Significant Others

Alternate Historian says, construction work continues at the Academy.

From Jan 1 2008 we're releasing a richer story format for TIAH. Also having the story in a yellow shaded area, but underneath will be hyperlinked metadata tags. We're so keen to get your feedback that we've created the first two posts for today in this new style.

The Site metre tells us that the average site visit is around half a minute, so we're got to design for web grazers. Therefore, we're thinking of more whacky ideas for positioning the stories. Perhaps two-on-two magazine style, or a text scrollable with just the first paragraph showing, or perhaps expand/collapse button to see the whole story..

Trouble is the HTML is machine generated by an OpenOffice spreadsheet with a bajillion text functions. We want to finalise the design this month. Before we forget how the HTML is generated, we'd love some feedback from our readers.

Please email the Alternate Historian with your comments on the already underway developments, or better still some new ideas!

In 2012, on this day the City of Mississauga announced an exciting new development in free Internet connectivity services. The following month WirelessMississauga would be upgraded at the Central Library on Burnhamthorpe and Living Arts Drive. Currently, citizens could enter their library pass code and connect their personal client device to the Internet. WirelessMississaugaPlus offered the new feature of Power over Ethernet through WiFi. This new geek heaven was amazing, whilst connected online to a billion webizens, you could really keep your head down. By drawing power from the network, you could sit in a building of a thousand human beings and avoid any form of social interaction at all, not even to quarrel over limited power sockets. It was just a fantastic social opportunity.

.

In 1999, author Stephen King saw a lost pet poster stapled to a telephone post on the right shoulder of Route 5 - 'Lost, a gray tabby, loves children, call Center Lovell, Maine 7-7661'. Signs that his old friends were about, the low men in yellow coats.

.

In 2010, Adolf Hitler's second successor Austrian-born Kurt Haldweim died in Berlin. His replacement, the new fuhrer Heinz Buckliger was a dynamic young technocrat who planned to introduce a progressive new program of change. Thwarted by conservative elements in the Nazi leadership, instead of guiding the future of the Greater German Reich and the Germanic Empire, Buckliger triggered a Soviet-style crisis.

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

Bachman	In 2010, fans of the author Stephen King received a tremendous shock in his farewell speech in Bangor, Maine. At the beginning of Stephen King's career, the general view among publishers was such that an author was limited to a book every year at the utmost; any more, it was felt, was not acceptable to the public. King therefore wanted to write under another name in order to double his production.
He convinced his publisher, Signet Books, to print these novels under a pseudonym. The originally selected pseudonym was Gus Pillsbury; but at the last moment King changed it to "Richard Bachman" in tribute to crime author Donald E. Westlake's long-running pseudonym Richard Stark. The name Stark was used in King's novel The Dark Half, a novel about an author with a pseudonym. The surname was in honour of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, a rock and roll band King was listening to at the time. The foreword of each of King's books includes an open letter addressed to "Constant Reader". Fans had interpreted this as a personal message to themselves. Not so. At the farewell speech, King revealed that all of the books had been written by his "Dark Half" Richard Bachman and addressed to his alter-ego Stephen King, who was the real Constant Reader.
~ entry by Alternate Historian

In 1977, in a public relations disaster for the studio, 20th Century Fox entered into a badly timed length dispute with the African American actor James Earl Jones. Arising during bicentennial year, the perception was that dramatic impact of the role of Darth Vader had been mis-credited to a Caucasian actor. Director George Lucas never intended to use the voice of David Prowse, who portrayed Darth Vader in costume, because of Prowse's English West Country accent. Instead a voice over was provided by Jones. Jones cited the case of Linda Blair's Oscar nomination for The Exorcist, when there was a campaign for Mercedes McCambridge (who provided the devil's voice) to share the nomination. Jones found this ridiculous, and did not want to find himself put in a similar position with Star Wars. However, when he became aware of the prominence of the credit given to Prowse he was incensed but his request was made too late to alter the early editions of the move and hence the dispute. In fact the real credit was due to Ben Burtt who created the robotic voice of R2-D2 by filtering their voices through an electronic synthesizer. Darth Vader's breathing was achieved by Burtt breathing through the mask of a scuba tank implanted with a microphone

~ entry by Alternate Historian

Golda Meir	In 1972, a parcel bomb sent to Israeli Embassy in London destroys the entire building killing thirty diplomatic staff. Acting on intelligence that the bomb was placed by Syria, Prime Golda Meir appeals once more to the world to "save our citizens and condemn the unspeakable criminal acts committed." Privately she sanctioned an extension to Operation Wrath of God. Hundreds of Syrian nationals are innocent victims over the next decade as Mossad “set the boys loose”.
~ entry by Alternate Historian

In 1976, a Boeing 727 almost flew into a mountain near Isparta southern Turkey. The spiritual beings on the mountain prevented the death of of the 155 people aboard; when the Boeing set down in Istanbul, a relieved crew were greeted by flight traffic pashas of the Ottoman Empire.	Boeing 747
~ entry by Alternate Historian

