Post-Rapture

The state of TIAH

January 23rd, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: We have a side-project that was announced last weekend – a collection of several timelines with more-or-less complete stories inside them – The Fall, the Tolman timeline, the Mormon War and more – that will be up for sale on Lulu, as soon as we have it edited together. If you would be interested in this, or would like to suggest something for inclusion in the collection, please email me and let me know. And, speaking of side projects, Guest Historian Stephen Payne has one, Crimson Kiss, available for free on Lulu. Check it out after you enjoy his entry for today, an entry of our own, and the continuation of our NaNoWriMo novel.

Earl Halifax	In 1947 on neutral territory in Reykjavik in Iceland final status talks commence between the Nazis and the British Government ..
.. in Exile. Ominously for the British delegation, a full moon is shining above the frozen island.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1960 the bathyscape Trieste reached the record depth of 10,916 m (35,813 feet) in Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench. Her return to the surface which took one hundred and ninety five minutes was shadowed by the mysterious beings known as the Kraken who unleashed an orgy of violence ..	Bathyscaphe Tri..
.. on all surface creatures including mankind.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Ojibwa chief	In 2056 a fifteen feet tall creature with glowing eyes, large yellow fangs and a long tongue is sighted in multiple locations throughout the Turtle Island known to the European Tourist as America. Further details indicate that the creature has a yellowish skin and is covered from head to toe with hair.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1920 The Netherlands agree to surrender ex-Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to the Allies. He was later executed in Berlin, sparking the counter-revolution forces behind the Kapp Putsch leading to Germany's domination of the continent before the swinging twenties were out.	Kaiser Wilhelm ..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

in 2000, President Morris Appleby of the European Union, after assuming dictatorial powers in the wake of the Y2K disaster, appears on television to calm the general population. While addressing the large number of disappearances of European citizens, as well as citizens of a certain religious bent across the world, Appleby pauses and looks at the camera. “Look,” the British gentleman says, “I'm the Anti-Christ. I know it, you know it, I never could fool anybody. All those people gone – it's the Rapture. We can spend the next 7 years tribulating and suffering, prior to a thousand years in the Lake of bloody Fire,” he paused dramatically before continuing. “Or, we can have some fun. My personal choice is for the fun.”

After(cont.)
They pulled out of the hotel's parking lot gently, and made sure to head in the direction that the soldier had indicated they needed to go. After they were out of sight of the hotel, though, they went off-road and started heading for the front line.
“How long before we get to the New Mexicans?” Steph kept a steady watch through the back window to see if the soldiers were going to follow them.
“Maybe thirty minutes. They're not that far away.” Mike wasn't driving very fast, but they were bouncing around pretty heavily. “According to the last post I was able to read, they've been making good advances. Soon as the troops they're fighting realize they're not up against Osama bin Laden, they've been switching sides. ”
“Good. That means there won't be too much dyin'.”
“We can always hope.”

The tires squealed out a protest as Janice stopped inches from the emergency room door of the Brackenridge Hospital. She hopped out and opened the back door. Kevin was struggling to breath; his face was covered in sweat, his lips trickling blood. She gently pulled him out while Jake pushed from behind.
A nurse came running out, took a look at the dark red stains all over the trio, and ran back inside. When the three of them hit the door, they were met by a team with a gurney and a crash cart who immediately took Kevin from them and started working on him. The nurse came over to them and said, “I'm going to need one of you to fill out the pap - “ Her voice trailed off as she saw President Bush walking up behind his rescuers. “I thought he was on his way to Washington.”
“Don't believe everything you see on TV,” Jake whispered to her. “We have somebody else in the car who didn't make it.” He put an arm across Janice's shoulder, and she bowed her head to hide the tears.
“We'll take care of them,” the nurse said, still watching the president as she assembled another team to get Eli.
Janice got control of herself and looked up at Jake as Eli's body rolled by them. She heard the president mumbling a small prayer for him, and the strangeness of that scene almost made her laugh. “It's been a hard couple of days, hasn't it?”
“Girl, it's been somethin'.”
She put her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her. The sounds of the hospital, the direness of their situation, faded away for one brief moment as they just took comfort in each other's presence.
The cessation of activity from the curtained chamber where they had taken Kevin brought them back. A doctor was walking over to them, wearing a very somber expression. Janice straightened and prepared herself.
He asked them, “Are either of you family?”
President Bush stepped up, much to the doctor's surprise. “I think you can waive that requirement for these folks, doc.”
“Y-yes, sir, Mr. President.” The doctor recovered himself and looked over at Janice and Jake. “I'm very sorry.”

