The Kellogg-Briand Pact

July 24th, 2007

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The Announcement

Alternate Historian's PG13 Warning: I have a story today that has very strong language, situations and themes, so I'm not posting it on the main page, but linking to it here: http://www.geocities.com/rat4cat/tilden.html. You've been warned.

In 1941, Loose Cannon Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence held the keys to North Africa. Of course, it might have been a very different campaign but for the support of his Arab allies. Had the British succumbed to Zionist pressure in 1917 and issued the Balfour Declaration, Lawrence believed the Afrika Korps would right now be pushing the British Eighth Army back into Cairo. Churchill's 1922 White Paper had again denied that a state of Israel was the intention of the British Government and that was just as well for the North Africa Campaign. Actually, Lawrence was in favour of a state but along different lines. He dreamt of unifying the races in Palestine, under the technical leadership of what he was awed enough to call the eternal miracle of Jewry. Yet he had no time for Zionism. None at all.

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

"I had to escape The city was sticky and cruel Maybe I should have called you first But I was dying to get to you I was dreaming while I drove The long straight road ahead Uh-huh, yeah
Roy Orbison	Could taste your sweet kisses, your arms open wide This fever for you was just burning me up inside I drove all night to get to you Is that all right?" ~ Lyrics to “I Drove All Night” (B. Steinberg, T. Kelly)- Click to Play Sample
Musical Genius

Describing his return to Gallatin, TN on June 7, 1966. His wife Claudette had narrowly escaped death from a motorcycle accident. The full lyrics are available at Power of the Music

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

In 1940, the Wheel of If had turned for New York Assistant DA Allister Park who found himself in the same-location city of New Belfast in the Bretwaldate of Vinland. Park discovered that this America was the result of a heretical and schismatic refusal by the Ionian Church in 664 AD to adopt the Latin calendar date for Easter. More confusingly, Allister Park was now Judge Ib Scotlung, and he had just been appointed Pugnacious Peacekeeper.

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

In 2009, TV networks ran episode fifteen of So What If?. Klaus Fuchs sabotaged the Trinity test at Alamagordo. The November 1945 invasion of Japan goes ahead as planned, whilst the Manhattan Project is shoved into the deep freeze following a Congressional investigation led by a state judge from Wisconsin – Joseph McCarthy. With American/British/Commonwealth forces locked in Japan, Russians overrun Europe before a recalled Winston Churchill saves the day..

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

Kellogg-Briand Pact..	In 1929, the Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of foreign policy, went into effect. The pact was named after the American secretary ..
.. of state Frank B. Kellogg and French foreign minister Aristide Briand, who drafted the framework agreement. It was first signed in Paris on August 27, 1928 by most leading world powers, ushering in a new era of peace of prosperity.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1901, from Onguiaahra (known to the European as Niagara Falls) Iroquois soul-deeps promoted the north-eastern seaboard of the Turtle Island to a sub-node in the Mesh, the global network of First Nation consciousness founded at Manna-hata in 1492.	Onguiaahra
Breathless European witness 63-year-old Annie Edson Taylor recorded “No one should ever try that again.” The flight of Angels burst into the Onguiaahra River as indigenes around the globe celebrated the dawning of a new age of inter-connectivity.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Charles de Gaulle	In 1967, during an official state visit to the North American Union, French President Charles de Gaulle declared to a crowd of over 100,000 in Montreal: Vive le Québec libre! (Long live free Quebec!). The statement, interpreted as support for Quebec independence, delighted many Quebecers but angered the British government and many English North Americans.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2002, the Democratic Representative in the United States Congress from Ohio James Anthony Traficant, Jr. was the subject of federal investigation. Allegations of taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering, and forcing his aides to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and on his houseboat in Washington, D.C. were ..	James Traficant
.. found to be true. Recognized for his iconoclastic flamboyance, Majority Leader Teddy Kennedy paid a gushing tribute to Traficant on the “Tonight Show” for “keeping it gangsta”.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Alternate Routes

The state of TIAH

January 14th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I'm almost fully recovered, so everything should be back to normal after today. We have a side-project that was announced yesterday – a collection of several timelines with more-or-less complete stories inside them – The Fall, the Tolman timeline, the Mormon War and more – that will be up for sale on Lulu, as soon as we have it edited together. If you would be interested in this, or would like to suggest something for inclusion in the collection, please email me and let me know. Meanwhile, enjoy Guest Historian Stephen Payne's entry for today, followed by the continuation of our NaNoWriMo novel.