DC-10	In 1989, a terrorist bomb exploded on-board a UTA Flight 772 in mid-air above the Tùnùrù Desert, Niger. The shrieking spirits of the 171 passengers were trapped in the wreckage of the Union de Transportes DC-10 Series 30 craft until the Sultan of Sokoto could send deep-souls to their succour.
~ entry by Alternate Historian

In 1928, Adam West was born. Witnessing the murder of his parents as a child leads him to train himself to the peak of physical and intellectual perfection, don a bat-themed costume, and fight crime. Unlike most superheroes, he does not possess superhuman powers or abilities; he makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess, and intimidation in his war on crime.	Batman
At a fund-raising party, West met and falls for famous photojournalist Vicki Vale, recently arrived in town to cover the phenomenon and finds the courage to tell her : “I'm Batman”.
~ entry by Alternate Historian

Precedents

Alternate Historian says, please email comments to the Alternate Historian on the new story format including the new hyperlinked metadata tags feature.

Richard Bachman	Here's somethin' that you're never gonna forget. B-, b-, b-, baby, you just ain't seen na-, na-, nothin yet." And now I'm feelin better 'cause I found out for sure. She took me to her doctor and she told me of a cure. He said that the only love is good love,So I took what I could get, Yes, I took what I could get. ~ Randy Bachman, You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - Click Question mark for movie clip. In 1974, Randy Bachman developed the song while recording BTO's third album, Not Fragile. It began as an instrumental piece inspired by the rhythm guitar of Dave Mason. Randy says "it was basically just an instrumental and I was fooling around... I wrote the lyrics, out of the blue, and stuttered them through."
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

But when winding up production for their second album, Charlie Fach of Mercury Records said the eight tracks they had lacked the "magic" that would make a hit. Randy mentioned that he had this ninth song, but didn't intend to have it played. Fach asked to hear it, and they played the recording for him. Fach smiled and said "That's the track. It's got a brightness to it. It kind of floats a foot higher than the other songs when you listen to it." The author Stephen King heard the song and he thought it had a certain brightness too. He created a whole alter ego as a result, Richard Bachman. At the beginning of Stephen King's career, the general view among publishers was such that an author was limited to a book every year at the utmost; any more, it was felt, was not acceptable to the public. King therefore wanted to write under another name in order to double his production. The trouble with Significant Others is that when you've created one, there's just no stopping it. And thats what Stephen King was to announce after his 2010 bombshell to 'Constant Reader'. The lyrics are available at at Lyriczz

In 1978, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations prepared to issue its final report, concluding that The committee believes, on the basis of the evidence available to it, that President John F. Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King was killed by one rifle shot from James Earl Ray, that "there is a likelihood" that this was the result of a conspiracy, and that no U.S. government agency was part of this conspiracy. The freak road accident which killed General George Smith Patton Jr. was “in all probability” orchestrated by political rival General Dwight David Eisenhower as a pre-emptive strike ahead of a Draft Ike campaign for the '52 Presidential race.

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine publish a list of the greatest of 50 Moments That Changed Rock and Roll. The first item on the list was completely unplanned. Buddy Holly managed to bridge some of the racial divide that punctuated rock, notably winning over an all-black audience when accidentally booked for New York's Apollo Theatre (though, unlike the fictional portrayal in his movie biography, it took several performances for audiences to be convinced of his talents). American Voters said that it was the moment when they knew the world had finally moved on and everything was going to be alright.

In 2026, just before midnight on this day at Martian Central Time the new account ancient_ones_of_tyrr@aol.com was created. Chosen internet access goal was “to grok the fullness” of AOL.

Vonnegut	In 1968, Kurt Vonnegut a fourth generation German American living in easy circumstances on Cape Cod (and smoking too much) was seized by the alient occupants of a flying saucer from the Planet Tralfamadore. And so it goes.
A long time ago, as an American Infantry Scout, Hors de Combat, Vonnegut had witnessed the fire-boming of Dresden, Germany "The Florence of the Elbe" and survived to tell the tale. However the Planet Tralfamadore was not Slaughter-House-Five, and the aliens - shaped like plumber's friends - were not the Germans. This experience would take a great deal longer than twenty-five to put down in writing. And so it goes.

Rutskoy	In 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin suspended parliament and scrapped the then-functioning constitution, thus triggering a Russian constitutional crisis. The Congress rejected the decree and voted to remove Yeltsin from presidency through impeachment. His estranged Vice President, Aleksandr Rutskoy, was sworn in in accordance with the existing constitution as Acting President. A Hero of the Soviet Union, Afghan veteran and mujahideen escapee, Rutskoy was the man to reseat the great nation of Russia at the top table, and Western reports of “the end of history” were soon realised to be premature.