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Christmas Day Contest Winners!

Alternate Historian's Note: All of today's post has been written by winners of our Alternate Christmas Day Contest. Congratulations to our winners - Dante Ojeda, Nathaniel Engelsen, Heather Pilcher and XJ. With all the free time they have provided, we at the Alternate History Academy had time to find an alternate universe where the Historian became an acapella lounge singer, and decided to share this little Christmas ditty with you. Enjoy it, and enjoy today's alternate post. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

December 25th, 2005

in 2637 - A splinter group of Imperial scholars studying the heavens from a foreign point of view discover, much to their surprise, that the alignments of certain starts and planets at that time signaled the return of a great leader....a king among kings. Obviously this pointed to the Emperor's newest baby, a daughter named Lei-tzu, who would in fact rise in power to virtually rule China through her nearly retarded husband.

in 323, Saint Nicholas of Myra is executed by the pagan Emperor Licinius, and becomes the last martyr to suffer death before the victory of Constantine the Great established Christianity throughout the Roman world. The Ultimate Martyr gained enormous prestige and grew to be ranked as the greatest saint of the Church, displacing even Saint Peter. Today Saint Nicholas is revered as the stern but fair gatekeeper of Heaven, and every child learns that Saint Nick "knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness’ sake!"

in 800, Charlemagne, duke of the Franks, is offered the crown of the "Western Empire" by the Patriarch of Rome and refuses, uttering the famous words "There is only one emperor, and his throne is in Constantinople". This will come to be seen as the turning point of the Western Interregnum, paving the way for the reunification of the whole Empire in 1054.

in 1033 - Yeshua returned once again exactly like he said he would. Finding a world filled with barbarism, paganism, or just plain disbelief, Yeshua consulted his father briefly before deciding, "ah, hell with it," and left the humans to their own devices instead of starting the Rapture. The loyal few he did take with him were basic unknowns, having devoted themselves to the study and practice of a religion that the mainstream sects of Christianity considered heretical. These heretics believed in women ordination, among other astounding beliefs, and took the remaining Christian relics with them when they went to walk with God.

in 1642, famous music composer Isaac Newton was born in Lincolnshire, England. His parents took him to Oxford in order to study mathematics, but he showed no interest in numbers and abandoned this college one year later. His natural ability for music composition was known throughout the British Empire as well as his several symphonies like his Opus in G minus for violins also known as Gravitas.

in 1653, Richard Cromwell, son of the newly appointed Lord Protector of England, holds a wild party and is arrested under the 1647 legislation banning the celebration of "Christ-tide". He commits suicide in jail. His father Oliver is heart-broken and dies of natural causes on September 3rd the next year. As new Lord Protector, Parliament chooses General John Lambert, whose thirty-year service as First Citizen of the Commonwealth fixes England on the staunchly republican path it has followed to this day.

in 1920, Anastasia Romanov marries Adam Hitler Catt in America. The small, quiet ceremony was beautiful with a background set with decorated Christmas trees outside the Catt’s family home in Iowa. Anastasia, the daughter of the former Czar Nicholas II, escaped Russia with her family in 1919, at the beginning of the Bolshevik revolution. The family was given refuge, by Nicholas’ 1st cousin, King George V.

