Moebians - 300,000 Visitors (And More)

The state of TIAH

February 24th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: Today, this morning, we will hit our 300,000th visitor, another milestone that I love seeing us pass. I'll be watching to see which of you does it – nobody answered my shout-out to our 250,000th visitor, but maybe number 300K will be different. Anyway, back to business - our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne, had a great suggestion – we haven't had a good contest in a while, 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). We'll also see if we have enough credit for an ultimate winner to get a complimentary TIAH mug, but we can't promise anything on that yet. Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline will be March 29th.

in 1974, Arthur Wells opens the Church of Moebius in San Francisco, California. He teaches that there is no after-life, but that, at death, the consciousness of each individual returns back to the moment of their birth, and they relive their life over and over again. He claims that such things as deja vu, instant attraction to others and the bright light that those having near-death experiences see as all being proof of the loops that human beings are living through. Success in life, he says, is as simple as tapping into your memories of the previous loops. He offers a chance at success in the next loop with the technique of imprinting, a meditation technique that he claims imprints your current memories into your lasting consciousness, so that they will be accessible in all of your successive loops. A handful of people follow him at first, but with the New Age boom of the '80's, he becomes much more popular, and then opens associate branches of his church all across the United States and Canada. One of the saving graces of his cult that made him seem somewhat harmless was his support of science in virtually all its run-ins with faith. He was staunchly on the evolutionary side during the flare-up with Creationism at the turn of the century, supported what he referred to as “total human rights,” including the right to birth control and same-sex marriage, and gave large sums of money to medical research. “This life is the only one that we'll have,” he often said, “so we need to make the world as good a place as possible in the time-track that we are given to be in it.” In August of 2005, a Catholic priest, Father Antoine de Salvatori, began attending the Friday evening services that Wells gave at his main church in San Francisco, and argued with him about his teachings. Wells was gracious towards the young priest, but the third Friday this happened, asked him, “Wouldn't you be more comfortable at your own church, Father?” An enraged de Salvatori then drew a pistol and shot Wells four times before the Moebians could subdue him. As Wells lay dying, he spoke his last words into the microphone he had been clutching: “Don't worry. I'll see if I can stop him next time.”

Sonny Liston	In 1964 in preparation for the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship which was to occur the very next day, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. drove to Sonny Liston's home in Denver at one o'clock in the morning, shouted for Sonny to come out and fight him on the spot, and set up a huge bear trap ..
.. on the lawn. Liston took the bait and administered a serious beating to the Olympic Gold Medalist. At the press conference Sonny said some people were all talk.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1917 the U.S. ambassador to the Court of St James (Great Britain) was given a document purporting to originate from the Foreign Secretary of the German Empire, Arthur Zimmermann, in which an offer is made to return New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico in exchange for a declaration ..	Zimmermann Tele..
.. of war on the United States. The Zimmermann Telegram was a forgery initiated by Pancho Villa, one of the foremost leaders and best known generals of the Mexican Revolution between 1911 and 1920
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Bill Clinton	In 2002 the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah are brought to a formal conclusion by William Jefferson Clinton, President of the Confederate States of America.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1981 Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer, two of the three people in their forthcoming marriage. Ignoring many dire warnings, Charles refused to end his affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles, often being smuggled out of Clarence House ..	Princess Diana
.. in the boot of a car to meet clandestinely with her. Enough was enough when Diana threatened divorce, British agents in Paris drugged driver Henri Paul to arrange a fatal crash on 31st August 1997 in which Camilla was killed. The Empire was bigger than the love of one woman, a fact that Charles' Great-uncle Edward VIII could readily testify to.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish

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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!

A Final Note From Robbie: This is it – my last posting as your Alternate Historian. From today forward, I will be a Visiting Professor Emeritus, at most, while Steve will take over the daily duties here at the Academy as its chief Alternate Historian.

I naturally want to thank everyone who's read me regularly over the last 3 years for sticking with TIAH, and I hope you'll give RATMANifesto a look – but not till after the Labor Day weekend, because I'm going on vacation for the next 3 days. That's something that I've been a little reluctant to do since I started this page; it's going to be odd to be able to sleep late. I'll miss the routine of having a set schedule to post – but not getting up in the morning 2 hours before the crack of dawn to do it.

