Disposal Duty

July 31st, 2007

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The Announcement

Alternate Historian's Personal Note: I don't talk about my personal life that often here, but today's going to be an exception. Last night, I went to an audition for a musical - Grease, specifically hoping to be cast in the Guardian Angel role, the one that Frankie Avalon played in the movie. I was called almost immediately and sang Beauty School Dropout a little shakily, but OK. Then, I sat and looked at all these kids, almost all of whom I was old enough to parent, or even, God help me, grandparent, and I thought about my own life in the theater. I started acting when I was 12, and have appeared in several dozen productions since then, acting alongside pros and amateurs alike. When I lived in Paris, I put on my own one-man show. Before I started dating my wife, I was in something like 6 productions in a row at the local theater. Since then, though, I've only been in one show, and that was mainly so that my wife could see me act. Sitting in that theater last night, I realized that I'd lost the fire that I used to have.
It actually started coming on me in the production I was in when I met my wife the second time around (another story I'll have to tell sometime). Except for a couple of old friends of mine, most of the cast was a bunch of jerks, and it really soiled the experience for me. I used to love performing in the theater – I relished auditions and the crushing of my competition beneath the heels of my superior talent. I lived for the applause, for the occasional notice of the critics, the respect of my peers. But, this production made me look at my peers differently. The local theater used to pride itself on a professional attitude. This cast treated the performance like a frat party, and not the fun Animal House kind, but the sick, twisted, Lacrosse-team-at-Duke University kind.
So, after the next production, I took a break, and that was when I started dating my lovely bride. We were married 7 months after our first date (true love waits for no one!), and a couple of months later, she convinced me to audition for another show, because she had never seen me act. It was an OK show, but there was a major problem with dropped lines from several cast members. I used to be in an improv troupe (another long story), so I can talk my way out of any sticky situation on stage, but this just added to the sense of ennui I felt about the theater.
Since then, I haven't been in any shows. I still look at the production schedule for the local theater companies, and think about showing up for something that looks fun, and when I saw that the auditions for Grease were open last night, I thought, maybe 10 years is a long enough break. But, instead of the rush I always felt from auditioning, I just thought about the time I was going to be giving up – not seeing my daughter every night, not hanging around with my wife, not being able to game with our friends on Wednesdays – and I just realized that it was no longer worth it to me. I made my apologies to the director and left.
I turn 42 in 2 weeks. When I was the age of most of the kids in that theater, I thought that, by this time, I'd be living in Hollywood with my Oscars. But, now that I've done Hollywood, (another long story), I find that I prefer the life of the writer. I'm my own boss and I set my own hours. I wouldn't rule out performing again, but probably only something I've written myself. It makes sense to me. Writing was my first love, and has been a more faithful companion (and more lucrative) than my acting paramour. It feels a little odd to let that side of myself go, though. It defined me for so long that I can't say how I feel about no longer having it around. A little old, yes. But, satisfied.
Anyway, enough of my maudlin personal life – on with the Alternate History, following the limey line...

Jimmy Hoffa	In 1975, a chance discovery occurred at the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. A waitress on disposal duty discovered a napkin tucked in the leather upholstery of a dining booth. The cryptic message "THEY RULE" was written upon it. The deep indents from a ball point suggested a state of nervous tension in the writer.
Terrified the waitress travelled to her Detroit suburb home, said nothing. Scared. Very scared. She was aware that on the previous day, Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa had disappeared from the parking lot of the restaurant. Realised that the production of the napkin could raise questions about her part in the event. Worried how the Police could have missed it, worried they might believe the napkin was actually passed to her directly. Knew that Hoffa had worked tirelessly for the labour movement. Went to bed and stared at the ceiling for most of the night. Suffered a dreadful dream in which Hoffa was sitting dead in the dining booth, looked up from the menu, said “They rule, you know?”. Woke up and ran to the wash room, stomach convulsing. Sick. Very sick.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1957, Sir Winston Churchill died in his London home at Hyde Park Gate at the age of 82. His wife Lady Clementine Churchill and other members of the family were at his bedside. His political career began as a Conservative MP for Oldham in 1900 - but he became disaffected and joined the Liberals in 1906. He was First Lord of the Admiralty during World War I - but shortly afterwards switched sides again, to rejoin the Conservatives in 1924. Much to his own surprise, he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer in Stanley Baldwin's government, ordering the disastrous return to the Gold Standard. He came into his own during World War II. He became prime minister in May 1940. His ceaseless energy, unflinching determination to beat the enemy and an ability to make great speeches, inspired the entire nation and eventually helped win the war. He retained power in 1945 after a surprise general election result brought the Conservatives Party to government. During the election, Churchill pledged that he would "not preside over the dissolution of His Majesty's Empire". Shortly thereafter, Churchill announced that it time was to put a stop to all the nonsense spread by that half-naked fakir and followers, dissolving the Indian Congress and gaoling Gandhi, Nehru, Vinoba and many others. Indians were then expelled from positions in the Civil Service and critical industries. The expense of these draconian measures caused a run on the pound and an economic crisis that forced the British to quit the Raj. Unable to accept that Gandhi could defeat him where Hitler failed he retreated into alcohol. Failing health forced Churchill to step down as Prime Minister in 1955. He continued as a backbencher until his death, an increasingly isolated figure speaking out against Harold Macmillan's Winds of Change policy. ~ alternate obituary from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to re-examine the significance of a controversial historical figure.

In 1994, newly elected Labour Leader Bryan Gould attended a most distasteful dining appointment at the Granita restaurant in Islington, London. His guest was the so-called arch-moderniser representive Prince of Darkness Peter Mandelson. Gould explained his plans for New Labour, a return to a values-based agent of change for the Country. He also indicated that he saw no role for either the perenially upbeat lawyer Tony Blair or "son of the manse" Gordon Brown. Or indeed Blair's wife, who had until recently entertained a fantasy she would be a First Lady. Of course that was if her husband won the Leadership election as was widely anticipated. This policy-before-presentation leadership style was in sharp contrast to his predecessors John Smith and Neil Kinnock. In order to give a fresh vitality to Labour's image, both former Leaders had paraded the Blair-Brown duo on television since the mid-1980s. Privately, Gould felt threatened by the arch-modernisers right up until they were expelled from the party in 1999, as a result of the outcry created by the documentary the "Blair Witch Project".

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

In 2009, the TV networks presented episode twenty of So What If?. Historian Michael Orgill examines General Douglas MacArthur's invasion of China against orders and how he later set himself up as US dictator.

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

Eddie Cochran	That guitar's fine looking man woh it's something else ~ Lyrics to “Something Else” - Click to Play Sample
Master or servant?

