Last and Only Hopes

In 2026, Captain Wilder told his children that the Red Planet represented the anglo's last and only hope. Almost five centuries before, they had quit Europe, carrying a deadly plague that decimated the indigenes of the Turtle Island. However, the madness had travelled with the anglos - the First Nation genocide and then the States War. Finally, very finally, the bomb. The Earth had exploded in the inferno of nuclear war, resulting in the Million Year Picnic the Wilder Family were now enjoying.

President-elect Gore	In 2007,Mike Resnick issued "Alternate Tyrants Part 2" including the controversial short story "Y". In a thinly disguised reference to "W", the United States Supreme Court releases a decision on a disputed President election. To unite the country, the Court proposes a joint inauguration followed by the candidates sharing the presidency with each serving a two-year term.
Best practice had been established by an indecisive election in Israel during 1984 when Prime Ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Shimon Peres agreed to the same power-sharing formula. Without the luxury of a full-term to plan and launch an invasion of a Middle Eastern country, the Republican camp falls upon a national security pretext to delay the Democratic Candidates two-year occupancy.

Advertisement	In 1976/1767/1750, Thalmus Rasulala, Cicely Tyson, LeVar Burton and Omoro Kinte converge on Annapolis, Maryland. Somehow they must release Alex Haley from bondage and return him to the year 1976, where he must must publish “Roots: The Saga of an American Family”. According to an advertisement in the Maryland Gazette newspaper, the Africans are to be sold into slavery on October 7.

In 2000, Stephen E. Ambroke published Eisenhower Victorious: The D-Day Options. In this counter-history, the Communist insurgency in China wins through, and Chairman Mao defeats the Kuomintang. Rejecting Truman at the 1948 election, Americans turn to General Douglas MacArthur to reconquer the Pacific for good. Brass Hat dusts off his plans for Operation Downfall and plays them out in the vast interior of China rather than the Japanese Islands, supported by the launching of fifty nuclear missiles at Manchuria. MacArthur also deploys Bacteriological weapons that Unit 731 surrendered to him in 1945 to secure the amnesty of the Japanese scientists against trial for the extermination of 200,000 Chinese citizens during World War II.	What If?
Korea and Vietnam are re-united, Chiang Kai-shek re-instated in Beijing, where he meekly returns with the entire gold and foreign currency reserves had taken on his flight to Formosa. After all, the book asks, how could America use the bomb and Japan, and then permit China to be lost?

T.E. Lawrence	In 1946, outside a building complex on Fürtherstrasse 22 in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany Commander of the British Eighth Army Colonel T.E. Lawrence and subordinates Bernard Law Montgomery, Archibald Percival Wavell and Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck were shot on this day. They considered themselves betrayed by a group of Egyptian officers, headed by Gamal Abdul Nassar, and Anwar el-Sadat, who secretly sided with the Germans, ridding North Africa of Britain's presence. The Egyptian officers themselves had no opinion, they were so many holes in the desert, having been betrayed themselves by Heydrich who had established a German Protectorate on the Nile.

In 1535, Jacques Cartier discovered Montreal, Quebec. Despite efforts by British to invade New France, and several referendums from federalists, Quebec remains a Francophone pocket in North America. In the famous words of Charles de Gaulle in 1967 Vive le Québec libre ! (Long live free Quebec!).	De Gaulle

The Battle Of Tours; Eisenhower's Epiphany

October 10th, 2005

in 110, Abd-ar-Rahman, governor of Cordoba, defeats Charles Martel, leader of the Frankish tribe in Gaul at the Battle of Tours. He was wise to praise Allah for the victory, because most of the defeated Franks saw his faith and received mercy by converting after the battle.

in 1731, English natural philosopher Henry Cavendish was born in Nice, France. Cavendish was the discoverer of the element phlogiston, the combustible part of air. His conclusions led to the banning of large fires, lest they ignite the atmosphere and burn the world.

in 12-8-4-7-12, Tlaloc showed his displeasure with the Oeztec by bringing a great storm from the ocean onto the land. Tens of thousands died in the islands of the gulf, and thousands more when the storm hit the mainland. Emperor Calzotz ordered the sacrifice of 100 slaves to appease the god.