I hope that you will take it easy on Steve as he begins his tenure as the AH – save the hard knocks till after he's had a couple of months to acclimate himself (just kidding, Steve!) He has a lot of great ideas and will be attempting to push TIAH further than it's ever gone before, and I will certainly be following him on this journey. I hope that you will, too.

Appropriately enough, for my last posting I have an alternate history entry. Today is my sister's birthday, and I'm going to use my last day as the Big Man On Campus to send out a happy birthday to her.

So, good luck, Steve, and thanks to everybody! My entry follows this, the limey line (used for the last time here) follows that, and then Steve takes over. You will be able to reach him at althistorian@gmail.com - he inherits the email from me. I am keeping the hotmail account, though, so you can reach me with your goodbyes at althistorian@hotmail.com. And now, farewell, so long, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye.

in 1959, Gari Lynn Taylor was born in Houston, Texas, the last child of the Reverend W.D. and Peggy Taylor. A heart attack brought the reverend to an end when Gari Lynn was 2, and she grew up without a father figure. Some critics have speculated that this tragedy is what forged the strength of character that Ms. Taylor showed in her journalism and opinion writing, and the self-reliance she learned from her childhood stood her in good stead when she began her own publishing company, Slap Upside The Head, Inc. Today, Ms. Taylor's advice books on everything from child-rearing to alternative energy sources routinely top the bestseller lists, and she is a regular fixture on talk shows, famous for her earthy, home-spun wisdom.

In 1997, a telephone call was placed to the Hôtel Ritz in Paris. Codewords spoken that trigged deep-mind instructions, programmed under hypnosis by agents of the Security Services of France. An ex-pilot consumed a large amount of alcohol from a hotel mini-bar. Chauffeured two young people in a 1994 Mercedes-Benz S280 sedan (registration no. 688 LTV 75). Went into seizure as agents on motorcycles flashed bright lights into the vehicle. Crashed into the thirteenth pillar of the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel. Stole a beacon of light from a world of need.

~ entry by Co-Historian Steve Payne

In 2026, the editorial team set down the key themes for The World in 2027. Put simply, could the Center of International Research for the Continuance of Life on Earth (CIRCLE) solve the myriad of problems threatening humanity with extinction?

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

In 1947, the Indian Hockey team withdrew from the Games of the XIV Olympiad to be held in London, England the following year. The decision had been prompted by the Indian Emergency, after Winston Churchill's reneged on a promise to grant Independence to the Subcontinent, preferring instead to announce Dominion Status. The withdrawal was a deep source of embarrassment to the British Government. The Indian Hockey Team had won the Gold Medal in every Olympics since 1928, and in a moment, a feeling of British pride had been transformed into shame. Churchill himself was disturbed greatly by the protest. He desperately needed the Indian Divisions of the British Army to maintain Great Power status, and now he feared that he could not longer depend upon the loyalty of these fine troops.

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

In 1975, in Richard Matheson's I am Legend the bombings had spread the vampiris bacteria, killing everyone including Robert Neville's wife and daughter. The survivors of the war were the vampires, the infected, and Neville himself, trapped inside his fortified home.

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

In 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car crash in Paris. Controversy raged for many years over the culpability of paparazzi on motorbikes who had shone bright lights into the vehicle for flash photography. Newspaper refused to publish the pictures taken after the crash. Those photographs finally emerged in 2015. They showed Diana very composed, not injured at all.