Cochran describing the incredible powers of his favourite instrument, the Gretsch 6120 electric guitar. On the night of Saturday April 16, 1960, at about 11:50 p.m. while on tour in the United Kingdom, Cochran died in a traffic accident in a taxi travelling through Chippenham, Wiltshire, England on the A4. He was 21. The taxi crashed into a lamp post on Rowden Hill. There was no other car involved. A plaque erected there shows the actual spot. He was taken to St. Martin's Hospital, Bath, but died at 4:10 p.m. the following day. Songwriter Sharon Sheeley (Cochran's fiancée) and singer Gene Vincent survived the crash. The taxi driver, George Martin was convicted of dangerous driving, fined £50, disqualified from driving for fifteen years and sent to prison for six months. The car and other items from the crash were impounded at the local police station until a coroners' inquest could be held. At that time, David Harman, later known as Dave Dee of the band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, was a police cadet at the station, and taught himself to play guitar on Eddie's impounded Gretsch. An unknown rock 'n' roll fan called Mark Feld had carried the same guitar to the limo from a London gig the night before. Feld later changed his name to Marc Bolan and became one of the stars of the British Glam Rock scene of the 1970s. Marc Bolan also died in a car crash in 1977. The full lyrics are available at A1 Tracks

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

South Island	In 1512, at Te Whenua o Te Potiki-Tautahi (Christchurch, NZ) a Ngai Tahu chief performed certain rituals to connect to the Mesh, that global network of First Nation consciousness founded in Manna-hata, Turtle Island in 1492. In so doing, the south island of Te Wai Pounamu became a sub-node of the Dreamtime, the 40,000 Aboriginal ..
.. civilization on the mainland continent known to the European tourist as Australia.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1945, Pierre Laval, fugitive former leader of Vichy France, slipped through patrols by Allied soldiers in Austria to escape Europe. He fled to Argentina where he was assisted by Kameradenwerk (German for "comrade work"), the secret organization of former SS and Nazi officers formed after World War II.	Pierre Laval
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Idlewild	In 1948, at Idlewild Field, New York International Airport was dedicated. The Airport was later renamed Ronald Reagan International Airport after John Hinckley, assassinated the Gipper in 1981.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1964, Ranger 7 sent back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes. Regrettably the images did not reveal the space/time disturbance on the southern Sea of Tranquillity. Five years later the vortex was to send the Apollo 11 mission back ..	Ranger 7
.. through time to the night before the Battle of Tours. Commander Neil Armstrong was less worried that the in-craft time device was reporting 9th October 732; of greater concern was the sight of Frankish and Burgundian troops about to decamp with their heads down in abject defeat. The following day these soldiers must put a final stop to the Arab invasion of Europe, without which, there would be no Western Europe and no America!
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Bad News In The War

The state of TIAH

May 6th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: We have an additional Guest Historian today, Jake Dominguez. Professor Jake has contributed to many of our contests before, and we are happy to see that he is still keeping his hand in.

in 1891, 'Sockless' Jerry Simpson, hearing the news that Missouri's new governor doesn't wish to participate in the siege of Kansas, pulls his men away from the Missouri border and sends them north to Nebraska. He also sends a telegram of congratulations to the new governor, Arnold Morgan, and tells him that Kansas has no designs on those who honor its sovereignty. This telegram throws a pall over Governor Morgan's reception of Major Mark Wainwright, who tries to argue that Simpson's Kansas volunteers mean to spread their rebellion across the midwest, and thus endanger Missouri. Morgan shows the telegram to Wainwright, saying, “Sir, this gives the lie to that rather bold declaration. I mean to make peace with my neighbors.” Wainwright leaves the meeting downhearted, seeing the chances of the Union to win this war dwindling away.

at the start of the Moon When Ponies Shed by the End of the White Man's War, War Leader His-Horse-Is-Crazy of the Ogala Lakota accepts the surrender of General George Crook at Forest Canyons, Nebraska. The white man's camp, while well-armed and filled with warriors, had been suffering over the long winter by lack of food and water, with forage parties being neatly cut down by the Lakota besiegers. Late in the winter, the white men had begun sending unarmed parties of women and children to gather food and water, prompting His-Horse-Is-Crazy, privately amused at the cleverness of his enemy, to decree these not be harmed. However, what supplies these managed to collect were insufficient, and the white man sent messengers to ask peace before the heat began to touch the territory. At the ceremony, George Crook, clearly familiar with the customs of the Lakota, bowed in submission and presented his very long steel knife and fine flat warbonnet, decorated with gold, to the War Leader. His-Horse-Is-Crazy was touched by the gesture and ordered that all whites be fed, and provisioned with one horse for every woman-and-two-children, as well as with enough supplies for the entire band to be able to leave the territory. This was done, and the sheer number of weapons left behind was found to be enough to arm a tribe twice the size of the gathered Lakota. However, the news of the victory swelled the numbers of willing warriors from the Plains People, guaranteeing the dominance of the Ogala Lakota in the area. post by Guest Historian Jake Dominguez

in 1915, B-Movie director George O. Welles was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Through a nearly 40-year career, Welles produced over 450 motion pictures, the vast majority of which were obscure, low-budget science fiction yarns or monster thrillers. After his October 30, 1938 broadcast adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds for the CBS radio network, Welles quickly realized the potential of fantastic fictional concepts and creatures to thrill and overwhelm the populace. He quickly moved to Hollywood where he convinced RKO to fund his first and most-acclaimed cinematic 'achievement', Venusian Kane. Despite the rather pithy story of a man from another world's struggle to adapt to Earth society, the film featured a number of directorial innovations that quickly placed it among the most well-critiqued films of 1941. However, the success of the film seems to have wilted Welles' ambitions to transform Hollywood's creative process, and he soon became comfortable churning out an average of a dozen low-grade films per year for a multitude of lesser-known film studios, chief among them American-International Pictures, for whom he directed the cult classic I Was A Teenaged Biker Werewolf in 1962. Toward the end of his life, as the B-movie market dried up with the growing popularity of the expensive genre movie, Welles moved on to performing voiceover work for popular cartoons and television programs, as well as hosting the Saturday Night horror film showcase program Creature Features for a nearly 10-year stint. Welles died of a heart attack in 1985, and at his own request was memorialized only by having his image and voice inserted in the role of a doomed citizen in the then in-production Japanese film Godzilla vs. Biollante. post by Guest Historian Jake Dominguez

In 1992, Neal Stephenson published Snow Crash a cyberpunk classic which described the outbreak of a virus in an anarcho-capitalist America of the near future. The title is a geeky reference to a total software failure mode on the Apple Macintosh computer. Stephenson's genius was to imagine that ancient Sumerian language constructs could invoke such a failure in the human mind itself. So successful was the novel, that five years later, Stephenson would attend the premier of the movie.