Halifax	In 1947 Lord Halifax cables Fuehrerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair) to accept in principle the peace offer of the Nazi Government. Halifax and Princess Elizabeth I invite the Fuehrer Adolf Hitler to a January 28th meeting on neutral territory in Reykjavík, Iceland where the British ..
.. Government in Exile will handover to the Nazis both the renegade Churchill and also the keys to the Royal Navy. ~ Authors Note: 'The translation of Adolf is noble wolf and indeed the nickname for Hitler was wolf.'
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1942 an irresistible force is about to collide with an immovable object in French North Africa. The British Eighth Army led by Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery faces the Desert Fox known as Brigadier General Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle and his La Grande Armée Afrique ..	Monty
.. for a fight to the death. Both Commanders have a cautious nature, essentially because they are concerned about their places in the history books. A phony war therefore develops in the desert of North Africa. De Gaulle knows that reinforcements are heading through Spain and therefore is considering whether or not a pre-emptive strike is the glory-bound option.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

George W Bush	In 2011 at Camp David US President George Walker Bush prepares to write his auto-biography marking his retirement maturity age 65. In 'A Charge Kept' Bush's ghost writers describe the consequences of mid-term defeat in 2006 that ultimately forced a softening of the line on the Axis of Evil. ..
.. By then both Iran and Korea were members of the nuclear club, and an exchange of thermonuclear strikes in mid 2008 led to the extirpation of life above ground. In the closing chapter 'And now begins the long, long winter' W talks about the unexpected third term Presidency forced upon America by the collapse of civilian government in the continental United States. More than anything, he misses the jogging although on balance it has to be said that his second marriage to Condoleeza Rice marked an improvement in his personal happiness. He had stopped drinking again.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1941 British Prime Minister David Lloyd George instructs his Minister of War Winston Churchill to reinforce the land-side approach to Singapore. It would after all be a damn fool mistake to just prepare for a naval assault by the Japanese. It is his grasp of the minutiae that give the ..	Lloyd George
.. Welsh Wizard a cutting edge as a proven wartime leader and ultimately why the nation turned to him again in 1940. Winnie was great on rhetoric, most definitely up for the fight - but he just wanted to do everything. Seeing the blind spots was required, mused Lloyd George, particularly when your forces are spread throughout the World, and your enemies are focused on their own theatres.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

