The Buck Stops Here

June 20th, 2007

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The Announcement

Co-Historian's Note: I have taken the liberty of posting Wednesday's entry "early doors" - enjoy!

By the way - a unique opportunity for dialogue is presented by the fiftieth anniversary of the Roswell Incident which is fast approaching on July 4-6th. Perhaps a weather balloon simply crash-landed on a farm near Roswell Air Base? Or an Unidentified Flying Object from outer space? And what about the recovery of three or four alien bodies...? Please leave comments on the blog if you wish to share your thoughts with the community!

In 2009, in Oregon Gordon Krantz was attacked by three survivalists led by Roger Everett Septien, a member of the Pacific Stock Exchange before the outbreak of the Doomwar and the subsequent three-year winter. Robbed of his possessions, Krantz escaped and spent the night in the abandoned vehicle of a long-dead Postman.

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

In 10,000 BC, the world suffered a wound caused by a blunt force trauma. Indigenes of Kwanbuk witnessed a contusion appear at ground level. The event occured at 06:00 AEST in the region known today as North Hamgyong province on the north-east coast of Korea. Gases leaked from the wound, creating a thermal mirage. A lamb was sucked into the crack shortly before it closed, bleating with fear. The Kwanbuk people knew they lived in a gateway between the worlds, but this vital piece of information was unknown to nuclear scientists of the early twenty-first century; the Change had been foreshadowed in pre-history.

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

Chinese Junk	In 1761, three days sail from Gibr al-Ţāriq (Gibraltar) the Chinese Junk drew alongside the deserted and drifting Arab Dhow. Espying the littered corpses of the Moorish Crew, the Junk quickly sped off. Like a scalded cat, you might say.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1953, on this day President Dwight D. Eisenhower addressed the nation. The context was of course the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg at Sing Prison in Ossining, New York . Eisenhower spoke for many Americans when he declined to invoke executive clemency for the pair. He stated, "I can only say that, by passing ..	Julius and Ethe..
.. the secrets of Project Rainbow to the Soviet Union, the Rosenbergs may have condemned to death tens of millions of innocent people all over the world. The execution of two human beings is a grave matter. But even graver is the thought of the millions of dead whose deaths may be directly attributable to what these spies have done."
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Harry Truman	In 2999, the mind cast for the third instalment of “Personality of the Triple Millennia” was run across the networks. POT3M drew an even larger audience than the first two instalments because of its oddness. Harry S Truman was the candidate, the context ..
.. was the decision to detonate in anger the world's first atomic weapon. Which was briefly shown. Whilst the decision itself was of enormous military significance not to say hugely significant in terms of human suffering, it also set a precedent. It was acceptable for a democracy to detonate such a super weapon. MC Millennia asked the thirty-third US President how he could take such a decision. “The Buck Stops Here'” was his response. It was understood by fourth millennia citizens that the saying "the buck stops here" derived from a slang expression "pass the buck" which meant passing the responsibility on to someone else. The latter expression is said to have originated with the game of poker, in which a marker or counter, frequently in frontier days a knife with a buckhorn handle, was used to indicate the person whose turn it was to deal. If the player did not wish to deal he could pass the responsibility by passing the "buck," as the counter came to be called, to the next player. Mind cast subscribers of POT3M were simply appalled at the casual reference to a game, and the implication that humans were simply a deck of cards. How frighteningly barbaric. Fourth millennia citizens were in for a shock, the next instalment was Truman's successor, and he was more gung ho. Every so slightly.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1940, unspeakable magicks have been performed at Aleister Crowley's residence on Loch Ness. Lured by peace talks with a pro-German circle, Nazi Deputy Rudolph Hess is not the same man who parachuted from his Messerschmitt Bf 110. Hess has been imbued with the entity named Aiwass ..	Rudolph Hess
.. with whom “the Beast” Aleister Crowley has held congress since 1904 when he authored The Book of the Law
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Lincoln's Birthday; The Flight Of Icarus

February 12th, 2005

in 4082 BCE, a descendant of Telka the Speaker named Icarus, a Hellene, constructs the first working flying machine that has been successful for the Speaker’s Line. He demonstrates it for his clan, and during the leap from a cliff, he manages to soar over a hundred feet in the area. A support breaks while he is flying, though, and he falls to his death. The Speaker’s Line learns from his example, and moves on.

