The Nations

In 2005, two of life's great survivors were the mid-week guests of British television chat show host Michael Parkinson. To the fierce joy of the televison audience, Irish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter Phil Lynott played an ad-hoc riff from Whiskey in the Jar. Lynott then spoke of the "lost years" when he was dogged by drug and alcohol dependency. Lynott said that he not touched any of the hard stuff since the night of December 25, 1985, when he was rushed to hospital suffering from a heroin overdose. He suffered medical death through heart failure on January 4, 1986 at the age of 36. Exactly fifteen years before, he had recorded Thin Lizzy's debut album began on January 4, 1971. Yul Brynner congratulated Lynott on a beautiful move, a pun on both the riff, and also his recovery from death. Brynner had given up the hard stuff too, "Now that I'm here, I tell you, don't smoke." was his pearl of wisdom for the evening.

In 2014, white supremacist South African time-travellers set a course for New York City 1980. Led by Andries Rhoodie, the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (Afrikaner Resistance Movement) are executing Plan B of "America Will Break", following their failure to alter the course of the Civil War by supplying the Guns of the South. This time, their objectives are more limited - to “preserve” the Republic of South Africa by extending the lifespan of Apartheid indefinately. The supremacists figure that by accentuating John Belushi's near-death experience on the set of the Blues Brothers, filming will be cancelled thus destroying a vital symbol of inter-racial redemption that unmistakeably changed the world forever. Trouble is the AWB's time machine is simply unable to penetrate a shadowy sphere around the filming of the movie. The power of R&B just will not be denied.

In 1955, Nikita Khruschev prepared the Secret Speech or Khruschev Report which he intended to deliver "On the Personality Cult and its Consequences" at the 20th Party Congress. Needing to emphasise the insanity of the final years of Joseph Stalin's monstrous rule in the USSR, Khruschev described the grotesque scenes from the Premier's dacha. Late at night members of the Politburo were compelled to dance to long playing records of barking dogs. He described the sick enjoyment of the bullies Stalin and Lavrenty Beria watching in a room full of mirrors to intensify the scene. Twisted images reflected back to the Politburo members, save Stalin and Beria's. Being nosferatu, they caste no reflection.

Omoro Kinte	In 1976/1750, in a dream Omoro Kinte sees a great river running into a bay. By the sea, he enters a strange town, to find a child of the village held in chains. When he awakes, he hurries to the village elder and recounts the tale. “You must send me there with your rituals”, says Omoro in the Mandinka tongue.

In 1940, on this day Winston Churchill delivered a famous calls to arms. The address was made to the remnants of the British Royal Navy in Port Stanley, Falklands Islands. “The Battle for Britain” was over”, said Churchill “ but the Battle of the Atlantic was just beginning”.	Winston Churchi..

Norman Conquest	In 1066, the Norman Conquest began as William the Conqueror invaded England across the Calais-Dover land bridge. Political union followed territorial integrity. The French Province Bretagne also known as Brittany joined with the land referred to by Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae as Britannia major or "Greater Britain". The term “greater” referred simply to the larger lass made west of the land bridge, for Monmouth to distinguish it from Britannia minor, "Lesser Britain" or Brittany on the continent; regrettably, it has been misinterpreted ever since as a statement of grandeur.

In 1867, the Prussian Government took control of Pihemanu one hundred and forty nautical miles east of the International Date Line. Known to America as Midway, as its name suggests, the Island lies nearly halfway between North America and Asia. It also lies almost halfway around the earth from Greenwich, England. In September 1940, Hitler loaned the base to Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto at the signature of the Tripartite Pact by the Axis powers of Japan, Germany and Italy. This move had been widely anticipated, and indeed had prevented President Roosevelt from ordering the Pacific Fleet to sail from San Francisco to Pearl Harbour where it would of course be too vulnerable to stealth attacks.	Midway

Conspiracy In The Politburo

We're going pink for October!