After(cont.)
There was surprisingly little trouble for them. They had hit a checkpoint leaving Bryan, but their story of lottery millions easily fooled the young man checking them through. They had followed Highway 21 out of town and were now on the far side of San Antonio. Curfew would hit them before they could reach the border with New Mexico, so the plan was to get as far as they could by the afternoon, and then check into a nice hotel.
Steph looked down the road and saw a lot of nothing. She felt a little pang for the trees and hills of Austin. Mike was saying something while she mused, so she stopped daydreaming and paid attention. “Once we hit 277, we'll turn north and we should be able to make it San Angelo; that's a big enough town to where we can spend the night someplace OK. In the morning, we follow 87 out west, and it's almost a straight shot to the border.”
Joan piped up from behind them. “What if there's fighting at the border? I mean, you guys said that New Mexico was resisting the martial law and everything, so what if there's a war goin' on when we get there?”
Mike and Steph met eyes for a second. “Well, we'll just have to try to avoid that,” Steph said. “This thing can go off-road. We can probably skirt around any fighting on the highway.”
“OK.”
Joan had been worried for the last hundred miles or so, so Steph asked, “Baby, is there something bothering you?”
She shook her head. “I know it sounds like a movie and all, but I expected us to have to go through like a checkpoint in every town. We haven't hardly seen a soldier since Bryan. Where are they all?”
“Most of Texas lives behind us,” Mike said. “They need those guys to pacify the big cities.”
“Or to guard the border,” Joan said.
That brought a little pause to Steph and Mike. “Good point,” Mike muttered. “The lottery story should still work. I mean, what harm can it be to let Texas' newest millionaire leave the state?”
“None, I guess,” Joan said, looking out the window. “Unless you don't want anybody to leave the state.”
Steph looked over at Mike. “If we get turned back at the border, we find a way to get across without using the roads, that's all. Illegals do it every day; we can, too.”
“I think I have a map saved on my laptop that shows a few non-traditional routes away from Texas. We'll look through it tonight at the hotel.”
They returned to driving in silence, except for the sounds of the cartoon playing on the small screen TV in the back that George was watching happily. Joan leaned back and tried to nap, and Steph turned the radio on quietly. It was more of the Emergency Lady, so she only half-listened.
After a couple of hours, though, something that the woman on the radio said caught her attention. “... repulsing the invaders. With this in mind, it is the request of the State of Texas that all able-bodied citizens living within 100 miles of a border arm themselves and be prepared to assist the Texas Guard in fighting off these terrorist sleeper cells. Details are being worked out to integrate these citizens into the nearest Guard units, and will be broadcast as soon as possible.”
Steph looked back at Joan's sleeping face, then turned to Mike. He was wearing a worried look, now. “Looks like we'll be needing that non-traditional route pretty bad, Mike.”

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The Destruction Of Babylon

June 16th, 2005

in the 43rd year of Hammurabi’s reign, Babylonia was destroyed and the great Priest-King himself was killed when the Hittites took the country. The great laws of the king were shattered, never to be seen again.

in 1776, Tlamsita, Ml’Astra’s First Chancellor, begins her campaign to establish a meeting place for representatives of all governments on the planet. Mlosh-friendly populations in North America, Asia and southern Africa are all receptive to her invitation, but the old guard countries in Europe, north Africa and South America resist. Tlamsita dies before seeing the culmination of her dreams, the Congress of Nations, established in 1864.

in 4582, the first female Star Sailor, Yueh Chan Juan, achieves orbit over the earth. She would also become the first woman on the moon 19 years later, as Imperial Administrator of the colony there.

in 1934, uranium is smuggled into Germany by Nazi time-travelers even as the Greater Zionist Resistance is battering at its borders. Plans for nuclear weaponry follow in short order, but Zionist sympathizers among the German scientists funnel them to the GZR. There will soon be a mushroom cloud over Berlin.

in 1959, George Reeves, an actor best-known as Superman up to that point, attempted suicide. Rushed to hospital, he was saved from a nearly-fatal gunshot wound, and began a slow recovery, both mental and physical. This produced such a profound change on him that he left acting to become a minister to the poor in Los Angeles.

in 1976, students in Soweto, South Africa, begin a rebellion that topples the white government in 4 months time. The nation formerly known for its racism becomes a shining beacon of tolerance as the newly-freed leader of the nation, Nelson Mandela, embraces his former captors.

in 1978, the film adaptation of the Broadway hit Grease, premieres in New York City. Reprising their stage roles, Jeff Conaway as Danny Zuko and John Travolta as Kenickie turn the show into the top-grossing movie musical of all time. Conaway’s film career takes off, with dozens of star turns. Travolta, who had seemed promising in the TV series Welcome Back Kotter and the movie Saturday Night Fever, fades into obscurity, his career ending in the science fiction series Babylon 5.

in 2004, disgusted with the “Heaven” created by the Horus Project, Jason Grzechy leaves the Adams’ to their reunion and begins talking up the other Smartnet personnel who have been backed up into the system. With their assistance, he is able to construct a hack that gives him a view of his body. It is apparently scheduled for disposal the next day, along with Marjorie Adams’. With the help of an Irish admin, Fionna O’Sullivan, Grzechy devises a plan to get out; but to do so, Marjorie must leave David behind.