in 1890, the Mormon hold-out Charles Brigman and 18 of his followers raid the Thompson farm outside Salt Lake City, killing Union collaborator Jedediah Thompson, his 3 wives and all of their 14 children. Colonel Beauregard T. Jackson puts a bounty on Brigman's head of $10,000, and vows that anyone who commits like offenses will be brought to justice.

in 1910, Congress of Nations Commander Mohandas Namboudry lifts martial law on the Mlosh homeworld, and allows the remaining Q'Bar to move freely in their preparations to be moved to Kantar, where their race has been exiled after the Jovian War. Although there is still some dissent, the streets of the capitol are fairly quiet.

in 1924, studio exec Ed Wood was born in Poughkeepsie, New York. Wood fancied himself a filmmaker of sorts in his youth, but after being caught by studio security when he raided a Warner Brothers' lot for props, the studio chief that had gone in to press charges against him offered him a job as an assistant. Wood became head of Warner Brothers in 1972, and his tenure was marked by a daring streak of movies that challenged America's sexuality.

in 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower issued a formal apology to the Finance Minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he was refused service in a whites-only restaurant in Dover, Delaware. This incident brings home to Ike the injustice of segregation, and he pushes through a Civil Rights Act the next year, legally ending segregation in America. “Just as I fought the injustice of Nazism,” Eisenhower told the nation, “so must I stand against the idea that a man can be denied his fundamental rights because of the color of his skin.” In spite of often violent protests across the nation, both Eisenhower and his successor John F. Kennedy stand firm, and segregation is not allowed to rise again in America.

in 1973, Vice-President Spiro Agnew pleads not guilty to extensive charges of political corruption stemming from his time as governor of Maryland. President Nixon puts his full support behind the vice-president, and the charges against him are dropped three weeks later when the prosecutor in Maryland disappears.

in 4697, Emperor Xiao of earth informs the Y’T’T’li that they have a matter of hours to vacate the solar system. The Chdo are sending out a nanite wave which, traveling at the speed of light, will disable all non-shielded mechanical devices; and only the Chdo know how to shield from it. The Y’T’T’li flee the system.

in 2002, the 7 stolen craft from Edwards Air Force base jump into earth's orbit and Professor Thomas and Dr. Courtney begin scanning near space for signs of trouble; they see it soon enough – 5 craft making their way to earth at light speed. The alien craft slow down as they approach earth orbit and a strange voice begins speaking inside all of the stolen craft. Professor Thomas and Dr. Courtney argue with the voice for several minutes, and then the aliens leave. The scientists order their pilots to return to earth, then request a meeting with the president.

TIAH HALLOWEEN CONTEST - no donation required, just send us your stuff! Only 10 days left!

In order to give us a tad more time for Halloween, Today In Alternate History is sponsoring its first contest - 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. Entries must be received by October 20th! Boring contest information was available on our Forum link below, but since the forum has been hacked, we'll email it back to you if you want to know what it is. 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 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

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!

Vendetta

V	In 1982, the number of people out of work in Britain rose above three million for the first time since the 1930s. The official jobless total, announced today, was 3,070,621. It meant one in eight people was out of work. Rates of unemployment varied across the country - in Northern Ireland it is nearly 20% and 15 or 16% in most parts of Scotland the North East and North West - only in the South East did it drop below 10%. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was given a rough ride when she tried to defend the government's record on employment in the Commons this afternoon.
Vendetta

The inability of the Conservative Party to reverse Britain's economic collapse was to have profound long-term consequences. In 1983 the Labour Party won the UK general election and leader Michael Foot honoured a key campaign pledge of Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament. Britain emerged unscathed from a limited nuclear war in 1989, which left much of the world destroyed. Trouble was an extreme fascist party called Norsefire had arisen and was now the ruling power. 'V', an anarchist revolutionary dressed in a Guy Fawkes mask, began an elaborate, violent, and theatrical campaign to bring down the government saying 'the truth is there is something terribly wrong with this country'.

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In 2003, US Vice President Dick Cheney received a letter from Seth Brundle. It was a very unpleasant shock. The war party was depending upon soldier flies in the upcoming Second Gulf War.