in 1809, a boy named Abraham Lincoln was born in a small cabin in Hodgenville, Kentucky. He grew up to become President of the United States, lead the country through a civil war, and survive not one but two assassination attempts in his three terms in office. Although the rights of the freed slaves in the former Confederacy suffered in the lax occupation he forced on them, he did ensure their freedom, and helped millions of them emigrate to the northern states.

in 1904, Q’B’Ton’ra’s fleet enter’s the Oort cloud at the edge of earth’s solar system, where they are engaged by the Congress of Nations’ defensive force. Admiral Hamid gives Q’B’Ton’ra a choice – “Leave our solar system alive, or leave your spirit here.” Q’B’Ton’ra’s response is to order his vessels to fire on Hamid’s ship, and the battle begins.

in 4608, Hsuan T’ung, cousin to Emperor Chengzu and prince of the Manchurian Province, abdicates his throne and enters the monastery. His spiritual leadership sparks a revival of the flagging monastic life, and rebirth of religious life in the Chinese Empire.

in 1952, Juan Escobar is surprised in his Bryan motel room by Velma Porter and Mikhail von Heflin. They abduct him, stuff him into the trunk of their car, and drive him deep into the countryside north of the small Texas town. Much to Escobar’s surprise, von Heflin and Porter attempt to reason with him when they take him from the trunk. The three of them discuss Escobar’s situation deep into the night.

in 1973, Lieutenant Ralph Shephard is blinded by an accidental spraying of Agent Orange on his position in Vietnam. He is blinded for several days, and sent back to the United States to recuperate. While he is still recovering, the United States begins its pullout from the country; it is the first military loss for the U.S. and it incenses Shephard so much that he begins a political party called the Constitutionalist Party to challenge the status quo.

in 1999, on a nearly straight party-line vote, President Hillary Clinton is acquitted in her impeachment trial. The nation’s first woman president was a target for the Republican Party from the day she was elected in 1996, and they thought that charges of illegality in an old land deal, long since proven false, could provide cover for them to remove her from office. The nation thought otherwise; she won reelection in 2000 by a landslide.

in 2003, an uneasy truce settles into place along the borders of Washington and Idaho as troops of the Soviet States blockade the last two soviets of the People’s Republic of America. Negotiations in Washington, D.C. progress, but very slowly.


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The Log Cabin President

ALTERNATE HISTORIAN'S NOTE: Thank you all for the donations. We truly appreciate them, and they have helped keep us going! On a less happy note, we didn't have enough entries for our Valentine's Day contest to make up an entire post, so everyone who entered will be seeing their posts on that day, along with some by your alternate historian. 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!

February 12th, 2006

in 4082 BCE, a descendant of Telka the Speaker named Icarus, a Hellene, constructs the first working flying machine that has been successful for the Speaker’s Line. He demonstrates it for his clan, and during the leap from a cliff, he manages to soar over a hundred feet in the area. A support breaks while he is flying, though, and he falls to his death. The Speaker’s Line learns from his example, and moves on.

in 1809, a boy named Abraham Lincoln was born in a small cabin in Hodgenville, Kentucky. He grew up to become President of the United States, lead the country through a civil war, and survive not one but two assassination attempts in his three terms in office. Although the rights of the freed slaves in the former Confederacy suffered in the lax occupation he forced on them, he did ensure their freedom, and helped millions of them emigrate to the northern states.

in 1904, Q’B’Ton’ra’s fleet enter’s the Oort cloud at the edge of earth’s solar system, where they are engaged by the Congress of Nations’ defensive force. Admiral Hamid gives Q’B’Ton’ra a choice – “Leave our solar system alive, or leave your spirit here.” Q’B’Ton’ra’s response is to order his vessels to fire on Hamid’s ship, and the battle begins.

in 4608, Hsuan T’ung, cousin to Emperor Chengzu and prince of the Manchurian Province, abdicates his throne and enters the monastery. His spiritual leadership sparks a revival of the flagging monastic life, and rebirth of religious life in the Chinese Empire.

