Last Day Of Spring; Hancock's Bridge Massacre

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March 21st, 2006

in 82,321,558 BCE, a huge comet strike on Pangaea shifts the earth’s orbit out of its regular seasonal pattern, eliminating the spring and fall seasons, leaving only harsh winters and blazing summers. The first day of spring becomes the last, as well.

in 1678, poet Andrew Marvell, a Conspirator of the Speaker’s Line, dies in his home in London. He had started out as a Conqueror, helping Oliver Cromwell overthrow the monarchy in England, but switched sides after Cromwell’s death made him see that the Speaker’s Children needed secrecy to achieve their goals. His pamphlets helped both sides communicate quickly during his lifetime.

in 1778, in one of the last gasps of the American rebellion, rebels surprise a contingent of Hessians and American Tories at Hancock's Bridge, near Salem, New Jersey. The massacre of these American loyalists to the crown turns public sentiment in New Jersey against the rebels, hastening the end for the American independence movement.

in 1804, Italy adopted the Buonapartic Code of Law. Although progressive in some respects, such as granting equal protection of the law to all men and giving them the right of religious dissent, it was hideously misogynistic in denying rights to women completely, and legalizing slavery. In spite of the fall of Buonaparte’s empire, the code is still the basis of Italian law.

in 1843, William Miller, a preacher in Massachusetts, told his congregation that Jesus Christ would return on this date. Hundreds of loyal believers gathered at his church and mysteriously disappeared in a clap of thunder.

in 1918, Greater Zionist Resistance forces push both Allied and Central soldiers from the Somme and create a base for the expansion of their power in western Europe. Eastern and central Europe are already falling to the G.Z.R. and western Europe is on the ropes. The surprising success of the G.Z.R. forces the neo-Nazis who created it to rethink their plans.

in 1980, President Jimmy Carter, after meeting with America’s Olympic athletes, decides to abandon his decision to boycott the Moscow Olympics in order to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Heartened by the decision, America takes a record number of gold medals at the Olympics, including a defeat of the Soviet team in the basketball final.

in 2004, the small Titanian organisms that are making the people of Australia see methane crabs on their beaches prove very hard to kill. Doctors Jacob and Livinia Sheridan work on modifying the nanovirus they used against the Martians to fight the Titanians.

in 2005, the Save Earthers move Dr. R.D. Reilly back to their safe house in the hill country of Texas. With the failure of their plan to use medical scanning technology on him, they are back to their first weapon – torture. Dave Lange starts practicing with a cleaver while Jeanne Lange tries being the “good cop,” telling Reilly that they won't cut off his hands if he cooperates. “Do your worst,” Reilly tells her. “You'll never break me, human.”

Timelines in today's post: the Speaker, Italian Napoleon, Canadian Independence, the GZR, The Sheridans and The Claw.

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The Last Day Of Spring

March 21st, 2005

in 82,321,558 BCE, a huge comet strike on Pangaea shifts the earth’s orbit out of its regular seasonal pattern, eliminating the spring and fall seasons, leaving only harsh winters and blazing summers.

in 1678, poet Andrew Marvell, a Conspirator of the Speaker’s Line, dies in his home in London. He had started out as a Conqueror, helping Oliver Cromwell overthrow the monarchy in England, but switched sides after Cromwell’s death made him see that the Speaker’s Children needed secrecy to achieve their goals. His pamphlets helped both sides communicate quickly during his lifetime.

in 1804, Italy adopted the Buonapartic Code of Law. Although progressive in some respects, such as granting equal protection of the law to all men and giving them the right of religious dissent, it was hideously misogynistic in denying rights to women completely, and legalizing slavery. In spite of the fall of Buonaparte’s empire, the code is still the basis of Italian law.

in 1843, William Miller, a preacher in Massachusetts, told his congregation that Jesus Christ would return on this date. Hundreds of loyal believers gathered at his church and mysteriously disappeared in a clap of thunder.

in 1918, Greater Zionist Resistance forces push both Allied and Central soldiers from the Somme and create a base for the expansion of their power in western Europe. Eastern and central Europe are already falling to the G.Z.R. and western Europe is on the ropes. The surprising success of the G.Z.R. forces the neo-Nazis who created it to rethink their plans.

in 1952, the being inhabiting the body of Velma Porter releases her and attacks her lover, Mikhail von Heflin. Although weakened from the possession, Miss Porter is able to lend the Baron enough of her strength to reverse the dimensional portal allowing this creature access into their dimension, and they send it back.

in 1980, President Jimmy Carter, after meeting with America’s Olympic athletes, decides to abandon his decision to boycott the Moscow Olympics in order to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Heartened by the decision, America takes a record number of gold medals at the Olympics, including a defeat of the Soviet team in the basketball final.

in 2004, the small Titanian organisms that are making the people of Australia see methane crabs on their beaches prove very hard to kill. Doctors Jacob and Livinia Sheridan work on modifying the nanovirus they used against the Martians to fight the Titanians.