The state of TIAH

October 26th, 2006

Alternate Historian's Note: We have another entry from Guest Historian Stephen Payne today. Our thanks to Mr. Payne for his continuing research into new areas of alternate history! If you would like to be a guest historian, too, follow the link above 'The state of TIAH' to find out how to contact us.

in 1962, the masterful handling of the missiles crises by John F. Kennedy forces conspirators in the Politburo to accept that the Soviet Union has catastrophically underestimated the US President. Previously considered a party-going rich playboy and serial womaniser, Kennedy had bungled the Bay of Pigs invasion and was a weak pushover at the superpower summit in Vienna. Conspirators Leonid Brezhnev, Aleksandr Shelepin and the KGB chief Semichastny determine that a strike against this new and powerful adversary is required immediately before matters deteriorate further. Semichastny presents a series of options which the KGB have already explored in some detail. The repeat failure of assassination squads to eliminate French President Charles De Gaulle quickly led to that option being rejected. So too was a barbiturate induced suicide which had enabled the mob to eliminate Marilyn Monroe, ruled out due to Kennedy's close medical attention. A midnight car crash on Kennedy island, under the influence of alcohol with a young lady for company would surely ruin the President when combined with suitable revelations in the media. With the night of the Hallowe'en party fast approaching, deep sleeper agents were activated and a trap prepared at Chappaquiddick. -entry by Guest Historian, Stephen Payne-

in 1972, a pitched battle erupts as Dr. Yvette Montclair and Officer Patrice Orleans try to hold off Sondra Laval and the cultists from the Lascaux cave. Just as Orleans and Montclair are forced to retreat from Father Laval's cell, Professor Karl Ainsworth and Officer Gerard Hortefeux burst in, firing tranquilizer after tranquilizer into the cave bear Sondra Laval is riding, as well as the cultists who are throwing themselves in front of the bear to protect it. Just before it collapses, the bear bends apart the bars of Father Laval's cell, and he and his niece escape from the police station using cultists as cover. With the fight over, Dr. Montclair examines the bear more closely. “We need to either dump this thing in the woods or kill it,” Officer Orleans says. “We don't have any place we can hold it – look what it did to the jail cell.” Professor Ainsworth says, “I'm reluctant to destroy the last of its species.” Dr. Montclair, looking at the bear's hind quarters, says, “Maybe she's not.”

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Assassinations

The state of TIAH

November 22nd, 2006

Alternate Historian's Note: November is NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. In 2004, we produced our novel Warp, and last year we got a start on The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion during this annual event. Both of these novels were based on timelines from TIAH – Warp was based on the Mlosh timeline, and Protocols on the Greater Zionist Resistance timeline. Although we posted numerous links to these novels on Lulu, TIAH didn't post any excerpts from them. We're going to do it a little differently this year. This year, the November posts on TIAH will be excerpts from the novel that is being written by us for NaNoWriMo. We will still have Guest Historian entries – Stephen Payne (who has compiled several and made them available on Lulu for free – just go through the Add to Cart system to get it) has some already written and waiting, and he is going to be joined by Guest Historian JD – so, if you want to make a Guest Post this month, go ahead and send it to us, and it will appear along with our novel post.

in 1946, former British Prime Minister Winston Spencer Churchill opens his daily post in his suite at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York City. The headline of the German newspaper Die Zeitung reads 'Fugitives from Justice' above a picture of the great lion himself, Deputy Prime Minister Clement Attlee and King George VI, leader of Free French Forces Charles de Gaulle and Yugoslav partisan Josep Broz Tito. A smaller article below reports that US President Charles Lindbergh is close to signing extradition papers which would hand Churchill over to the Nazis. He had anticipated this; with his suitcases at the door, he will check out today and head north by train to Canada to join the Royal Family and British Government in Exile. De Gaulle is close by in Quebec, but they will not be rushing to see each other any time soon. Bad relations started from the Battle of France and were destroyed by the scuttling of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kebir. Field Marshall Montgomery had publicly called the Phoney War preparations a “disaster” and spent his entire time in France rehearsing, and then executing a masterful retreat to Dunkirk. Then Churchill had sunk the French Fleet before it fell into German hands. De Gaulle judged these betrayals to be the usual treacheries from “perfidious albion”. On reflection, Churchill would not be that surprised if de Gaulle was encouraging the Québécois to secede from Canada right now. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-