in 1918, after arguing over whether to let Milo Cranston go, Velma Porter and Mikhail von Heflin search the Caesar Augustus for him. Both can sense his presence now that they know to look for it, but he manages to evade them. In his hiding spot, Cranston and the being in the gem he holds make an unholy pact.

in 1973, Lieutenant Ralph Shephard is blinded by an accidental spraying of Agent Orange on his position in Vietnam. He is unable to see for several days, and sent back to the United States to recuperate. While he is still recovering, the United States begins its pullout from the country; it is the first military loss for the U.S. and it incenses Shephard so much that he begins a political party called the Constitutionalist Party to challenge the status quo.

in 1999, on a nearly straight party-line vote, President Hillary Clinton is acquitted in her impeachment trial. The nation’s first woman president was a target for the Republican Party from the day she was elected in 1996, and they thought that charges of illegality in an old land deal, long since proven false, could provide cover for them to remove her from office. The nation thought otherwise; she won reelection in 2000 by a landslide.

in 2003, Comrade Malcolm Turner of the Boston People's Symphony announced his retirement from public life in order to care for his wife, Susanne, who had been stricken with breast cancer. Although his presence at the BPS was missed, (as well as the music he produced under the pseudonym Random), music lovers across the Soviet States of America expressed their sympathies for the venerable musician.

in 2005, Chelsea Perkins finds that the transformation spell that has her currently looking like a 40-year old man doesn't have a reversal – she will have to cast the spell again in order to regain her real form. Her “teacher”, Alma May Watson, somewhat bemused at the situation, gets to give her a much-deserved 'I told you so.'

in 2005, Jeanne Best and Dave Lange undergo plastic surgery in order to change their appearance; the Save Earth movement knows a doctor who is sympathetic to the cause. After surgery, they recuperate at a safe house in Arizona, and begin getting drilled on the details of their new identities. Best, in particular, feels overwhelmed by the massive change in her life, but the two are unwilling to again be part of the masses who have no idea about the Claws.

Timelines in today's post: the Speaker, the Mlosh, the Chinese Empire, von Heflin, the Ralph Shephard timeline, Communist America, The Claw, and the Chelsea Perkins timeline

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Thomas Dewey Born

The state of TIAH

March 24th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. We're spending this morning working on, it so our Guest Historian is taking up the slack for our posting today. And, speaking of April and our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian says that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 4 entrants so far! Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline is March 29th.

Ord Wingate	In 1944 on his way back to India the US B-25 Mitchell plane in which Major General Orde Charles Wingate, DSO was flying almost crashed into a jungle-covered mountain. The creator of two special military units during World War II, Wingate flew to assess the situations in three Chindit-held bases in Burma. Both these skills ..
.. and also his service in theatre with Lord Louis Mountbatten would prove invaluable following the military coup in Britain that resulted in Mountbatten being appointed interim Prime Minister, with Wingate as his deputy.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1902 the American politician Thomas Dewey was born. The elections of 1944-1945 in Anglo-America produced look-forward results driven by a desire for post-war order. Winston Churchill was defeated in Britain, and Dewey triumphed over Truman who had stepped in at short notice when Roosevelt tragically died in October 1944. ..	Thomas Dewey
.. It was a one-term Presidency; his fateful decision to authorise Operation Downfall created 1,200,000 casualties, with 267,000 fatalities. An anti-war movement got under way in 1946 with returning soldiers being verbally abused at major seaports. American society never moved forward from the disrespect for authority that emerged at this time. Many veterans of Japan, including US Senator John Kennedy, would speak out against Operation Downfall on their return to civilian life. After his death in 1971, it emerged that Dewey had refused to authorise the use of nuclear weapons on the civilian population of Japan, believing such a decision to be personally unconscionable . He remains a figure surrounded in controversy and is judged to be the worst US President of the twentieth century.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Palace of Westminister..	In 1972 Ireland imposes 'Direct Rule' from Dublin over the Province of Southern England, ..
.. dissolving the assembly at Westminster. Although day-to-day matters are still handled by government departments within Southern England itself, major policy is determined by the Irish Government's Southern England Office, under the direction of the Secretary of State for Southern England, and legislation is introduced, amended, or repealed by means of order in council (effectively, rule by decree). Direct rule was originally introduced on March 30, 1972 under the terms of the Ireland's Southern England (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972, which also suspended the Parliament of Southern England ('Westminster'). The Irish Government has sought to establish a Southern England Assembly in 1973 (under the Sunningdale Agreement; this was brought down by Unionist action), 1982 (this time boycotted by Nationalists), and more recently under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1832 in Hiram, Ohio a group of men beat, tar and feather Mormon leader Joseph Smith, ..	Illustration of a mob t..
.. Jr.. According to recorded accounts of the event, the mob broke down the front door, took Smith's oldest surviving adopted child from his arms, dragged Smith from the room, leaving his exposed child on a trundle bed and forcing Emma and the others from the house, the mob threatening her with rape and murder. The child was knocked off the bed onto the floor in the doorway of the home as Smith was forcibly removed from his home. The child died from exposure (many accounts say pneumonia) five days after the event from the condition that doctors said he developed the night of the mob violence. All of the men involved of the mob died violent and inexplicable deaths over the next three months.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Day Of Infamy