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

In 1999, on the right shoulder of Route 5 in Center Lovell, Maine he heard the approaching roar of the engine. It was Mr Gray. Get off the road! Hide a voice screamed in the mind of the author Stephen King.

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

Joseph McCarthy	In 1947, the Tydings Committee got under way with the interview of General Dwight David Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, effectively in overall charge of the Allied forces in Western Europe on 1 May 1944 known as D Day. By way of introduction, Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy of Wisconsin read ..
.. to the committee the statement that Eisenhower had prepared the night before D Day: 'Our landings have failed and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.' Perhaps Eisenhower would like to explain the need to write such a self-admonishing note?
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1989, the British Royal household awoke to find some very unpleasant photographs in the morning report. Last night a police van had been stoned. And similar reports were coming out of the Royal capitals across Western Europe. The Goddess of Democracy had been in Hyde Park for forty-eight hours now.	Stoning a Polic..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Clement VII	In 1527, Spanish and German troops sacked Rome, ending the Renaissance. 147 Swiss Guards, including their commander, died fighting the forces of Charles V during the Sack of Rome but were unable to permit Pope Clement VII (real name Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici) to escape. The second dark ages began in Europe.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1983, the Churchill diaries were revealed as a hoax when experts examined the books and concluded that they were fake. The hoaxers had claimed to have received the diaries from England, smuggled out by Hugh Trevor-Roper. The diaries were claimed to be part of a consignment of documents recovered from an aircraft crash ..	Winston Churchi..
.. in Windsor in April 1945. However within two weeks the Churchill Diaries were revealed as being 'grotesquely superficial fakes' made on modern paper using modern ink and full of historical inaccuracies, the most obvious of which might have been the fact that the monogram on the title page read 'VC instead of 'WC' (for Winston Churchill) - even though in the old English typeface those letters looked strikingly similar. The content had been largely copied from a book of Churchill's speeches with additional 'personal' comments recorded by those who fled into exile with him in 1941.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Mexican War Begins; Death In Mason

ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE: We are holding another contest! Please send us entries for an Alternate Valentine's Day, February 14th, 2006. You may send us up to three entries for the day, and we will choose the best 10 to appear on February 14th. Enter now - deadline will be February 10th! By entering, you grant TIAH the right to electronically print your writing on February 14th, 2006, maintain your writing in our archives, and reprint your entry should we decide to reuse it in the future. TIAH only maintains full copyright over material it has originated that has been used by contestants in writing their own entries. And, another cool thing - Let us know where you are on Frappr!

January 13th, 2006

in 1000 Post-Creation, as Achazia swiftly grows to adulthood, the rebellious angels and the faithful angels attempt to reintegrate in Heaven. Gabriel, in particular, is finding it hard to take orders again, and Lucifer does not see the other rebels having it much easier. He decides to approach Yahweh about it, and see what the Creator can do to help.

in 902, the Christian zealot Lebuin kills the messenger sent to him by Rhonwen, mistress of the sea, saying, “I shall not suffer even the couriers of witches to live.” He directs his forces to the coast of Wales, where several wizards and their assistants are working feverishly to prepare Rhonwen's fortress for his arrival.

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.

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.

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.

in 1889, Mikhail von Heflin enters the town of Mason, Texas. It is during his brief stay here that he is given the vision of his descendants’ future by Sarah and John Thompson from their vantage points at either end of the universe. While there are forces at work in the town of Mason that attempt to prevent him, he knows that he must reach Karen and Jedediah Thompson before they have a chance to move to the town of Beaumont.

in 1904, the earth-born Mlosh Ambassador of the Congress of Nations, Li’Kanto’Mk, meets with his counterpart from the ships that have journeyed from the Mlosh homeworld. Ji’Mish’Miko, the alien representative, does not seem to be a Mlosh – his appearance is vastly different from the Mlosh who have been on earth since 1720. Nevertheless, he greets Li’Kanto’Mk as a long-lost cousin, and extends the welcome of their homeworld to the lost Mlosh of earth.

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.

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.

in 1960, to protest the inclusion of the capitalist Brazilian representative in the League of Nations, American Ambassador Comrade Jacob Malcolm walked out of the security council meeting where the Brazilian representative was joining for the first time. Including the reactionary Brazilians instead of the man that the Soviet States considered the rightful People’s Republic representative, “encourages lawlessness among the nations of the earth. Even the most reactionary of governments must recognize the rightness of the Soviet States’ position,” Comrade Malcolm said.

in 1969, after the cat sent through to their past selves returns with a collar, Schoemann and Yassin begin to theorize that they are able to create branching timelines with their device. This is much preferable to being able to change their own past, since their existence would not be threatened by changes in the past. They inform their neo-Nazi benefactors that the machine should be ready for human testing.

in 2005, Jeanna Best, a native of Austin, Texas, shows some notes on her U.S. Representative, Carl Worthington, to her friend Dave Lange. In several appearances, he is seen making a “clawing” gesture with his thumb, index and middle finger towards certain people, and he does so fairly consistently. Lange has been researching some material on the people that Worthington is “clawing” towards, and the pair begin wondering if they have stumbled onto something strange.

Timelines in today's post: the Fall, the Wizards of Wales, the Chinese Empire, the Mlosh, von Heflin, the GZR, and Communist America.

Yet another AHN - today's post has something a little different about it. There are links to the real timeline source of 4 alternate entries and at the bottom of the post you will find links to the ongoing timelines that are written about in this post. This is extraordinarily time-consuming, so give us some comments about it to let us know if you would like us to continue doing that.

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!

The Forum lives again! My esteemed Co-Historian has brought the forum back to life, and in spite of the issues we've had with the forum in the past, we think that this time, it'll stay up!
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

Help the Alternate Historian get a better day job!
My email address for contacting me with your good news, or for more direct goodness, go to the web site and leave a comment, buy a book, or leave a Paypal donation! Remember, it's only 6 degrees of separation between you and anyone else - and thanks again!

Yeshua ben-Yusuph; Best Plays Vietnam

READ OUR CHRISTMAS DAY CONTEST WINNERS TOMORROW! Congratulations to our winners - Dante Ojeda, Nathaniel Engelsen, Heather Pilcher and XJ. Look for their alternate Christmas Day tomorrow!

