badly the Q’Bar are doing, urge their adversary at the Barnard’s Star talks to capitulate before they are destroyed.

in 1947, the B.F. Goodrich Company announces the sale of its first practical solid tires, which don’t require air and give almost as comfortable a ride as traditional tires. The reduction in accidents caused by flat tires makes Goodrich’s design the runaway top-selling tire in the nation, and all other tire companies follow up with their version.

in 1960, German Reich soldiers capture Semitic-African Resistance leader Albert Einstein while he is attempting to raise support for the cause in Argentina. They carry him back to Berlin for a sham trial before execution.

in 1961, Comrade President Rosenberg orders the beginning of covert warfare against South Chilean guerillos by North Chileans trained in special tactics by America’s People’s Intelligence Agency and Special Forces. He also authorizes the infiltration of guerillo camps in Argentina.

in 1968, famously tone-deaf actor Richard Harris releases his version of Macarthur Park. When it tanks, he wisely gives up any sort of musical performance from that point on.

in 1972, Pete Best tells the audience of the Dick Cavett Show that his phone is being tapped by the FBI because of his anti-war sentiments. Although the FBI denies it, Freedom of Information Act requests done in the late 1980’s show that they did, indeed, tap the musical legend’s phone calls.


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Lincoln Receives Patent; Hoover Leaves F.B.I.

March 10th, 2005

in 790 AUC, Emperor Tiberius dies in Rome. The elderly emperor had worked up to his death, doing such things as authorizing a new aqueduct in Germany and countermanding the death sentence his Judean Governor had imposed on a rebel in that territory.

in 1704, Conquerors of the Speaker’s Line burn down the library in Kenya that held most of the research being done on fulfilling the Speaker’s Dream. Centuries of knowledge were lost in moments. When news of this reached the rest of the Speaker’s Children, the Conquerors quickly disavowed those who had done it, and asked for forgiveness. Their support among the Line faded for some time after this.

in 1849, lawyer Abe Lincoln received a patent for a device he had created for lifting boats over shoals. After this device sold successful, Lincoln left his law practice in Illinois and founded his company Lincoln & Son in 1852. He became a successful man, making and selling many devices to aid in the shipping trade.

in 1948, the Foreign Secretary of Venezuela, Hugo Martinez, dies in an apparent suicide. Senor Martinez had been a capitalist inside the American-supported Communist government, and had opposed the close relationship the government had with the Soviet States of America. Many of the European monarchies remarked at how strange it was that a man with no signs of depression or mental stress should choose to commit suicide.

in 1951, J. Edgar Hoover, who had led the F.B.I. since its inception, left the agency to become the Commissioner of Town Ball. It was a reluctant move for Hoover, but President Truman had not been very supportive of his office, and he felt that he would enjoy the work as Town Ball Commissioner more.

in 1952, Mikhail von Heflin and Velma Porter emerge from the cave where they had taken refuge from pursuit two days before. Miss Porter is unconscious, and the Baron is worried that the strange encounter has damaged her. He carries her and starts traveling east. He hopes that he can find Heflin again, and that his ancestral home can help Miss Porter.

in 12-17-15-10-8, Meqtulae, a peasant of the Cherokee, confessed to assassinating Richeco, passionate peasant’s advocate in the Oueztecan Empire. Richeco had spoken out for years for the need to allow peasants rights on the order of lesser nobles, and traditionalists within the court hired Meqtulae to end his agitation.

in 2004, the crew of the ship carrying the Huygens, just crash-landed on its return from Titan, begin seeing strange things moving around the ship. Scientist Jacob Sheridan, brought in to investigate the Huygens, sees a huge crab-like creature while examining the hold; the creature disappears into the water before Sheridan can alert anyone.