in 1926, Japanese emperor Hirohito begins his kingdom after his father Yoshihito passes away. His schemes with the Third Reich during WWII were the catapult to put Japan as center of a new World Order after ruined Hitler´s agenda.

in 1958, Famous civil rights leader/humanitarian Adam Hitler Catt is assassinated. The Ku-Klux-Klan is claiming responsibility for the murder. Mr. Catt was most famous for his work with civil rights issues in the South, which eventually led to desegregation laws being passed in the 1940’s. His mother, Carrie Lane Chapman Catt, helped found the League of Women voter’s in 1919. In 1893, 4 year old Adolph tragically lost both his parents in a fire that destroyed his family’s home. He was adopted by the Catt family after a trip to Germany in 1894. The Catts visited an orphanage where young Adolph clung to Mrs. Catt for security. The two were inseparable ever since. The Catts changed Adam’s first name from Adolph to Adam but kept his last name as his middle name. Adam Hitler Catt will be remembered in history as one of the greatest humanitarian leaders of the Twentieth Century.

in 1969, The "Christmas Offensive" was begun in the People's Republic of Venezuela. One of the greatest triumphs of the S.S.A. was repulsing the capitalist armies of the United States of Russia. While the war would last for a few more years it is widely believed that this initial push northward by the South Venezuela's People's Army of Venezuela turned the tide.

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Nova; Capture Of The Franks

Today In Alternate History:

in 1181, a star lights up, outshining all others in the sky. The Canterbury monk’s death cult, which had been preaching the doom of the world since 1178, take this as the sign of Christ’s return, and expect the rapture that very evening. When it doesn’t happen, half of England “raptures” itself.

in 1181, a branch of the Speaker’s Children watches a nova occur. One of them is watching through a hunk of glass, and gets a slightly clearer picture than the others. This branch begins work on seeing devices that use glass to magnify the sky; if they cannot travel to the heavens, they will at least be able to see them clearly.

in 559, Allah shone a star over Islam to show that He was well-pleased in the effort to conquer and convert the infidels. Caliph Hakim bin Suleiman said, “Allah has given us His favor this night with His Holy Light. Let us be guided by this light in a jihad to show the infidel the path to Paradise.” From that day forward, all Islamic nations carried a star on their flags.

in 3877, royal astronomers use a new device that focuses light through glass prisms to make distant images sharper to observe what appears to be a bright new star in the sky. While they are unable to make very many observations about the star, their ability to see features on the moon and some of the nearby planets is a breakthrough in Chinese astronomy.

in the Dreaming, Wandjina lights a star for the people. This is a sign that a battle has raged in the sky, and that Wandjina has emerged victorious. Soon, Wandjina descends the backbone of the night to come to the Pindanjaru and give them great stories of this epic struggle.

in 10-17-13-8-8, a flame in the sky lights up, and the Mayan King Tzitzilopantha says to his people, “The gods have given me a dream, and set a fire in the sky to show me that it is they who spoke. This fire is the heart of every Maya; and the sky is the empire which we will rule.” Tzitzilopantha began a series of conquests against his neighbors, spurred on by his religious passion. By the end of his life, he controlled the bridge between the 2 great continents, and many lands alongside.

in 1862, England’s House of Peers is bombed by the Human League during a ceremony ennobling the Mlosh Lord Kirtlel. Kirtlel is killed, as are three other nobles. Kirtlel’s daughter, Mritsist, takes her father’s place among the Peers, and promises that all the great wealth of her family will be spent in pursuing her father’s killers.

in 1944, Dutch Greater Zionist Resistance cell leader Otto Frank is captured with his family in Amsterdam. In the fight with New Reich police forces, Frank’s cell is wiped out; the police even kill his 15-year old daughter.

in 1975, the lead singer of the band Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant, is killed along with his family in an automobile crash on the island of Rhodes. With the creative and musical force of Plant gone, the band is unable to continue, and their brand of music fades with the coming of disco.