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

Master Tubby	In 2003, Master Tubby Bear was arrested in Toy Town for breach of the peace. Miss Pink had "reported a loud 'orrid noise" to PC Plod, who was unable to hear what she was saying because of a "loud 'orrid noise". In his defence, Master Tubby had stated "My Uncle Tubby bought me this drum set. Its my birthday, I'll do what I like."
The case continues.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Cary Grant	In 1943, on Broadway reporters ask the British actor Cary Grant how he feels about the events since the premier of “Castle Bonny” in which he played the part of Dick Blaine. The final scene shows Dick, Laszlo and a detachment of Free British soldiers on a ship, to incorporate the Allies' 1943 invasion of England. In ..
.. the real world that invasion had succeeded just the day before. "Everyone wants to be Cary Grant; even I want to be Cary Grant" quipped the actor.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2127/2003, a dramatic scene is played out in a deep cell of Paddington Green Police ..	Paddington Green..
.. Station. Being interviewed are twenty-second century fugitive Brent and first Asian QC Kim Hollis. Urgent investigations are being pursued in relation to the apparent suicide of the Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith. To a disbelieving audience, Hollis says the world of 2127 is most definitely not a Newt Gingrich pipe dream. First nations have risen up in Jihad after the Second Gulf War, and theyrule the roost.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Diana	In 1997, the Prince of Wales and his lover Camilla Parker-Bowles die in a car crash in Paris. Conspiracy theories on the internet abound for the next fifteen years, including the most scandalous of all. The event was no accident, but a deliberate assassination organised by the British State to prevent the Heir to the Throne ..
.. from besmirching the Royal Family at a crucial moment in its long history. The Prince had seen no reason, often being smuggled out of Palaces in the boots of cars to meet with Camilla. Republicanism was rife, the British public simply could not understand this adultery from “the Queen of Hearts”, Princess Diana who was universally adored throughout the nation and Commonwealth. The facts were never proven, yet the fires of republicanism died down as Diana and her sons occupied the thrown and ushered in a new era of change for the Royal Household.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1939, on this day the terminally ill British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned. The popular figure Anthony Eden succeeded him, a move which had been widely anticipated since he had architected the Munich Settlement two years before. “Friction between the Great Powers was understandable,” said Eden in his ..	Chamberlain
.. maiden speech “ but there was a larger picture. European powers had a shared interest and gathering forces outside the continent would, if unchecked, become a major problem in ten to twenty years time.” Actually, Eden had suffered a terrible dream in which his beloved son Simon died in a future war. As the leader of the nation, he would not suffer such a personal tragedy, he had seen what it had done to Asquith during the great war.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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The Mother Of Science Fiction; Princess Diana In Car-Crash

August 30th, 2004

in 723 AUC, Cleopatra of Egypt was defeated in battle by Octavian of Rome, and taken back to the great city in chains. A Roman general, Lucidius Maximus, was placed on the throne of Egypt, and a legion was left behind to ensure Egyptian cooperation in the empire.

in 1797, the mother of the science fiction genre, Mary Shelley, was born in London, England. Her novels Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, Icarus, and The Seed of Cain brought into the world of literature the ideas of robots/cloning, space travel and genetic modification, respectively.

in 1916, on a test trip into the Germany of the past, neo-Nazis Astrid Pflaume and Kurt Weimer run into Vladimir Ilyich Ulianov, better known to them as Lenin. They shoot him to death; much to their relief, they find on their return to their home time of 1968 that this only creates a branch timeline, rather than altering their own.

in 1935, in an attempt to win a few electoral votes in the elections coming up, Socialist President Franklin Roosevelt passes the Wealth Tax Act, which taxes wealthy people and businesses at 25% of their total profits or income. The business community cries that this measure will break them, but there is little sympathy among the working class for them, so the measure remains in effect even after Roosevelt is voted out in 1936.

in 1968, the American Bund nominates George Rockwell as its candidate for the presidency of the United States. He runs against Republican incumbent Strom Thurmond, winning handily. After this election, the Semitic-African Resistance movement abandons its stance of working for peaceful solutions and begins armed resistance to the Bund.

in 1984, John Lennon raises a quarter million dollars in a charity auction of Pete Best memorabilia. The collection he had been saving since their days in Hamburg together brings in $257,650, in addition to promoting Lennon’s book about Best, I Want To Tell You.

in 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, was in a horrific car crash after paparazzi harassing her forced her driver to speed into a tunnel in Paris at a dangerously high speed. Her companion, Dodi Fayed, was killed, and the Princess lost her leg. She won millions in the lawsuit against the news organizations that employed the paparazzi.

in 2003, Jacob Sheridan arrives at Livinia Nixon’s bedside in Australia. Informed that she was captured by the monsters, he goes back to his ship’s crew and tells them what he is planning, and asks for volunteers to accompany him underneath Antarctica.

