Wells Born In England; Ford Seized By Government

September 21st, 2005

in 1348, the Jewish population of Zurich is accused of poisoning the town’s wells. In 1921, Astrid Pflaume uses this legend to terrorize the Swiss population into surrender to her Greater Zionist Resistance. The ease with which she bullies these fellow “Aryans” is one of many events that causes the neo-Nazi time traveler to switch her allegiance to those she leads, but has vowed to destroy.

in 1792, the French Revolution reaches a crossroads as the Revolutionary Council is deadlocked on abolishing the monarchy. King Louis XVI uses this confusion to insert himself as a compromise between the nobles who want to retain a monarchy and the commoners who want to abolish the aristocracy altogether; walking this tightrope, he manages to lead France through the chaos of the revolution, displaying diplomatic talents no one ever expected him to have.

in 1823, the angel Moroni appears to a farmer in America and reveals the location of golden tablets that reveal a secret history of the continent, and its connection to God’s favored people of Israel. This farmer, John Brown of Ohio, founded the Church of Latter-Day Saints, also known as the Mormons. The Mormons aided many blacks to escape slavery in the dark days before the civil war, and stood strong for their civil rights after.

in 1866, Herbert George Wells was born in Bromley, England. Wells is most famous for his creation of the role-playing game genre with his famous game Little Warriors. On the side, Wells also wrote novels.

in 1904, Himmahtooyahlatkekt, the first Nez Pierce elected to Congress, dies in Washington, D.C. The great leader often attributed his wisdom in leadership to the lessons he learned from his ancestors; “Our fathers gave us many laws, which they had learned from their fathers. These laws were good. They told us to treat all people as they treated us; that we should never be the first to break a bargain; that is was a disgrace to tell a lie; that we should speak only the truth; that it was a shame for one man to take from another his wife or his property without paying for it.” His leadership was responsible for the lack of reservations in Washington State, and the more equitable blending of Native Americans in with the general population there.

in 1942, the Ford Motor Corporation is seized by the U.S. government because of its pro-Nazi activities. The founder of the company, Henry Ford, had long been suspected of Nazi ties after being favorably mentioned by Hitler in Mein Kampf, and the company newsletter had gone so far as to publish the anti-semitic tract The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The workers at the company weren’t made idle – Ford’s assets were used to build the U.S. war machine.

in 1983, a young paperboy in Bellevue, Nebraska stumbles back into town after having been abducted and tortured by a strange man. He is able to describe John Joubert, a military radar technician, to the police, who arrest Joubert just as another boy’s body is found in the woods. The young man who escaped Joubert is given a medal by President Reagan for his heroism.

in 4697, Captain Wu reports to the Emperor and the Imperial Council and formally reports that Yang Gao has been overrun by the Y’T’T’li. Emperor Xiao Yang tells Wu that he has done well, and promotes him to Admiral. “You must now devise a way to protect us from this enemy, Admiral Wu,” Xiao tells his officer. Wu draws on the top minds of the empire to study the information about the Y’T’T’li he has brought back.

in 2002, the Air Force command at Andrews wants to get rid of its two visitors, but is told to keep them there by the White House. All that they seem able to do is keep track of where the two “men” visit on their excursions through the base’s classified areas.

in 2004, after noting a few Elder power signatures still on earth, the ELS-1 blasts them into goo with its weapon. The Elders who have evacuated the planet protest mildly, but seemingly take no further action. The ELS-2, which is monitoring the inner solar, detects the approach of several Elder power signatures and alerts the ELS-1.


TIAH HALLOWEEN CONTEST

In order to provide for the upkeep of our new historian, Today In Alternate History is sponsoring its first contest - make a donation at our Paypal link, then email us up to 3 alternate history entries for October 31st, 2005. The best 10 entries will make up the entire content of the post on October 31st, Halloween day. Boring contest information is available on our Forum link below. Enter early and often!

Also, we still have our standard offer - 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!

Forum Link - Boring legal info on the TIAH Halloween Contest!
Fresh New Poll - Shall we use future dates in our entries?

Warp and Protocols still available; also, see the script I submitted for Bravo's Situation: Comedy. Speaking of which, the winning writers have been announced; not the ones I voted for, but you can see the one I did at http://www.marktreitel.com

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!

Our 3rd Anniversary!

The state of TIAH

May 27th, 2007

Digg this

Alternate Historian's Note: Three years ago, I put up a few hundred words on Blogger that disappeared when I tried to edit them. So, the next day, I added a few more hundred words and reposted what I'd written before. A few days later, posters at Metafilter and BoingBoing brought a deluge of visitors to the site, and I was suddenly having to deal with the thought of having readers. Since that time, we've had enthusiastic fans set up web sites that pull our feed, (although the new Blogger caused them to stop working for a long time), clueless readers who are really unclear on the concept, our own explainer, and guest historians who mean the world to us. We turn today's post entirely over to them. Thank you all for a wonderful three years!

in 2004, the website "Today in Alternate History" begins. Almost immediately, its creator begins recieving odd e-mails: "How about an alternate history where Abraham Lincoln was the President, and John Wilkes Booth the shooter, instead of the other way around?" "Make an alternate timeline where the Beloved Fuhrer was killed by malcontents before he could install the Third Reich!" "Abejduc ei qpgeixu t kiiii querl euido xhe dix eiweoid yhzl xoi!"

