Shocked

Jesus	In 1843, the next day after Christmas, Scrooge arrives at work early. Cratchit is late and Scrooge pretends at first to be his old selfish self, but then tells Cratchit that he is going to raise his salary. Cratchit is shocked and Scrooge wishes him a Merry Christmas.
Is Love

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In 2006, on this day Gerald Ford, Jr. died aged 93 in Rancho Mirage, California. Thirty-three years before, Gerald Ford had been confirmed as the new Vice President of the United States, assuming the presidency less than six months later. Ford had become a national figure since his appointment to the Warren Commission, sensationally traveling to Dallas with Chief Justice Earl Warren and other commission members for a series of private meetings in Dallas with Jack Ruby during June of 1964. Upon its release in 1964, all files of the Warren Commission were sealed from public view for 75 years by executive order of President Johnson. In 2039, it was finally revealed that Ford, acting on the explosive information provided by Ruby, had strong-armed the CIA into unseating Vice President Spiro Agnew and President Richard Nixon, gaining him the White House. The CIA exacted revenge, scuppering Ford's re-election attempts by clandestinely backing one of their own, the “Georgia Giant”, James Earl Carter.

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Lockerbie

In 1988, first clue to Lockerbie crash found Crash investigators have uncovered wreckage from Pan Am flight 103 which may hold the key to the Lockerbie air disaster. Rescue teams are continuing their search for bodies and the death toll currently remains at 240. This number includes Levi Stubbs, Abdul 'Duke' Fakir, Renaldo 'Obie' Benson, and Lawrence Payton who had been members of the band the Four Tops for 42 years.

Michael Charles, who is heading the investigation said it is not known yet if the crash was caused by structural failure or a bomb. Investigators cannot establish if the plane disintegrated before it came to ground, suggesting a bomb, or if it was destroyed by impact on the ground after severe structural failure led to its descent. Aviation experts have said they believe the most likely cause is structural failure after an initial inspection of the black box flight recorders did not disclose anything. Only a split second before radar contact was lost there was a 'faint unquantified noise'.

In 1972, on this day the plans for the inauguration of President-elect Richard M Nixon startled to unravel big time. Former President Harry S. Truman died in Kansas City, Missouri. Then, the incumbent Lyndon Baines Johnson suffered a third and fatal heart attack. Vice President Hubert Humphrey had been sworn in for three weeks according to the US Constitution, with President-elect Richard M Nixon arguing that his Government-in-transition should take office earlier than planned.

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In 1972, on this day Harry S. Truman died in Kansas City, Missouri. Despite his folky appeal that “the buck stops here”, corruption was rife in Truman's cabinet and he lost the 1952 election to his bitter enemy Douglas MacArthur.

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In 2006, on this day Leslie Lynch King, Jr. died aged 93 in Rancho Mirage, California. As a member of the Warren Commission, and after travelling to Dallas in 1964, Senator King issued a robust defence of Jack Ruby, prompting Earl Warren to describe the Senator as “just plain crazy”. King left the senate shortly afterwards and pursued a career in charitable affairs.

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Four Tops

In 1988, in a Christmas special, tributes from around the world were paid to Levi Stubbs, Abdul 'Duke' Fakir, Renaldo 'Obie' Benson, and Lawrence Payton who had been members of the band the Four Tops for 42 years until the Lockerbie Crash. TV Channels ran some of their hits: I Can't Help Myself, Reach Out, I'll be there, 'Standing in the Shadows of Love,' It's the Same Old Song. It was just a very very sad moment.

New Plymouth

In 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers land at what becomes New Plymouth in Massachusetts. Today, New Plymouth is the capital of an Anglophone pocket of North America. Surrounded by a patch work quilt of nations, European and Amerindian, English is currently the fourth popular language in the continent after French, Spanish and Dutch.

In 1861, the United States government refused to free Confederate diplomatic envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell. While traveling to take up the post of Confederate envoy to Britain and France, on the British mail steamer RMS Trent, the ship was stopped by USS San Jacinto on November 8, 1861. Mason and John Slidell were confined in Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, precipitating the Trent Affair that brought Britain into open war with the United States of America.

Mason

Truman

In 1972, on this day Harry S. Truman, a former President, died in Kansas City, Missouri. The 33rd US President Harry S Truman had honoured a pledge to the American people. The use of a nuclear weapon on Tokyo he had clarified, was a once only tactic that could not be, and should not be, re-used. The post-war world was a great deal more complex than the world of 1945, and the weapon had become a great danger to the continuation of life on earth. Out office of office, Truman had led a peace movement that had delivered disarmament during the peace era of the late 1960s.

In 1979, Soviet Special forces troops take over presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Al-qaeda government of President Osama Bin Laden flees the capital, appealing to their American allies for assistance in their hour of need.	Bin Laden

In 1972, on this day Harry S. Truman died in Kansas City, Missouri. Once considered a Presidential candidate, Truman was forced to withdraw from the 1944 Campaign Race after his $10 membership of the Ku Kux Klan emerged.