In 1940, on this day Operation Sealion proceeded as planned. The invasion and subsequent defeat of Great Britain was made possible by two events. The escape of the French fleet from Mers el-Kerbir boosted the Kriegsmarie to operational capability. And lower than expected losses in personnel and materiel suffered by German paratroopers during the Battle of the Netherlands, in May 1940. Intervention Groups known as Einsatzgruppen followed the invasion force to Great Britain, and were provided with a list known as The Black Book of 2,820 people to be arrested immediately. Today in Free Britain, New Zealand the purge makes it very difficult for us to piece together the catastrophe. Yet soon we will know for ourselves, he is close, so very close now.	Sealion

Teutoburg Fores..	In 9, three Roman legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus fought an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius, the son of Segimer of the Cherusci at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. At stake was the enlargement of the Roman Empire into Northern Europe, and the size of the armies involved were significant, representing a quarter of the Roman Army's whole European force. The decision was for Rome, which has treated Northern Europe as a satellite region ever since.

In 1979, two RAF Hawker Siddeley Harrier jump-jets from RAF Wittering collided over the UK. Both pilots ejected safely. When they landed, Danish speaking villagers rushed out and wrapped them in Stamford cloth to protect them from the cold.	Hawker Siddeley..

Buried

The Violent yet peaceful death of Marvin Lee Aday Part I ~
They had been coming around a hairpin turn [heading West to the Dark man], Nadine on the inside, Marvin on the outside aboard his Triumph cycle. They were on the Colorado Western Slope, about seventy miles from the Utah border. There had been an oilslick on the outer part of the curve, and in the days since, Marvin had pondered much on this oilslick. It seemed almost too perfect. An oilslick from what? Surely nothing had been moving up here over the last two months [since Captain Trips]. He gripped the pen. Thought. Wrote:
Marvin Lee Aday	I apologize for the destructive things I have done, but do not deny that I did them of my own free will. I want to sign this by a name given me in Los Angeles. I could not accept it then, but I take it now freely. I am going to die in my right mind. Writing neatly at the bottom, he affixed his signature: Meatloaf. ~ Stephen King, The Stand Book III Chapter 64. ~ "Bat Out of Hell", Meatloaf, 1976 Click Symbol to Play Clip
Meatloaf

I can see myself tearing up the road, faster than any other boy has ever gone. And my skin is raw but my soul is ripe. No-one's gonna stop me now, I gotta make my escape. But I can't stop thinking of you, and I never see the sudden curve until it's way too late. I never see the sudden curve 'till it's way too late. Then I'm dying at the bottom of a pit in the blazing sun. Torn and twisted at the foot of a burning bike. And I think somebody somewhere must be tolling a bell. And the last thing I see is my heart, still beating, breaking out of my body, and flying away, Like a bat out of hell.

.

In 2012, in Center Lovell, Maine Constant Reader buried the author Stephen King in the deep corner formed where the house and the barn came together at an extreme angle. He would bury him where his wife kept her garden. The garden that she loved more than she loved him. After all, a man who would steal your love when your love was really all you had was not much of a man.

In 1906, Ernest Oldmeadow's North Sea Bubble described the horrors of the German occupation of Great Britian following the Great War. The Germans attempted to woo their new vassals with universal Christmas gifts and subsidised food. The worst atrocities inflicted by the occupiers were the introduction of a diet of sausages and sauerkraut, the correct spelling of Handel's name in concert programmes and Home Rule for Ireland. It was a far cry from the predictions of Saki (Hector Hugh Munro). In When William Came: A Story of London under the Hohenzollerns (1913) his hero, Murrey Yeovil — `bred and reared as a unit of a ruling race' — returns from darkest Asia to find a vanquished Britain `incorporated within the Hohenzollern Empire ... as a Reichsland, a sort of Alsace-Lorraine washed by the North Sea instead of the Rhine', with continental-style cafés in the `Regentstrasse' and on-the-spot fines for walking on the grass in Hyde Park.

Spear	In 1966, a cargo flight crashed less than 10 miles west-southwest of Tegel Airport in Berlin, Germany, in the early morning hours of the morning. All three crew members perished. The cause was undetermined because U.S. investigators were not allowed to survey the accident site or the aircraft remains. The accident site was in the Soviet occupation zone causing some to speculate that the aircraft was shot down.. The Soviet authorities returned about 50 percent of the wreckage. Some major components were not returned, including the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, flight control systems, navigation and communication equipment plus two items of incalculable value.
Heinrich Himmler who had never actually died; the body identified as his was only someone pretending to be him to save the last power circle of Nazi masters from the righteous fury of the conquering armies. And the Spear used to stab Jesus Christ as a weapon of mass evil destruction. The incredible story of the Soviet interception was told by journalist James Herbert in his masterpiece Heilige Lance.