Soon, the truth becomes apparent: this website now exists not only in the timeline its creator knows, but in every other timeline as well, all at once. As much fun as it is to peek into some timelines ("Emperor Robbie, Ruler of All Creation"? Hmmmm...), others give glimpses into disturbing possibilities that are hard to even think about, let alone comprehend. Ah, well, at least there's no shortage of material... Anniversary entry by LeaperBP

in 2004, on this day, seven years to the day after the Jarrell tornado, College Station TX is struck by a cluster of tornadoes at precisely 3:50 PM. Rescue workers from neighboring towns could find no survivors; in fact they found no deceased either. One man, who had been away from town on business, starts a website dedicated to the disappeared. Mr. Taylor appears to have become delusional, though, as his weblog advocates strange theories on where - or WHEN - the residents of College Station may have gone. Anniversary entry by Lance Lavandowska

After nearly 90 years, Ford Motor Company stopped producing the finest car ever, the Model T. After a few modifications in the years following 1908, the Model T had continued nearly unchanged; for who could improve upon such an excellent example of modern engineering.

The telegraph to the nation was sent from Henry Ford's descendant, Edsel B. Ford the Second: "My Great-Grandfather said 'I will build a motor car for the great multitude, constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise ... so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one--and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces'. And in that tradition, today I announce the Model A!" Anniversary entry not about our anniversary by Lance Lavandowska

Winston Churchill	"Why does the memory of Winston Churchill refuse to be exorcised? Why, forty years after his death and the end of World War II, do we have Churchill Victorious, an anthology of eleven stories set in various alternative worlds in which the, uh, Bulldog spirit of Imperial Britain did not end in the rubble of the Dollis Hill Bunker in North London?" ~ Norman Spinard
UK War Leader

Benford & Greenberg present a whole series of futures made possible by the plausible premise of a victorious Thousand-Year British Empire & Commonwealth The Amazon Review is available at Amazon.com Review

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

In 1919, Uncle Alf wrote - My very dear Angela, my circumstances are desperate. The Pomeranian doctors in this field hospital have diagnosed a severe mental disorder, attributed to shell shock from the front. I have told them of the evening when strange men burst into the ward and injected your Uncle with the madness of lycanthropy, yet none believe me. I send you many kisses, and wish I could give them to you in person. With much love, I remain your Uncle Alf.

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

Harry S Truman	In 1947, US President Harry S Truman stared out of the Oval Office window in the White House with his hands clasped neatly together behind his back. Incredible! he whistled through his teeth, Incredible! Returning to the Resolute Desk, he said to Generals Sir Bernard Montgomery and Dwight David Eisenhower: But ..
.. will it work? Yes sir they replied as if in stereo.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1989, events in the overthrow of the House of Stuart headed towards a climax. Buckingham Palace announced that the coronation of King James IV, the seventh in line to the thrown, would be scheduled in two weeks time, after a suitable period of mourning had passed. James IV was a playboy party-animal of a Prince who would ..	King James IV
.. think mourning was the hangover lie-in time of day. The mourning never happened. The coronation never happened either.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Diana, huntress	In 2001, at last after three bitter and frustrating years of searching the huntress was hunted. Finally, he had located the lady described by her brother as 'the unique the complex, the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana'. That was the easy bit. Now he had to tell his boss. And there was something else. Dread.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1813, American forces capture Fort George in Canada, during the War of 1812. Napoleon Bonaparte and La Grande Armée were hot on their heals, determined to protect the sovereignty of French North America. It was the last campaign for the Little Corporate. He died on the bitter retreat from Yorktown (Toronto), defeated by ..	Napoleon Bonapa..
.. Generals December and January - the cruel Canadian winter.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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King Philip Avoids Death; The Heresy Of Sylvie Gerard

August 12th, 2005

in 1676, the close escape of “King Philip”, Metacomet, from assassination at the hands of one of his tribesmen, leads the Wampanoag chief to call for aid from all of the native tribes of New England to crush the Europeans who have corrupted his people. The English of the Massachusetts colony are unable to hold off the thousands of natives who descend on them, and are either killed or forced to flee.

in the Dreaming, the arrogance of the people drives them to strike out at all those who refuse them aid in their war against the flies. Even the great spirits are not exempt from the wrath of the people, until the natives of Heaven are forced to cry out to Wandjina for assistance.