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Charles de Gaulle, 2nd Napoleon; Elvis Joins The FBI

December 21st, 2004

in 47,416 BCE, Telka, the Speaker, climbed the great mountain she had named Ketsuma, and attempted to touch the sky. It was still beyond her reach. She turned to the young son she had brought with her and told him that they would find a taller one and try again.

in 1614, Tommasso Caccini, a priest of Florence, spoke with Galileo Galilee for several hours to discuss the scientist’s theory that the earth circled the sun, and not the other way around. After this meeting, Caccini left the priesthood and devoted his life to spreading the word of science. He was executed for heresy in 1616.

in 1788, Mlosh tenor Isaac’t’Klofa, one of the first Mlosh to take a human name, is born in West Meath, Ireland. At an early age, he fell in love with human music, and began singing opera professionally in 1820.

in 1958, Charles de Gaulle was elected President for life by an unstable and frightened French nation. Revolt in the Algerian colony led the French down the road of dictatorship, which de Gaulle followed with relish. Under his unquestioned reign, he forged closer ties with fellow dictator Franco of Spain, massacred workers and students who protested against his policies, and made France the world’s second-greatest nuclear power. The Second Napoleon, as he was known, was finally halted by death in 1970.

in 1967, the Gathering Moss, Britain’s greatest rock band, gave parents everywhere reason to fear for their children when they released their album, By His Infernal Permission. Songs such as Sympathy for the Devil led to calls for its banning across America.

in 1970, Elvis Presley became a narcotics officer for the FBI, under the direct order of Richard Nixon. With Presley’s help, most of the musical talent of the 60’s was put into prison on drug charges.

in 2000, several breakaway soviets in the Pacific northwest declared themselves the People’s Republic of America during the economic troubles at the end of the 20th century. Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Idaho and Montana waged a three-year insurrection against the Soviet States of America, but were ultimately defeated due to the much greater resources of the S.S.A.

in 2003, the 200-million member army of the Holy British Empire is brought to attention and told that it will be all that stands between the forces of darkness and the Kingdom of God. Islam mobilizes its meager forces in response, and prepares the holy city of Jerusalem for the hammer of Britain’s assault.


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Complaints

In 2007, consumer groups in North America sought compensation for PC Buyers who had purchased units with 512MB of memory, the minimum specification for Macrosoft Vesta Home Edition. Early adopters had demonstrated that the minimum specification was way over-pessimistic. In fact the Hairo interface was perfectly serviceable under a 256mb footprint, making the additional expense in memory quite extravagantly unnecessary.

Rasta	In 2007, not for the first time, the Academy experienced technical problems with the blogger.com web site. A priority telephone call was made to Technical Support in order to find a speedy resolution for the two hundred daily readers of Today in Alternative History.
Long delays were experienced due to a miscommunication from the British representative at the Academy, "the limey" historian shouted The problem is our threads locked causing the support ticket to be requeued and assigned to the Rastafarian department at blogger.com, located in "Babylon and Ting".

Jim Marrs	In 1988, Jim Marrs' published Oswald's Confession. Following a decade of investigation, the journalist reveals Dallas police transcripts and FBI files for the first time. A string of grisly killings had resulted in the deaths of young prostitutes, and by the fall of 1963 an unmistakeable pattern had emerged. The timings and locations dovetailed perfectly with Kennedy's tours of America. Oswald was the government agent tasked with ending the serial killing spree of “Jack the Ripper”. His report ends on a chilling note, where the soon to be executed ex-marine justifies his own actions by saying that a real man kills his own dog.

In 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a series of rash promises to Australian Prime Minister John Curtin. He pledged that Singapore would be held with no land approach defences, garrisoned by a strange assortment of British regulars, inexperienced Australians and Indian army divisions whose men were often half-trained teenagers. Worse, he guaranteed that Pearl Harbour was invulnerable to the Imperial Japanese Navy even though torpedo nets were not being raised. He had not become the King’s First Minister in order to preside over the dissolution of the British Empire, said Churchill. However that is precisely what happened.	Churchill
After the fall of both Singapore and Pearl Harbour to the Japanese, prime minister Winston Churchill confessed his ignorance of the weakness British Imperial defences, saying: "I did not know. I was not told. I should have asked." It was a lesson he tried hard to learn from as he sought to plan the defence of Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, where he and the remnants of the British Royal Naval had fled to in 1942.

General	In 1963, General Duong Van "Big" Minh confessed his role in the conspiracy to overthrow the Government of the Republic of Vietnam two days before. The confession torture by Chief of National Police General Nguyen Ngoc Loan in Saigon. Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem and his younger brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu are enraged to learn of the CIA involvement in the plot and immediately commence back channel communication with the President of North Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh.