in 1962, in Minsk, the Soviet citizen Alek James Hidell, (formerly known as US Marine Lee Harvey Oswald), is arrested by the KGB for the assassination of Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev. Released thirty years later following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Hidell reveals all on world-wide television during the US presidential campaign of 1992. Khruschev was eliminated by CIA agents as a precursor to the US invasion of Cuba later that same year which a weakened politburo was unable to resist effectively, with Hidell chosen as a convenient patsy. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-

in 1963, Lyndon Baines Johnson is assassinated in Dallas, Texas by lone gunman Ilich Ramírez Sánchez - popularly known as "Carlos the Jackal". The diaries of wife Lady Bird Johnson, published after her death in 2010 reveal that the episode was stage managed by Texan sympathisers to enable Johnson to escape into obscurity from the many scandals enveloping his Vice Presidency. Unable to similarly effect an escape from his addictions to tobacco and the soda drink known as Fresca, Johnson died at 4:33 p.m. on January 22, 1973 from a third heart attack at an unknown location, at age 64. -entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!-

Before(cont.)
The ringing of the phone startled all three of them. Steph hurried over to the one in the kitchen and picked it up. “Hello?”
“Steph? Baby, are you all right?”
“Dad, we're OK,” she said, sitting down again. The kids had wandered into the kitchen and looked at her expectantly. “It's your Grandpa Hughes.” They both relaxed, and George climbed into her lap.
“I wanna talk to him.”
“Just a minute, honey. Dad, how'd you get through?”
“I been callin' since 7 this mornin'. Dang phone finally actin' right. Don't understand why I couldn't call you, it's not like you're in Waco, you're in dang Pflugerville, I should be able to call you. I woulda driven over there, but soldiers are all over the dang place, tellin' us to stay put, not go anywhere. It's like I was in the Army again.”
Steph smiled as her father went through this tirade. Just hearing him complain made her feel better. “Is mom all right?”
“She's fine, she's fine. You know her, end of the world, just like she always said. She 'spects her butt's gonna get raptured any second now.” Steph heard the muffled sound of him turning his head away from the phone and shouting at his wife, “Cain't leave me that easy, woman!” He turned back to the phone and said, “How are the kids?”
“They're OK, just a little shook up. And there was something this morning...” She locked eyes with Joan and stroked her cheek. “But, we can talk about that later. I'm still a little worried I haven't heard from Jake, yet.”
“That worthless boy ain't comin' back to you, Steph,” her father said. “Jeff Howard was askin' about you just the other day, you know. Y'all could come back to Tyler, kids could go to a decent school, you could get with a good man...”
“Dad, I'm not ready to date, yet.” The kids both smiled at her. This was a conversation they had heard many times between Grandpa Hughes and their mother. “But, thanks for the offer.”
“All right, then.” He decided to let it drop. “Look, once they open the roads again, maybe you and the kids should come on up here. I don't like it that you're that close to Austin.”
“I know, but I think Pflugerville's far enough away that... that we don't have to worry about what might happen if there's another attack.” She didn't want to say what kind of attack in front of George; Joan's worried look was bad enough. “I imagine once they open the roads again, traffic's gonna be pretty bad, and I don't wanna fight that. We'll be fine.”
“OK, baby.” He was disappointed, but he let it go. “I love you,” he said, quietly, fervently.
That almost made her start crying; her father never said that. “I love you, too, dad.”

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Happy Halloween

We're going pink for October!

The state of TIAH

October 31st, 2006

Alternate Historian's Note: tomorrow marks the beginning of NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. In 2004, we produced our novel Warp, and last year we got a start on The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion during this annual event. Both of these novels were based on timelines from TIAH – Warp was based on the Mlosh timeline, and Protocols on the Greater Zionist Resistance timeline. Although we posted numerous links to these novels on Lulu, TIAH didn't post any excerpts from them. We're going to do it a little differently this year. Starting Wednesday, November 1st, the posts on TIAH will be excerpts from the novel that is being written by us for NaNoWriMo. We will still have Guest Historian entries – Stephen Payne has a couple already scheduled for the beginning of the month – so, if you want to make a Guest Post this month, go ahead and send it to us, and it will appear along with our novel post. Now, on with the end of October's posts, leading off with one from our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne...