Queen Of Hearts

August 29th, 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!

Changes a-comin' – but not yet! I'm still here. There'll be some design changes to the site starting tomorrow as I surrender the site to Steve. I'll still be posting through the end of the week, though, sobbing over the page as I say goodbye to you all. I will be continuing my work on the web at RATMANifesto, including finishing a lot of the stories that you have seen begun here, so check it out after my tenure here at the Academy has ended.
My reminiscence today is about disagreement with other alternate history fans – some people don't consider alternate history authentic if you're adding things like magic, or aliens, or talented Pete Bests into the mix. They prefer a very tightly and narrowly defined alternate history that springboards from single changes in events within our own timeline. I, of course, like a broader definition. I like to look at it as “What if we added X to this point in history?” To me, that provides a more robust template from which I can draw. The narrower definition has always seemed to strict to me – more like an academic exercise than a jumping off point for great fiction. But that's just what I think – let me know your opinion in the comments!

In 2007, last minute changes were made to the arrangements for the tenth memorial service of the late Princess Diana Spencer. The Prince of Wales decision not to attend the memorial had been met with widespread approval from the British public. Royal commentators considered it highly unlikely that Princes William and Harry would meet with their father (both have lived with the Earl of Spencer at his home in South Africa for the last decade). Attendees of the service were therefore shocked to see the Prince arrive with his second wife, the Duchess of Cornwall. They were amazed to see his two sons arrive, and present their father with a wristwatch engraved ASNF (A Son Never Forgets). In his emotional acceptance speech, Prince Charles said he was so sorry, so very sorry for what had happened, but he would set it right or die trying. The Queen of Hearts continues to remain a positive force for change in this world, even today. Diana taught us that we can wake up with a fresh perspective, and change our world if we really want to. Robbie Taylor once said something was missing in this harsh world, but now it is finally fulfilled. He's right - love conquers all.

~ entry by Co-historian Steve Payne

Jakers	In 2008, artistic differences brought a sad and premature ending to the children's TV show Jakers. Following speculation in the Irish media, Ferny the badger resigned after a long running dispute with Jakers (the pig).
He just couldn't get himself motivated for piggerley wiggerley time for everyone anymore, and needed a fresh opportunity to move forward in his acting career. A number of British TV studios expressed limited interest in the concept of badgerley wadgerly time for everyone.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1983, the publication of a critical article in People Magazine forced New York Major Ed Koch to cancel Diana Ross' much-heralded concert in Central Park. Ross had reunited with former Supremes Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong for the television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. The three singers performed their 1969 number-one hit "Someday We'll Be Together", although altercations on stage between Ross and Wilson became an issue during the taping of the special. Wilson conspired with Birdsong to take a step forward every time Ross did. Wilson did not follow the script set by producer Suzanne DePasse which did not go over well with Ross. Ross was to introduce Berry Gordy, however Wilson took it upon herself to do so, at which point Ross pulled Wilson's hand down and said "It's been taken care of." Ross then proceeded to introduce Gordy herself. These incidents were excised from the final edit of the taped special, but still made their way into the news media; People magazine reported that "Ross [did] some elbowing to get Wilson out of the spotlight."

~ entry by Co-Historian Steve Payne

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. Inside the British Foreign Office he confronts busts and paintings of the executed Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Many of Davis' words belatedly ring true - All we ask is to be let alone and I worked night and day for twelve years to prevent the war, but I could not. The North was mad and blind, would not let us govern ourselves, and so the war came. A tearful Lee finally accepts “he was my President too”.

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

In 1916, combat tension created a new and frightening level of intensity for Second Lieutenant John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Serving in the eleventh battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers, Tolkien's imagination was over-stimulated by the horror of the Somme.
Balrog	At night, he saw that most frightening of creatures charging across no-mans land. A creature of the imagination which he would never speak directly. Only W.H. Auden would guess at the depiction of the 1916 apparition. Later in the year, Tolkien was invalided with trench fever. And it was as this time he was gripped by the epic struggle, as Gandalf battled a Balrog, an ancient demon creature, and fell into a deep chasm under the Mines of Moria, apparently to his death.
~ variant entry by Steve Payne from extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author’s genius.