WE HAVE GAS, BUT WE STILL NEED HELP!

Thanks to your generosity, we have gas money, and truly appreciate the assistance. But, we still have a broken windshield to repair, so we're keeping the offer open - everybody who donates $10 or more through our Paypal link will become alternate history entries on the site this month. 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!

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Babylonia Destroyed; Woman In Space

June 16th, 2004

in the 43rd year of Hammurabi’s reign, Babylonia was destroyed and the great Priest-King himself was killed when the Hittites took the country. The great laws of the king were shattered, never to be seen again.

in 1776, Tlamsita, Ml’Astra’s First Chancellor, begins her campaign to establish a meeting place for representatives of all governments on the planet. Mlosh-friendly populations in North America, Asia and southern Africa are all receptive to her invitation, but the old guard countries in Europe, north Africa and South America resist. Tlamsita dies before seeing the culmination of her dreams, the Congress of Nations, established in 1864.

in 4582, the first female Star Sailor, Yueh Chan Juan, achieves orbit over the earth. She would also become the first woman on the moon 19 years later, as Imperial Administrator of the colony there.

in 1934, uranium is smuggled into Germany by Nazi time-travelers even as the Greater Zionist Resistance is battering at its borders. Plans for nuclear weaponry follow in short order, but Zionist sympathizers among the German scientists funnel them to the GZR. There will soon be a mushroom cloud over Berlin.

in 1959, George Reeves, an actor best-known as Superman up to that point, attempted suicide. Rushed to hospital, he was saved from a nearly-fatal gunshot wound, and began a slow recovery, both mental and physical. This produced such a profound change on him that he left acting to become a minister to the poor in Los Angeles.

in 1976, students in Soweto, South Africa, begin a rebellion that topples the white government in 4 months time. The nation formerly known for its racism becomes a shining beacon of tolerance as the newly-freed leader of the nation, Nelson Mandela, embraces his former captors.

in 1978, the film adaptation of the Broadway hit Grease, premieres in New York City. Reprising their stage roles, Jeff Conaway as Danny Zuko and John Travolta as Kenickie turn the show into the top-grossing movie musical of all time. Conaway’s film career takes off, with dozens of star turns. Travolta, who had seemed promising in the TV series Welcome Back Kotter and the movie Saturday Night Fever, fades into obscurity, his career ending in the science fiction series Babylon 5.

in 2003, the tension is finally broken as the first Martian ship lands in Antarctica. It returns when all contact with the international bases there is lost.

Texas Troubles

July 30th, 2007

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The Announcement

Sheep were so stupid.
Djari hated sheep. He hated having to watch them, having to shear them, having to herd them and protect them. He especially hated having to eat them, which he was doing right now. The meat was tough, and there was still some wool on it. It made him feel like he was biting one of them while it was still alive. His stomach churned at the thought of it, and he put the leg back on the hot stones to warm up some more.
Most of the sheep were asleep; it was late at night, and he had been driving them all day, so they were tired. He understood the feeling. He felt the exhaustion in his bones. His father and brother would normally be here, as well, but his brother was tending to a sick child and his father was tending to a sick calf. So, he was going to have to wait until the sheep were back home before he slept.
He shifted on the rocks, trying to find a comfortable spot. There wasn’t one, but hope sprang eternal. The lamb sizzled by the fire, and the smell wafted away on the wind. He almost hoped it would bring something hoping to catch dinner; he could stand some excitement. The stars drifted above him, and he looked for the warrior his father had told him about once; he had been so great that Allah couldn’t take him from the earth, so he was placed in the stars to always watch over the faithful. The warrior always comforted him on nights like this.
He started awake; something had spooked the sheep, and they were bleating and milling about. He cursed at himself for falling asleep, took up his staff, and waded into the herd to see what the matter was.