in 1962, John F. Kennedy is collected from Martha's Vineyard airport and driven to Chappaquiddick to join campaign workers from the '60 election celebrating a Halloween Party at the Lawrence Cottage. At 11.15pm he instructs two members of the Secret Service detail to accompany him and a young lady to the beach. As they descend the hill at Dike Road, an unmarked car traveling at high speed impacts their vehicle, driving them off the narrow bridge and into Poucha Pond. Even though the vehicle is upside down and underwater, the agents are able to release the President and carry him gasping to the safety of the riverbank. Strong currents prevent them from returning to rescue the other passenger. The owner of Dike House, only 150 yards away, Sylvia Malm and her daughter arrive on the scene of the accident as do the Reverend and Mrs. David Smith who live in the house across the street. Given the undeniable presence of multiple witnesses placing him at the scene, Kennedy is forced to report the accident to the Police. He does so, falsely stating that he was chaperoning the young lady to the midnight Edgartown Ferry, keen to impress young campaign workers that there were all "part of the Kennedy Family". Meanwhile in the Politburo, Leonid Brezhnev, Aleksandr Shelepin and the KGB chief Semichastny are content with the night's work; the first phase of the conspiracy to ruin the President is an unqualified success. -entry by Guest Historian, Stephen Payne-

in 1972, Sondra Laval, niece of the mad priest Father Vincent Laval, leads the Montignac villagers and Professor Karl Ainsworth, Dr. Yvette Montclair, and Officers Gerard Hortefeux and Patrice Orleans to the Lascaux cave, where Father Laval is waiting for them. “Now, my children, the Great Bear shall fill His belly and go back to the sleep of ages,” he says to them, “while His children grow strong and we tend them for another generation, until one rises to take His place. Our sacrifices are nearly done; just these few more,” he says, waving at the outsiders, “and myself.” He begins chanting in the Sanskrit-derived language that has placed the citizens of Montignac under his spell, but Sondra Laval and Professor Ainsworth chant something else to the villagers, keeping Father Laval's control at bay. They follow the priest into the cave and to the forbidden passageway, where the huge, ancient bear waits. Father Laval goes back to the bear and strokes its great muzzle tenderly. “Soon, my Master, I shall be one with You.” He turns to the villagers and points at Dr. Montclair. “Bring the woman first.” Montclair raises a tranquilizer rifle and fires into the bear, saying, “I don't think so.” Professor Ainsworth and the two policeman also fire tranquilizer darts into the bear, which roars and charges. Ainsworth and Sondra Laval shout at it in the ancient tongue, and it pauses, confused. “No, my Master,” Father Laval screams at it, just as Officer Hortefeux shoots him with a dart. The others pepper the bear with more darts until it falls. Then, they turn their attention to the mad priest, who has crawled to the side of the bear and is trying to chant through the haze of the drug. “My Master shall destroy you all,” the priest slurs out, “you shall taste their souls, Master. You shall...” The drug finally takes him, and he falls. Professor Ainsworth says to the villagers, “Let's get him out of here, then I say we seal this place up.” He looks Dr. Montclair in the eyes and adds, “And the bear with it.” She is conflicted about that for a moment, then nods. Concrete, rock, cement, anything that can fill a hole is brought from Montignac and the forbidden passageway, as well as the tunnel leading off to the bear's nest, are sealed so tightly that they might as well have never been open. As the dawn breaks over the French countryside, the people of Montignac and their guests step into the sunlight, smiling for the first time in weeks. Professor Ainsworth puts his arm around Dr. Montclair and says, “Happy Halloween.”

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Tragedy At Lascaux

The state of TIAH

September 25th, 2006

in 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev and US President Adlai Stevenson meet at Camp David in Maryland to discuss peace between their two countries. Premier Khruschev agreed, in principle, to pull troops from East Berlin and reduce the number of Soviet soldiers in eastern Europe, and President Stevenson promised trade and a lessening of hostile espionage against the Soviets. President Stevenson temporarily halted the U2 spy plane program while he saw where this line of talks went. By the time he and Vice-President Lyndon Johnson stood for reelection the following year, there were treaties working their way through the US Congress and the Soviet Politburo to seal these agreements into law. Unknown to Khruschev, Stevenson had NASA working on a spy satellite program, and was able to maintain surveillance of the USSR without the spy planes that had been such a concern to the Soviet leader.

