Surpluses

Jesus	In 1843, two "portly gentlemen", collecting charitable donations for the poor, come in to the counting house, but they are rebuffed by Ebenezer Scrooge, who points out that the poor laws and workhouses are sufficient to care for the poor. When Scrooge is told that many would rather die than go there, he mercilessly responds, "If they would rather die ... they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."
Is Love

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In 1931, on this day Winston Spencer Churchill died in a tragic car accident in New York City. Churchill had taken a taxi from Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to Bernard Baruch's home on 5th Avenue. Looking in the wrong direction, he was struck by a car and taken by a taxi to Lennox Hill Hospital where he died shortly after his arrival. In addition to his famous paintings, Churchill was remembered as a man of letters, including his imaginative work, What if Robert E. Lee had not won the Battle of Gettysburg?

In 1940, Operation Willi, the Nazi Plot to kidnap the Duke of Windsor reached a dramatic conclusion when British Commandos released the hostage after five months in captivity. The plot originated with Nazi foreign minister Ribbentrop, who convinced Hitler that the Duke of Windsor lost his throne because of his pro-German sympathies and would be delighted to recover it through collaboration with the Nazis. The plan was to lure the Duke to Spain, invite him to collaborate, offer to restore him to the throne of England and ask the Spanish government to imprison him if he refused. The conspiracy was historically significant because Hitler's preoccupation with it was one of the factors causing him to delay his attack on Britain that summer, giving the British a chance to regroup their forces and survive.

Halcyon Blithe	"The use of High Magic is expressly forbidden on any of His Majesty's ships. If any officer, mariner or soldier, or other aforesaid uses High Magic on board His Majesty's ship, every such person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court-martial, shall be punished with death, or such other punishment as the nature and degree of the offense shall deserve and the court-martial shall impose."~ His Majesty's Articles of War In 1992, Robert K. Massie published Dragonfrigate. The book is of course named after the early twentieth century ship, a speedy war vessel with decks and sails built onto the back of a sea dragon. Much more than this, the book describes the naval rivalry between Britain and Germany after the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, highlighting this as one of the major tensions that led to WW I. In a dramatic climax, Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe saves the British Grand Fleet from destruction at the Battle of Jutland. Having broken His Majesty's Articles of War, Blithe discovered a German spy placing live ammunition inside the fiery heart of the sea dragon just in time to prevent the explosion of the British flagship.
Midshipwizard

George W Bush

In 2003, in a dishevelled state George W. Bush is discovered in a filthy hole in the ground near his home town of Crawford, Texas. Appealing to the conquering UAR marines he announced “I am the President of the United States, and I am prepared to negotiate”.

In 2003, on this day the compendium “A Collection of Political Counterfactuals” was published. Simon Burns' masterful sequel "What if Giuseppe Zangara had missed?" was a keynote contribution, considering the scenario of February 15, 1933 (one month before being sworn in for his first term in office): In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara fired five shots at Roosevelt's motorcade. Four people were wounded and the mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak, was killed. Zangara was found guilty of murder and was executed March 20. Many researchers believe Cermak, not Roosevelt, was the intended target that day, as the mayor was a staunch foe of Al Capone's Chicago mob organization. The result is shocking. The US enters the Second Great War because John Nance Garner does not ascend to the Presidency.

John Nance Garner

Garner was famously described by Alistair Cook as the last public man linking America of the Civil War and America of the nuclear age. Cooke was referring to the fact that Garner was born in 1868, the son of a former Confederate cavalry trooper. His unique understanding of American history enabled Cactus Jack to steer the isolationist nation clear of the tragedy of the Second Great War.

Gore

In 2000, American Vice President Al Gore delivered his concession speech officially ending his hopes of becoming the 43rd President of the United States. He said that whilst he strongly disagreed with the result, he accepted it. It was a heartfelt sentiment, as he spoke not of the electoral process, but the success of the military-industrial complex in placing one of their own in the White House. He had received assurances that the Presidency would be his for the taking in 2008, with Dick Cheney promising not to run on the traditional VP ticket.