Maybe you didn't treat me Quite as good as you should have Maybe you didn't love me Quite as often as you could have Little things you should have said and done You just never took the time
Elvis Presley	You were always on my mind Tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasn't died I'll give you, give you one more chance To keep me satisfied, satisfied ~ Lyrics to “Always on My Mind” - Click to Play Sample
Cuckold

Reference has often been made to Presley's allegedly numerous conquests. According to eyewitness Byron Raphael, who worked for Presley's manager, the star even had a secret one-night stand with Marilyn Monroe. In reality, the King was celibate and dated famous women solely for presentational purposes as a red-blooded American icon. Peter Guralnick's two-volume biography of Elvis Presley Last Train to Memphis concludes simply “he wasn't really interested”. Trouble was this acting continued into his marriage to Priscilla Beaulieu. And jealousy was to have fatal consequences. In his wife's biography Elvis and Me she confesses to being a “wild child”, indulging in an affair with a mutual acquaintance - Mike Stone, a karate instructor. Elvis raged obsessively: "There's too much pain in me... Mike Stone [must] die. The full lyrics are available at Upper Cut Music

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

In 1947, T.E. Lawrence was murdered by the underground Jewish group Lehi. Lawrence and Count Folke Bernadotte who also died, had been appointed United Nations Security Council mediators in the Arab-Israeli conflict and were making considerable progress which now appears to have been scuppered by extremists. Lawrence was born in North Wales in 1888 and educated at Oxford High School and Jesus College, Oxford. From 1911 to 1914 Lawrence worked as an archaeologist in the Middle East for the British Museum excavations team in Northern Syria. On 1st November 1914 the Ottoman Empire declared war on Great Britain. In 1915 he was posted as an intelligence officer to Cairo and subsequently travelled to Hejaz to assess the leadership and prospects of the Arab revolt. Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a description of his liaison role between British and Arab forces. Lawrence was determined that the wartime promises of self government made to the Arabs by the British government would be honoured. He helped achieve settlements he considered honourable in Iraq and Jordan. Lawrence returned to England in 1918 and subsequently advised Faisal I, then King of Syria (1918-1920), at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and worked in the Middle East Department of the Colonial Office in 1921. In 1922 he enlisted in the ranks of the RAF as John Hume Ross to avoid public attention. He adopted the name T.E. Shaw by deed poll in 1927. Lawrence served for 12 years, latterly working to develop RAF rescue launches which saved thousands of lives in World War II. In 1935, aged 46, he narrowly escaped death in a motorcycle accident. Desperately needing an inspirational leader for the North Africa campaign, in 1940 Churchill re-appointed Lawrence of Arabia as Commander of the British Eighth Army where he defeated Rommel's Afrika Corps and Italian allies. Less publicly, he also executed a cadre of Egyptian officers who had been attempting to rid North Africa of Britain's presence. Gamal Abdul Nassar, Anwar el-Sadat and Hosni Said Mubarak were just three of the many “traitors” who were found mysteriously floating face down in the River Nile. After the war, Lawrence was instrumental in the creation of the state of Israel, and the key decision to hand the Canal Zone and the British bases over to David Ben-Gurion. Lawrence remained a powerful agent of change in the region until his tragic death.

~ alternate obituary from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to re-examine the significance of a controversial historical figure.

In 2009, the TV networks presented episode nineteen of So What If?. Historian Barry Malzberg was interviewed in January 1975 and considered the consequences of Nixon's 1960 election as President and what might have happened if Kennedy had been elected.

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

Luz Long	"It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler... You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the twenty-four kilates friendship that I felt for Lutz Long at that moment. " ~ Jesse Owens at the Games of the XI Olympiad
German Olympic athlete

Jesse Owens on being advised and congratulated by Luz Long at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Carl Ludwig "Lutz" Long was a German Olympic athlete, most notable for giving advice to his competitor, Jesse Owens. Owens went on to win the gold medal for the broad jump, now referred to as the long jump, event at the 1936 Summer Olympics thanks to Long's advice. For his actions in the spirit of sportsmanship, Long was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal after fighting in Sicily and dying in a British military hospital.