in 1972, Professor Karl Ainsworth and Dr. Roman Pelliot discuss whether to send a larger team into the forgotten passageway in the Lascaux Cave. Dr. Pelliot wants to simply seal the chamber up again, but Professor Ainsworth would like to document it. It was while they were discussing this matter that Ainsworth remembered dropping his camera in the chamber and said, “I've got to at least go back for that.” Dr. Pelliot reluctantly agreed to accompany him back to the cave, but insisted it be early in the morning. “I want as much daylight as we can get,” he said, shuddering at the memory of the passageway. They were sitting in a cafe in the village near the cave, drinking liberally while they talked, and Professor Ainsworth noticed that the other patrons of the bar were gathered around a man with a newspaper, excitedly speaking about something. He walked over to see what it was, and saw a picture of the German intern, Franz Jaeger, on the front page of the paper. He asked the man with the paper, “What happened to the boy?” The man shook his head sadly and replied, “Killed by a wild animal. I saw the body – torn to ribbons, the poor boy.” Disturbed, Ainsworth returned to his table with Pelliot and told him what had happened to Jaeger. Dr. Pelliot teared up, saying, “He was a good young man; such a pity that this was his last discovery.” They both raised a glass in toast to Jaeger, then retired to their rooms for the rest of the day.

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Submersible Opens New Front In Warfare

The state of TIAH

September 7th, 2006

in 1776, a new front is opened in war as a submersible is piloted into New York Harbor, underwater, and used to blow up the HMS Eagle, British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship. The Turtle, a submersible that had been donated to the American rebel cause by inventor David Bushnell, proved so deadly that General George Washington immediately commissioned 4 more and had Bushnell train sailors in its operation. Bushnell himself had piloted the craft when it sunk the Eagle, but was so physically weak that the trip had nearly killed him. He eagerly taught the young, tough sailors Washington sent the workings of his machine, and soon the American submersibles were wreaking havoc against the British navy. The Brits sought their own submersibles from the Dutch too late in the war to make a difference, but in every sea-faring war from then on, the submersible became an invaluable weapon of navies everywhere.

in 1980, although the British Royal Air Force continues to harass them, the combined Soviet and East German forces repel the French and West German ground troops from Berlin. In Moscow, the Politburo formally declares war against the western allies; Britain, France and West Germany reciprocate in a matter of hours. Italy, Austria and Greece announce that they will support the West Germans if an attempt is made to forcibly unify the German people. On the campaign trail in America, President Charles Evans is asked if the war in Europe will have any consequences for the United States, and he replies, “Yes. I'm sure that it'll bring a lot Europeans over here, looking for the peace, stability and prosperity that America has secured for itself by avoiding international entanglements.” The wild cheers that greet this statement back up the polls that show that over 65% of the American public wants nothing to do with the war beginning in Europe.

in 1996, a horrific incident causes rapper Tupac Shakur to leave his “gangsta” image behind; as he and Death Row Records producer Suge Knight are leaving a boxing match, another car pulled up beside them and riddled them with bullets. Shakur was only grazed, but Knight was hit by shot after shot. Shakur's driver sped them to the hospital, but Knight was dead on arrival. After getting his own small wound treated, Shakur appeared before the gathered press and said that he was going to need to take a break from his public appearances after this; he went back to his home in Maryland and was not heard from for several months. Then, in 1997, he produced his groundbreaking album, For Suge, with the hit single Blood can't pay back blood, a fierce message calling for an end to the violent feuds among so many people that Shakur associated with. Shakur personally began working with youth and gangs across the country to bring an end to violence; his personal crusade brought him close to death more than once, but after what he had seen in that car in Las Vegas, he no longer had any fear. He proved spectacularly successful at mediating gang disputes, and at one point was even nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. His last couple of albums have suffered from “preachiness” according to critics in the hip-hop scene, but his personal popularity has never faded.