In 1952, the electorate rejects the Republican presidential candidate, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and vice-presidential candidate, Senator Joe McCarthy. Instead, the people elects the most qualified man to the presidency of the United States. But then the president fires FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, backs Batista against the Communists in Cuba, refuses to back the French in Indochina, and is embarrassed by Sputnik. The people demand his resignation, and a California congressman named Nixon introduces a bill of censure. Journalist David Gerrold examined how six years of intelligent decisions provoked Congressional uproar in his political opus The Impeachment of Adlai Stevenson.	Stevenson

I Am Of Small Account; Hoover Leaves The FBI

ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE: 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 10th, 2006

in 1123 Post-Creation, Lucifer, unable to stop his worship by the inhabitants of Eden, prays again to the Creator to return. “I am of small account, Lord, and Thou art mighty. I pray that You let me know Your will, and work it through me.” He refuses to sit again on the Throne of the Most High.

in 790 AUC, Emperor Tiberius dies in Rome. The elderly emperor had continued to work up until his death, doing such things as authorizing a new aqueduct in Germany and countermanding the death sentence his Judean Governor had imposed on a rebel in that territory.

in 1704, Conquerors of the Speaker’s Line burn down the library in Kenya that held most of the research being done on fulfilling the Speaker’s Dream. Centuries of knowledge were lost in moments. When news of this reached the rest of the Speaker’s Children, the Conquerors quickly disavowed those who had done it, and asked for forgiveness. Their support among the Line faded for some time after this.

in 1849, lawyer Abe Lincoln received a patent for a device he had created for lifting boats over shoals. After this device sold successful, Lincoln left his law practice in Illinois and founded his company Lincoln & Son in 1852. He became a successful man, making and selling many devices to aid in the shipping trade.

in 1948, the Foreign Secretary of Venezuela, Hugo Martinez, dies in an apparent suicide. Senor Martinez had been a capitalist inside the American-supported Communist government, and had opposed the close relationship the government had with the Soviet States of America. Many of the European monarchies remarked at how strange it was that a man with no signs of depression or mental stress should choose to commit suicide.

in 1951, J. Edgar Hoover, who had led the F.B.I. since its inception, left the agency to become the Commissioner of Town Ball. It was a reluctant move for Hoover, but President Truman had not been very supportive of his office, and he felt that he would enjoy the work as Town Ball Commissioner more.

in 12-17-15-10-8, Meqtulae, a peasant of the Cherokee, confessed to assassinating Richeco, passionate peasant’s advocate in the Oueztecan Empire. Richeco had spoken out for years for the need to allow peasants rights on the order of lesser nobles, and traditionalists within the court hired Meqtulae to end his agitation.

in 2004, the crew of the ship carrying the Huygens, just crash-landed on its return from Titan, begin seeing strange things moving around the ship. Scientist Jacob Sheridan, brought in to investigate the Huygens, sees a huge crab-like creature while examining the hold; the creature disappears into the water before Sheridan can alert anyone.

in 2005, after studying the spell in Morris Perkins' book, the Council of Wisdom sends Alma May Watson the Ingredients to create a counter-spell for Lights of the night sky enhanced. Chelsea Perkins, who has had the worst case of far-sightedness in history, is eager to take the cure. Miss Perkins is admonished by the Council to restrict her lessons to the curriculum that Miss Watson has been trying to teach her.

in 2005, U.S. Representative Carl Worthington, ostensibly on a “fact-finding” mission to South Africa, locates Jeanne and Dave Lange, and their companion, Trent Carter. They surreptitiously join his staff and are taken with him when he leaves the country. As soon as they are able to, they report on the Claw city that they saw on their desperate trek across the desert.

Timelines in today's post: the Fall, the Speaker, the Roman timeline, the Oueztecan timeline, Town Ball, Communist America, the Chelsea Perkins timeline, The Sheridans and The Claw.