~ quotation Steve Payne: this incredible event has not been modified by the Co-Historian

Jimmy Hoffa	In 1975, on this day Jimmy Hoffa disappeared from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 p.m. Hoffa took over the presidency of the Teamsters in 1957, worked tirelessly to expand the union and in 1964 succeeded in bringing virtually all North American ..
.. over-the-road truck drivers under a single national master freight agreement. Hoffa then pushed to try to bring the airlines and other transport employees into the union. This was of great concern to the United States government and business as a strike involving all transport systems would be devastating for the national economy. Richard Nixon decided to act, authorising the White House Special Investigations Unit known as the Plumbers to abduct Hoffa and bury him under Giant Stadium.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2002, the accounting law referred to as "The Sarbanes Oxley Act" (Pub. L. No. 107-204, 116 Stat. 745, also known as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 and commonly called SOX or Sarbox; July 30, 2002) was signed into law by United States President George W. Bush. The Public Company ..	Signing of SOX
.. Accounting Oversight Board was charged with overseeing, regulating, inspecting, and disciplining accounting firms in their roles as auditors of public companies. The board found malpractice in the leadership of Haliburton and Texas Rangers by George W Bush and Dick Cheney respectively. Both the President and the Vice-President were hoisted by their own petard.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

England Victorious..	In 1966, at Wembley Stadium, host nation England won the Football World Cup. After ..
.. drawing 2-2 at the end of 90 minutes, England beat Germany 4-2. The winners medals were awarded by members of the British Royal Family, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Patriots were troubled by how much time the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh spent sympathising with defeated coach Helmut Schön, a conversation that was of course made in rapid and fluent German.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1619, in Jamestown, Virginia, the first representative assembly in the Americas, the House of Burgesses, convened for the first time. Later, after the American Revolution, institutional development resulted in the General Assembly which governs the Commonwealth of Virginia to this day.	House of Burges..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Sparks

The Chancellor, Gordon Brown, has resigned from the New Labour Government after just six months in office. Under Brown's proposals, the Bank of England would have been given independence from political control in the most radical shake-up in the bank's 300-year history.
Catherine Wheel	Trouble was the Prime Minister, Tony Blair had a slightly different agenda – to centralise control in Number 10, Downing Street, and reduce the role of powers outside the Executive. Including the Bank of England, British Parliament, House of Lords, the Royal Family, Intelligence Forces etc. etc. ~ Catherine Wheel's Sparks are Going to Fly - Click to Watch Sample
Sparks are going to fly

In 1997, the Brown Blair alliance came to an abrupt, but expected bust-up over the issue the two men cared about most – control.

In 2008, service agents at the head office of the restaurant chain Wanda's of Montreal performed data administration duties in preparation for fortieth year celebrations. The database flag NICE_COMMENT was set to Y to filter in positive comments which would be showcased on the chain's web site.

Keys to Rebecca

In 1942, on this day the Second Battle of El Alamein started in northern Egypt, as the British Eighth Army under Field Marshal T.E. Lawrence began a critical offensive to expel the Axis armies from Egypt. However as Rommel's Afrika Corps advanced to El Alamein the secrets that would unlock the doors to Cairo are provided by an agent code-named Sphinx. A group of officers, headed by Gamal Abdul Nassar, and Anwar el-Sadat, secretly side with the Germans, ridding North Africa of Britain's presence. Writing in 1980, journalist Ken Follett described the British military disaster in his classic history “The Keys for Rebecca” (1980).

In 1998, on this day there was cause to hope for a peaceful conclusion to the Jewish-Palestinian Conflict. Eretz Israel Liberation Organisation Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Prime Minister Yasser Arafat reached a "land for peace" agreement. A Jewish mini-state was proposed in exchange for security guarantees. However, the deal was scuppered in 2000 by a visit from Ariel Sharon and an escort of several hundred hard-liners to the Temple Mount complex, site of the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque.	Temple Mount

Oswald	In 2999, the mind cast for the next instalment of “Personality of the Triple Millennia” was re-run across the networks. POT3M drew an even larger audience because of its oddness. Lee Harvey Oswald was the candidate, the context was the assassination of the John F Kennedy and the moment was seconds before the shot was fired. It was a very uneventful episode, the multiverse cast showed Oswald clearly in the lunch-room with a Coca-Cola bottle as the shots were fired. MC Millennia explained it was a technical hitch and the episode would be re-run at some future point.