"Old Blood and Guts" Part 3 (1944-1945) - On December 9, 1945, in Germany a day before he was due to return to the United States, General George Smith Patton III suffered a broken neck in a road accident on a daytrip to hunt pheasants in the country outside Mannheim. Their 1939 Cadillac Model 75 was driven by PFC Horace Woodring. Patton sat in the back seat, on the right with General Gay on his left, as per custom. At 11:45 near Neckarstadt, (Käfertal), a 2½ ton truck driven by T/5 Robert L. Thompson appeared out of the haze and made a left-hand turn towards a side road. The Cadillac smashed into the truck. General Patton was thrown forward and his head struck a metal part of the partition between the front and back seats. Gay and Woodring were uninjured. Patton was paralyzed from the neck down.

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

Churchill	In 1943, former War Leader Winston Churchill reacted to Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel's release of huge quantities of poison gas at the liberating invasion forces in Dorking, in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention. Speaking from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, Churchill condemns the development, ..
.. but suggests the Free British Forces should respond with their own chemical attack. "I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas. We have definitely adopted the position at the Peace Conference of arguing in favour of the retention of gas as a permanent method of warfare. It is sheer affectation to lacerate a man with the poisonous fragment of a bursting shell and to boggle at making his eyes water by means of lachrymatory gas. I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against the Nazis. The moral effect should be so good that the loss of life should be reduced to a minimum. It is not necessary to use only the most deadly gases: gases can be used which cause great inconvenience and would spread a lively terror and yet would leave no serious permanent effects on most of those affected... "
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2127/2003, a dramatic scene is played out in a deep cell of Paddington Green Police ..	Paddington Green Station.
Being interviewed are twenty-second century fugitive Brent and first Asian QC Kim Hollis. Urgent investigations are being pursued in relation to the apparent suicide of the Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Joe 1	In 1949, the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. Fearful that the Cold War will turn hot, Western leaders instantly regretted the post World War II conflict.
Desperate attempts were now made to accelerate the progress of the Manhattan Project, which had been stalled by a surprise German attack in 1944. The question was, what could be done in the three-five year interregnum whilst the West developed its own bomb?
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1995, on this day NATO launched Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces. The direct involvement of Western Europeans in the Balkans was of course a recipe for disaster, and as soon often, agitated the Pro-Slav Government in Moscow.	Pristina
The police involvement in the former Yugoslavia finally ended in a violent confrontation with Russian KFOR forces at Priština International Airport. The Cold War between the two power blocs had finished, the Soviet Union had dissolved, and yet a new Hot War was improbably about to begin.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Cannons

	The Soviet 'Burya' spacecraft exploded in orbit, instantly killing all six cosmonauts aboard. The blast was quickly ascertained to be an act of sabotage, the result of a bomb planted on the vehicle. Soviet Premier Gennady Zyuganov quickly denounced the attack, pointing the blame squarely on the Hungarian Resistance. In the months after the incident, military crackdowns and political arrests by Soviet occupation forces in Hungary intensified. In 2003, the Burya accident file was reviewed by an independent investigation which concluded that the explosion was the result of a malfunctioning heating coil control circuit, and that sabotage played no part in the disaster.
Burya

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Hari Seldon	In 926 Foundation Era, the ninth Seldon Crisis occured. Should the leaders of the Foundation make the wrong decision at these major turning points in the future, or be corrupted to the point of not being able to carry out the mission, the plan to create a new Empire would fail. After each Crisis was predicted to have been successfully concluded, a Vault opened and a hologram of Hari Seldon explains the significance of the Crisis they have just endured.
Psychohistorian

The ninth crisis was a whole lot different, shall we say. Of a temporal nature, neither the political/military forces of the First Foundation, nor the cerebral powers of the Second Foundation were able to face up to the crisis. That was why Seldon had placed a panic button in the plan, the Third Foundation.

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In 1971, British spaceflight Commander's wife Mrs Bert Smith yelled at reporters on her lawn in Welwyn Garden City. 'Wait until my husband comes back' she said more optimistically than she actually felt.