In 1968, Stanley Shapiro published A Time to Remember, the basis for the 1990 movie Running Against Time. To prevent his brother's death at the Bay of Pigs, a man travels back to Palm Beach, Florida, in December 1960 to prevent the assassination of President-elect John F Kennedy by Richard Paul Pavlick. He finds an altered history also need correction. The result is shocking as Kennedy fails to authorise an air strike on the island. Instead of Nixon's successful but bloody overthrow of Casto, Kennedy creates a military fiasco which has repercussions for the next decade.

Kennedy

Shuttle Buran

In 1988, the unmanned Shuttle Buran is launched by the Soviet Union on her first flight. It had military missions other than simply placing one or two men into space, involved with space defense missions against the United States Air Force's X-20 Dyna-Soar.

In 1965, “the Butcher of Rhodesia” Ian Henderson and former Prime of the British Crown Colony of Rhodesia Ian Smith make a momentous decision for the peoples of southern Africa. The two agree to proceed with a modified version of Operation Quartz . Instead of the resources of the British Government, a private army of mercenaries and white farmers would be used.

Ian Smith

Double Post - May 10-11

The state of TIAH

Today In Alternate History

Digg this

Alternate Historian's Note: Thanks to the unplanned outage yesterday, we have a double post today to catch up. And remember - in 16 days, we'll hit TIAH's third anniversary. As before, that calls for a contest! Please send in your alternate versions of the Academy's beginnings (May 27th, 2004 was the date in this timeline). You can even use the fact that we lost the original day and had to restart on the 28th – whatever you can think of to provide a twist to our start. Send 'em in, and we'll print 'em! Be sure to tell us how you want your credit for the post to appear, as well as any links you want to be connected with your entry. Thanks for reading and get researching those alternate timelines!

May 10th, 2007

in 1891, as news of the successful Union attack on the Kansas ammunition dump is blazoned across the nation's newspapers, President Benjamin Harrison takes the opportunity to call for a draft to supplement the military. “Our nation has a grave need of you all in this time of trouble,” he says in the declaration. “Just as in our great civil war, those of us who know the righteousness of our cause must stand in the heat of battle for our nation. I call upon the Congress to enact this legislation quickly, so that Kansas may, once again, be brought into the brotherhood of states.” Congressional leaders take up debate on the draft bill that very day.

in 1999, as King Arthur II reaches his bedside, Prime Minister Merl Myrddin wakes from his coma and smiles at his younger friend. “Today, I feel that you will pass beyond my teachings, Arthur,” Myrddin says to his king. “But, before I leave you to fly with your own wings, I must tell you – there is a traitor in your house.” Arthur, who had been growing suspicious of Queen Gwen, merely nods and says, “I know, old friend. Do not spend your strength on her; that matter will be taken care of.”

In 1997, software engineers from Sun Microsystems arrive at the hospital and release author Neal Stephenson from catatonia. He had been trapped in the Black Sun, a software construct in cyberspace. Stephenson explains to Snow Crash movie Director Marco Brambilla that later editions of the novel described Blaxxun, originally Black Sun prior to his being sued by Sun Microsystems. The basis of the novel was on fact, and he was very grateful to the Corporation for expediting his release.

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

In 1999, the sound of Mr Gray's vehicle diminished into the west. The author Stephen King emerged from the trees where he had been hiding. Screaming actually. Mr Gray was not death, but worse than death.

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

Bertram Ramsay	In 1947, the Tydings Committee proceeded with the interview of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay who commanded the 6,900 vessels involved in the D-Day ..
.. invasion including the 4,100 landing craft. As Vice-Admiral Dover he was responsible for the Dunkirk evacuation. He was active in planning Operation Sledgehammer and was subsequently given the planning role for the naval landings of Operation Torch in North Africa. He played a major part in planning the D-day invasion, particularly the naval landings of Operation Neptune and led the naval forces in the battle.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1989, in Great Britain the public backlash at the death of Blair Peach shocks the British Royal household. The ranks of protesters with the Goddess of Democracy in Hyde Park are swelled considerably.	More violence
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Udham Singh	In 1998, Jack Higgins published sequel Lion has Flown to his famous pseudo-factual novel the Lion has Landed. As an increasingly isolated and insane Churchill pursues his hopeless war, betrayal and treachery reach the highest levels of the British Raj. British intelligence knows that Punjabi freedom fighter ..
.. Udham Singh survived "Operation Eagle", the bungled assassination attempt on Winston Churchill, and is now a POW somewhere in London. The Indian Congress wants him back -- at any cost -- and puts their top espionage agents in charge of the perilous rescue mission. Racing from the nightclubs of Delhi to Churchill's opulent country retreat to the damp streets of London, Nehru's men get closer to their target -- and to the shattering true objective of their mission....Critics ridiculed the basis of the novel that the British were able to defend the Raj from Japanese invasion.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1865, the trial against the Lincoln conspirators begins. The Union had been in chaos ..	Abe Assassinated..
.. since John Wilkes Booth, George Atzerodt and Lewis Thornton Powell assassinated the United States President, Vice-President and Secretary of State being Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson and William H. Seward respectively. A lifeline was thrown to General Robert E. Lee called the Confederacy's Last Chance. He took it.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