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Soviet Union Joins NATO; Constitutionalists Surrender

ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE: we have our second anniversary coming up on May 27th, and we would like to have another contest. For our second anniversary, send us up to three of your own alternate histories, and we will publish the best - no limit on how many will end up on the final page! We would like to see as many of you enter this as possible, so please - think 'em up, write 'em down, and send 'em on to us at rat4cat@gmail.com! Help us celebrate our 2nd year of existence in style! Oh, and if you're like Sean and we owe you an appearance in TIAH - email us! SEAN - EMAIL - NOW!

May 7th, 2006

in 1763, Ottawa chief Pontiac, having been lobbied by Mlosh for 5 years, joins the Iroquois Confederation. He sees the coming unification of North America and wants to make sure that his people aren’t left behind. The joining of the Ottawa to the Confederation prompts many smaller native nations to seek entrance to the Confederation, swelling its importance.

in 1812, poet Robert Browning was born in London, England, to a wealthy banker of the same name. Browning was the very picture of the tragic poet pining for his love, since he lost his heart to Elizabeth Barrett, who married American author Edgar Allan Poe.

in 1954, in spite of stiff political opposition, NATO allows the Soviet Union to join. Although their presence in the alliance creates tension for a few years, the tie to western Europe does open them up when reformers gain control of the Kremlin and Politburo in the late 50’s. This gesture, hard-fought at first, is often given credit for avoiding a Cold War between the east and the west that might have lasted many years.

in 1960, Tsar Nicholas III appoints Leonid Brezhnev his Ambassador to the Soviet States of America. Brezhnev had flirted with American-supported communists in his youth, and the Tsar wanted him out of the country because of his popularity with these groups. Brezhnev, once he saw the reality of communism, was put off by it and became an ardent Russian capitalist.

in 1968, piano-playing British rocker Reginald Dwight thought about changing his rather staid name to something more glamorous, and came up with Reggie Dee, under which he recorded his songs Crocodile Rock, Rocket Man and Honky Cat. His flamboyant style and rather scandalous personal life as an out-of-the-closet homosexual made him a top-flight rock-star in the '70s and '80s.

in 1969, child actress Nora Kuzma was born in Steubenville, Ohio. Her mother moved the family to Los Angeles after divorcing her husband in the 70’s, and concentrated on getting her children into the movies. Young Nora caught the eye of a couple of commercial directors, and her career took off from there. She became a B-grade sci-fi staple until her breakout role in Blade as a vampire security chief.

in 1985, with the teenage Patience Redding in tow, Chelsea Perkins and Debra Morris find a witch that Miss Morris knows in the future and attempt to sort everything out. All the talk of witchcraft fascinates Redding, who makes a vow to become one herself. Chelsea attempts to persuade her otherwise, saying, “You have no idea how unglamorous it all is.”

in 1997, America’s surviving Constitutionalist government officially surrenders to the British, Egyptian and Chinese allies in Yorktown, Virginia. It is a symbolic surrender, since fighting had already stopped and the Constitutionalists had lost power in most of the country long before President Ralph Shephard killed himself.

in 2003, in the middle of performing the Broadway comedy The Play Wot I Wrote, Roger Moore collapses and dies of a heart attack. The former James Bond actor’s funeral was attended by all the remaining Bondsmen: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.

Timelines in today's post: the Mlosh, Communist America, the Chelsea Perkins timeline and the Ralph Shephard timeline

Today's "Six Degrees of Star Trek" challenge: Connect The Spy Who Loved Me to Star Trek. Place your answers in the comments and see the Forum for previous results. For more on 6 degrees games, click here.

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Browning Born; America's Formal Surrender

May 7th, 2005

in 1763, Ottawa chief Pontiac, having been lobbied by Mlosh for 5 years, joins the Iroquois Confederation. He sees the coming unification of North America and wants to make sure that his people aren’t left behind.

in 1812, poet Robert Browning was born in London, England, to a wealthy banker of the same name. Browning was the very picture of the tragic poet pining for his love, since he lost his heart to Elizabeth Barrett, who married American author Edgar Allan Poe.

in 1954, in spite of stiff political opposition, NATO allows the Soviet Union to join. Although their presence in the alliance creates tension for a few years, the tie to western Europe does open them up when reformers gain control of the Kremlin and Politburo in the late 50’s.

