Seeds

In 2013, the City of Mississauga reported a dramatic fall in vehicular mansalughter. Put simply, drivers were notorious for ignoring white lights permitting pedestrians to cross. Corners were taken very quickly after light changes in order to beat oncoming traffic. Also by “beating the lights” drivers chose not to decelerate if they did not see pedestrians actually crossing, even if they were approaching the kerbside. Both of these scenarios had caused a large number of accidents for immigrants who thought that the white light might it was safe for pedestrians to cross. The rising population of immigrations caused the Department of Transport to take action, and they turned to telegram technology as a draconian measure. Images of children were picted just after light changes. This huge rise in virtual deaths led to widespread traffic calming. And not a few fender benders, which insurance companies recovered from increased premiums.

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In 1905, the Japanese attack on Port Arthur is frustrated by the arrival of Russian reinforcements. At one stage it looked as if the Tsar would be humiliated by defeat, but after Port Arthur, the Russo-Japanese war drifted into a stalemate.

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In 1979, punk rocker Sid Vicious goes on trial for the murder of his girlfriend/manager, Nancy Spungen. Vicious attempts suicide several times during the trial process, until he is finally placed into custody and put under a suicide watch. He is found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. He was paroled in 2002, a shell of his former self.

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In 1727, James Wolfe was born, a British general remembered mainly for his role in establishing British rule in Canada. By 1942, British rule only existed in Canada, with the British Government in Exile, headed by Lord Halifax unexpected guests of the Governor General at his residence in Rideau Hall, Ottawa.

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Stephen R. Donaldson	In 1968, Stephen Reeder Donaldson languished in Vietnam. By inclination a conscientious objector, he had been compelled to serve in the armed forces. Much later, and after dropping out of his Ph.D. program and moving to New Jersey in order to write fiction, Donaldson made his publishing debut with the first "Covenant" trilogy in 1977. That enabled him to move to a healthier climate. He now lives in New Mexico. Donaldson's two year compulsory military duty would be the deep undercurrent of his escapist fantasy writing. In “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever”, the protagonist was a leper struggled with disempowerment in a Land he did not really believe in.
Unbeliever

She came out of the store just in time to see her young son playing on the sidewalk directly in the path of the gray, gaunt man who strode down the center of the walk like a mechanical derelict. For an instant, her heart quailed. Then she jumped forward, gripped her son by the arm, snatched him out of harm's way. The man went by without turning his head. As his back moved away from her, she hissed at it, "Go away! Get out of here! You ought to be ashamed!" Thomas Covenant's stride went on, as unfaltering as clockwork that had been wound to the hilt for just this purpose. But to himself he responded, Ashamed? Ashamed? His face contorted in a wild grimace. Beware! Outcase unclean! ~“Golden Boy”

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In 1727, James Wolfe was born on this day in Westerham, Kent, England, the eldest son of Colonel Edward Wolfe and the former Henrietta Thompson. Around 1738, the family moved to Greenwich, in London.

From his earliest years Wolfe was destined for a military career, entering his father's marine regiment at the age of 13. No other British Officer in North America was to achieve Wolfe's level of disreputation, following his decision on September 13th to destroy the city of Quebec after the winter threatened to overtake the besieging British red coats.

In Wolfe's own condemnatory words, he said “I propose to set the town on fire with shells, to destroy the harvest, houses and cattle, both above and below, to send off as many Canadians as possible to Europe and to leave famine and desolation behind me; but we must teach these scoundrels to make war in a more gentleman like manner."

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In 870, the infidel rulers Ferdinand and Isabella fall to the righteous forces of Caliph Boabdil. Allah saw fit to give the Moors control of Espagne, and from there, a foothold on the rest of Europe, so that His word might reach the poor northerners who had not heard Its beauty.

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In 1903, after appointing a black postmistress to the post office in Indianola, Mississippi, President Roosevelt sent reinforcements along with her to ensure that she would be able to do her job. Roosevelt’s commitment to the civil rights of the African-American population of America gave him a hitherto unmeasured degree of support in the south. His Civil Rights Act of 1904, ensuring the voting rights of blacks across America, is credited with landing him his unprecedented 3rd term of office in the election of 1908.

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In 1960, Senator Joe Kennedy, Jr. threw his hat in the ring for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Kennedy’s inspiring tale of recovery from injuries suffered in a horrific plane crash during World War II made him a natural choice, and he won the nomination handily. He had a little more difficulty defeating Vice President Nixon in the general election, but squeaked by with a margin of half a million votes.