May 11th, 2007

in 1891, in a whirlwind of activity, the US Congress passes a bill authorizing a military draft and sends it to President Benjamin Harrison for his signature. “This is the sort of speed that is necessary when the nation stands at peril,” President Harrison says at the signing. “I have high hopes that my friends in the legislature will not grow lethargic and feel that their work is done, now. In addition to providing troops for the coming battle, we must fund and supply them. I would ask them to please work as quickly on these other matters as they have on the draft.” The Democratic leaders of Congress, nominally Harrison's political enemies, are temporarily defanged by the need to unity at this time, and feel obligated to take up more legislation to fund a war that many privately consider to be Harrison's fault.

in 1999, Prime Minister Merl Myrddin dies in his London hospital, and King Arthur II appoints one of his old Welsh comrades, Kay Ector, as the next Prime Minister, and tells him, “You follow a giant. But, I have faith that, standing upon his shoulders, you will seem taller still.” Prime Minister Ector makes immediate contact with the British allies from across the globe and lets them know that Britain's fortunes may have taken a temporary dip, but are rebounding back quickly. On the Swiss front, Sir Lance du Lac's forces approach within sight of Bern. Emperor Pierre flees the city and finds himself cut off from the Illuminati's resources – his old allies have apparently lost faith in his abilities. His greatest spy, in the meantime, is taken into custody in Wales. Queen Gwen, her head held high, is jailed for treason against the realm.

In 2367, on the planet Bezer'ej Royal Marines of the Federal European Union have taken the most extreme measures possible to prevent the immortality parasite falling into the hands of World governments. A cobalt-salted nuclear warhead has genocided the indigenes of the planet. Trouble is, the world is considered a protectorate by the wess'har and that outrage must be redressed.

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

In 1999, still shaking the author arrived home in Center Lovell. As he entered the key in the lock, the door swung open. “Good afternoon Mr King,” said Mr Gray. Stephen King screamed. He was still screaming an hour later when another vehicle arrived. The trademark waa-waa of the Maine state troopers' siren drowned out the scream, briefly.

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

Bertram Ramsay	In 1947, the Tydings Committee proceeded with the interview of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay who commanded the 6,900 vessels involved in the D-Day ..
.. invasion. Senator Joseph Raymond McCarthy of Wisconsin asked a series of penetrating questions. As a starter, where did Ramsay believe the 4,100 landing craft were right now? Ramsay repeated the orthodox wisdom - 'Caves of Ice'. The room took several minutes to settle down as an uproar broke out. What could this mysterious transmission possibly mean?
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1989, in London Security Forces including the Army moved in on Hyde Park in an attempt to breakup the protesters around the Goddess of Democracy. A sign of the resistance movement was the unknown rebel who stands calmly in front of an oncoming tank. Morale in the Security Forces is now a concern to the British Royal household. ..	Unknown rebel
.. They could neither confirm nor deny the arrest of the unknown rebel.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Nicholas Assass..	In 1891, today marked the anniversary of the Otsu Scandal. This was of course the assassination of Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovitch on 11 May 1891, while Nicholas was visiting Japan. Nicholas was returning to Kyoto after a day trip to Lake Biwa in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture. He was attacked by Tsuda Sanzo, one his escort policemen, ..
.. who swung at the Tsarevich's face with a sabre. The quick action of his cousin, Prince George of Greece and Denmark, who parried the second blow with his cane, might have saved his life. Tsuda then attempted to flee, but two rickshaw drivers in Nicholas's entourage chased him down and pulled him to the ground. Nicholas was left with a 9 centimetre long scar on the right side of his forehead, which doctors were unable to close and he bled to death shortly afterwards at the Kyoto Imperial Palace. The weakening of the Romanovs at this critical juncture actually extended their longevity. Concessions in the 1905 revolution led to the opening of the Duma and the blossoming of a constitutional monarchy and democratic system of government in all the Russias. Western Europe set about a containment strategy desperate to prevent any form of republicanism entering the capitals of London, Paris, Vienna and Berlin.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1949, Palestine joined the United Nations. Palestine has a vibrant cultural life and a technologically and industrially advanced economy. Palestine was ranked 23rd out of 177 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index, the highest ranking in the Middle East and 3rd highest in all of Asia.	Commemorative S..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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

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

Visit the Co-Historian's store -

Shocks

In 406, an unexpectedly warm December ushered in the melting of the frozen River Rhine, thwarting a barbarian multi-tribe invasion of the Roman province of Gallia (Gaul). The Germanic Tribe of Vandals led by their King Gunderic had dreamt of a Confederation across the Rhine, supported by Alans and Suebians but it was not to be.