in 4563, the Chinese Empire orbited its first communications satellite, the Zhen 1. The benefits were so great that by the end of the year, they were orbiting a new satellite once a week.

in 1898, President Haywood and Spanish Prime Minister Sagasta signed a peace treaty ending the tensions between the U.S. and Spain. Haywood had escalated American forces in the Pacific and Caribbean when the reactionary Spaniards had attempted to push their imperialism into the American sphere of influence and interfere with the Community Of Trade that Haywood was establishing.

in 1908, Henry Ford produced his Tin Lizzie, or Model T automobile. Without some method of mass-producing these cars, Ford was unable to keep the price low enough to where most people could afford them, and his car, like most others, was soon just a toy for the idle rich.

in 1944, Joseph Kennedy, Jr. saved his co-pilot when their plane exploded over England, parachuting out and holding onto him as their one chute carried them to the ground. Kennedy broke his legs from the hard landing, but became a hero in the American press afterwards. He used this fame after the war to become a senator in Massachusetts, and then run for the presidency in 1960.

in 1945, Reichsfuehrer Hitler of the New Reich establishes the Mother Cross award, for German mothers who give birth to more than 5 healthy children. This is meant to repopulate Germany after the last quarter-century of warfare against the Greater Zionist Resistance, but he also uses it as an excuse to push Germany’s borders further out.

in 1960, future international superstar Pete Best started playing with the band Silver Beatles, and was their drummer for 2 tumultuous years in Liverpool and Germany. After leaving them, Best became so famous that former bandmate John Lennon said he was “bigger than Jesus, now, isn’t he?”

in 1996, while recovering from his wounds in hospital, Dr. Melvin Courtney is visited by the three strange men who had warned him not to publish his article on Chimanimani. “I trust you realize how right we were, doctor,” one of them says. Dr. Courtney is forced to agree. “I’m leaving the country,” he tells them, and they seem satisfied by this and leave him alone to recuperate. Thinking about this incident makes Dr. Courtney seethe, though, and he begins to formulate a different plan.

in 2000, in Shanghai, Li Huang-Sen shows his guests Mikhail von Heflin and Velma Porter to his mansion. “I’m in good with the local Communists,” he tells them as they marvel at the palatial home. “Oppression pays better than it used to, I guess,” von Heflin tells him.

in 2002, Pope Righteous I makes a public declaration that Sylvie Gerard is a heretic, and is not to be given comfort or shelter by any Christian within the Holy British Empire. Any Christian caught doing so will be excommunicated and then executed, very publicly.

in 2004, Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the U.N., announces that the entire world community will be placing its resources behind Dr. Emilio Carrera’s project to hide the earth from the Elders. It will take priority over all other projects. Although most wars have quieted down, there are some who are taking what they think will be final parting shots at their enemies. This chaos goes unchecked as most nations concentrate their efforts on Carrera’s jamming satellites.


An alternate birthday wish - 2 days left!

Your humble alternate historian is about to leave the pleasant decade of the 30's behind and enter into the downhill slope of the 40's on August 14th. Before he does, he would like one simple 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 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!

Forum Link - we need your comments on the possible new format to the site
New Poll - Tell us what you think! More or less repeats? Our fate may be in your hands!

Warp and Protocols still available; also, see the script I submitted for Bravo's Situation: Comedy

Percentages

Hari Seldon	In 12,069 Galactic Era (1 Foundation Era), biographer Gaal Dornick wrote ~ Seldon, Hari— . . . found dead, slumped over desk in his office at Streeling University in 12,069 (1 F.E.). Apparently Seldon had been working up his last moments on psychohistorical equations; his activated Prinie Radiant was discovered clutched in hand. According to Seldon’s instructions, the instrument was Shipped his colleague Gaal Dornick who had recently emigrated to Terminus. Selden's body was jettisoned into space, also in accordance with instructions he’d left.
Psychohistorian

The official memorial a service on Trantor was simple, though attended. It was worth noting that Seldon’s old friend former First Minister Eto Demerzel attended the event. Demerzel had not been seen since his mysterious disappearance immediately following the Joranumite Conspiracy during the reign of Emperor Cleon I. Attempts by the Commission of Public Safety to locate Demerzel in the days following the Seldon memorial proved to be unsuccessful. Wanda Seldon, Hari Seldon’s granddaughter, did not attend the ceremony. It was rumored that she was grief-stricken and had refused all public appearances. this day, her whereabouts from then on remain unknown. It has been said that Hari Seldon left this life as lived it, for he died with the future he created unfolding all around him. ~ Encyclopedia Galactica. Dornick was lieing, and his colleagues should have known better. Seldon was a professor of mathematics, he was playing the percentages of course.