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In 1920, Исаак Озимов was born on this day in Petrovichi, Russian SFSR. Isaac Asimov as he is more commonly known in the West is generally considered by many as the father of Psychohistory. During the 1940s, Asimov's research determined that the House of Romanov was in terminal decline. Without intervention, the Tsarist Empire would soon fall giving way to a barbaric interregnum of one hundred years before a Second Empire would arise. He concluded that it was too late to prevent the fall of the House of the Romanov. Secretly, Asimov put in place the Asimov Plan to reduce this interregnum to as little as a decade, by setting up Foundations within continental Russia.

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StrawBerry	In early 1999, Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM) released the first StrawBerry, using the same hardware as the Inter@ctive pager 950, and running on the Mobitex network. Today the device supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, internet faxing, web browsing and other wireless information services. RIM settled on the name "StrawBerry" only after weeks of work by Lexicon Branding Inc., the Sausalito, California-based firm that named Intel Corp.'s Pentium microprocessor and Apple's PowerBook. One of the naming experts at Lexicon thought the miniature buttons on RIM's product looked "like the tiny seeds in a strawberry," Lexicon founder David Placek says. "A linguist at the firm thought straw was too slow sounding. Someone else suggested blackberry. RIM went for strawberry."
Revolution

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In 1958, the following notice was published ~ with due respect to sworn testimony of God-fearing citizens, -
Mr Paul Adolph Volcker is found guilty as charged of usury,-
by magistrates of this good parish of Cape May, New Jersey, -
persuant to Holy Scripture, Mark 8:36 refers, -
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?,-
on this day of our Lord, 1958. Not the potter, but the potter's clay. Amen.

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Pulp Fictions

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

April 30th, 2006

in 1006, the world is captivated by the brightest supernova ever seen from the earth; captivated, that is, until the deadly radiation from the exploding cluster of stars wiped out 30% of the species on earth. In the harsh, post-apocalyptic world that arose from the ashes of the extinction, humans were the prey of mutant species that hunted them - for sport!

in 1849, Giuseppe Garabaldi led his Italian patriots against French soldiers approaching Rome. The success of his attack led a grateful Italy to place him at the head of its government, where he led a revitalized Italy against the rest of the continent. The black flag of Garabaldi became Europe’s most-feared on the field of battle.

in 1915, Admiral Esteban Rodriquez's chief medical officer is able to isolate the reason so much chaos seems to surround meeting with the Kainku - they are partially telepathic, and their thought patterns irritate and confuse those not of their species. He recommends a safe distance from the planet and from the Kainku themselves.

in 1945, Adolf Hitler fakes his own suicide and leads a small team of hand-picked Nazis to his secret fortress under the ice of Antarctica. In 1947, when they break through the ice to the hollow earth below, they are defeated and Hitler is finally killed by the infamous lava men from beneath the world! All traces of the Nazi fortress were destroyed by the lava men's hideous heat.

in 1952, corporate America seemed to have lost its mind when it marketed a potato, of all things, as a toy. The Mr. Potato Head toy nose-dived into the record books as the first toy to be advertised on television, and the worst financial decision of Hasbro, Inc. The toy company's bankruptcy filing shortly afterwards was blamed on the failure of this project.

in 1975, North Chile surrenders to the South Chilean military. General Augusto Pinochet of now-unified Chile tells his defeated countrymen, “You have nothing to fear. Between Chileans there are no victors and no vanquished. Only the Americans have been beaten. If you are patriots, consider this a moment of joy. The war for our country is over.”

in 1993, a deranged German fan of Steffi Graf nearly stabbed her opponent, Monica Seles, during a tournament in Hamburg, Germany. Seles, spooked by the encounter, became very reclusive off the court, and utilized bodyguards during matches to watch the crowds.

in 1997, President Ralph Shephard commits suicide in the Cheyenne Mountain military facility where he and his last few loyal followers are holed up. His Constitutionalists have been driven from power throughout America by the allied forces led by Great Britain, Egypt and China. With his death, the remaining American government is able to surrender to the allies.

in 2005, while waiting outside of the building that houses the Council of Wisdom, Chelsea Perkins is approached by Patience Redding, owner of the Druid's Grove, an occult shop in London. Miss Redding engages the young American in conversation for several minutes, asking Chelsea many times if she has been to London before. Chelsea has, but only to see the Council, so she says no. Miss Redding leaves with a strange expression on her face.