In 2002, the enlargement of the Warsaw Pact continues with the announcement that Britain, France, Western Germany, Western Austria, Belgium, Luxemburg, Holland and Spain would become members from May 1, 2004. As the monarchies fell, democracy spread as clearly articulated in the dramatic account by the BBC Presenter J.M. Roberts in the series The Triumph of the East.	Triumph of the East

In 2003, on this day the compendium “A Collection of Political Counterfactuals” was published. Simon Burns' masterful sequel "What if Giuseppe Zangara had missed?" was a keynote contribution, considering the scenario of February 15, 1933 (one month before being sworn in for his first term in office): In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara fired five shots at Roosevelt's motorcade. Four people were wounded and the mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak, was killed. Zangara was found guilty of murder and was executed March 20. Many researchers believe Cermak, not Roosevelt, was the intended target that day, as the mayor was a staunch foe of Al Capone's Chicago mob organization. The result is shocking. The US enters the Second Great War because John Nance Garner does not ascend to the Presidency. Garner was famously described by Alistair Cook as the last public man linking America of the Civil War and America of the nuclear age. Cooke was referring to the fact that Garner was born in 1868, the son of a former Confederate cavalry trooper. His unique understanding of American history enabled Cactus Jack to steer the isolationist nation clear of the tragedy of the Second Great War.

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In 2003, Operation Red Dawn is declared a success when former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is arrested by US Marines who discover him in a dishevelled state in a filthy hole in the ground near his home town of Tikrit. Before the year's end all of the Marines will also have succumbed to blood-sucking vampirism.

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In 2000, American Vice President Al Gore delivers his unity speech in which he confirms his intention to become the joint 43rd President of the United States, sharing two two-year terms with candidate George Walker Bush whilst he occupies the Senate Presidency as agreed. This was originally intended to prevent Gore disappearing into obscurity, but in fact created a two year feud that tore the country to pieces as the two candidates fought tooth and nail over 9/11 and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush sought to prove that the previous administration had been weak on al-Qaeda. Also, he said Clinton/Gore had rejected proposals for airline security back in the late 1990s, such as routine passenger inspections and secure cabin doors on commercial aircrafts which would have prevented 9/11. Bush said the Presidency was “a charge to keep”; when January 2003 arrived, how could Bush handover the Presidency to this man?

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In 1996, Kofi Annan is elected Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN). Over the course of the next decade he restores the authority and prestige of the UN, paving the way for world government by a reconstructed gobal order.

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In 1996, Kofi Annan is elected Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN). Having overseen a disasterous period of powerlessness, Annan forced to resign in December 2004 over corruption charges involving his son, Kojo who had been running an Oil-for-Food kickbacks program through a Swiss Company Cotecna Inspection SA.

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Kofi Annan	In 1996, Kofi Annan is elected Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN). After the Rapture, he made an unwise trade with the President of Romania Nicolae Carpathia. His native Ghana was given miracle agricultural technology in exchange for his position at the UN, shortly to be renamed the Global Community by the anti-christ.
UN Sec Gen

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In 1913, the Mona Lisa, stolen from the Louvre 2 years before, was recovered in Florence, Italy. Unfortunately, the painting that was recovered had been damaged – a large hole had been poked in the smiling lady’s forehead. It was patched, but has never been quite the same.

