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

.

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.

.

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.

.

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.

Ten Significant Events

June 26th, 2007

Digg this

The Announcement

in 1999, King Arthur II met with Prime Minister Kay Ector, freshly returned from Greece. “Our war is over,” Ector told the king. “On every front, the Illuminati are extinguished; the Central European Empire is no more.” Arthur clapped his old friend on the back and congratulated him on his work in bringing this war to an end. “The queen was a huge help,” the prime minister said. “Her influence on our allies, and her ability to rally our people, proved invaluable in this struggle. Where is her majesty, by the way?” Arthur looked away uneasily. “My queen isn't feeling well at the moment, Sir Kay. You'll forgive her absence?” The prime minister bowed slightly and said, “Of course. I hope it isn't anything too serious.” The king's face grew stony as he replied, “No, I don't believe it is.” After the meeting, he went to Queen Gwen's cell, alone, to speak with her. “I want to know something,” he said, standing close to the bars. “Did you ever feel anything for me?” She shrugged. “In the beginning, when we were fighting to unseat the Windsors – you were all fire back then. Remember that night when you first took the crown?” She ran a hand along his on the bars, and he didn't pull away this time. “That was real passion, my king.” For a moment, a long moment, they stared deeply into each other's eyes, then drew together for a kiss between the bars of the cell. “I still love you,” Arthur said, drawing back. “God help me, I still love you.” They twined their fingers together and Gwen told him, “I'm sure by now you've learned that those I once served are eradicated, my liege. I could be your queen again, sitting at your side, aiding you as you rule the most powerful nation on earth.” Arthur yearns to set her free, but cannot bring himself to do it. “You're bearing du Lac's child.” She reached a hand out to his face and stroked his beard tenderly. “You could not give me a child, my king; can you think of a better man to produce Great Britain's next monarch?” Arthur took his hands away from her and walked away. Gwen hunched against the bars of her cell in disappointment and said, “Before you leave, I do ask one thing.” He murmured over his shoulder, “What?” She whispered softly, “Your forgiveness, Arthur.” He took a key from the wall and opened her cell door. “It is granted.”

In 1999, the networks ran installment one of Ten Significant Events of the Twentieth Century (TSEotTC). British Prime Harold Macmillan spoke of the Hurricane of Change sweeping Africa. The "Terrorist" Nelson Mandela was executed after his 1964 mistrial in Rivonia. And Malcolm X brought it home in the Deep South.

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

In the beginning, the First Man and Woman put the stars in a blanket. The Coyote made the Milky Way by hurling the blanket into the sky. Navajo astronaut Jamie Waterman cherished the wisdom of the Old Ones. When the international mission landed on Mars, he simply reported “Ya'aa'tey” (“It is good”) to the NASA controllers. A self-described red man on the red planet, he had no time at all for the jingoistic nationalism of his fellow astronauts; his mission was to find life.

~ variant from Steve Payne : to celebrate the author's genius, original text of Ben Bova's classic "Mars" has been reserviced to present an "in context" alternate ending.

In 1971, recording of the double LP Exile on Main Street was suspended at Nellcôte, guitarist Keith Richards' nineteenth-century villa on the French Riviera. Exile wasn't intended to be a studio album and therein lie the problem. A number of factors were to blame for the lost opportunity for the Rolling Stones to make their greatest album at their absolute peak and capture the atmosphere at Nellcôte with messy faithfulness. "We recorded in Keith's disgusting basement, which looked like a prison. . . . The humidity was incredible. I couldn't stand it. As soon as I opened my mouth to sing, my voice was gone. It was so humid that all the guitars were out of tune by the time we got to the end of each number." "It was 120 degrees," Richards recalled. "Everyone sat around sweating and playing with their pants off. That's when I got into Jack Daniel's. You're trying to get backup vocals finished . . . and the voice starts to go: 'This'll give you another half hour.' It's those fumes that do it, man." The Stones had literally attempted to make Exile on the run. In May '71, they moved to France, citing the excessive taxation and police harassment in their native Britain. Many of the Jagger-Richards songs planned for Exile reflected the exhaustion and madness of the Stones' personal and public lives at the time ("Torn and Frayed," "Soul Survivor"). Jagger's marriage to Nicaraguan model Bianca Perez Morena de Macias on the eve of the Exile sessions irritated Richards, who wanted his singer's full attention during recording; Richards was at the height of his 1970s heroin addiction and spending a lot of time with American country-rock icon Gram Parsons.