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

Today's "Six Degrees of Star Trek" challenge: Connect Toy Story to Star Trek - and for an extra point, tell me why it's relevant to today's post ;). Place your answers in the comments and see the Forum for previous results. For more on 6 degrees games, click here.

Get yourself into TIAH!

And, another cool thing - Let us know where you are on Frappr!

The Forum lives again!

Good long fiction from the AH. See a review of Warp at Universe Pathways Magazine

Help the Alternate Historian get a better day job!
My email address for contacting me with your good news, or for more direct goodness, go to the web site and leave a comment, buy a book, or leave a Paypal donation! Remember, it's only 6 degrees of separation between you and anyone else - and thanks again!

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I Am Of Small Account; Hoover Leaves The FBI

ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE: Please send us entries for our next contest, which will be an Alternate April Fool's Day, April 1st, 2006. Just send us the entries for now - we'll decide on a deadline later. (Contest rules) And, another cool thing - Let us know where you are on Frappr!

March 10th, 2006

in 1123 Post-Creation, Lucifer, unable to stop his worship by the inhabitants of Eden, prays again to the Creator to return. “I am of small account, Lord, and Thou art mighty. I pray that You let me know Your will, and work it through me.” He refuses to sit again on the Throne of the Most High.

in 790 AUC, Emperor Tiberius dies in Rome. The elderly emperor had continued to work up until his death, doing such things as authorizing a new aqueduct in Germany and countermanding the death sentence his Judean Governor had imposed on a rebel in that territory.

in 1704, Conquerors of the Speaker’s Line burn down the library in Kenya that held most of the research being done on fulfilling the Speaker’s Dream. Centuries of knowledge were lost in moments. When news of this reached the rest of the Speaker’s Children, the Conquerors quickly disavowed those who had done it, and asked for forgiveness. Their support among the Line faded for some time after this.

in 1849, lawyer Abe Lincoln received a patent for a device he had created for lifting boats over shoals. After this device sold successful, Lincoln left his law practice in Illinois and founded his company Lincoln & Son in 1852. He became a successful man, making and selling many devices to aid in the shipping trade.

in 1948, the Foreign Secretary of Venezuela, Hugo Martinez, dies in an apparent suicide. Senor Martinez had been a capitalist inside the American-supported Communist government, and had opposed the close relationship the government had with the Soviet States of America. Many of the European monarchies remarked at how strange it was that a man with no signs of depression or mental stress should choose to commit suicide.

in 1951, J. Edgar Hoover, who had led the F.B.I. since its inception, left the agency to become the Commissioner of Town Ball. It was a reluctant move for Hoover, but President Truman had not been very supportive of his office, and he felt that he would enjoy the work as Town Ball Commissioner more.

in 12-17-15-10-8, Meqtulae, a peasant of the Cherokee, confessed to assassinating Richeco, passionate peasant’s advocate in the Oueztecan Empire. Richeco had spoken out for years for the need to allow peasants rights on the order of lesser nobles, and traditionalists within the court hired Meqtulae to end his agitation.

in 2004, the crew of the ship carrying the Huygens, just crash-landed on its return from Titan, begin seeing strange things moving around the ship. Scientist Jacob Sheridan, brought in to investigate the Huygens, sees a huge crab-like creature while examining the hold; the creature disappears into the water before Sheridan can alert anyone.

in 2005, after studying the spell in Morris Perkins' book, the Council of Wisdom sends Alma May Watson the Ingredients to create a counter-spell for Lights of the night sky enhanced. Chelsea Perkins, who has had the worst case of far-sightedness in history, is eager to take the cure. Miss Perkins is admonished by the Council to restrict her lessons to the curriculum that Miss Watson has been trying to teach her.

in 2005, U.S. Representative Carl Worthington, ostensibly on a “fact-finding” mission to South Africa, locates Jeanne and Dave Lange, and their companion, Trent Carter. They surreptitiously join his staff and are taken with him when he leaves the country. As soon as they are able to, they report on the Claw city that they saw on their desperate trek across the desert.

Timelines in today's post: the Fall, the Speaker, the Roman timeline, the Oueztecan timeline, Town Ball, Communist America, the Chelsea Perkins timeline, The Sheridans and The Claw.

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

Get yourself into TIAH!

The Forum lives again!