in 1996, Professor Thomas and Dr. Courtney walk into the offices of the underground publication Strange News. Dr. Courtney is reluctant to give his paper to these people until Professor Thomas points out, “Nobody else will publish it, Melvin. We need to let people know what happened in Chimanimani.”

in 2000, searching the desert around Las Vegas, Mikhail von Heflin and Velma Porter find the strange presence that has been summoned into this world. The glowing heart of the presence beats in time with their own, as it links its mind to theirs. For a few brief hours, the three become one.

in 2004, the broadcast from Lalande 25372 cuts out for several hours. When it returns, the Lalandians inform the earth that they don’t think they will be able to hold out much longer. Personal information for many of the signal’s operators is broadcast through, with the request that the humans keep these last records of their people safe.


An alternate birthday wish

Your humble alternate historian is about to leave the pleasant decade of the 30's behind and enter into the downhill slope of the 40's on August 14th. Before he does, he would like one simple wish - a contract with a publishing company like Workman Publishing to produce a page-a-day calendar of TIAH. If you are an editor for such a company, or can place us in touch with one, please fulfill this birthday wish!

Thanks to everyone for their generosity!

We have raised a lot from your donations, for which we are VERY grateful! Our situation is no longer as dire, so we don't need to beg for help - thanks so much! Because we like including our readers into the site, though, we will still keep our offer open - 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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More Fire In The Heavens

August 4th, 2004

in 1181, a star lights up, outshining all others in the sky. The Canterbury monk’s death cult, which had been preaching the doom of the world since 1178, take this as the sign of Christ’s return, and expect the rapture that very evening. When it doesn’t happen, half of England “raptures” itself.

in 559, Allah shone a star over Islam to show that He was well-pleased in the effort to conquer and convert the infidels. Caliph Hakim bin Suleiman said, “Allah has given us His favor this night with His Holy Light. Let us be guided by this light in a jihad to show the infidel the path to Paradise.” From that day forward, all Islamic nations carried a star on their flags.

in 3877, royal astronomers use a new device that focuses light through glass prisms to make distant images sharper to observe what appears to be a bright new star in the sky. While they are unable to make very many observations about the star, their ability to see features on the moon and some of the nearby planets is a breakthrough in Chinese astronomy.

in the Dreaming, Wandjina lights a star for the people. This is a sign that a battle has raged in the sky, and that Wandjina has emerged victorious. Soon, Wandjina descends the backbone of the night to come to the Pindanjaru and give them great stories of this epic struggle.

in 10-17-16-9-4, a flame in the sky lights up, and the Mayan King Tzitzilopantha says to his people, “The gods have given me a dream, and set a fire in the sky to show me that it is they who spoke. This fire is the heart of every Maya; and the sky is the empire which we will rule.” Tzitzilopantha began a series of conquests against his neighbors, spurred on by his religious passion. By the end of his life, he controlled the bridge between the 2 great continents, and many lands alongside.

in 1862, England’s House of Peers is bombed by the Human League during a ceremony ennobling the Mlosh Lord Kirtlel. Kirtlel is killed, as are three other nobles. Kirtlel’s daughter, Mritsist, takes her father’s place among the Peers, and promises that all the great wealth of her family will be spent in pursuing her father’s killers.

in 1975, the lead singer of the band Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant, is killed along with his family in an automobile crash on the island of Rhodes. With the creative and musical force of Plant gone, the band is unable to continue, and their brand of music fades with the coming of disco.

in 1999, 5 of the original 17 madmen of Mt. Didicas land a stolen boat back on the shores of the Philippines. They carry something with them which is covered with a tarp, but is obviously very heavy. They head inland, slowly, towards an old mosque.