~ variant from Steve Payne : to celebrate the author's genius, original text of Ben Bova's classic "Mars" has been reserviced to present an "in context" alternate ending.

Fallen woman	In 1761, the fallen woman dipped her swollen feet into the cool Atlantic ocean. As she arose, her fellow stowaway gasped in shock, dropping the Arab wine vessel to the deck where it smashed into pieces. Her lower legs had a crimson hue.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1918, at the Battle for Belleau Wood, Allied Forces under George Armstrong Custer defeated Imperial German Forces commanded by German Crown Prince Wilhelm. Custer said it was the toughest battle in fifty years, referring of course to his victory over Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse near the Little Bighorn River.	Battle of Belle..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Viennese Airlif..	In 1948, an airlift was started to Austria after the Soviet Union blockaded West Vienna. The Western allies turned to USAAF General Curtis “Candy Bars Away” LeMay. By now an expert in such operations, LeMay put into operation a plan he had conceived in 1946 for the resupply of the Japanese home population during Operation Downfall.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1963, on this day John F. Kennedy spoke the famous words "Ich bin ein Wiener" ("I am a citizen of Vienna") on a visit to the Western occupied quarter of the Austrian City. A former citizen of Vienna, Adolf Schicklegruber was not there to enjoy the speech. He was languishing in Spandau Prison with Rudolf Hess, intermittently ..	John F Kennedy
.. arguing over the wayward deputy's flight to Scotland in 1941. Hess' only regret was not staying in Scotland, he been forced to listen to this admonishment for eighteen long years.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Cool stuff - Let us know where you are on Frappr! and We've been Dugg

We have links again! Yay, us. Check them out on the side of the page, and if you have some suggestions, send them to us!

Visit the Co-Historian's store -

Charles The Last

The state of TIAH

March 27th, 2007

Digg this

Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. And, speaking of April, our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne, suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian says that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 5 entrants so far! Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline is March 29th.

in 1625, Charles the Last, the final British monarch, ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Charles was deposed by Oliver Cromwell's forces in 1646, and despite several attempts to restore the monarchy over the next couple of decades, the people of the UK were never to follow a king or queen again. Although Cromwell was followed by his son as Lord Protector of the Kingdom, Parliament began electing the Lord Protector in 1660 and the office was filled at the pleasure of the people from then on. Other monarchies in Europe were disturbed by the loss of their British cousin, and financed many of the pretenders who tried to raise armies to retake the crown, but none were successful. Indeed, the agitators were sometimes toppled by British counter-espionage tactics – the French king fell in 1684, the Russian tsar was ousted in 1692, and the Swedish monarchy was replaced by a democracy in 1704. The rest of Europe's non-democratic governments gave up after the brutal execution of Sweden's nobility, and pretenders to the British Crown disappeared in the 18th century.

Bill Clinton	In 1998 President Bill Clinton lifted the ban on heterosexuals in the military. There were rumours in Washington being led by Linda Tripp suggesting that Clinton himself was a heterosexual having engaged in an affair with a young lady named Monica Lewinsky. Clinton firmly denied the rumours, publicly stating 'I would ..
.. never have sex with that – or any other - woman'.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1945 Operation Starvation began on this day. The mission was begun at the insistence of Admiral Chester Nimitz who wanted his naval operations augmented by an extensive mining of Japan itself conducted by the air force. The aerial mining of Japan's ports and waterways brought a longer-than expected and inglorious end ..	Chester Nimitz
.. to World War II. However, it did eliminate the need for the Invasion of Japan, known as Operation Downfall which was expected to create 1,200,000 casualties, with 267,000 fatalities. Various science fiction writers have laughably proposed various super-weapons that could have delivered a Japanese surrender in the summer of 1945, however those works have been dismissed as ridiculous. Imagine a post-war world ruled by the fear of super-weapons in the hands of politicians, one mistake would mean the apocalypse!
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Battle of Horse..	In 1814 In central Alabama, United States forces under General Andrew Jackson are defeated at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The Red Sticks were a part of the Creek Indian tribe who in the opinion of some were suspected of being inspired by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh. To obtain an accurate body count, Tennesseans cut the ..
.. tip of dead Creeks' noses off. A few soldiers cut long strips of skin from the Indians' bodies to make bridle reins for their horses. Jackson was profoundly effected by these actions, and made vigorous attempts during his Presidency to promote native American causes.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1854 United Kingdom declared war on Russia in the Crimean War. The two countries which had enjoyed a neutral relationship were at loggerheads for the next century and a half, as the European monarchies pursued a containment policy towards democracy.	Detail of Franz..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Cool stuff - Let us know where you are on Frappr! and We've been Dugg