in 1960, Tsar Nicholas III appoints Leonid Brezhnev his Ambassador to the Soviet States of America. Brezhnev had flirted with American-supported communists in his youth, and the Tsar wanted him out of the country because of his popularity with these groups.

in 1968, piano-playing British rocker Reginald Dwight thought about changing his rather staid name to something more glamorous, and came up with Reggie Dee, under which he recorded his songs Crocodile Rock, Rocket Man and Honky Cat.

in 1969, child actress Nora Kuzma was born in Steubenville, Ohio. Her mother moved the family to Los Angeles after divorcing her husband in the 70’s, and concentrated on getting her children into the movies. Young Nora caught the eye of a couple of commercial directors, and her career took off from there. She became a B-grade sci-fi staple until her breakout role in Blade as a vampire security chief.

in 1997, America’s surviving Constitutionalist government officially surrenders to the British, Egyptian and Chinese allies in Yorktown, Virginia. It is a symbolic surrender, since fighting had already stopped and the Constitutionalists had lost power in most of the country long before President Ralph Shephard killed himself.

in 2003, in the middle of performing the Broadway comedy The Play Wot I Wrote, Roger Moore collapses and dies of a heart attack. The former James Bond actor’s funeral was attended by all the remaining Bondsmen, Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.


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Harsh

	A prostitution ring known as the Emperor's Club V.I.P. has been cracked by a team of Eyes, working with an inside informant. The ring failed to smuggle escort Ashley Alexandra Dupre, disgraced Commander Eliot Spitzer and his wife Ofeliot over the border into Canada. Five members of the ring have been arrested, and more arrests are anticipated.

They look terrified, but they're trying to preserve some dignity in front of the camera. The man has a large dark mark on his forehead; the woman's veil has been torn off, and her hair falls in strands over her face. Both of them are about fifty. In other news, resettlement of the Children of Ham is continuing on schedule... ~ Canadian News Anchor Margaret Attwood. Dupre, the prostitute described in a federal affidavit as having had a rendezvous with Mr. Spitzer on Feb. 13 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, had spent the last few days in her ninth-floor apartment in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. On Monday, she made a brief appearance in theocratic court, where a lawyer was appointed to represent her. She was expected to be a witness in the case against four people charged with operating a prostitution ring called the Emperor’s Club V.I.P. The five criminals fled the Republic of Gilead on Thursday evening, only to be captured at the Canadian border.

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	In 1996, the author Harold Courlander died on this day. Noted novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist, Courlander was recognized as one of the world's leading experts in the study of Haitian life. The author of 35 books and plays and numerous scholarly articles, Courlander specialized in the study of African, Caribbean, Afro-American (U.S.), and American Indian cultures.

He took a special interest in oral literature, cults, and Afro-American cultural connections with Africa. Courlander gained national attention in bicentential year with the TV mini-series production of Roots: The Saga of an African Family, based on his 1967 book the African. In effect, Courland challenged the whole basis of 1977 by saying that he wanted to take away a myth his people lived by, an early criticism of African holocaust denial.

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	In 1990, during Gulf War Iraq hung British journalist Farzad Bazoft for spying. When Barzoft set off, he learned about a mysterious explosion which happened in the al-Iskandaria military complex 30 miles south of Baghdad. The heavy detonation was heard as far as in Baghdad itself and despite Saddam Hussein's personal order to keep the matter secret, rumours began to spread that the accident happened in a rocket factory's assembly line, killing dozens of Egyptian technicians involved in secret medium-range missiles development. With undeniable photographic proof of the location of Extraterrestrial Technology (ET) buried in Iraq it was too dangerous for Saddam to allow him to live.

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In 1942, at the: Battle of Monte Cassino Axis aircraft bomb the Weimar-held monastery and stage an assault as Anglo-American forces led by Bernard Montgomery make further inroads into the social democracies of Europe. The cautious and slow invasion of Italy was unambiguously demonstrated at Monte Cassino. Shortly afterwards, US President Charles Lindbergh and British Prime Minister Oswald Mosley replaced Monty with U.S. General George S. Patton as the Supreme Commander of Axis Forces in Europe.

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In 1991, Germany formally regained complete independence after the World War II occupying powers of Anglo-America and Tsarist Russia relinquished all remaining rights.