Red Dawn

The state of TIAH

December 13th, 2006

Digg this

Alternate Historian's Note: Stephen Payne takes up the slack for us as we head down to the conclusion of the first half of our NaNoWriMo novel. We hope you are enjoying this change in format – let us know how you feel about it in comments or by emailing us. This will be the format of TIAH throughout the holiday season, unless we receive a great outcry about it. Speaking of the Holiday Season, keep in mind those who need help year-round and keep yourselves safe and happy, as well. And, should you feel generous inclinations towards our guest historians, you can visit the sites of those who have separate ones from TIAH; generosity towards us here at the Academy is always appreciated, too, and you can find ways to help us out all over the site. Right now, we'd appreciate a lead on a good day job, but my lovely Co-Historian could also use some more memory on her PC, if anyone feels generously inclined. (It's PC133-style – yes, it's an old machine). Any good wishes you have towards us can be emailed here.

in 1996, Kofi Annan is elected Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN). Over the course of the next decade he restores the authority and prestige of the UN, paving the way for world government by a reconstructed organisation in the post-jihad society. A statue of Annan guards the front of the buildings where the Peace and Reconciliation Committee met between 2124-6. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-

in 2000, American Vice President Al Gore delivers his unity speech in which he confirms his intention to become the joint 43rd President of the United States, sharing two two-year terms with candidate George Walker Bush whilst he occupies the Senate Presidency as agreed. This was originally intended to prevent Gore disappearing into obscurity, but in fact created a two year feud that tore the country to pieces as the two candidates fought tooth and nail over 9/11 and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush sought to prove that the previous administration had been weak on al-Qaeda. Also, he said Clinton/Gore had rejected proposals for airline security back in the late 1990s, such as routine passenger inspections and secure cabin doors on commercial aircrafts which would have prevented 9/11. Bush said the Presidency was “a charge to keep”; when January 2003 arrived, how could Bush hand over the Presidency to this man? -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-

in 2003, Operation Red Dawn is declared a success when former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is arrested by US Marines who discover him in a dishevelled state in a filthy hole in the ground near his home town of Tikrit. Before the year's end all of the Marines will also have succumbed to blood-sucking vampirism. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-

Before(cont.)
They wanted Janice to leave behind her car.
She was more than a little upset about that. “This is a great car. I worked my butt off for three years to get this car.”
“And, if you wanna spend a few years in jail, you can drive it outta here.” Specialist Bradley was moving everything out of her trunk into their jeep.
“I can get out the same way I got in.” Janice was practically in tears at the thought of leaving her car behind.
“You said that took a long time.”
“I know, I know.” She looked longingly at her beloved vehicle, then went through it one last time, finding nothing else that she needed. “It better not get towed.” She climbed into the jeep and pulled the tarp they had arranged for her over her legs and chest.
Bradley loaded the last of the computer equipment into the back, arranging more cover for her. “There. I think once you have the tarp over your head, nobody'll notice you.”
Janice snorted. “My worst nightmare.”
Bradley laughed. “Just remember not to talk till we give you the all-clear. And don't move around, cause they'll see it.”
“OK, OK. You try not to act all suspicious when we hit the checkpoint.”
“I'll be all right.” He hopped into the front seat next to Sergeant Morris, who was growing increasingly impatient. “I think we got it all, Sergeant.”
“Good.” Morris zipped up his helmet and started the oxygen pump on his back. “Fasten up your suit and get it goin'. We don't want it to look like we've had these things off.”
“Right.” Bradley zipped himself up and started the suit's air supply running.
Morris fired up the jeep's engine and rolled towards the highway. “You really think this chick is still gonna be at the motel, Janice?”
“No, but we have to make sure. She's too good a witness to leave behind.” She arranged herself so that she could easily pull the tarp up over her head. “You can find the motel, right, Jake?”
“I can find anything.”
“Remind me to set you loose in my house; there's some old files I've been missing since I moved in there.”
They trundled down the road for several minutes before Morris said, “All right, Janice, get covered and don't move. And, hard as it's gonna be, don't say anything.”
“Ha, ha.”
She covered her head and tried to stay as still as possible. Morris drove the jeep for another couple of blocks and then he and Bradley saw the checkpoint out of Waco. The soldiers waved them up, and Morris pulled out his mission orders. The private standing guard was obviously uncomfortable in his hazmat suit, and didn't feel like chatting. He looked over the orders, then waved them through.
“That was easy,” Bradley said.
“We have two more to get through before we're free and clear,” Morris said. “Don't get happy.”
Janice peeked through the tarp and asked, “So, do I need to stay under here?”
“That'd be best,” Morris told her. They drove for another couple of miles, and, sure enough, ran into another checkpoint.
This soldier actually looked at their orders. “What the hell did they want with meteorology information?”
“Probably wanted to see what the blast looked like from space,” Bradley told him.
“Huh. Guess you can never tell what might be useful.” He handed the orders back to Morris and waved them through.
They hit the on-ramp to the highway and Morris hit the accelerator. “We have the one last one on the highway here, then we're good till we need to turn back around and head to Pflugerville.”
“Good.” Janice shifted a bit to make herself more comfortable, and opened the tarp a hair to let some fresh air in. It was cold air, so she closed it again. “Just let me know when I can get out from under this thing.”
“We will.” Morris looked over at Bradley for a second. “How you holdin' up, Bradley?”
“I'm fine. I'm trying to convince myself that I'm still asleep. I'll lose the lottery money, but I'll wake up and there'll be no illegal conspiracies I'm trying to bust.”
“Oh, there's always illegal conspiracies, Bradley,” Janice said. “There's always something.”