We have links again! Yay, us. Check them out on the side of the page, and if you have some suggestions, send them to us!

Visit the Co-Historian's store -

God of War

Kennedys	In 1961, John F Kennedy began his first full day as the youngest ever elected president of the United States. The day before, the 43-year-old Roman Catholic had been inaugurated as the 35th president on a snow-covered Capitol Hill in Washington, asking 'My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man'. He took over from the oldest president in American history, General Dwight Eisenhower, who was bowing out aged 70. The pair would be America's last Commander in Chiefs..
Inauguration

Shortly after his election, Kennedy supported a Cuban rebel attempt to overthrow the communist regime of Fidel Castro in Cuba. It was unsuccessful and led the Russians to install nuclear weapons on Cuba in 1962 triggering the apocalypse that became known as the Cuba war. Historian Larry Niven later described the events thus ~ Atomics had been used, here, and now Cuba was uninhabited, and some American cities were gone, and some Russian. It could have been worse. Why wasn't it? How did we luck out? Intelligent statesmen? Faulty bombs? A humane reluctance to kill indiscriminately? No. There was no luck anywhere. Every decision was made both ways. For every wise choice you bled your heart out over, you made all the other choices too. And so it went, all through history.

.

	'Here we are. This is ours. This is where we live from now on!'. 'From now on?' Michael was incredulous. He stood up, looking, and then turned to blink back at where the rocket used to be. "What about the rocket? What about Mars?" 'Here,' said Dad. He touched the small radio to Michael's blond head. 'Listen.' Michael listened. 'Nothing,' he said. 'Thats right. Nothing. Nothing at all any more. No no more rockets, no more Mars.' Michael considered the lethal revelation and began to sob little dry sobs.
Planet Mars

Where did you get the rocket?' whispered Timothy, for the other boys were running ahead. 'I saved it. I saved it for twenty years, Tim. I had it hidden away, hoping I'd never have to use it. I suppose I should have given it to the government for the war, but I kept thinking about Mars. . . .' 'And a picnic!' 'Right. This is between you and me. When I saw everything was finishing on Mars, after I'd waited until the last moment, I packed us up. They reached the river. It was long and straight and cool and wet and reflective in the night. I've always wanted to see a Martian,' said Michael. Where are they, Dad? You promised.'.. ~ The Million Year Picnic (January 2008). In 2008, astronomers watched a football pitch-sized lump of rock hurtle through space at a speed of 45000 km/h. The fragment, which had been christened WD-5, was on a collision course with Mars. The impact on 30th January would subsequently be known as the Martian Armageddon. During the period December 2001-November 2005 humans from Earth had colonized the deserted planet, occasionally having contact with the few surviving Martians, but for the most part preoccupied with making Mars a second Earth. WD-5 changed all that. Captain Wilder and family had family had returned home using his private rocket that he had concealed from government service. On their million year picnic, Wilder had promised his children that they would see some Martians on the Minnesota River..

.

In 1971, the BBC TV unit in Welwyn Garden City filmed British spaceflight Commander Bert Smith's family reunion. 'Alright treacle', said Bert. 'Cuppa tea, love?' said his wife. 'I could murder one' said her husband.

.

In 1771, Spain ceded Port Egmont in the Falkland Islands to England who maintained possession until the Iron Lady of Argentina, President Eva Peron defeated that country in the 1982 Malvinas Conflict.