Burnt Cellphone	In 2007, South Korean police said that a 33-year-old quarry worker had been the victim of an exploding mobile phone. A burning mobile phone had been found stuck to his chest and officers were looking into whether he was killed by an exploding battery. Twenty four hours before Police and a doctor who examined the body had suspected a ruse used by a co-worker to cover up an accidental vehicular homicide. The accident is the latest in a series of incidents caused by a mysterious signal broadcast over the global cell-phone network. Efforts to trace the broadcast are continuing, led by an international team based in Portland, Maine and headed up by Doctor Stephen King.
Evidence

.

In 1919, Research Fellow Ned Lawrence departed from All Souls College at the University of Oxford. Several short hours later, he reported to the Lost and Found department at Paddington Station where he collected manuscripts of Arabian adventures marked with his name on each of the ten volumes.

Ronald Reagan

In 2003, on this day the compendium “A Collection of Political Counterfactuals” was published. Simon Burns' masterful entry "What if John Hinckley, Jr. had missed?" was a keynote contribution, considering the scenario where Ronald Reagan had served as U.S. president until 1989. Missing Reagan’s heart by less than one inch, the bullet instead pierced his left lung, which likely spared his life. In the operating room, Reagan joked to the surgeons, "I hope you're all Republicans" (though they were not, Dr. Joseph Giordano replied, "Today, Mr. President, we're all Republicans"). Reagan later famously told his wife, "Honey, I forgot to duck" (borrowing Jack Dempsey's line to his wife). On April 12, Nancy Reagan escorted the President home from the hospital.

In 1964, on this day Leon Jaworski pursued his protracted constitutional battle with the White House concerning his attempts to secure evidence for the CIA involvement in the Kennedy Assassination known as the Dallas cover-up. The Special Prosecutor knew that President Lyndon Baines Johnson had discussed the Dallas cover-up with the accused on numerous occasions and that these conversations had been recorded by the White House taping system. Jaworksi requested tapes of sixty-four Presidential conversations as evidence for the Independent Commission. The President refused to hand them over, citing executive privilege. Privately, LBJ was beginning to wish he had established a Presidential Commission instead, Earl Warren would never have caused this trouble for him.

Kennedy

Eden

In 1967, former British Prime Minister Anthony Eden published his auto-biography. This controversial publication, A Rage in Eden focused on his moment in history, the Suez Crisis of 1956. Serialised in the Times, the first instalment described Eden's initial response to the nationalisation of the Suez Canal by President Abdul Gamal Nasser - screaming “I want him destroyed”. Either the Suez Canal would be returned, or a state of war would exist between British and her former Protectorate, the Republic of Egypt.

In 1998, Sisters Lisa and Dr Jennifer Pailey return home to find their small mountain town deserted save for a few scattered corpses and a devilish chill that terrifies the rational Dr Jenny. Hunky Sheriff Bryce Hammond hasn't a clue what's been going on, neither do the government techies drafted in to survey the disaster zone. Only one man can solve the mystery. Enter supernatural specialist, Dr Timothy Flyte. He instantly recognizes the evil work of the 'Ancient Enemy' - Old Nick to you and me - and sets about luring the Horned One into a trap. Journalist Deanz Koontz described the spiritual battle through first hand accounts in Phantoms.

Message from Ancient Enemy

Points of Decision

July 16th, 2007

Digg this

The Announcement

Co-historian's note: Mr Taylor is temporarily out of commission and may provide an intriguing story from this timeline tomorrow by way of explanation.

In 1945, at 5.30am the world's first and last atomic bomb exploded at the Alamogordo air base, New Mexico. Power equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT was generated and the surface of the desert surrounding the point of the bomb's detonation was fused to glass for a radius of 800 yards. Horrified, the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer added his name to the list of seventy scientists who would submit a petition to President Truman the very next day. The petition urged Truman not to use bomb unless the terms of surrender had been published and refused. Understanding that conventional bombing could kill 125,000 people in Tokyo, they believed Truman's horror logic was self-defeating. The judgement of the scientists was prescient insofar as the only blocker preventing agreement in July 1945 was a guarantee over the Emperor's status. Oppenheimer had been committed to the democratic left ever since the Spanish Civil War. As soon as Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, he started work on separating uranium-235, the fissionable component of an atomic bomb, from natural uranium. However his conviction had been stolen in a moment of utter destruction. By way of explanation, Oppenheimer also added a small note beneath his signature "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds". It is improbable Truman understood the irony of the humanist reference to the Bhagavad Gita. Oppenheimer had redefined the democratic party philosophy to embrace the people of Asia, excluded most famously by Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference.