December 24th, 2005

in 47,392 BCE, Telka and her great-granddaughter Swikolay reach the mountains of the Himalayas. The two slay many animals over the next week, and tan their hides into furs that they can wear. They start up the mountain as the years turns, and Telka tells Swikolay, “This mountain will allow us to touch the sky.”

in 753 AUC, a young Hebrew couple, the woman heavy with child, were given shelter in an inn in Bethlehem. The innkeeper, whose wife had just had a baby, took pity on them and gave them his finest room free of charge. When the woman died during childbirth the next morning, the husband took the young child to the east with 3 men who had apparently come to pay homage to the child because of a prophecy. This child grew up to be the great east philosopher Yeshua ben-Yusuph, whose speeches and writings became a bridge between Roman culture of the west and the Asian cultures of the east.

in 1802, a Signore Tolman, was permitted into the presence of Emperor Buonaparte of Italy to inform him of a grave disaster he could foresee with mystic powers. The emperor listened half-heartedly at first, but gave the man greater attention when he showed that he could disappear and reappear at will. Emperor Buonaparte sent his armies to the German north at the stranger’s request.

in 1814, the Treaty of Ghent brought peace between Canada and Great Britain after 2 years of war. Canada kept the formerly American colony of Maine by virtue of having troops all over it, and Great Britain paid restitution for the burning of the new Canadian capitol at Ottawa.

in 1865, the Ku Klux Klan was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee, by former Confederate soldiers unwilling to accept defeat. The racist organization was, oddly enough, responsible for keeping America from falling under the influence of the pro-Nazi American Bund during the 20th century because it forbade its members from allying with foreign powers.

in 1905, star-maker Howard Hughes was born in Houston, Texas. Although his family business was in the tool industry, Hughes saw his fortune in Hollywood, and with his acquisition of RKO Pictures in 1948, gave up all interest in virtually every other pursuit. Under his direction, RKO made some of the greatest classics in Hollywood’s history, such as Spartacus, The Godfather, and Star Wars. Hughes, who hated flying, died in a plane crash on his way home to his native Houston in 1982.

in 1952, Congress is unable to override President Truman's veto of the McCarren-Walter Act. Truman's characterization of the act as “inhumane” evoked the image of all the Jews turned away from America who went back to their deaths at the hands of the Nazis, and scuttled any chance the bill had of being enacted. This led to charges from the Republicans of being soft on Communism, but even incoming President Eisenhower agreed with Truman, having seen what happened to the Jews in Europe because of bad immigration policy.

in 1970, Bartholomew Thompson, direct descendent of Mikhail von Heflin, is born in Bryan, Texas. Although all four of his older siblings were aware of their lineage fairly early in life, Thompson didn’t find out until meeting with the Baron in 1996. Their introduction to each other at the science fiction convention Aggiecon proved pivotal for the both of them.

in 1972, international superstar Pete Best makes a controversial decision to perform for American troops fighting in Vietnam. Although he is derided as a sellout by the anti-war movement, the performance endears him to American troops everywhere. Best eventually mends the fence with the peaceniks with his album Goodwill Towards Men, released the following Christmas.

in 1994, Algerian extremists hijack a French plane and fly it to Paris, where they blow up the plane, killing all the passengers on board. The horrific spectacle prompts governments around the world to institute new security procedures in their airports. Scarily, this catches many other groups that were planning similar attacks over the next few years, including five groups in the United States who had planned on using large planes as missiles.

in 2003, a horrible crack opens in the earth surrounding London. Fires shooting up a hundred feet prevent the population from leaving by car or on foot – even airplanes find it hard to take off and fly through the geysers of fire. Pope Righteous I commands his Holy British troops to begin their march on Jerusalem.

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!

The Forum lives again! My esteemed Co-Historian has brought the forum back to life, and in spite of the issues we've had with the forum in the past, we think that this time, it'll stay up!
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

Help the Alternate Historian get a better day job!
My email address for contacting me with your good news, or for more direct goodness, go to the web site and leave a comment, buy a book, or leave a Paypal donation! Remember, it's only 6 degrees of separation between you and anyone else - and thanks again!

Melville's Moby Dick; Violence In Puerto Rico

November 14th, 2005

in 4004 BCE, the Presence isolated a small group of people in the middle east and began indoctrinating them with the values of the main galactic civilization. The people, known as Hebrews, were converted from a polytheistic religion to a monotheistic one, and many confusing dietary and cultural restrictions were placed on them.

in 1851, Herman Melville, a citizen of the North American Confederation, publishes what becomes a literary masterpiece, Moby Dick, a fantastical tale of his adventures in the N.A.C. merchant space navy. In particular, it tells of the hunting of a genetically modified whale on the seas of Mars' north pole, and the obsession of his captain in capturing it. It has remained a gripping read throughout the years.

in 1890, as the sun rises on the stark Utah wilderness, Colonel Beauregard T. Jackson resigns himself to his death, and determines to face it as a gentleman and a soldier. Walking straight and proud, he is brought to a pit and pushed inside. Rebel Mormon Charles Brigman and 5 of his band ring the pit, guns pointed at Jackson. Just before Brigman gives the order to fire, a troop of federal soldiers led by Corporal Jeremiah Massey falls upon the Mormons and captures them. Colonel Jackson looks up from the pit into Corporal Massey's smiling face and says, “Nicely timed, sir.”

in 1919, Hollywood bombshell Constance Keane was born in Brooklyn, New York. Although her beauty captivated audiences in the 30’s and 40’s, the dearth of her film roles at the end of the 1940’s proved that Hollywood’s love for blondes was fickle at best. Her career was essentially over after 1951, and she died in 1973 of hepatitis.

in 1951, in an effort to destabilize Soviet American control of the hemisphere, Russia begins giving economic and military aid to the communist nation of Nicaragua. Nicaraguan leaders had expressed a desire to become independent of Soviet support, and many in the capitalist world were all too happy to attempt to wean them from the Americans.

in 1964, G. Edward Wier, the Texas Impresario, is born in Madisonville, Texas. Wier had been struggling with a writing career in his twenties when he turned to the other side of business in 1993. His work as an agent helped launch the careers of such notable literary luminaries as Charles Pitman, Oscar Rodriquez and Martha Boll, establishing central Texas as a literary Mecca.

in 1979, President Jimmy Carter of the U.S. froze all Iranian assets in America and American-controlled banks. This bargaining chip was what allowed him to negotiate the release of the 63 American hostages that Iranian students had taken at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The release of these hostages in mid-1980 guaranteed Carter’s reelection.

in 1993, the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico, long a hotbed of sedition, erupts in violent confrontations with American troops there to keep the peace. The citizens of the island had held a referendum approving independence, but the U.S. didn't recognize the results. This battle between the small island nation and the superpower was the final chapter in Puerto Rico's long road to freedom.

in 2002, Professor Thomas and Air Force Captain Trent Laughlin find another inhabitant of the robot ship they are hurtling towards the center of the galaxy inside. This small creature seems to like Captain Laughlin, and spends much of its time rubbing against the Captain's leg. Laughlin finds it oddly soothing.

in 2004, Chelsea Perkins has her first meeting with the danger facing her; at the Great Tree, she enters into a trance as part of a lesson, and Elsbeth Danwich contacts her mentally. Danwich offers young Miss Perkins a chance to forgo the hard work of learning the ancient crafts, and simply join up. Miss Perkins, though highly tempted, refuses, and pops out of the trance to find her father trying to revive her from a deep coma.