Balrog	At the, end of the third age, the fellowship of the ring entered the chamber of records [the twenty-first hall of Moria] lit by a wide shaft high in the further eastern wall; it slanted upwards, and far above, a small patch of the blue sky could be seen. The light of the sharp fell directly on a table in the middle of the room; a single oblong block about two feet high, upon which was laid a great slab of white stone. Here is written in the runes of Men and Dwarves: Second Lieutenant John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Eleventh battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers.
Tolkiens Phantasm

A rolling boom seemed the come from depths far below, and to tremble in the stone at their feet. Doom, doom it rolled again, as if huge hands were turning the chamber into a vast drum. 'They are coming' cried the elf, 'We cannot get out', said the dwarf. 'Trapped!' agreed Tolkien. Tolkien awoke in the military field hospital. He had been heavily sedated. For much of the night, he had been screaming and screaming. And shouting Trapped! Trapped!. In Tolkien's combat shattered mind, he was trapped in a phantasmagoric nightmare he would later revisit in his post-war life as an author of fantasy. Like Kurt Vonnegut fifty years later, he would use escapist literature to describe the horrors of war.

.

In 1968, the Battle of Khe Sanh started in northwestern Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam concurrently with the Tet Offensive. Elements of the United States (U.S.) III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) defeated two to three division-size elements of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and by the end of the year, a re-elected President Johnson was able to announce the end of the Indochina Wars.

.

In 1926, strongman and actor Steve Reeves was born on his family’s farm in Montana. After gaining popularity in Italian films playing Hercules, he made a move to more sophisticated roles as the spy James Bond in Dr. No. He retired from the role after 4 feature films and from acting in general afterwards, occasionally making cameo appearances in television and film in the 70’s and 80’s. After spending the 90’s raising horses and promoting drug-free body-building, he returned for one last role as a gladiatorial mentor in the Ridley Scott film Gladiator. He died the day the film premiered in 2000.

.

In 2004, the Soviet Union’s Martian colony is hit by a gigantic sandstorm. Their underground facility is saved, but the above-ground facility is totaled. They are forced to request aid from the American and European colonies, who escaped the worst of the storm. The destruction of the facility marks the end to an era – it had stood since the Soviet Union had first landed on Mars in 1975.

.

In 2028, in Tate & Lyle PLC v. the Pan African Society the UK based multinational food manufacturer are ordered to pay reparations of $10bn. Descendants of Abram Lyle and Henry Tate express deep regret at the shameful involvement of their company to the victims of the African Holocaust who were enslaved by the sugar refining process. 'Out of the eater came forth meat and out of the strong came forth sweetness' they quoted from Samson in the Book of Judges, Chapter 14, a clear reference to the lion and bees image of 'Lyle's Golden Syrup'.

.

In 1947, the British Government in Exile arrive in Reykjavik, Iceland for final status talks with the Fuehrer. The miserable renegade Churchill and also the keys to the Royal Navy are in the possession of Lord Halifax and a gorgeous looking Princess Elizabeth I. A sheep in sheep's clothing you might say.

In 2005, a day after the inauguration former President Al Gore was still beside himself with rage. In a barbed reference to Gore, his successor had described airline safety as 'a basic priority' for the American people. He was speaking about a comment on page 344 of the public report by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission):

The Gore Commission's Report, having thoroughly canvassed available expertise in and outside of government, did not mention suicide hijackings or the use of aircraft as weapons.

This harsh judgement of foresight made reference to the oversight and execution of Executive Order 13015, which established the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security of 1996. Often called the Gore Commission in recognition that Gore was the chairman, that work group operated for six months, from August 1996 until February of 1997, when it issued its final report. Gore's commission were mandated to provide to the President 'a strategy designed to improve aviation safety and security'.

Intended or not, the Commission had gifted the 2004 Presidential Election to the Republican Party. And now Gore's successor was rubbing salt in a deep wound.

.

	In 1981, as a result of prolonged behind the scenes horse-trading the 52 American hostages held at the US embassy in Tehran for more than 14 months arrive in West Germany on their way home to the United States. America was to have its first, but not last, encounter with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

.

In 1994, the Ames dossier demonstrated incontrovertible evidence of the Division's role in the silencing of Cassius Clay and Arthur Ashes. 'Those uppity [racial slur] were going to give the game away' said Ames by way of explanation. He was quite without doubt utterly insane.

.

In 1905, the fate of the Romanov family is sealed by rebellion to the disastrous war with Japan. On Bloody Sunday a peaceful demonstration led by Father Gapon escalates into a massacre of imperial troops followed by the seizure of the Winter Palace.