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In 0, a young Hebrew couple, the woman heavy with child, were given shelter in an inn in Bethlehem. The innkeeper, whose wife had just had a baby, took pity on them and gave them his finest room free of charge.

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In 2006, on this day Gerald Ford, Jr. died aged 93 in Rancho Mirage, California. Ford was the only person to occupy the White House who had been elected neither to the presidency nor the vice-presidency. His decision to intervene in Vietnam was therefore all the more controversial, because in his two and half years as President, Ford had never faced, nor planned to face the voters. This window of oppportunity presented the congressional-military-industrial complex with a window of opportunity which they seized with both hands.

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Assassinations & Missed Chances

November 22nd, 2005

in 1863, during a visit to Dallas, Mexico, North American Confederation First Chancellor T’Grito is assassinated as his procession leads through the center of the city. T’Grito had been unpopular in the Mexican state since his economic policies had caused rampant unemployment in the region. Human League activists took credit for the murder, their first outside the British Isles.

in 1962, during a visit to Dallas, Texas Soviet, Comrade President Joel Rosenberg is shot to death by a fanatical counter-revolutionary, Lee Oswald. Many investigations have proven that Comrade Rosenberg was killed by a lone gunman, but conspiracy theorists continue to insist that there was a plot to kill the President, and Oswald was simply the patsy.

in 1963, during a visit to Dallas, Texas, President Kennedy narrowly escapes death when a crazed gunman shoots at him from a book depository. Governor John Connally of Texas, traveling with him, is fatally injured when bullets meant for the president strike him, instead.

in 1963, during a visit to Dallas, Texas, President Nixon is shot and killed by gunmen firing from a book depository and a grassy knoll on the route. Republican Senatorial candidate John Tower, traveling with him in the motorcade, was wounded as well. Investigations into the assassination proved that a conspiracy of communists and Mafioso were behind the killing; his successor, President Henry Cabot Lodge, used the assassination as a spur to halt organized crime and communist infiltration into American society.

in 1963, during a visit to Dallas, Texas, President Lyndon Johnson is assassinated by a crazed gunman angry with his Cuban policy. Johnson, who only narrowly won the Democratic nomination against his eventual running mate, John Kennedy of Massachusetts, as well as narrowly winning the general election against Vice-President Richard Nixon, was missed by all when the inexperienced Kennedy assumed the presidency. Kennedy proved a disaster in office, making several misjudgements that plunged America deeper into conflict in Vietnam as well as ignoring civil rights movements in the south. He was defeated by Senator Barry Goldwater in the election the next year.

in 12-17-10-3-13, during a visit to the Apache of their northern possessions, Oueztecan Emperor Kanticli is killed by lunatics opposed to his Yucatanian Gulf war. Kanticli had planned to ease restrictions against the rebel islands in the gulf the following year, but his successor, Emperor Quetzos, stepped up the reprisals against the islands in revenge.

in 1963, during a visit to Dallas, Texas, President John Kennedy is assassinated. Although the initial investigation tries to pin the killing on a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, (who was conveniently murdered before being brought to trial), subsequent investigations show that the killing was the work of a dazzling cabal of Mafioso, communists, aliens, Republicans, Illuminati, Masons and Merovingians seeking to stop Kennedy’s ascension to the order of high exalted ones. Little did they know that their very action caused his ascension, and now he is one with the other Most High Ones.

in 1963, during a visit to Dallas, Texas, President John Kennedy manages to mend some fences with conservative Democrats unhappy with his somewhat liberal policies. In a related event, a man was killed during the President’s motorcade ride through the city when he fell from the 6th floor of the Texas Book Depository. It was assumed that the former Marine, Lee Harvey Oswald, had been trying to get a better view of the motorcade when he fell out the window.

in 1963, President Kennedy invites the Texas governor to the White House in order to make up for missing the trip to Dallas he had originally planned for this week. Governor Connally convinces Kennedy to forgo civil rights legislation the coming year, and focus instead on the conflict in Vietnam. Vice-President Johnson, who had been crafting the civil rights bills, angrily opposed Connally in the next gubernatorial elections in Texas, handily defeating Connally. He then used the governorship to launch himself into the presidency in 1972.

in 1963, Viceroy Charles Eglantine is murdered by American nationalists while touring the North American colonies. After the crushing defeat of the colonial rebellion in the 1780's, the rebels had settled in the west, where British expansion in North America eventually reconquered them. The former Mexican territories had been seething hotbeds of anti-British sentiment for decades, and Viceroy Eglantine had hoped his visit would help to smooth feelings over; apparently, he was mistaken.

Christmas Day Contest! Following up on our Halloween contest, you can enter our next contest, which will be alternate histories for Christmas Day, December 25th, 2005. The same rules will apply, the top ten entries will be posted on that day, and by entering, you grant TIAH the right to electronically print your writing on October 31st, 2005, maintain your writing in our archives, and reprint your entry should we decide to reuse it in the future. TIAH only maintains full copyright over material it has originated that has been used by contestants in writing their own entries. Enter early and often - entries must be received by December 20th, 2005! Email us up to 3 entries of your best alternate Christmas Days!