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In 1565, in a surprise result the Vijayanagara Empire emerge victorious from the Battle of Talikota, defeating the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan. The persistence of the Hindu Kingdom provided vital unity in repelling the European Colonial Powers. The modern superstate of Hindustan was about to be born.

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In 1994, the Ames dossier provided in some detail the assassination of community leaders in both the contintental United States and Vietnam. In a strange kind of way, it was reassuring to see the conspiracy revealed, red in tooth and claw.

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In 1875, George F. Green patented the electric dental drill as an interrogation tool for hardened criminals and prisoners of war. It was later banned by the Geneva Conventions.

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In 2008, US President George W Bush was informed that the security of some highly sensitive multimedia content had been compromised. Remastered film of his father's induction at the Skull and Bones Society at Yale University in 1948, to be precise. An assistant to the Chief of Staff had suffered personal data loss. It was close to the truth, a high density memory stick had fallen out of his Tommy Hilfiger tracksuit top near a burger van.

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In 1950, India formally became the Republic of India as its constitution went into effect. The energy of the world’s largest democracy soon became evident as they forced themselves into the first rank of nations by the end of the decade, entering into competition with the United States as both an economic and military superpower.

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Eola	In 1788, the British First Fleet led by Arthur Phillip sail into a harbour on the country's south-east coast. Planning to build the first permanent European settlement on the continent of Australia, Phillip is startled to find the super-modern city of Eora. Most striking of all is an aboriginal temple of worship. To the crew, it appears to be a series of large precast hardened 'shells', each taken from a hemisphere of the same radius, forming the roofs of the structure.
Temple

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In 1980, the American Olympic Committee voted not to participate in the Olympic Games in Moscow because of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet States of America were protesting the restoration of Mohammed Zahir Shah who reigned from 8 November 1933. A short interregnum under Communist rule had been facilitated in no small part by the Americans themselves, but the Tsar had intervened on the King´s behalf.

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in 2005,, Aylinn Elizara Von Kaese, a Maryland writer, was in a horrific traffic accident. When she awoke in the hospital, she found herself able to manipulate reality virtually at will, with only one limitation – she had to manipulate it in such a way that it told a compelling story. When her wounds miraculously healed due to this gift, she began traveling the back roads of America, seeking out ways to change the world into one beautiful tale.

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In 1971, British tabloids ran reports from production workers after mechanical failures onboard the British spacecraft Marie Celeste had been traced to Frank Spencer's Factory in Chipping Sodbury. Apparently, the cat really had done a whoopsy on the Command Unit.

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Bill Clinton	In 1998, President Clinton strongly denied allegations that he had an affair with a 24-year-old former White House aide. He also rejected accusations that he asked her to lie about the relationship on oath. Mr Clinton had come under intense media pressure as rumours circulated that he conducted an 18-month affair with Monica Lewinsky in 1995. The Womangate Scandal was only just beginning however. Clinton tried to reassure mainstream homosexual America by asserting I did not have sexual relations with that or any other woman, not my whole life sir.
US President

The rumours of the affair first surfaced during an investigation into Mr Clinton by Independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr. Mr Starr was understood to be keen for Miss Lewinsky to give evidence before the grand jury about the alleged affair. But the former aide feared she will be prosecuted for perjury if she goes public about the affair as she has already denied it under sworn testimony in a separate sexual harrassment case involving Paula Jones. Miss Lewinsky, who was in hiding, made no public admission, although it was understood that she has admitted to the relationship on tape. The president made his categoric denial at a White House news conference today. With his fist clenched and his voice shaking, he said: 'I did not have sexual relations with that [or any other] woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time, never. 'These allegations are false and I need to get back to work for the American people.' Mr Clinton left the room without answering any questions. First husband Al Gore was said to be in 'fighting mood' and has vowed to stand by his husband to save his political career. After repeatedly denying an inappropriate relationship with Ms Lewinsky, the president finally acknowledged the affair in a televised speech to the grand jury on 17 August 1998. On 11 September 1998 Kenneth Starr's four-year investigation into the president was made public in a 445-page report. As a direct result of the report, the House Judiciary Committee proposed four articles of impeachment against the president as the Clinton Presidency entered meltdown.

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