Rapture In The Holy British Empire

July 25th, 2004

in 1104, Caliph Muhammed Abdul Rahim of Gaul expels the Celts from his land; “No infidel pagans will be allowed to stay within lands ruled by the faithful,” the edict proclaimed. Rebellion followed as people refused to give up the religion they had followed for thousands of years.

in 1771, Mlosh colonist Kmari goes berserk among the Sioux people of the Dakotas. She massacres over 400 people in a village before other Mlosh can apprehend and dispatch her. It is the first known case of a Mlosh mass-murderer, and was kept quiet by the aliens until the 1820’s.

in 1963, Governor Wilhelm Schoemann of China unleashes 10 nuclear missiles against rebellious forces working against his SS troops. He is very aware of how much damage they do; in his youth, he had been on the team that had engineered them for the New Reich. He had even met the team that had given the blueprints to Reichsfuehrer Hitler, the men who spoke as if all the events they were witnessing were in some sort of different time. One of them looked disturbingly familiar; but he thought little of it these days.

in 1964, Pete Best’s album, Lovin’ Through The Night, goes #1 and stays at the top of the charts for 14 weeks. It is then used as the soundtrack for a film of the same title, which also leads the box office for several weeks.

in 1966, New York Metros manager Casey Stengal is selected for the Town Ball Hall of Fame.

in 1981, Voyager 2 passes Saturn and all contact with the probe is lost. The last signal sent seemed to be images of a long tunnel with a speck of light at the end; then something long and tendril-shaped seemed to reach out and smash the camera.

in 2002, several tens of thousands of British citizens disappear from the face of the earth. Pope Righteous I blames it on Satanists who have abducted good Christians to perform black masses upon. Righteous asks the whole world to pray for their souls.

in 2003, Martian forces, which had kept to the colder areas of earth, leave the poles and begin bombardment of human cities all across the globe. Most areas are able to fight them off with the Sheridan nanotechnology, but the Martians still cause millions of casualties. Human forces strike back at the poles, but are unable to inflict very many casualties, as the Martian defenses are still too strong for the humans to break through.

Daddy

Idi Amin	In 1971, Commander of the King's African Rifles, Idi Amin Dada was appointed the first indigenous Governor General in the British Empire. Dada's apppointment was a cycnical measure by British Imperialists, intended to head off nationalist pressures in Uganda. Imperial troops sealed off Entebbe airport and there are reports of tanks and soldiers on the streets of the capital, Kampala. The governor's residence was surrounded and major road links blocked. The whereabouts of Pan-African independence guerrilla Milton Obote remained unknown.
Gov. General

Idi Amin joined the King's African Rifles (KAR) of the British Colonial Army in 1946 as an assistant cook. After serving in the Burma Campaign, he transferred to Kenya for infantry service as a private in 1947 and served in the 21st KAR infantry brigade in Gilgil, Kenya, until 1949. That year, his unit was deployed to Somalia to fight the Somali Shifta rebels who were rustling cattle there. In 1952 his battalion was deployed against the Mau Mau rebels in Kenya. He was promoted to corporal the same year, then to sergeant in 1953. In 1954 Amin was made effendi (Warrant officer), the highest rank possible for a Black African in the colonial British army. Amin returned to Uganda the same year, and in 1961 he became one of the first two Ugandans to become commissioned officers with the rank of lieutenant. He was then assigned to quell the cattle rustling between Uganda's Karamojong and Kenya's Turkana nomads. In 1962, Amin was promoted to captain and to major in 1963. The following year, he was appointed Deputy Commander of the Army. Amin was an active athlete during his time in the army; the 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) soldier was the Ugandan light heavyweight boxing champion from 1951 to 1960 and a swimmer and rugby player. Subordinate to the ceremonial ruler Kabaka (King) Edward Mutesa II of Buganda, the British Foreign Office promoted Amin to colonel and army commander in 1967. In 1971, Idi Amin was appointed Governor General of Uganada. "I am not an ambitious man, personally," Amin said after taking power, "I am just a soldier with a concern for my country and its people." In 1972, determined to make Uganda "a black man's country", Amin expelled the country's white population in the closing months of the year, reportedly after receiving a message from God during a dream. "I am going to ask Britain to take responsibility for all whites in Uganda who are holding British passports, because they are sabotaging the economy of the country," Amin declared at the start of August. Afterwards, Amin flamboyantly described himself as Defender of the British Empire in Africa (in general), and Uganda (specific).