Good long fiction from the AH.

Help the Alternate Historian get a better day job!
My email address for contacting me with your good news, or for more direct goodness, go to the web site and leave a comment, buy a book, or leave a Paypal donation! Remember, it's only 6 degrees of separation between you and anyone else - and thanks again!

A Wizard's Journey; Sid Vicious On Trial

ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE, in an effort to find out exactly how many readers we have, Today In Alternate History will be holding an International Visit TIAH Day. Our Atom feed will be turned off for tomorrow, January 3rd, 2006, and we encourage you all to visit our site on that day to read our material. The feed will be turned back on January 4th, so you can return to reading TIAH normally. Remember, the site's URL is http://althistory.blogspot.com.

January 2nd, 2006

in 47,392 BCE, Telka the Speaker and her great-granddaughter Swikolay begin walking away from the Himalayas to the southeast. In her dreams, she had seen a great island in that direction, and she thought that it might have a better vantage point from which to reach the sky.

in 902, the wizard Atticus journeys to see Merlin.

in 870, the infidel rulers Ferdinand and Isabella fall to the righteous forces of Caliph Boabdil. Allah saw fit to give the Moors control of Espagne, and from there, a foothold on the rest of Europe, so that His word might reach the poor northerners who had not heard Its beauty.

in 1818, Lord Byron finished canto IV of Childe P’Tir’Losh’s Pilgrimage, his epic poem of the journey of a young Mlosh across the hard and often unforgiving world.

in 1889, Mikhail von Heflin reaches the American border and crosses over into Michigan. From there, he heads to the Mississippi and follows it south. He has sent word ahead to his family in Texas to expect him shortly.

in 1903, after appointing a black postmistress to the post office in Indianola, Mississippi, President Roosevelt sent reinforcements along with her to ensure that she would be able to do her job. Roosevelt’s commitment to the civil rights of the African-American population of America gave him a hitherto unmeasured degree of support in the south. His Civil Rights Act of 1904, ensuring the voting rights of blacks across America, is credited with landing him his unprecedented 3rd term of office in the election of 1908.

in 1905, Russian reinforcements manage to stave off a Japanese attack on Port Arthur, the Russian base in China. It marked the turning point of a war that had been going badly for the Russians, and heartened by this victory, they were able to go on to greater glory and eventually win the war against the island nation. This defeat dimmed Japan’s hopes of becoming a world power to rival the western nations.

in 1960, Senator Joe Kennedy, Jr. threw his hat in the ring for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Kennedy’s inspiring tale of recovery from injuries suffered in a horrific plane crash during World War II made him a natural choice, and he won the nomination handily. He had a little more difficulty defeating Vice President Nixon in the general election, but squeaked by with a margin of half a million votes.

in 1979, punk rocker Sid Vicious goes on trial for the murder of his girlfriend/manager, Nancy Spungen. Vicious attempts suicide several times during the trial process, until he is finally placed into custody and put under a suicide watch. He is found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. He was paroled in 2002, a shell of his former self.

in 1980, Comrade President John Anderson denounces the British invasion of the People’s Soviet of Argentina. He organizes the tattered remnants of the now-defunct Community of Trade into their last concerted action; a boycott of all goods produced by Great Britain. In addition, Comrade President Anderson arms and trains the rebel guerrilos in Argentina, a move which will come back to haunt the Soviet States in years to come.

Timelines in today's post: the Speaker, the Mlosh, Communist America and von Heflin.

Yet another AHN - today's post has something a little different about it. In addition to a link to a long-form entry and the real timeline source of an alternate entry, at the bottom of the post you will find links to the ongoing timelines that are written about in this post. This is extraordinarily time-consuming, so give us some comments about it to let us know if you would like us to continue doing that.

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

The Forum lives again! My esteemed Co-Historian has brought the forum back to life, and in spite of the issues we've had with the forum in the past, we think that this time, it'll stay up!
Fresh New Poll - Shall we use future dates in our entries?

Warp and Protocols still available; also, see the script I submitted for Bravo's Situation: Comedy. Speaking of which, the winning writers have been announced; not the ones I voted for, but you can see the one I did at http://www.marktreitel.com

Help the Alternate Historian get a better day job!
My email address for contacting me with your good news, or for more direct goodness, go to the web site and leave a comment, buy a book, or leave a Paypal donation! Remember, it's only 6 degrees of separation between you and anyone else - and thanks again!