Christmas Day Contest! Following up on our Halloween contest, you can enter our next contest, which will be alternate histories for Christmas Day, December 25th, 2005. The same rules will apply, the top ten entries will be posted on that day, and by entering, you grant TIAH the right to electronically print your writing on October 31st, 2005, maintain your writing in our archives, and reprint your entry should we decide to reuse it in the future. TIAH only maintains full copyright over material it has originated that has been used by contestants in writing their own entries. Enter early and often - entries must be received by December 20th, 2005! Email us up to 3 entries of your best alternate Christmas Days!

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 not working for now - Forum has been hacked! We're working on getting it back, and will let you know once it's back up.
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

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Christmas Eve

December 24th, 2004

in 47,392 BCE, Telka and her great-granddaughter Swikolay reach the mountains of the Himalayas. The two slay many animals over the next week, and tan their hides into furs that they can wear. They start up the mountain as the years turns, and Telka tells Swikolay, “This mountain will allow us to touch the sky.”

in 0, a young Hebrew couple, the woman heavy with child, were given shelter in an inn in Bethlehem. The innkeeper, whose wife had just had a baby, took pity on them and gave them his finest room free of charge.

in 1802, a Signore Tolman, was permitted into the presence of Emperor Buonaparte of Italy to inform him of a grave disaster he could foresee with mystic powers. The emperor listened half-heartedly at first, but gave the man greater attention when he showed that he could disappear and reappear at will. Emperor Buonaparte sent his armies to the German north at the stranger’s request.

in 1814, the Treaty of Ghent brought peace between the United States and Great Britain. The British, once again, had gotten the raw end of the deal, and were unable to negotiate back the Canadian possessions they had lost during the war. If they had maintained their alliances with the Native Americans, it’s possible that they could have had more negotiating strength, but British arrogance towards the “savages” lost them a valuable ally.

in 1905, star-maker Howard Hughes was born in Houston, Texas. Although his family business was in the tool industry, Hughes saw his fortune in Hollywood, and with his acquisition of RKO Pictures in 1948, gave up all interest in virtually every other pursuit. Under his direction, RKO made some of the greatest classics in Hollywood’s history, such as Spartacus, The Godfather, and Star Wars. Hughes, who hated flying, died in a plane crash on his way home to his native Houston in 1982.

in 1970, Bartholomew Thompson, direct descendent of Mikhail von Heflin, is born in Bryan, Texas. Although all four of his older siblings were aware of their lineage fairly early in life, Thompson didn’t find out until meeting with the Baron in 1996. Their introduction to each other at the science fiction convention Aggiecon proved pivotal for the both of them.

in 1972, international superstar Pete Best makes a controversial decision to perform for American troops fighting in Vietnam. Although he is derided as a sellout by the anti-war movement, the performance endears him to American troops everywhere. Best eventually mends the fence with the peaceniks with his album Goodwill Towards Men, released the following Christmas.

in 2003, a horrible crack opens in the earth surrounding London. Fires shooting up a hundred feet prevent the population from leaving by car or on foot – even airplanes find it hard to take off and fly through the geysers of fire. Pope Righteous I commands his Holy British troops to begin their march on Jerusalem.


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Around The World In 81 Days; Hungary Drives Off Soviets

November 14th, 2004

in 4004 BCE, the Presence isolated a small group of people in the middle east and began indoctrinating them with the values of the main galactic civilization. The people, known as Hebrews, were converted from a polytheistic religion to a monotheistic one, and many confusing dietary and cultural restrictions were placed on them.

in 1863, Confederate soldier James Tims deserts his post in Jackson, Tennessee and heads west to Texas. Once there, he changes his name to Argus Thames and begins a dry-goods business which becomes very successful after the conclusion of the Civil War. Thames wrote in his diary that a man from the future had approached him in Jackson and told him that he was fated to die in battle if he remained in Tennessee. Although the handwriting is very hard to make out, Thames wrote the gentleman’s name down as Richard Tolman.

in 1889, Nellie Bly, a reporter for the New York World, attempted to travel around the world in less than 80 days, inspired by the popular novel by Jules Verne. With the newspaper covering her expenses, Bly hopped across the globe in one adventure after another. However, a broken ankle while she was traveling through India delayed her just enough to where she missed her deadline, arriving back at her New York embarkation point 81 days after she left.

in 1919, Hollywood bombshell Constance Keane was born in Brooklyn, New York. Although her beauty captivated audiences in the 30’s and 40’s, the dearth of her film roles at the end of the 1940’s proved that Hollywood’s love for blondes was fickle at best. Her career was essentially over after 1951, and she died in 1973 of hepatitis.

in 1951, in an effort to destabilize Soviet American control of the hemisphere, Russia begins giving economic and military aid to the communist nation of Nicaragua. Nicaraguan leaders had expressed a desire to become independent of Soviet support, and many in the capitalist world were all too happy to attempt to wean them from the Americans.

in 1956, the Soviet Union withdrew from Hungary after its disastrous attempt to crush the independence movement there led to the deaths of almost 4000 Soviet troops. The communist giant’s inability to maintain its grip on Hungary led to the loss of its influence across all of eastern Europe, and eventual collapse in 1971.

in 1979, President Jimmy Carter of the U.S. froze all Iranian assets in America and American-controlled banks. This bargaining chip was what allowed him to negotiate the release of the 63 American hostages that Iranian students had taken at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The release of these hostages in mid-1980 guaranteed Carter’s reelection.

in 1993, the U.S. commonwealth of Puerto Rico approved a referendum on statehood, prompting the island’s governor to begin negotiations in earnest with the American government to give it independence. The negotiations continue to this day; influential Puerto Ricans, despairing of America’s willingness to grant them their freedom, have organized a boycott of U.S. products throughout the Caribbean, which has finally led to the U.S. drawing up the final plans for the island’s independence.

A Milkman's Tale

Today In Alternate History

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The Announcement

Groggy Alternate Historian Says: The littlest historian has had a rough weekend, involving the escape of fluids and other horrible things from various orifices, so my night was not the most restful. So, Steve will get the whole post today – except for me reminding you to send in your alternate birthdays for me (August 14, 1965) and Steve (November 22, 1967) for our Birthday Contest!