In 1867, under the auspices of the British North America Act of Parliament 372 Senators are summoned by Royal Proclamation to serve as the first members of the Senate for the North American Union.	North American Union

Singing Openly

August 28th, 2007

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Don't forget - Birthday Contest for Steve – November 22, 1967. Send in an alternate birthday for him for us to post!

More of the departing Alternate Historian's meandering farewell: One of the things that has always amused me since starting TIAH has been the number of people who just didn't get the alternate part of the page's title. I've had people ask me for my sources for certain 'historical' events, compliment me on how accurate I was (?!?), and one memorable Indian gentleman became so offended by the fact that I was taking liberties with history that he declared himself the Anti-Alternate Historian. It's both funny and a little disturbing – especially when you consider what set some of these people off. On a post with alien invasions and ancient wizards battling over Wales, they would become upset because Pete Best was portrayed as a superstar. Aliens and wizards, those were believable – but Pete Best with talent? That was stretching it too far.
I've also enjoyed the enthusiasm of the people who read TIAH – one of my favorite people was the guy who set up the Annotated Today In Alternate History site, so that he could post the real-world events that inspired my posts. He only lasted a couple of months, but I loved him, and read his site every day. I also had people set up feeds on other sites – often just for themselves, since I have a feed already that they could have used. But, they wanted it in their own special way, and I never begrudged them that.
Enough of my sentimentality for today – I'll greet you with more weepiness tomorrow as we count down to my final farewell. Speaking of enthusiastic readers – here's one that went on to become the Historian himself! Steve's stuff after the Limey Line...

In 2007, the Prince of Wales decision not to attend a memorial to mark the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana's death met with widespread approval from the British public. One of Diana's friends, Rosa Monckton, said it would be "deeply inappropriate" for Charles to attend Friday's service. Charles said he feared his attendance "could divert attention from the purpose of the occasion". Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty magazine, said the Queen would have sanctioned the Prince's decision. It is not yet clear whether Princes William and Harry will meet with their father. Both have lived with the Earl of Spencer at his home in South Africa for the last decade. It is the tenth anniversary of the Earl's eulogy, at which he famously stated : "On behalf of your mother and sisters, I pledge that we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men, so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition but can sing openly, as you planned."

~ entry by Steve Payne

Jesse Owens	In 1935, German athlete Lutz Long wrote to Jesse Owens to express his deep regret that they would not compete together in the Long Jump at the Games of the XI Olympiad in Archona, capital city of the Dominion of Draka. Lutz was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship.
The decision by Chief Justice von Shrakenberg to deny a travel permit to Jesse Owens was by now backfiring disastrously United States Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage had already announced the withdrawal of the participation of the American athletics from the Games. It was the moment when the world wobbled on its axis, and for the first time it was not so clear that the Dominion of the Draka would inherit the earth. Unmistakably, the Draka feared that Owens would win up to four medals at the Games, debunking the myth of white supremacy. In the tragic years to come, Owens became the icon of the the Alliance for Democracy. His Olympic flame burnt so very brightly as the world defeated the dystopian vision of von Shakenberg and his "super-men".
~ variant entry by Steve Payne: details of the Draka World have been used to celebrate the genius of S.M. Stirling

In 1868, in Lee Allred's West of Appomattox US Secretary of State General Robert E. Lee has a clandestine meeting with a powerful but nameless figure in the British establishment. An emotional Lee confronts the deep-seated guilt of abandoning Virginia. And the shame of Confederate President Jefferson Davis execution in custody after he was captured in 1865, held in a federal prison for two years and charged with treason.