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	Almost everybody has left Mars to go to Earth, but Walter Gripp — a single placer miner who would like to find a wife — lives in the mountains and does not hear of the departure. At first excited by his find of an empty town, he enjoys himself with money, food, clothes, and movies. Later on, his behavior becomes less extravagant. One night, he hears a telephone ringing in someone's home, and suddenly realizes that he should answer it to find companionship. Missing the call, and several others, he sits down with a phone book of Mars and starts dialing at A.
Planet Mars

After days of calling without answers, he starts calling hotels, and then (after guessing where he thinks a woman would most likely spend her time) calls the biggest beauty salon on Mars (in New Texas City) and a woman answers. They talk, but they are cut off. Tremendously excited and overcome with romantic dreams, he drives hundreds of miles to New Texas City, only to realize that she drove to find him on a back road. He drives back to his town, and meets Genevieve Selsor as he pulls in. Their meeting was the opposite of what he had hoped for in his dreams — he finds her thoroughly unattractive (due to her weight and pallor) and insipid. After a sullen day, she slyly proposes marriage to him at dinner, as they believe they are the last man and the last woman on Mars. Gripp decides to run, driving across Mars to another tiny town to spend the final weeks of his life alone. And over the final fortnight, when the phone rings somewhere in town, he doesn't answer. ~ Abridged Version of The Silent Towns (December 2007). In 2008, astronomers watched a football pitch-sized lump of rock hurtle through space at a speed of 45000 km/h. The fragment, which had been christened WD-5, was on a collision course with Mars. The impact on 30th January would subsequently be known as the Martian Armageddon. During the period December 2001-November 2005 humans from Earth had colonized the deserted planet, occasionally having contact with the few surviving Martians, but for the most part preoccupied with making Mars a second Earth. WD-5 changed all that, and only a few die-hard optimists such as Gripp stayed after the December 2007 exodus.

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In 1971, the British spaceflight to the moon was beset by mechanical failures. The ill-fated Apollo 13 mission had been too much trouble, it really had.

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In 1846, the United States began the disastrous Mexican War by advancing troops into New Mexico. President James K. Polk attempted to stir up war fever with outrageous claims about Mexican perfidy, but the war was highly unpopular in America and was fought without enthusiasm. Mexico managed to recapture Texas and maintain its hold on all its northwestern possessions with it successful prosecution of the war.

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	In 1925, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien began the 'Sketch of the Mythology'. Published 52 years later as 'The Silmarillion', this opus would consume his life energies. Ironically, Tolkien had turned to escapist fantasy writing to explore the dissapation of his own life force. Whether he knew it or not, the epic struggle of the little people was an expression of his own disempowerment from World War I.

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In 2008, en route to a vitally important press conference, Iraqi Commander David Petraeus was informed that the latest counter-insurgency plan had been lost. A batman had suffered personal data loss. It was close to the truth, he had poured Ben and Jerry's down his XDA in a food court.

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In 1863, Thomas Crapper demonstrated his flushing facility to a convention of plumbers in London, England. Although he had an excellent design, Mr. Crapper was unable to secure financing for his indoor toilet system, and another man, Michael Proops, was able to claim the title of the man who invented the indoor toilet. It was a dubious honor, as his name has become synonymous with the product of the toilet ever since.

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In 1942, Ford Automotive introduced cars made from plastic rather than metal, in an effort to save metal and conserve fuel for the war effort. The cars were so wildly successful that Ford stopped making metal-body cars, and the other auto manufacturers in Detroit followed suit. It was this move that made dependence on foreign oil completely unnecessary, as America produced enough fuel to power these highly fuel-efficient autos.

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In 4578, composer Zhang Wan Qin finished his epic opera Jie the Tyrant. Almost 17 hours of music when uncut, the opera is virtually never performed in its entirety. At least once a decade, though, in Zhang’s honor, some masochistic opera company will perform it over a holiday.

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In 1929, the legendary star of the first Westerns, Wyatt Earp, dies at his home in Los Angeles, California. Coming to Hollywood in his 60's, Earp, already a mythical figure in western lore, was asked to star in a couple of movies by director Bill Henson, and the rest was history – by the time he died, Earp has appeared in over 30 films, even appearing in one western shot 2 weeks before his death. Hollywood and the Wild West both mourned the loss of a true giant.

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In 1887, Marines from the U.S.S. Boston landed in Honolulu and imposed the Bayonet Constitution, stripping the Hawaiian monarchy of much of its authority, disenfranchised all Asians and poor citizens while generally empowering rich citizens, including American, European and native Hawaiian elites. This new imperialism led ultimately to the expulsion of the Americans from AsiaPac in the 1940s at the hands of the liberating troops of the Empire of Japan.

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In 1969, secessionist pressures from Bretons ushered in the period known as Les Troubles. The French Government looked with envy upon Ireland, where five hundred years of sound British Governance had managed to integrate major regionalist parties in a Celtic region.

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