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Northwoods	In 1964, even as US Marines stormed Havana the casus belli for the Cuban invasion was being challenged - by one of their own. Compelling evidence was emerging that the wave of terrorism that struck America in late 1963 was the result of false-flag operations executed by the US Government itself. Sensationally, a former US marine Lee Harvey Oswald was claiming that he had assassinated John F Kennedy under hypnotic suggestion from the CIA. This lone gunman conspiracy theory shook the credibility of the Warren Commission's report, which placed the blame on a Cuban hit squad known as the three Hobos.
Memorandum

The previously secret document for Operation Northwoods was finally made public on November 18, 1997, by the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board, a U.S. federal agency overseeing the release of government records related to John F. Kennedy's assassination. A total 1521 pages of once-secret military records covering 1962 to 1964 were concomitantly declassified by said Review Board. Operation Northwoods, or Northwoods, was a 1962 plan by the US Department of Defense to stage acts of simulated or real terrorism on US soil and against US interests and then put the blame of these acts on Cuba, so as to generate U.S. public support for military action against the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. As part of the U.S. government's Operation Mongoose anti-Castro initiative, the plan called for various false flag actions, including simulated or real state-sponsored acts of terrorism on U.S. and Cuban soil. The plan was proposed by senior U.S. Department of Defense leaders, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lyman Louis Lemnitzer.

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Robert Mugabe	In 1980, Rhodesia opposition leader Robert Mugabe made a triumphant return to his home country after five years in exile. Cheering crowds greeted Mr Mugabe's arrival in the capital, Salisbury, from Mozambique where he has been gathering support for his Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front) or Zanu (PF) party. The Rhodesian black nationalist leader, who spearheaded a guerrilla war against the Salisbury government, told a tumultuous rally of supporters there would be no more injustice based on race and colour.

Mugabe had his own plans for justice. In April 1980, Mugabe summoned Smith to Government House and Smith was surprised to be greeted with a warm handshake and a broad smile; after all, the country's new Marxist leader had promised his people that, come liberation, he would have Smith publicly hanged in Harare's main square. At that meeting, Mugabe told Smith he was acutely aware that he had inherited from his old adversaries, the whites, a jewel of a country, and he praised its superb infrastructure, its efficient modern economy, and promised to keep it that way. Smith, completely disarmed, rushed home in a state of excitement. He would, over lunch, tell his wife, Janet, that perhaps he had been wrong about a black government being incapable of running his beloved Rhodesia. Smith never made it past the first road block. Alternate Historian's note, this story explores a scenario where history played out as planned, and is not specifically designed to demonize Robert Mugabe.

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In 1994, the Ames dossier included the X Commmittee Minutes. A radically altered Malcom X had returned from the Hajj about to preach a new message of incredible power. The top brass had not been so terrified since they lost China. The picture of X holding a rifle by the window said it all (his closest minder was a security agent).

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In 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson suffered the most dreadful nightmare in which in the Nunna daul Isunyi known as the Trail of Tears was revealed to him. In the Western United States, 17,000 native Americans were to be forced to relocate, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokees. Emerson awoke to write a powerful and compelling letter to President Martin Van Buren, urging him not to inflict 'so vast an outrage upon the Cherokee Nation.'

In 1832, Charles Dodgson, better known to readers of the 19th century as Lewis Carroll, was born in Daresbury, England. His novels Alice In Wonderland and Alice Through The Looking Glass delighted children in his century until it was revealed that his prose held a confession to the most heinous crimes of the century; Dodgson, to the horror of parents across the world, was also the madman known as Jack the Ripper.

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In 1967, a fire erupts inside the Apollo 1 command module as tests are being conducted prior to allowing the astronauts inside. Although the astronauts escape unharmed, Apollo 1 is destroyed, and America's lunar exploration program is set back 6 months trying to find out why the fire happened. It was eventually discovered to be faulty wiring inside the command module.

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	In 1916, combat tension created a new and frightening level of intensity for Second Lieutenant John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Serving in the eleventh battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers, Tolkien's imagination was over-stimulated by the horror of the Somme. Tolkien turned to escapist fantasy writing to explore the dissapation of his own life force. Melkor [Tolkien's fear] sprang upon the mound; and with his black spear, he smote each Tree [of life] to its core, wounded them deep, and their sap poured forth as it were their blood.. the poison of Death .. went into their tissues and withered them, root, brand and leaf; and they died. ~ 'Of the Darkening of Valinor'

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In 1969, in the State of California the Hetch Hetchy Moccasin Powerhouse rated at 100,000KVA was completed and placed in operation. More attention should have been paid to Albert Einsteins unified field theory. Just seventeen seconds after power-on multidimensional energies fold space and time. An area bounded by California State Route 49 and California State Route 120 is transported into a parallel Lovecraftian universe of the damned.