Benny Hill	In 1973, a royal garden party at Buckingham Palace descended into farce. The comedian Benny Hill had been invited to accept the anachronistic award of Order of the British Empire. Not one to miss an opportunity for mischief, the Duke of Edinburgh asked where his milkman's outfit was.
Whereupon Mr Hill entered the Palace to change into a milkman's outfit and chased the female members of the Royal Family around the grounds of Buckingham Palace. Mary Whitehouse described the scenes as disgraceful. Many felt that perhaps the lady doth protest too much, and the scenes represented a deepest fear, secret fantasy.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1975, former President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Jimmy Hoffa was startled awake by Frank Sheeran at the two-story house at 17841 Beaverland in Detroit's tough Brightmoor neighborhood.
Jimmy Hoffa	Sheeran had some decoration worked planned for the afternoon. Lured to the Beaverland house by Sheeran, Hoffa would have his house "painted" when Sheeran fired two shots into his brain. First though, they had to met the Tralfamadorians; aliens who Kurt Vonngeut had likened to Plumber's friends.
You could say that Hoffa, Sheeran and the Tralfamadorians had divergent perspectives on death. For relaxation, Jimmy enjoyed boating trips wherein he and friends would chum the waters, shoot sharks with Thompson submachine guns and/or beat sharks to death with nail studded baseball bats. Sheeran was a professional killer whose conscience was troubled to some degree, forcing an improbably deathbed confession described by former Delaware chief deputy attorney general Charles Brandt in his book "I Heard You Paint Houses". The Tralfamadorians have the ability to experience reality in four dimensions; meaning, roughly, that they have total recall of both past and future, and they are able to randomly access any part of their lives from birth to death, at will. Able to see along the timeline of the universe, they know the exact time and place of its accidental annihilation by means of a Tralfamadorian experiment, but are powerless to prevent it. Because they believe that when a person dies, he is still alive in another time and place, they reply "So it goes" to news of a death. Consequently, they are placid in their fatalism. Even though Hoffa would die shortly after the meeting, they knew he was blissfully happy back in 1964 when he had signed the single national freight agreement, a huge breakthrough for the American labour movement. Both were simply points on the same continuum of course.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain What a glorious feelin', I'm happy again I'm laughing at clouds, so dark up above The sun's in my heart and I'm ready for love Let the stormy clouds chase everyone from the place
Gene Kelly	Come on with the rain I've a smile on my face I walk down the lane With a happy refrain Just singin', Singin' in the rain ~ Lyrics to “Singin' in the Rain” - Click to Watch Dance Scene (9mb)
Banned

Arguably the most gifted dancer of his generation, Gene Kelly was a lifelong Democratic Party supporter with strong progressive convictions, which frequently created difficulty for him as his heyday coincided with the McCarthy era in the US. In 1947, he was part of the Hollywood delegation which flew to Washington to protest at the first official hearings by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. His first wife, Betsy Blair, was suspected of being a Communist sympathiser. Under pressure from the American Legion, MGM, withdrew their offer to Blair of a part in Marty (1955). Kelly used his position on the board of directors of The Writer's Guild of America on a number of occasions to mediate disputes between unions and the Hollywood studios, and although he was frequently accused by the Right of championing the unions, he was valued by the studios as an effective mediator. His high profile status was not without a price though. Most controversially, and partly due to bad timing, Kelly was barred from probably the most popular and admired of all film musicals - Singin' in the Rain (1952). A part that was filled by Fred Astair who brought both dignity and pose to the key piece dance theme, yet may have lacked Kelly's easygoing swagger. In a very real sense, art mirrored reality with the contrasts of the two Americas of the 1950s – Kelly vs. Astair. The lyrics are available at at Stllyrics

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

In 1944, the Jet Fighters of Oberst Werner Moelders' reinvigorated Luftwaffe delay Operation Overlord long enough for the Kriegsmarine to mine the English Channel. Yet, Moelders was forced to resign - refusing to deny his Catholic faith to Vati. Disgraced, Moelders wonders if his tactical brilliance has led to a strategic blunder - sustaining the Nazi regime that would otherwise have perished.

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

In 1930, the journalist Winston Churchill published If Moltke had not won the Battle of the Marne in Scribner's Magazine. This clever reverse alternative history starts with the memorable lines - "If [Chief of Staff Helmuth von] Moltke [the Younger] after his triumphal entry into Paris had merely been the soldier, his achievements would have ended on the battlefield. It was his September Declaration... that opened the low roads of despair along which we are now marching so precipitously.".

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

In 2009, the TV networks presented episode twenty six of So What If?. Woodrow Wilson rejects Ho Chi Minh's Peace Gambit in 1919. A sanguine Uncle Ho turns to Mahatma Gandhi's teachings as the French Union struggles to suppress non-violent confrontation throughout Indochina.

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

Chocky	In 1968, the alien friend known as "Chocky" explained to Matthew Gore why his schoolwork and artistic talent had improved dramatically. Doctor Landis had described it as a "possession", but in fact Chocky's accomodation in Matthew Gore's mind was more symbiotic.
The alien force did not want to destroy the population of earth but instead help it and guide it to the stars. Chocky explained that it was primitive for current generation rocketry to break free of gravity using brute force. It made more sense to understand the force of XXX (a symbol he was unable to pict in Matthew's mind) and negate gravity rather than fight it with the wasteful power of carbon fuels. Chocky's race wanted to share this technology with humans. The trouble was powerful groups wished to tap into the amazing fund of knowledge to which Matthew Gore was now party, and what was the value of a little boy's life against such an incalculable prize? Sir William Thorbe at the Home Office was way ahead of these groups, and couldn't wait to get Matthew Gore into a secure unit under Salisbury Plain where the knowledge could be captured and put to the appropriate use.
~ variant entry by Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been used to celebrate John Wyndham's genius.

Elimina Castle	In 1482, to pass the long night of six hundred years at St. George El Mina Castle, Kwame’s brother spoke to him of African Poetry. “We pity you, your country's burning sun is nothing but a shadow, on your serene 'civilized' brow and the thought of your grandmother's hut
Brings blushes to your face that is bleached By years of humiliation and bad conscience And while you trample on the bitter red soil of Africa Let these words of anguish keep time with your restless step. Oh I am lonely so lonely here.”
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1952, on this day 33rd US President Harry S Truman received an unpleasant surprise on the stump. Actually, it was to result in his very salvation. Truman was asked to clarify three points by a particular incisive line of questioning at a Town Hall meeting in California.	Harry S Truman
a) On what basis would nuclear weapons be used in the future b) Did he not agree that by using nuclear weapons in Asia, he had demonstrated US reluctance to sustain combat casualties that Communist nations would consider acceptable c) In conclusion had he not condemned Asia to interminable lands wars in which American commitment was less than decisive. Privately, Truman regretted his decision to approve the use of nuclear weapons, on the basis of Pandora's Box logic. He had legitimised the use of the super weapon, and should General MacArthur be elected, and not him, then surely massive nuclear action could follow in Korea and Manchuria.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Rasputin	In 1917, the magician Grigory Rasputin met with the nest of vampires in Paris. You could say he was triple-dealing. Formally, he was the Tsar's representative for release negotiations for Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich who was being held hostage. Privately, he had collusively arranged the abduction because his agenda also required ..
.. the Peace Conference to announce a Free Vampire State of Transylvania, a condition for the Tsarevich's release. And finally, he had another motive. Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna was looking for an excuse to be turned, and in a moment of bed-chamber weakness, Rasputin had agreed to set-up a pretext for that exigency.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1945, on this day at 8.15 am B-29 Enola Gay, piloted and commanded by 509th Composite Group commander Colonel Paul Tibbets drops the nuclear bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. Enola Gay turns around to head back to North Field, an airbase on Tinian in the West Pacific. The crew observe a huge mushroom cloud forming ..	Hiroshima
.. over the destroyed city. The cloud continues to expand. 250 km off the coast of Japan, the cloud is still expanding in their direction. They radio North Field for further instructions. Inside the deepest recesses of Colonel Paul Tibbets disciplined military mind, the most dreadful suspicion starts to take shape.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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	In 1952, His Majesty, King George VI, died peacefully in his sleep at Rideau Hall. The official announcement from Ottawa, given at 05:45 EST, said the King retired in his usual health, but passed away in his sleep and was found dead in bed at 0230 EST by a Governor's servant. He was 56, and was known to have been suffering from a worsening lung condition.
King George VI