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Slaughter In Hanoi; Peace With Mars

July 3rd, 2004

in 1754, the Mlosh arbitrated a dispute between the British and French colonials in the Ohio Valley, forgoing the need for armed conflict. This lay the groundwork for their unification of much of the continent in the latter part of the century.

in 4561, in perhaps the most shocking event of the siege of Hanoi, a mixed unit of Chinese and Siamese soldiers captures a group of women and children as they are attempting to flee the city. They are all slaughtered, even the babies; no actual numbers were kept, but the estimates range as high as 300 children and 100 women. When news of the massacre reached them, General Zuo and Lord Vo declared a one-day truce on the following day to allow the bodies to be recovered and burned, and any remaining non-combatants to evacuate the city.

in 1874, Thomas Edison himself makes a house call on the Eddie running operations for the White House. The Eddie has been acting strangely, sometimes activating on its own, printing erroneous results, and making strange noises. Edison takes it apart to discover a colony of ants has made their home inside. Once the colony had been evicted, the Eddie worked fine. From that day on, strange anomalies with Eddies were called “ants”.

in 1939, Lou Gehrig, suffering from amyotropic lateral sclerosis, plays his last game of Town Ball for the New York Metros. As the fans pound out a heart-felt ovation for him, he announces to the crowd, “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”

in 1942, Emmy-winning actor Kurtwood Smith was born in Wisconsin. Smith’s career consisted mainly of playing hard-nosed, villainous types before he landed the role of President Bartlet on the hit series The West Wing. Smith’s masterful portrayal of the literate, liberal president wowed audiences across the country, and he won three Emmys in a row for Best Actor in a Drama.

in 1947, rancher Mac Brazel finds wreckage strewn across his property in Roswell, New Mexico. Several pieces are covered with a strange writing that he’s never seen before. Also, there are a couple of charred and torn bodies in the main part of the wreckage. It scares him, and he decides not to say anything about it until after the 4th of July weekend is over.

in 1971, Jim Morrison of the rock group The Doors was found in his hotel room room in Paris, apparently attempting to overdose on heroin. Genevieve Lefevre, the young chambermaid who found him, got him to a hospital and stayed by his side while he was recovering. Morrison became so enamored of her that he broke up with his longtime girlfriend, Pamela Courson, and married Ms. Lefevre in 1972.

in 2003, U.N. interpreters get a message from the Martians in the Arctic that they are ready to speak with Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Annan, reluctantly, agrees to meet with the Martian negotiators in Greenland.