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In 1979, Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran has the leader of the Islamic revolutionary movement against him, the Ayatollah Khomeini, assassinated along with several other religious leaders in the country. The nation erupts in chaos, and the Shah is killed by his own guards the next month. Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, with U.S. blessing, carves out a large chunk of western Iran for his own, while Turkey, the Soviet Union and Pakistan take over portions of the rest of the country.

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In 1901, reactionary dictator Fulgencio Batista of Cuba was born in the Oriente Province. Although the Socialist comrades of the island nation treated him well, Batista was moved to join the battle against the rightful Cuban leaders because of the corruption of his youth in the capitalist slums of Havana. The Soviet States of America initially supported him in his revolution, but turned against him when he revealed his true stripes at the end of the 50’s.

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In 1570s, African slaves were increasingly seen in Britain. Their use fell into three main categories. The majority were as household servants, while others performed the role of prostitutes or sexual conveniences for well-to-do Englishmen and Dutchmen or as court entertainers. Based on these job roles, you might well wonder why there was a fear that the Africans might be taking jobs away from English citizens. Its a good question.

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In 1909, Ernest Shackleton's expedition find the magnetic South Pole where the team are sucked into the powerful vortex. Multidimensional energies fold space and time, sending them to the court of that most shrewd of monarchs, King George IV of Great Britain just minutes before the entrance of a most surprising guest. Defeated General George Washington, arriving from the Colonies to sue for final settlement terms. Shackleton convinces George IV to avoid substantive discussions until he can brief him fully on his 1776.

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In 1412, a powerful and influential Florentine family the Medicis are made official bankers of the Papacy. The Medici Bank remained a vital power broker in Western Europe until the conclusion of the Great Patriotic War in 1946. A decision was reached in the struggle for mastery in Europe as the Romanov established their political hegemony, replacing the papacy with the Orthodox Church which dominates the continent until this very day.

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In 1976, A&M Records released the worst disaster of their history, Frampton Comes Alive. The double-LP live recording of former Humble Pie guitarist Peter Frampton performing in San Francisco was savaged by the critics and ignored by fans still angry over his leaving the band. Virtually the entire pressing of the album ended up in remainder bins around the world.

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In 1962, the following notice was published ~ with due respect to sworn testimony of God-fearing citizens, -
Mr Alan Greenspan is found guilty as charged of usury,-
by magistrates of this good parish of New York City, -
persuant to Holy Scripture, Luke 9:25 refers, -
For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?,-
on this day of our Lord, 1962. Not the potter, but the potter's clay. Amen.

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Richard Nixon	In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon ordered a halt to American bombing in North Vietnam following peace talks in Paris. The decision came after Dr Henry Kissinger, the president's assistant for National Security Affairs, returned to Washington the previous day from France with a draft peace proposal. Representatives from North and South Vietnam and the United States had been at the negotiating table and reports from Paris said that progress had been made with compromises on all sides.
President

It was Nixon's greatest achievement in office. Whilst many political issues remain to be resolved, the secret plan announced during the 1968 Presidential election appeared to have worked – a show of strength to force a peace settlement. Although attacks against the North halted, air assaults continued for a short time against communist forces in South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

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In 1809, the Peninsula War reached a decision at the Battle of La Coruña when 16,000 British troops under Sir John Moore were defeated by an equal number of French troops under the command of Marshal Soult. The British faced two overwhelming setbacks with Sir Arthur Wellesley recalled to face a Court of Inquiry and Spanish allies smashed by Napoleon. Victorious, Soult expelled British forces from the Iberian Peninsula, a catastrophe from which the anti-Napoleonic alliance never recovered. The struggle for the mastery of Europe was over as French hegemony was firmly established across the continent.

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	In 1997, Princess Diana angered government ministers after calling for an international ban on landmines. Her comments - made during a visit to Angola to see for herself some of the victims of landmines - were being seen as out of step with government policy. The Junior Defence Minister, Earl Howe, described the princess as a "loose cannon", ill-informed on the issue of anti-personnel landmines.

Eight months later, a mysterious car accident in Paris changed all that. Following the death of her husband and lover Camilla Parker-Bowles, Diana was propelled into the position of Regent to Prince William. It was a platform from which the Queen of Hearts was able to deliver an international ban as a gift to the world on the eve of the millennium.

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