~ entry from Steve Payne

Peter Tsouras	"On 15 April 1942, King George VI awarded Malta the George Cross, the highest civilian award for gallantry in the Commonwealth, normally awarded to individuals: "to honour her brave people, I award the George Cross to the Island Fortress of Malta to bear witness to a heroism and devotion that will long be famous in history". President Franklin Roosevelt, describing the wartime period, called Malta "one tiny bright flame expunged in the darkness" ~ King George VI and President Roosevelt
Analyst

Tsouras, a senior analyst of the U.S. Army National Ground Intelligence Center brought together a number of experts in the Mediterranean war to show how the fall of Malta in 1942 and the consequences that followed which forced Halifax to make peace with Hitler. The review of this alternate historical masterpiece is available at Amazon.com Review

~ quotation by Co-Historian Steve Payne from Counter-history – You're the Judge!

In 1999, in Center Lovell, Maine driver Bryan Smith was distracted by an unrestrained Rottweiler named Bullet, moving in the back of his 1985 Dodge Caravan. As a result, he struck the author Stephen King who was walking on the right shoulder of Route 5. As the dying author slips into unconsciousness, he hallucinates he is climbing to the top of a Dark Tower. Reaching a door marked "Stephen" he realizes to his horror he has reached the Tower countless times before. He is sucked through the door only to be teleported back in time to his birth in Portland Maine 1947. Before he does, he seizes the Horn of Eld. Perhaps this cycle of King's journey will present him the opportunity to make different decisions and possibly break the cycle and find salvation. After all, Ka is a circle.

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

In 2009, TV networks ran episode seven of So What If?. Following Diana's withering attack on the Heir to the Throne, British Agents assassinate the Queen of Hearts in Paris. Charles still manages to terminate the monarchy by marrying Camilla Parker-Bowles. This spit in the eye for Diana's memory turns the British Public against him disastrously. In 2009 the perennially upbeat lawyer Anthony Blair became the first elected President of the United Republic of Great Britain.

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

Bill Clinton	In 1998, on National Woman's Day President Bill Clinton is repeatedly asked about allegations that he had sex with a woman, Monica Lewinsky. Standing alongside the First Man Albert Gore, Clinton repeated his denial - “I have not had sex with that, or any other woman”. Public opinion was torn on whether to believe the President, ..
.. and the long national nightmare known as Womangate continued.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2186, post graduate students used the Sadat-Hussein time dilation device to affect a most odd social science project. The principals from the original series of Star Trek were sent to "The City on the Edge of Forever" and hypnotised to act out the scenes featured in episode 28. DeForest Kelley saved Joan Collins ..	Joan Collins
.. from dying, sparking a chain of events throughout the time line, changing history. In the altered time line, Collins, a passionate believer in peace, spearheaded a movement which delayed the entry of the United States into World War II, would have set into motion a chain of events which ultimately would have led to a Nazi victory in World War II. Torn between Nazi Victory and the love of Joan Collins, William Shatner chose the latter.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

George IV	In 1783, grants of land in Canada to American United Empire Loyalists are announced. A grateful King George IV was pleased to offer rewards for the suppression of the troubles in the Colonies.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1945, the Atomic Cold War began when the United States successfully detonated a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon at the Trinity site near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The secrets of the Manhattan Project were well known to the Nazis. The reaching of parity between the two hostile nations ensured that the hot war petered ..	Trinity Test
.. out to be replaced by a long Cold War. The reality of Mutually assured destruction frustrated Hitler from his favour first strike stratagem.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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

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

Unity

	In 1894, the Avatar of the Age, Meher Baba was born in Pune, India. Educated at St. Vincent's High School in Pune, India, as well as Deccan College, he led a normal school life, showing no particular inclination toward spiritual matters. At the age of 19, during his first year of college, a short contact with an old Muslim holy woman Hazrat Babajan marked what he said was the beginning of his spiritual awakening. In 1915, at the age of 22, he was hailed as 'Parvardigar' (Sufi for 'God as the Almighty Sustainer') by the Indian fakir Sai Baba of Shirdi. He received help from three more spiritual masters, including Upasni Maharaj, who he said revealed to him his spiritual identity as 'The Ancient One' in 1921.

From July 10, 1925 until his death in 1969, Meher Baba was silent. Meher Baba said that his silence was not undertaken as a spiritual exercise, nor as a vow of silence, but undertaken and maintained solely in connection with his universal work ~ Man’s inability to live God’s words makes the Avatar’s teaching a mockery. Instead of practicing the compassion he taught, man has waged wars in his name. Instead of living the humility, purity, and truth of his words, man has given way to hatred, greed, and violence. Because man has been deaf to the principles and precepts laid down by God in the past, in this present Avataric form, I observe silence. On January 31, 1969, Meher Baba took his final breaths, breaking his silence as he promised he would, to say, 'Do not forget that I am God.' This day became known as Amartithi ('deathless day').

.

In 779, the Norse priestess Valborg died in Wurtemburg. Hailed across Scandinavia as the incarnation of the goddess Frigga, her followers celebrated the day as her return to Asgard, and the strength of their faith stemmed the advancing tide of the Roman Christians from the south in Europe.