The Mousy Assassin; An Invitation From The Heavens

September 5th, 2005

in 1836, William Barrett Travis, savior of the Alamo, was elected President of the Republic of Texas. Travis had been a hero of the new country since his heroic stand at the Alamo mission, where he had fended off Santa Anna long enough for Fannin’s and Houston’s men to surround and crush the Mexican forces.

in 1847, Jesse Woodson James, Missouri’s first Communist governor, was born in the state. James was captivated with President Whitman’s oratory and scouted for the union as a teenager during the Southern Rebellion. This led him into work with the state Communists, and election to the state legislature, U.S. Congress, and finally, the governorship in 1892.

in 12-13-2-13-5, Oglala Sioux chief Tashunca-uitco, killed earlier in the year against the Oueztecan Empire, is seen in a vision by his Cheyenne ally, Tatanka Iyotake, urging him to move to the north. Tatanka Iyotake moves his warriors north just before his encampment is overrun by Oueztecan soldiers; the Cheyenne chief sends a thanks to his friend’s spirit.

in 1914, the Battle of the Marne begins as French General Michel-Joseph Maunoury attacks the center of the German line. His reckless attack was due to his desire to save the French capitol of Paris from the Germans, but his straight-ahead tactic failed, and the Germans were able to push through and take Paris. It was a horrible defeat for the Allies, and completely demoralized the French.

in 1959, Li Huang-Sen wakes up from his coma, fear in his eyes, and searches through the ship for Huan Yue. She has vanished, according to everyone on board. He gazes out across the water, and sees a figure standing on the waves, silently waving at him. He collapses in tears.

in 1972, Semitic-African Resistance fighters captured and held hostage the German Olympic team at the games in Munich. The SARies held off two separate rescue attempts before being killed in a 3rd, taking all the hostages with them. They had been attempting to gain television airtime to detail to the world how their people were being systematically slaughtered, but the German Reich refused to negotiate with them.

in 1975, mousy young Hippie Lynette Fromme, known to her friends as Squeaky, shoots President Gerald Ford as he visits Sacramento, California. A Secret Service agent had seen her, but failed to register that such a harmless young woman could present a threat to the president; after she had fired twice into Ford, he tackled her and was wounded himself before he could wrestle the gun from her.

in 1996, Professor Malcolm Thomas emerges from the crashed object nursing what he fears is a massive concussion – his vision is blurred and he is barely able to walk. Dr. Melvin Courtney is in worse shape, and Professor Thomas begins walking toward the city that he sees in the distance, hoping that he can get to help before collapsing himself.

in 1997, Albanian actress Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu died in Hollywood, California. The Oscar-winner was best known for her performance as Mother Maria Elena in the holocaust drama None Shall Return, in which she played a Catholic nun who sheltered Jews against the Nazis.

in 2003, Vietnamese painter Lu Tong Dao assassinates Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, screaming to those who capture him afterwards, “He was supposed to die!” At his trial, Lu claimed that as a young man, he had seen Kerry die in Vietnam when his swift boat was blown up. The painter was sentenced to life in a mental institution.

in 2003, thousands of people across the Holy British Empire claimed to have seen the Loch Ness Monster walking across the land, heading towards London. In London, itself, many people thought they saw some kind of huge serpent slithering its way into Buckingham Cathedral. Pope Righteous’ spokesman claimed the event was mass hysteria.

in 2004, a deadly calm settled over the earth; each nation has received the broadcast from the Elders, and hope seems to have disappeared. At the U.N., Secretary-General Kofi Annan waits anxiously to meet with the representatives of the Elders that the broadcast said were going to appear. As he stands at the General Assembly’s podium, there is a flash, and a delegation that appears completely human suddenly flashes into existence. The dark-skinned woman who had made the broadcast greets Annan, telling him, “You will find that your fear is unfounded.” She then makes a speech before the assembly, broadcast to the world, in which she invites the human race to join the Galactic Brotherhood of Elder Civilizations.


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, voting for the winner is now over. Be sure to watch Sept. 9 for the winner, and watch the pilots at http://aol.com/situationcomedy

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!