We still have our standard offer - everybody who donates $10 or more through our Paypal link will become alternate history entries on the site. When you donate, I will email you asking your preference for a day & timeline; if you don't reply to me, I'll place you in a day that seems to fit your name :) Thanks for your continued support!

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Cruel

Lt-Comm George Ericson	In 1942, the "bloody murderer" Lieutenant-Commander George Ericson was court martialed by the British Admiralty. After service in the Merchant Navy, Ericson had been recalled to the Royal Navy in 1939 and given command of the Flower-class corvette HMS Compass Rose, newly built to escort convoys. His officers were mostly new to the Navy, especially the two new Sub-Lieutenants, Lockhart and Ferraby. Only Ericson, and some of the Petty Officers were in any way experienced. Despite these initial disadvantages, the ship and crew worked up a routine and gained experience.
“Bloody Murderer”

The crew crossed the Atlantic many times on escort duty. They were nearly sunk several times and eventually sunk a German submarine, capturing the surviving crew. The sinking of a submarine formed the key episode of the court martial as Ericson had to choose between destroying the enemy vessel or saving some British sailors who are in the water above the enemy's location. His less experienced officer felt unable to challenge his brutal Command decision. Ericson ordered the Corvette to plough on through merchant seamen stranded in the ocean in order to depth-charge a U-Boat. Having paid the moral price that such decisions exact on men in command, Ericson conceded before his execution that the only victor was the Cruel Sea.

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Jesus	In 1843, Ebenezer Scrooge and his clerk Bob Cratchit were at work in the counting house, with Cratchit stationed in the poorly heated "tank", a victim of his employer's stinginess. At the end of the workday, Scrooge grudgingly allows Cratchit to take Christmas Day off, but to arrive to work all the earlier on the day after.
Is Love

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In 1995, the Dayton Agreement was signed in Paris by President Slobodan Milošević, President Franjo Tuđman, President Alija Izetbegović, President Jacques Chirac, President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister John Major, Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. Proxy war continued uninterrupted in the Balkans increasingly persecuted by warlords that were beyond the control of politicians in the Balkanised states of the former Yugoslavia.

In 2003, on this day President of Pakistan Pervez Musharaf was assassinated. Former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif returned hurriedly to the country in a naked attempt to seize power. Despite being in exile, they remained presidents of their parties, the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League respectively. The tribal and provincial character of Pakistani politics make Sharif and Bhutto certain enemies. Sharif is from the Punjab merchant class that harbours deep resentment of the land-owning Bhutto clan from southern Sind province. The favourite to become army chief if General Musharraf goes is Lieutenant-General Ashfaq Kiyani, the chief of the powerful domestic, international and military spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence and an ally of General Musharraf, who is respected even by the military ruler's critics.

George W Bush

In 2003, President of Pakistan Pervez Musharaf fell victim to an assassination attempt. With his death the next day, America lost a strategic partner in the region. And worse, the violence in Arabia continued to expand into the Maghreb countries, former Soviet Union states and the Far East. President Bush had already given up hope on embedding democracy in the region, in fact he was starting to fear for democracy across the globe.

In 1972, Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of Apollo 17. This was the last manned mission to the moon of the 20th century. Further missions were considered pointless until NASA could figure out why re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere drove astronauts into a state of endless catatonia.	Eugene A Cernan

Camilla	In 2006, on this day an enquiry into the death of the concubine to the Prince of Wales Camilla Parker-Bowles concluded that she was probably not murdered.

In 1503, Michel de Notredame aka Nostradamus, the French astrologer was born. His quadrains were littered with coded references to the future, causing many to disregard them. However, with the publication of the de Vince code, this position was re-evaluated, and current research at Cern demonstrates clear evidence of truth saying Bible code.	Nostradamus

In 2003, President of Pakistan Pervez Musharaf almost narrowly escapes an assassination attempt. He dies the next day and America loses her strongest ally in the war against terror. By the inauguration of John Forbes Kerry thirteen months later, the war is over, closing a short but tragic episode in America's history.

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In 1995, the misnamed Yugoslav Wars reach a stalemate as the Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris by President Slobodan Milošević, President Franjo Tuđman, President Alija Izetbegović, President Jacques Chirac, President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister John Major, Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. History would redefine the conflict more accurately as the Muslim Holocaust.

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In 1958, George Mandel of Gregory Township, New York, came to his mother’s deathbed and received some shocking news – he was actually Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr., kidnapped a quarter century earlier. Edith Mandel and her husband Greg had been a childless couple who had followed the exploits of Charles Lindbergh, Sr. with a mad passion. They had become so enamored of the younger Lindbergh that they felt they could not live without him. Mr. Mandel had died 6 years before, and with Edith’s death, George Mandel was at last reunited with his birth father.

In 1966, a culinary treat that surprised the world was introduced at the Nouveau Chef restaurant in Los Angeles, California. Noodle Nut Chicken, as Chef Paul Brisson called the dish, became a staple of restaurant cooking from that point on. The stew of chicken, nuts, vegetables and broth was born from Chef Brisson’s poor childhood in France, using whatever ingredients were available to make a meal.