Princess Elizabeth, immediately became Queen at the age of only 25. She had been informed of her father's death, and is preparing to return to Ottawa, but a thunderstorm had delayed the departure of her plane. She was expected back the following afternoon, when to take the Royal Oath which will seal her accession to the throne. The British Government-in-Exile met during the morning as soon as the Prime Minister, Lord Halifax was informed of the news, to discuss the constitutional implications. Before Cabinet Ministers adjourned, Halifax offered their condolences, saying, 'We cannot at this moment do more than record the spontaneous expression of grief.' As the news of the King's death spread, all cinemas and theatres closed in Canada, and BBC programmes were cancelled except for news bulletins. Flags in every town were at half-mast, and sports fixtures were cancelled. Despite the cold weather, a crowd began to gather outside Rideau Hall during the afternoon, as diplomats from around the world arrived in official cars to write their condolences in the visitors' book. The King had suffered a coronary thrombosis - a fatal blood clot to the heart - soon after falling asleep. He was also revealed to have been suffering from lung cancer. He had always been a frail, nervous man, and had not expected to become King: but he was catapulted onto the throne by the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII. Three years later, he was leading the country through the Second World War. His steadfastness won him the hearts of the people, most notably when he and his wife and Queen, Elizabeth (who became the Queen Mother on his death), insisted on sharing the dangers of the Battle of Britain with the people of London. The Royal Family's decision to quit England was taken only after it became clear that Operation Sealion would succeed. However, the stressful nature of his accession to the throne, and the particularly traumatic times through which he led the country left him physically exhausted, and are thought to have contributed to his failing health and his early death. The decision by his brother Edward VIII to lead a Nazi client government in London was a major cause of concern, as was Winston Churchill's decision to flee to the Falklands Islands with the remnants of the Royal Navy.

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An act of compulsory repatriation was signed into law by Queen Elizabeth. Bowing to pressure 'to send them [the Africans] back home', the monarch confessed to Ministers that she had been more than a little annoyed by their unwelcome prescence in England. Action was required now, before 1596 was out.

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In 1840, by signing the Treaty of Waitangi Maori chiefs force representatives of the British Crown to permanently withdraw the Royal Navy from the total exclusion zone of 200 nautical miles around the North Island. A British apologist, James Busby, had earlier tried to convinced some 35 of these chiefs to declare independence as the Confederation of the United Tribes of New Zealand but they rejected the degenerate concept of sovereignty. Like many First Nations the Maori were semi-nomadic, arriving from Eastern Polynesian Islands cAD800. They understood fully the unity of time and space in the Dreamtime.

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In 47,371 BCE, Swikolay leaves Kilimanjaro behind her and tells her descendants, I don't believe that this mountain will touch the sky. Together, my children, you will create a way to fulfill this dream.

In 1914, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien began working on the Middle-earth stories. A good deal was written while Tolkien, then a British officer returned from France during World War I, was laid up in a military hospital and at home with trench fever. Truth be told, Tolkien's imagination was over-stimulated by the horror of the Somme. In escapist fantasy writing, Tolkien's inner hero struggled to restore his own dissipated life force.

[Tolkien] was surrounded, with few friends about him. Long he fought on, and undismayed, though he was wrapped in fire and wounded with many wounds, but at the last he was smitten to the ground by Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs [Tolkien's fear] . ~ Of the Return of the Noldor

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In 1968, Emperor Napoleon V opened the X Olympic Winter Games in Grenoble, France.

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In 1659, the English bank Montrose issued a payment to a French bank in the form of a promissory note, or cheque, the first such transaction in European banking. It bounced.

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In 1778, the hopeful American delegation to France, headed by Benjamin Franklin, failed to sign the Bourbon monarchy to a treaty. King Louis felt that the betrayal of his fellow King in Britain would set a bad example for his own citizens, leaving the colonists to their own devices. Without French assistance, American President John Jay easily convinced his fellow colonists that the revolution was unsustainable, and forged peace with Britain. Most of the American revolutionary leaders were soon fleeing to their fellows in Canada.

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In 1836, the HMS Beagle, a survey ship bound for South America, hit bad weather off the coast of Tasmania and sank with all hands. Deacon Charles Darwin, a naturalist who accompanied the voyage to examine native wildlife of the southern hemisphere, was lost along with the sailors.

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In 1935, Charles Darrow, a hobbyist from Germantown, Pennsylvania, first started selling a game he called Monopoly. The Parker Brothers company had rejected the game the year before for several design flaws; but it became a very popular game in the American northeast during the Great Depression. It ceased production during World War II and Darrow was never able to start it up again.

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In 1943, Count Galeazzo Ciano, son-in-law to Italian leader Benito Mussolini, stages a coup against Il Duce, and assumes control of the Italian government. He immediately expels the Germans from Italy, and declares his country neutral in the war raging across the world. Although Germans manage to retake some Italian territory in the north, they are left with a hostile nation on their southern border when the Allies invade France in 1944, and are unable to sustain a defense. They collapse in the autumn of 1944.

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In 1952, Elizabeth II became Queen of England upon the death of her father George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a tree house at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya with her Fulani husband, the Sultan of Sokoto.

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Ronald Reagan	In 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois. and raised through the state of Illinois well before his life in California began in 1937, when after traveling with the cubs he took a screen test and signed a seven year contract with Warner Brother Studios. During the late 1930s and early 1940s the young Reagan acted in many secondary roles and in the so-called B-movies, earning him some fame although not the celebrity other stars of the time enjoyed. Memorable roles from this time include the one of George 'The Gipper' Gipp in Knute Rockne, all American, which earned him the nickname 'The Gipper', as well as the ones in Bedtime for Bonzo and Kings Row.