Sea of Crew Cuts

	In 1999, Yehudi Menuhin died in Berlin Germany, aged 82. Following his death, tributes were made by world leaders - including the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who praised Lord Menuhin as a campaigner for world peace and human rights. Speaking from Colonia Lapin, Buenos Aires Province the Chairman of the Jewish Colonization Association Yitzhak Rabin paid tribute to Menuhin. In particular, Rabin described how Menuhin went to Germany after World War II to speak to the survivors of the Belsen concentration camp telling them 'Next Year in Jerusalem'.

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	In 1922, Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac was born on this day in Lowell, Massachusetts. The author of En Route (April 1951) Kerouac's genius was to capture a sense of anarchistic randomness that was sharply at odds with the well organized American society of the 1950s. Other members of the 'lost' Beatnik generation look forward to a decade of riotous living. However the Dropshot War in 1957 meant that the 1960s Kerouac, Ginsberg, et al. had in mind would be cancelled.

John Reilly writes ~ Collectivism triumphed. As several historians have pointed out, what we call socialism is simply the institutionalization in peacetime of the command economy measures devised by Britain and Germany to fight the First World War. These institutions would have been greatly strengthened throughout the West, but especially in the United States, by the experience of two world wars so close in occurrence. We should remember that enlightened opinion in the U.S. of the 1950s was that command economies really were superior in most was to market economies. It was universally assumed that pro-market policies could never cure underdevelopment in the Third World. Certainly the literature of the era is filled with ominous observations that the Soviet Economy was growing much faster than the U.S. economy during the same period. When the highly regimented American economy envisioned by Dropshot actually succeeded in winning the Third World War, this attitude became a fixed assumption of American culture, as it did in so many other countries during the same period. Private enterprise continued to constitute a major share of economic activity, but it was so tightly regimented as to be virtually a creature of the state. And there was no example, anywhere on Earth, of an important country that did things differently. The '60s, as we expected them, were cancelled. Partly, of course, this would have been because the country was broke. Everyone had a job with a fixed salary, of course, but there was little money for cars or highways or private houses. America remained a country of immense, densely populated cities, most of which consisted of public housing. The biggest consequence was the psychology of the younger generation. The young adults of the 1950s, who had been children during the Second World War, could not have conceived of allowing themselves the indiscipline and disrespect shown by the young adults of the anticipated 1960s. The 'Silent Generation' of the 1950s knew from their earliest experiences that the world was a dangerous place and the only way to get through it was by cooperation and conformity. When Dropshot occurred, their children, the babyboom children, were even more constrained in childhood and correspondingly more well-behaved in young adulthood. Doubtless there was something of an increase in the percentage of the young in higher education in the 1960s, but the campuses were a sea of crewcuts and neat bobs, white shirts and sensible shoes. The popular music was not memorable.

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	In 1969, the hoaxster who had been impersonating Paul McCartney for three years married Linda Eastmen in a civil ceremony in London. Hundreds of people gathered outside the Marylebone Register Office to catch a glimpse of the couple as they arrived with Miss Eastman's six-year-old daughter, Heather, from a previous marriage. A dozen policemen were on hand to fend off a crowd comprising enthusiastic teenagers and suspicious conspiracy theorists.

Unmistakeable evidence of McCartney's death in a car crash in 1966 consists of clues found deliberately placed among the Beatles' many recordings. A few of them are well known, such as the fact that McCartney is the only barefooted Beatle and is out of step with the others on the cover of Abbey Road, but others are far more obscure, such as the claim that using a mirror to bisect the words printed on the drum on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band cover shows a coded message. Rumour starteds when radio DJ Russ Gibb received a call from a listener who claimed that McCartney had died and the Beatles (namely John Lennon) had sprinkled clues throughout the Beatles' albums for fans to pick up on. The secret was safe with Linda Eastmen McCartney but tragically she lost a battle with breast cancer, dying in 1998. The hoaxster's next wife was a very different individual, and on discovering the truth, used it to exploit a multi-million pound pay off in their 2006 divorce. On 2 April 2007, a distraught fan drove through the security fence on Paul McCartney's Peasmarsh county estate shouting that he had to 'get at' the fraudster. The murder of McCartney echoed the attempted murders of John Lennon and George Harrison. The assailant was arrested after a chase through Sussex country lanes. 'Life's A B-' commented Lennon.