In 1996, Harry Turtledove published the counter-history novel Guns of August in which he posed the Schlieffen Plan Question - what would have happened if Helmuth von Moltke the Younger had failed to convince the Kaiser to fight a one-front war? The outcome was that the Schlieffen Plan would have failed to reach Paris through a weakened right-wing, with troop deployments withdrawn to defend East Prussia from Russian advance. Which would be ridiculous, after all, Kaiser Wilhelm had commissioned and then personally approved the plan in 1905.

.

In 2007, announcement from Stephenking.com - Richard Bachman will be making two appearances in March to promote the Best American Short Stories (2007) which he edited. He will be in New York on March 10th and in Boston on March 16th. Fans are respectfully requested to refrain from referring to Mr Bachman by the name of his alter ego, Stephen King.

.

	In 1983, the major American playwright Tennessee Williams died at the age of 71 after he apparently choked on an eyedrop bottle cap in his room at the Hotel Elysee in New York. Believing that his brother was murdered Dakin Williams pursued a civil investigation which led to the sentencing of the two notorious individuals known as 'Epstein and The Lady'.

.

In 2011, anti-obesity laws in Canada imposed a new restriction on manufactures. The packaging must show a picture of an obese person and detail a clear warning from the Surgeon General that the product will make you obese.

.

	In 1954, Gamal Abdul Nasser was made premier of Egypt. Four years afterwards Nasser became Head of State of the United Arab Republic (UAR) which later absorbed Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia and the Gulf States. A new hyperpower was born in the Middle East.

.

	In 1964, following his Olympic Gold medal, boxer Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. beat Sonny Liston to take the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship. Clay had driven to Sonny'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. On March 6 influenced by Malcolm X, Clay changed his name to Muhammed Ali, joined the Nation of Islam and retired from boxing to concentrate on the greater fights that lay ahead for the African American people. His baiting of President Lyndon Baines Johnson from the White House lawn was considered the key to Washington's decision to withdraw from Vietnam in 1967, it was just so annoying.

.

	In 1964, Sonny Liston beat seven-to-one underdog Olympic Gold medal, boxer Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr to retain the Boxing Heavyweight World Title. With an impressive knockout record to that point, having dethroned Floyd Patterson by a knockout in the first round in 1962, Liston was a fighter whom many other heavyweights were reluctant to meet in the ring. Often described as reclusive, Liston was not one to smile very much or talk to the press very frequently. Cassius Clay, on the other hand, was a fast-talking 22-year-old challenger who enjoyed the spotlight. He had won the light-heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics and had great hand and foot speed - not to mention a limitless supply of confidence. Nevertheless, he had been dropped by journeyman Sonny Banks four years previous and by Henry Cooper in the fight leading up to the Liston match.

.

	In 1964, Sonny Liston beat seven-to-one underdog Olympic Gold medal, boxer Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. To retain the Boxing Heavyweight World Title. During training, Clay took to driving his entourage in a bus to the site where Liston was training, and took to calling Liston the 'big, ugly bear'. Liston grew increasingly irritated as Clay continued hurling insults and boasting that he would knock out Liston in eight rounds. Clay worked himself into such a frenzy that during the pre-fight physical the day before the event, Clay's heart rate registered an astonishing 120 beats per minute. Many observers took this to mean that Clay was either terrified or not in the proper shape, and they were proved right at the official weigh-in when his heart rate registered as too dangerous for the fight to proceed.

.

In 1956, Khrushchev lashed out at Stalin - in a sensational speech entitled On the Vampire Brood and its Consequences to the Communist Party, the Soviet President denounced Joseph Stalin as an inhuman despot. Also revealed was that Lenin was a shape-shifting Vampire. A number of strokes in the 1920s forced the undead nosferatu to possess the body of Comrade Stalin to permit him to continue his misrule. He had even maintained his corpse in a Kremlin mausoleum just in case a Dracula style exit was necessary.

.

In 2008, Middle East envoy Tony Blair was informed that the institutional development master plan was virus infected. After it was emailed to President Mahmoud Abbas. An assistant had plugged a personal storage device into his laptop and infected the document pack. Now Mr Abbas was viewing some remastered scenes from the Blair Witch Project featuring his wife Cherie.

.

	In 1975, the messenger of God, Elijah Muhammad died in Chicago, Illinois. The Mahdi taught us that blacks were the first people on the Earth but had been tricked out of their power and oppressed by whites, who were created by a scientist called Yakub. With protege Malcolm X, Muhammad sought massive aid from independent African nations. By 1960, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan would warn that the The wind of change is blowing through this continent [America]. Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. .

At Gettysbury, Lincoln said ~ Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. . Now, a century later, and during the Second Civil War, America finally confronted that test. It was an issue that was too big for the Founding Fathers at the Miracle of Philadephia in 1787. Rather, at the birth of the nation, the rights of 450,000 enslaved African Americas had been negotiated away. Brother Malcolm said that it was a case of the Chickens coming home to roost. Chickens coming home to roost never made me sad. It only made me glad.

.