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In 709 AUC, Rome's dictator, Gaius Julius Caesar, heeding the advice of an old seer, sent soldiers into the Senate in his place and arrested several senators who were planning to assassinate him. After putting the conspirators to death, Caesar abolished the Senate and imposed martial law on Rome while he rooted out all his enemies.

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In 1493, Christopher Columbus and his three ships are lost in a huge storm in the Atlantic on their return from what he believes to be India. Rumors fly around Spain as to his fate, and no further expeditions are sent to the west.

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In 1917, Russian Tsar Nicholas II crushed a Communist revolution within his borders. Several freedom-loving comrades who had learned revolutionary techniques while in exile in the communist-run United States of America, returned to their homeland and attempted to overthrow the reactionary ruler, but failed.

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Julius Caesar and Brutus both come down with the flu on the Ides (15th) of March 44BC. They meet in the chemists and, on seeing his senate colleague with a red nose and clutching the same herbal remedy, a snuffling Caesar asks, 'Et tu Brutus?'. After a few days of Caesar recovers only to hear that Brutus hasn't. On his death bed, a distraught Brutus confesses the Senate's plans. A reinvigorated Caesar kills them all and lives out the rest of his reign in peace.

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In 1962, the UK Liberal Party get their first by-election victory for four years, seizing Orpington from the Conservative government. The decision to recall David Lloyd-George from retirement in 1940 to serve again as war-time leader was the source of the dispute. Much recrimination had existed during the event, and more so afterwards when the Welsh Wizard rescued Singapore from certain defeat to the Japanese by spotting a key weakeness in Minister of Defence Winston Churchill's plans.

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Yakov Sverdlov	Lenin's health problems in the winter of 1921-1922 had pushed him closer and closer to Yakov Sverdlov. Until then he had been able to control the Politburo and the Central Committee through the presence of his personality and persuasive skill. But an adjutant was required to run the party machinery in the provinces. Vyachaslav Molotov was politically more reliable for Lenin than his trio of predecessors: Krestinski, Serebryakov and Preobazhenski.
Head of State

But Molotov did not enjoy the local party respect crucial for keeping the party together. *Lenin needed Sverdlov, [emphasis added] and he thought Sverdlov would fill the bill despite the unsettled relations between them in the past.. ~ Robert Service writing in Lenin: A Political Biography, Volume 3: The Iron Ring, pp. 268-9.

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	In 1976, in a nationally televised speech, President Rockefeller announces his 'National Safe Streets Initiative,' a big-budget tough-on-crime package of new money for police and the FBI and proposed legislation aimed at increasing criminal penalties, especially for drug offenses, and limiting appeals in felony cases.

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	In 1783, concerned that low morale in the Continental Army caused by long overdue payroll would encourage the British to attack, George Washington arrived in Newburgh Camp. With the end of the war and hence likely the resultant dissolution of the Continental Army obviously approaching, there seemed to the soldiers, many of whom were now deeply indebted from their term of service, a strong chance that Congress would not meet previous promises on back pay and pensions. The winter of 1783 had seen the end of hostilities between the young nation and Britain, but a formal peace treaty had not yet been signed.

The Continental Army was camped near Newburgh, New York. The British still occupied New York City, some 60 miles to the south. Washington called a meeting of his officers on March 15, 1783 that Major General Horatio Gates was supposed to chair. It was held in the New Building, a 40 by 70 foot (12 by 21 m) building at the camp. After Gates opened the meeting, Washington entered the building to everyone's surprise. He asked to speak to the officers, and the stunned Gates relinquished the floor. Washington could tell by the faces of his officers, who had not been paid for quite some time, that they were quite angry and did not show the respect or deference that they had in the past toward Washington. Washington then gave a short speech to his officers about the precarious finances of the nation. He then took a letter from his pocket from a member of Second Continental Congress to read to the officers. Instead of reading it immediately, he gazed upon it and fumbled with it without speaking. He then took a pair of reading glasses from his pocket, which few of the men had seen him wear. He then said: 'Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country.' This piece of high theatre caused intense fury, encouraging officers to launch the Newburgh Conspiracy and the British Army to advance from New York City. Within three months, British had re-established control over her former colonies.

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