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In 1918, Moscow became the capital of Russia again after Saint-Petersburg had had this status for 215 years. Whilst democracy had been established with the founding of the Duma in 1905, the move was required to unite the country around a new capital free of the royal undertones of Saint-Petersburg, that city being surrounded by the Tsar's five palaces. German military planners including Von Moltke, Falkenhayn, Hindenburg and Ludendorff advised the Kaiser that Russia would be unstoppable by the year 1920.

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In 1925, in the State of Tennessee vs. John Thomas Scopes (the Scopes Trial) was about to reach a conclusion. Judge John T. Raulston ruled in favour of either the high school teacher the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible.

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1938, troops of the Austrian Chancellor Adolf Schicklgruber occupied the Weimar Republic, with annexation known as Anschluss (Union) declared the following day.

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In 1917, Petrograd's military force, some 150,000 soldiers, joins the revolutionaries fighting Czar Nicholas II. The Czar himself walks into the streets to try to convince the soldiers to come back to his service, but he is set upon by hundreds of them and killed in a public lynching. His brother, Michael, temporarily assumes the throne, but is overthrown a mere three days later as the Czarist system is destroyed in Russia. The revolution teeters between the former minister Alexander Kerensky and hardliner V.I. Lenin, leader of the Bolsheviks. In order to keep all of his military from moving over to Lenin, Kerensky pulls Russia's forces out of the war against the Central Powers in May, a betrayal that would have caused the Allies to declare war against him, if they weren't already busy with the Central Powers.

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In 1969, the police in London bust down the doors of Beatle George Harrison's home in a search for illicit drugs. Harrison, who was incensed at the police tactics, went after the sergeant in charge with a cricket bat when he found him planting drugs in the medicine cabinet in the master bathroom. Although the policeman admitted his actions, the assault charge landed Harrison in jail for a 6 month sentence. Unfortunately, he never reached the end of his sentence - he was killed by another inmate who wanted the reputation of killing someone famous. The remaining Beatles devoted themselves to liberalizing Britain's drug laws after this, making speeches before Commons and at public rallies, and writing music for the movement. Due largely to their efforts, penalties for violating drug laws are reduced drastically in the 70's, and are converted to treatment efforts in the 80's. Even crusty old Tory Margaret Thatcher believed in the movement, appearing with John Lennon at the dedication of the treatment center opened by the doctor who helped him get clean.

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In 1993, North Korea announced plans to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, refusing to allow inspectors access to nuclear sites. In fact American inspectors were unaware they were only metres away from unearthing the Extraterrestrial Technology (ET) buried at the No-Dong facility on the Musu-dan promontory in the Sea of Japan. North Korea cynically played the 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' gambit that the Americans had themselves developed for their incursions into Iraq; promulgating a well-used lie that was incredibly close to the truth

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In 1648, Spanish playwright Tirso de Molina (Gabriel Tellez) dies in his monastery in Soria, Spain. The author created the immortal character of Don Juan, a womanizer who finds new life in the Lord and gives up his sinning ways.

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Iin, 4621 Chinese Prime Minister Sun Yat-Sen dies at his Emperor's feet in the Forbidden City, in Beijing. Prime Minister Sun had given life to Emperor Chengzu's vision of the Empire's spread across space; after his death, and the Emperor's two years later, space exploration went into a temporary slump.

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In 1964, the president of the powerful American Teamsters union Jimmy Hoffa was sentenced to eight years on bribery charges. After his release, Hoffa attempted a comeback. Federal officers drugged him at the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and took him off to be painted at a nearby safe house.

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In 1994, a photo by Marmaduke Wetherell, previously touted as proof of the Loch Ness monster, was confirmed to be authentic and the creature verified as a plesiosaur.

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