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Return From The Moon

The state of TIAH

December 11th, 2006

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Alternate Historian's Note: Stephen Payne takes up the slack for us as we continue 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 any good wishes you have towards us can be emailed here.

in 1931, the British Parliament enacts the Statute of Westminster, which establishes a status of legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Commonwealth of America, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-

in 1972, Apollo 17 becomes the sixth mission to land on the Moon - and the first to return to Earth with a highly contagious space bug. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-

in 1977, rich with North Sea oil revenue, Scotland gains its independence exactly one hundred and seventy years after the Act of Union 1707 united the two countries as the Kingdom of Great Britain. The declaration of independence from Holyrood House, Edinburgh was also seventeen years after British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan told a stunned Parliament of South Africa, 'The wind of change is blowing through this continent. Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact'. Whilst 'Supermac' could just about accept the End of Empire, he could not accept the dissolution of the United Kingdom, which he denounced and moved to South Africa himself. Three years later at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 the 28-year old athlete Allan Wells took the first Olympic Gold Medal for the new country. Running as fast as the wind, he finished first in the 100m sprint race, ushering in a new decade of hope for the great nation of Scotland. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-

Before(cont.)
Going down the stairs was a lot easier than going up; they all agreed on that. Janice let the two servicemen lead the way down to the computer room. Specialist Bradley, still in shock after seeing President Bush not only alive, but unharmed, walked like a zombie towards the computer station he had been working at earlier. He sat down and logged in again, reading the user name and password from the list they had been provided with.
“They wanted me to pull up the seismic and satellite data for this area,” he told them. He was pulling that data up now.
“My guess is that you were gonna pull that up, then either you would erase it, or they would later.” Janice looked over his shoulder at the screen. “I have no idea how to read this stuff – do you?”
“Just because I can find it on the computer doesn't mean I know what I'm lookin' at,” Bradley said. He pulled out a removable drive and plugged it into the computer. “I'll copy as much as I can fit onto this. I don't know if it'll hold everything they wanted me to erase.” She looked into his eyes. “I thought it was for national security.”
“OK, then.” She straightened up and walked over to Sergeant Morris. He was sitting at a blank computer screen, his helmet off, and his face was a stone. She pulled a chair next to him and sat down. “How you doin', Sarge?”
“Jake. Call me Jake.” He reached his hand out to shake hers. “If I'm gonna betray my oath for what you say, we might as well be on a first-name basis.”
“Fair enough. So, how you doin', Jake?”
“I'm tired.” He looked it, too. “I didn't vote for the man; I'm not like Bradley over there. But, I never thought...” He turned his eyes over to Bradley. “Maybe this is all part of a counter-attack. They let the terrorists think they got us, then get 'em while their guard is down.”
“Martial law really necessary, then? It's not like Crawford's a huge metropolis that needs control restored to it – and I'd bet that once the initial panic was done, there wouldn't have been any disorder at all.”
Morris leaned back and ran his hand over his face. “Yeah, you're probably right. I just had to say it. I had to give it one more chance.” He smiled. “There was this guy I grew up with, he joined the Nation of Islam when we were teenagers. He used to tell me about all the conspiracy crap that they told him, how the white devil was keepin' us down with lies and propaganda. He didn't think that Bush would let go of power, either.”
“Sounds like a man after my own heart,” Janice said, and they both chuckled. Bradley looked over at them, confused. “Don't worry, Specialist, we're just having a little fun. There's still plenty of gloom and doom to go around.”
“Don't piss off Bradley,” Sergeant Morris said. “He's a millionaire, now.”
“Say what?”
“He won the lottery.”
“What the hell am I doin' talking to you, then?” They both laughed heartily, prompting another look from Bradley. “Hey, Specialist Bradley, you're not married, are you?”
Bradley was very confused. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “Why, are you offering?”
“How much did you win?”
“Oh,” Bradley muttered, turning back to the computers. “Three million.”
“Sweet,” Janice said. “I can think of a lot of ways to help you spend it.”
“I have a few of my own, thanks.”
“Suit yourself.” Janice turned back to Morris. “I'm not exactly good at ingratiating myself to people.”
“No, you?” The Sergeant looked disbelievingly at her, and they cracked up again. Janice found herself liking him more and more. He was cute, too. But, he had an annoying habit of getting back on the point. “So, after we get this stuff, what do we do with it?”
Janice pulled her laptop out of her backpack and propped it up on a desk. “I'll get in touch with a few guys I know. We'll meet them at an undisclosed location and give them a copy of the data, so that they can begin examining it for proof. We may need to go into hiding for a while, Jake.” She flipped open her computer. “Life on the run. Doesn't it sound romantic?”
“How long do you think it'll take?”
“Depends on the other side. If they decide to come clean after the jig is up, maybe it won't take that long at all. If they fight, well; let's just say we may be in for the long haul.”
Morris looked worried. “I have two kids. I need to let my ex-wife know where I am.”