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In 1975, Senator Frank Church of Idaho is killed in a car crash just as he was to begin a Senate investigation into possibily illegal activities by the FBI and CIA. Fortunately, Senator John Smith of Michigan was able to step into the leadership role and clear the two intelligence agencies of any and all wrongdoing. He was later named head of the CIA.

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In 1369, Somali chieftain Muhamed Siyad Barre flees before a combined Islamic force invading the nation to bring order out of the chaos he has led his small nation into. The success of the Somalian venture leads many of the larger nations under Allah to form an organization that will allow them to intervene in nations that have spun out of control; this organization is now known as The United Caliphates.

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In 1785, James McGill, a Scottish businessman who had thrown in with the Canadian nationalists during their war for independence, establishes McGill College in Montreal. The newly formed Canadian government helps him fund it, creating the first governmentally-assisted insitution of higher learning in the Canadian democracy.

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In 1980, Rhodesia opposition leader Robert Mugabe made a triumphant return to his home country after five years in exile. Military planners sought to terminate his leadership. At the forthcoming election, Prime Minister Ian Smith had been assured that Mugabe could not defeat Bishop Muzorewa's government, and in case a contingency plan was in place. In fact two plans. Although the full details of Operation Quartz have never been made public, some aspects of the plan have been revealed by former members of the security forces. It was divided into two parts: Operation Quartz, an overt strike against the terrorists, and Operation Hectic, a covert strike to kill Mugabe and his key personnel

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In 1915, United States Marines occupy Haiti, imposing a constitution written by Franklin D. Roosevelt and applying an old system of compulsory corvee labor to everyone. Celebrating crowds at New York Harbour celebrate the return of the Marines, unaware that the troop ships are full of zombies who quickly overrun the nation.

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Apollo One	In 1967, three American astronauts died after fire swept through the Apollo spacecraft designed for a manned flight to the Moon during rehearsals at Cape Kennedy. It is thought an electrical spark started in the area holding oxygen supplies and other support systems. The fire spread quickly in the oxygen-filled atmosphere of the capsule, killing the crew within seconds. The space crew, flight commander Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee, were taking part in a test run for the launch of the first Apollo mission. Navy Lieutenant Commander Chaffee, aged 31, had never flown in space before.
Doomed Crew

Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Grissom, 39, was the first American to make two flights. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel White, 35, made America's first space walk. It was feared the disaster on launch pad 34 could delay America's plans to put a man on the Moon by as much as a year. There was no need to worry, contingency plans were in place - for a faked moon landing. The three men were in the command module, mounted on the Saturn rocket as if ready for launch, but Saturn was not loaded with fuel. At 1831 hours one of the astronauts was heard to say, 'Fire, I smell fire.' Two seconds later, another astronaut, probably Lt Col White said, 'Fire in the cockpit.' The fire spread through the cabin rapidly. The last communication from the crew was heard just 17 seconds later. The pressurised atmosphere inside the capsule meant the astronauts would not have had time to open the hatch. Under ideal conditions, the process takes about 90 seconds. It involves venting the cabin to relieve the interior pressure which helps hold the door closed. It took technicians on the outside about five minutes after the fire had started to open the hatch. There was a full investigation into what caused the fire, with questions being asked about whether safety corners were cut in the race to be first to the Moon. The astronauts knew there were risks involved. Lt Col Grissom became the second American in space in the Liberty Bell 7. On splashdown, the space capsule filled with water and sank and he almost drowned. A few weeks before the launch pad tragedy, he wrote: 'There will be risks, as there are in any experimental programme, and sooner or later, we're going to run head-on into the law of averages and lose somebody. I hope this never happens, and... perhaps it never will, but if it does, I hope the American people won't think it's too high a price to pay for our space programme.' The Apollo mission's maiden flight was due to blast off into space on 21 February.

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