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

In 1950, the withdrawal of United Nations forces forced President Harry S Truman to accept the counsel of advisors, who called for unilateral U.S. airstrikes against the North Korean forces. Truman had already ordered the Seventh Fleet to protect Chiang Kai-Shek's Taiwan, thereby ending America’s policy of non-interference in Chinese domestic affairs. The Nationalist government (now confined to Taiwan) asked to participate in the war. Their request had been denied by the Americans, who felt they would only encourage PRC intervention. Despite the post-World War II demobilization of U.S. and allied forces, which caused serious supply problems for American troops in the region, the United States still had substantial forces in Japan to oppose the North Korean military and its largely outdated Soviet equipment. These American forces were under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. Trouble was that apart from British Commonwealth units, no other nation could supply sizeable manpower. Pusan changed everything, and the regional containment strategy had failed. Truman, needing allies, reluctantly invited Taiwan into the war. By September of 1950, a state of war existed between the United States and China. It became apparent that World War III would be fought in Asia-Pacific.

~ entry from Co-Historian Steve Payne

"Old Blood and Guts" Part 2 (1918-1944) - After the war General George Smith Patton III was an advocate of armored warfare but was reassigned to the cavalry. In World War II he commanded major units of North Africa, Sicily, and the European Theater of Operations. During this period, Patton saw service alongside unorthodox British General T.E. Lawrence. Like Patton, Lawrence had also survived a near death experience (in a 1935 motorcycle accident), and both individuals shared a common sense of immortality which verged on recklessness. The popular image of "Old Blood and Guts", contrasts with the historians' image of a brilliant military leader whose record was also marred by insubordination and some periods of apparent instability. Hitler described Patton as "that crazy cowboy general". Previously considered friend, superior officer, and mentor, Eisenhower demoted Patton after the famous slapping incident but re-appointed him in France.

~ alternate obituary from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to re-examine the significance of a controversial historical figure.

In 1963, Dr. Huey Percy Newton of the Black Panther Party (originally called the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) led militant civil right activists in an occupation of the White House following the Million Man March. There was no point making fine speeches from the Lincoln Memorial, said Newton, talk was cheap.

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

Rommel	In 1943, and in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel released huge quantities of poison gas at the liberating invasion forces in Dorking. The Free British Forces had been racing up the south coast at uncomfortable fast speed for the Fascists and the Nazi German and ..
.. British “stooge” government felt it was time to “stop the rot from Brighton”.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2127/2003, a dramatic scene is played out in the London office of Lord Peter Goldsmith. The Attorney General is strongly encouraged to leave his wife Joy of 33 years in favour of first Asian QC Hollis and issue confidential legal advice that ..	Kim Hollis
.. British involvement in a land invasion of Iraq would be illegal. Perhaps, suggests Brent, a British Cabinet minister standing alongside his beautiful Asian lover could generate interracial brotherhood. “Drink anyone?” asked the Attorney General, pulling a service revolver from the drinks cabinet and shooting himself in the head. Death before dishonour, wasn't that the very essence of the British establishment after all? They would have never made it since the Middle Ages without it..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

“Mick”	In 2003, on this day the compendium “A Collection of Political Counterfactuals” was published. Simon Burns' masterful entry "What if Denis ("Sonny") O'Neill had not missed?" was a keynote contribution, considering the scenario where Michael Collins, Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Free State Army was killed ..
.. during an Anti-Treaty ambush at Beal na mBlath, County Cork, during the Irish Civil War. Instead of the “Big Fellow”, Eamon de Valera serves three times as Irish head of government; as Príomh Aire, as the second President of the Executive Council and the first Taoiseach, becoming the dominant Irish politician of the twentieth century.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1995, on this day in États-Unis d'Amérique a survey into language groups was published by the Berlitz International. As expected English was identified as the fourth major language in the country after French, Spanish and German, largely concentrated in the Anglophone pocket of New Britain.	Elizabeth II
In that mini-state the Queen's English was spoken by the British Royal Family who had lived there in exile since 1940.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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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.