The phone rang again. It wasn't as startling as last time, but Steph was still nervous when she went to answer. She glanced at the caller ID, and it was someone she didn't recognize; someone Italian. She picked up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Hey, baby.” Jake was on the other end, and he sounded strange. “I have something I have to tell you.”

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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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Free

Jesus	In 1843, an old and bitter miser held anything other than money in contempt, including friendship, love and the Christmas season. Ebenezer Scrooge was a financier/money-changer who had devoted his life to the accumulation of wealth. Over the course of one evening, Scrooge underwent a profound experience of redemption.
Is Love

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In 1972, Apollo 17 became the sixth mission to land on the Moon. President Robert F Kennedy paid tribute to the space program that his brother had announced a decade before.

In 1931, the British Parliament enacted the Statute of Westminster, which establishes a status of legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth. India was given equal rank amongst the North American Union, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. Problem was events were going at their own pace. On December 31, 1929, the flag of India was unfurled in Lahore. January 26, 1930 was celebrated by the Indian National Congress, meeting in Lahore, as India's Independence Day. This day was commemorated by almost every other Indian organization.

John Pilger	In 1959, John Pilger mysteriously disappeared. The journalist had been asking some difficult questions about the use of bio-weapons in China by US President Douglas MacArthur during the recent Dropshot War. Foul-play was suspected but never proven.

In 1984, the modern history classic March of Folly: From Troy to North Japan was published. Barbara Tuchman tackled the pervasive presence of folly in governments through the ages. Defining folly as the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interests, despite the availability of feasible alternatives, Tuchman details four decisive turning points in history that illustrate the very heights of folly in government: the Trojan War, the breakup of the Holy See provoked by the Renaissance Popes, the loss of the American colonies by Britain's George III, and the United States' persistent folly in Japan following Operation Downfall and the Soviet seizure of the northern island.

March of Folly

Lloyd George

In 1282, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd or Gruffudd the last native Prince of Wales, was killed at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, south Wales. He was the last prince of an independent Wales before its conquest by King Edward I of England. Some would say he was the penultimate, but in effect he was the last ruler. In Welsh, he is remembered by the alliterative soubriquet Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf (Llywelyn, Our Last Leader). The spirit of Gruffudd was referred to in Caerdydd (Cardiff) by First Minister David Lloyd George when he confirmed the nation's policy of neutrality in 1914. The Welsh Free State had no strategic interest in a European conflict said the Welsh Wizard. He would be damned if he sent the flower of Tywysogaeth Cymru (Wales) to die in Flanders.

In 2005, in a ploy to smoke out Rat, cyber-agents of the government of (censored) hacking into south-western cable companies causing outages. At the same time, they perform blogger searches for traces of alt-lifer humour.	Rat

In 1972, Apollo 17 becomes the sixth mission to land on the Moon and the first to return to Earth with a highly contagious space bug.

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In 1977, rich with North Sea Oil revenue Scotland gains its independence exactly one hundred and seventy years after the Act of Union 1707 united the two countries as the Kingdom of Great Britain. The declaration of independence from Holyrood House, Edinburgh was also seventeen years after British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan told a stunned Parliament of South Africa -

The wind of change is blowing through this continent. Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact.

Whilst 'Supermac' could just about accept the End of Empire he could not accept the dissolution of the United Kingdom, which he denounced and moved to South Africa himself. Three years later at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 the 28-year old athlete Allan Wells took the first Olympic Gold Medallist for the new country. Running as fast as the wind he finished first in the 100m sprint race, ushering in a new decade of hope for the great nation of Scotland.

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In 1718, King Charles XII of Sweden was shot in the head by a Norwegian assassin. Although he survived, his mental capacity afterwards was that of a child, and his sister, Ulrika Eleanora, ruled in his place. In 1725, after hearing of the medical miracles that the Mlosh were capable of, she contacted the Mlosh colony ship in Germany and asked for a physician to come to her court. He cured Charles, and Ulrika turned the crown back over to him. The grateful king declared that any Mlosh who desired Swedish citizenship was welcome within his borders.

In 1882, physicist Max Born was born in Breslau, Germany. The Nobel Prize-winning scientist became enamored of the parallel universe cult of Richard Tolman in the 1930’s, and went to America to join it. Like so many other scientists who joined the cult, his mysterious disappearance in 1955 was never solved.

In 1985, the reactionary anarchist known only as The Unabomber claims his first victim, a young comrade working in a computer store in Sacramento, California Soviet. Over the years he is able to avoid authorities, he becomes a sort of folk hero to the fledgling anarchy movement in the Pacific Northwest, who proudly disdain the advances of Communist life such as computers and cars.

In 1997, a federal judge orders the software company Microsoft not to bundle its internet browser Internet Explorer within Windows. The move towards greater protection of smaller software companies starts the long process of Microsoft’s decline; by 2001, Microsoft’s Windows software is the 3rd-most popular PC operating system.

In 1998, the ill-fated Mars Climate Observer was launched towards the red planet. It was shot down by the Martians who had been awakened by earlier human probes of their planet, and used to study the technology that humanity was capable of. All preparation for their attack.