But Reagan's lucky break would not come until 1945, when he was given what others would later call the chance of a lifetime, when he was given the role of George Bailey in a movie Frank Capra and Liberty Films were producing and directing, a film called 'It's a wonderful life.' Ronald Reagan was perfect for the role, and the role was perfect for him. The moving and inspiring film would nevertheless not be a hit right away, being actually considered a failure at the beginning, but with time the film would be regarded as a classic and as a staple of Christmas TV around the world. Not only would the film eventually become a classic, but it would also be the true beginning of Ronald Reagan's acting career, giving his first nomination for the academy awards as best Actor, which he would not win that year. Liberty Pictures' following Christmas story would feature Reagan as well, this time as Ebenezer Scrooge in the adaptation of Dickens' novel: A Christmas Carol, which would make Reagan an even more famous and likeable actor. It was also during this time that Reagan would meet and become friends with one of the biggest and most important figures of the Hollywood of the 1940s, Orson Welles. Although Reagan's friendship with Orson Welles would be short-lived, it was nevertheless quite beneficial for Ron Reagan's career, as it gave him the chance to star in Welles' 1946 motion picture, the Stranger, in which the Gipper played an agent of the United Nations War Crime Commission hunting down a Nazi fugitive played by Welles himself. The period would also see Reagan's entry into the political world. As head of the Screen Actors Guild for several occasions in the mid and late 1940s, he'd nearly come to blows with Senator Joe McCarthy and the House Committee of Un-American Activities, especially during the Hollywood Ten crisis and the Blacklisting of 1947. A known anti-communist, Reagan came to fiercely condemn McCarthy's Witch-hunting and his accusations of a communist infiltration in Hollywood, Reagan accusing McCarthy of being a demagogue and a fear-monger, later giving a famous speech in 1947: As a citizen, I would hesitate to see any political party outlawed on the basis of its political ideology. However, if it is proven that an organization is an agent of foreign power, or in any way not a legitimate political party-and I think the government is capable of proving that-then that is another matter. [...] but at the same time I never as a citizen want to see our country become urged, by either fear or resentment of this group, that we ever compromise with any of our democratic principles through that fear or resentment. Reagan's confrontation with McCarthy and the Senator's subsequent accusations and attacks against the President of the SAG would later be considered to have been part of the chain of events that led to McCarthy's downfall in 1953. In 1949, Ronald and his wife Jane Wyman had a fourth son, John Reagan, named after one of the Gipper's closest friends and collaborators: John Wayne. Wayne and Reagan had met in the 1940s, and had an incredible amount of things in common: they were both staunchly anti-communist and conservative, they both enjoyed the same kind of cigarettes and the same kind of movies, and that helped Reagan's career, acting in several westerns in during the 1950s, while at the same time acting sometimes in television series as a guest, a tendency that he would continue in the 1960s. In 1960, while campaigning for Jack Kennedy, Dutch Reagan met Frank Sinatra, who would also become a close friend over the years, especially due to their political likeness. When Sinatra began campaigning for the Republican Party, it is said that it had more to do with Reagan than with JFK, his policies or his death. This friendship would also give Reagan the opportunity to expand his acting career, this time in the role of Sergeant Raymond Shaw in the 1962 thriller, the Manchurian Candidate, in which Sinatra starred as Major Bennett Marco. This role gave Reagan a new nomination for the academy awards, as best supporting actor. On the political stage, Reagan would continue to support the Republican Party, campaigning for the Republican candidate for Governor in 1966, San Francisco Mayor George Christopher, who would defeat incumbent Pat Brown in November of that year. It is sometimes rumored that some Republican activists had wanted Reagan himself to run, while there are other rumors about him trying to persuade his good friend John Wayne to run for governor that year, although he would eventually decline. Later he would play one of his most memorable roles, as the neurotic, neat-freak news -writer Felix Ungar in the old classic, the Odd Couple (1968), which would come to be one of the great comedy classics of the time and Reagan's favorite role, to the point in which a re-make was almost made in 1993, before Dutch Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer. Television roles would also be part of Reagan's career in the 1950s and 1960s, including appearances in the Twilight Show in the 1959 episode 'Time Enough at last', in which Ronald plays a bank-teller who loves books but is nevertheless surrounded by people that prevent him from reading them, the story of a man who seeks salvation in the rubble of a ruined world', according to Rod Serling himself. Other appearances would include the series Bewitched and Get Smart, the latter in which he played a CHAOS agent impersonating the new boss of CONTROL, remembered for Reagan's famous and old reply: 'There you go again, 86' His vocal support for the Republican Party and Richard Nixon in 1972 would cost Reagan dearly during the Watergate years, and this combined with Jane Wyman's death in a car accident in 1974 would force him into an early retirement on December of 1974. He would nevertheless continue to act in movies in the 1970s, and politically he'd support the candidacies of Gerald Ford in 1976 and George H. Bush in 1980, although only the later would win, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter by a comfortable margin. 1978 would see Ronald Reagan in one of his last and most memorable cameos, as the mysterious Mr. Jordan in the film 'Heaven can wait', a remake of the 1943 classic of the same name. The 1980s Reagan would spend with his friends and family, although with Jane's death in 1974 and John Wayne's own death in 1979, Reagan would find the early 1980s depressing. Of course, it was a depressing decade. The economy was barely recovering; President Bush was in the middle of an international conflict with the Eastern Bloc and an even worse partisan war with the democrats and the conservative wing of the Republican Party, which would end with a democratic majority in both Houses by 1986 and the beginning of the 1986 Impeachment Crisis over the Iran-Contra affair, that led to Bush's resignation and Bob Dole's defeat to Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen in the elections of 1988. In 1994 Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer, a condition that prevented him from reassuming his acting career as he had intended ever since the early 1990s. He would nevertheless continue to make public appearances and to act in cameo roles, including small ones in Back to the Future in 1984 and The Godfather III in 1990. On October 11th of 2003, Ronald Wilson Reagan died on his sleep, being buried back at his ranch in California, and his funeral attended by thousands of fans, friends and fellow actors.

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In 1966, Comrade President Gus Hall meets with North Chilean leader Salvador Allende on a visit through South America. 'We are determined to help prevent aggression,' Comrade Hall said of his government's support of North Chile against the southern rebels. In addressing the poverty in South Chile that was helping spawn so many rebels, he said, 'We are determined to win not only military victory but victory over hunger, disease, and despair.

In 1904, in a desperate escape attempt, the Congress of Nations crew recapture their ship and beat a hasty retreat from the Mlosh system. In their rush to escape, they leave behind Ambassador Li'Kanto'Mk, who tells them to go on without him when he is taken captive by Q'B'Ton'ra.