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Nasa Rovers	In 2004, the second of two Nasa rovers sent to explore Mars landed on the surface of the planet, where it looked for signs of water. The Opportunity rover touched down at 0505 GMT, on the opposite side of Mars from where its sister rover, Spirit, landed three weeks ago. Tantalising photos of canals and ancient cities were transmitted back to Earth. Unfortunately, the Mars Armaggedon in January 2008 caused by WD-5 prevented further investigations of life on Mars.
Mars

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In 2003, anxious scientist Seth Brundle poured his heart out in a letter to US Vice President Dick Cheney. Brundle ended the piece with a quote from the Bhaghavad Gita - 'I am death, become the destroyer of worlds'.

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In 1995, years after the Soviet Union had collapsed, and peace was the order of the day, the Russian missile defense system detected a launch from Norway. Although it was a mistake, and a simple call for verification from Moscow would have confirmed that it was a mistake, the commander at the switch that day was an unreconstructed hardliner, and ordered every missile launched. This triggered a launch from European bases, and before anyone could stop them, nuclear devastation wasted northern Europe.

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In 1971, Idi Amin, a general in Uganda’s military, seized power from Milton Obote in a bloody coup. The British Foreign Office view was that '[Idi Amin is] a splendid type and a good football player'.

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In 1792, the London Corresponding Society (LCS) was established as a moderate-radical body concentrating on parliamentary reform in the 1790s. In reality it was a secret society full of rabid socialists who overthrew the monarchy, dismantled the British Empire and executed Queen Victoria as it dragged the country kicking and screaming into the enlightened age of the nineteenth century.

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In 1994, the Ames dossier provided in some detail the inbound smuggling of narcotics and firearms into the African-American community. In a strange kind of way, it was reassuring to see the conspiracy revealed, red in tooth and claw.

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In 1349, Idi Amin, a general in Uganda’s military, seized power from the rightful ruler, Caliph Mutessa II, in a bloody coup. He abolished Islam during his short reign, alienating Uganda from all the nations surrounding it. In 1352, when he began slaughtering old tribal enemies, the Islamic nations surrounding him invaded and removed him from power.

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In 1994, Jeanne Dixon, shortly after predicting that she would be raptured with other true believers in the year 2000, died in New York City. She had stepped in front of a car that she hadn’t seen coming.

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In 1993, one-term US President George Bush prepared for 'the grandfather' business as he returned to a life of retirement following his defeat by Bill Clinton. Its maddening really, by recovering Extraterrestrial Technology from Panama and Iraq he had won the Cold War and set the scene for the American Century. In fact he had been SO focused on the programme he developed as CIA Director in the mid-70s that he had largely ignored domestic concerns. At sixty-eight he was told old for a comeback. There was nothing else for it, he would have to get W elected to nurture his legacy.

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In 1565, at Talikota battle is joined between soldiers of the Vijayanagara Empire and the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan. At stake is the future the Hindu Kingdom, which would shortly require vital unity in repelling the European Colonial Powers. The modern superstate of Hindustan was about to be born.

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In 1971, the BBC ran footage of British industrialist Frank Spencer facing the cameras after mechanical failures onboard the British spacecraft Marie Celeste had been traced to his Factory. 'We've had a spot of bother..' started Spencer. 'Its not fair to blame my Frank, he'd had a lot on his mind recently' piped in wife Betty.

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	In 1999, six members were expelled from the International Olympic Committee following an inquiry into a corruption scandal which has deeply shaken the Olympic movement. The six were identified at the end of an investigation by the IOC into allegations of corruption during the awarding of the 2002 Winter Games to Salt Lake City, in Utah. In all, the investigation named 13 IOC officials who were alleged to have taken cash or services in return for helping Salt Lake City win the right to host the Olympics. Three had already resigned, and six had been suspended ahead of this formal decision by the IOC to expel them.

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