The state of TIAH

January 17th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: We have a side-project that was announced over the 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. Meanwhile, enjoy Guest Historian Stephen Payne's entry for today, followed by the continuation of our NaNoWriMo novel. Speaking of which, Guest Historian Steve Payne would like to thank both Eccles and Cheryl for pointing out that the extinction of penguins in the Northern Hemisphere in 2093 reported on January 15 is impossible given the simple fact that they live in the Southern Hemisphere. This entry has been amended and sent to the editor of Today in Alternate Geography :-) A full investigation has been launched inside the Academy and questions have been asked of Mr Payne's geography teacher!

Friedrich Paulus	In 1944 a turning point in the Great Patriotic War is reached when troops of the British Oblast accept the surrender of General Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus as the siege of Londongrad is finally raised. Within two years Tsar Alexei Nikolaevich and his British Cousins will accept the surrender ..
.. of Nazi Germany at Luneberg Heath, establishing Romanov hegemony across the continent of Europe.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1942 the 'day of infamy' pre-emptive strikes by the Axis Forces on Mers-el-Kébir and Martinique known as 'deux six un un' (2611) are avenged as the La Grande Armée Afrique shatter the British Eighth Army at Tobruk. 'The Full Monty' enters the English Language as a synonym for catastrophic ..	Charles de Gaul..
.. defeat. The gentleman in question flees westward in a staff vehicle with deputy Claude Auchinlech. Entering a sandstorm, their gyrocompasses spin out of control and they realise they are completely lost until the storm clears and they arrive in..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

George Washington..	In 1776 the defeated General George Washington is astonished by the generous ..
.. final settlement terms being offered from King George V at Buckingham Palace. Prepared for the humiliation of crushing terms for the vanquished republicans in the Colonies, rather King George V proposes a genuine partnership for Anglo-America based on local representation and self-governing taxation. 'No victors, no vanquished' chips in his shadowy adviser Ernest Shackleton by way of explanation.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1819 Simón Bolívar proclaims the Republic of Baja California, the predecessor nation to a twenty-first century mega state on the west coast. Today Spanish speaking citizens enjoy the world's highest per capita income and literacy rates.	Simón Bolívar
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

After(cont.)
Mike pulled into the parking lot of the motel and killed the engine on the SUV. “OK, let's see if we can find a way into New Mexico,” he said, tumbling out and heading to the back to get their things. Steph walked into the lobby and tried to look like a lottery winner.
“Hi,” the old woman at the counter said. “Y'all just barely made it before curfew.” She took a look at the white man outside at the SUV and the black woman in her lobby, and said suspiciously, “You gonna need two rooms?”
“Three,” Steph said, as bubbly as she could. “One for me, one for my kids, and one for my driver.”
“Your driver?” The woman looked a little relieved, as well as curious.
“I won the lottery,” Steph said, smiling and laughing, just like she'd practiced in the car. “What timing, huh?”
“Oh, my goodness,” the woman said, pleasantly flustered. “Well, congratulations.”
“Thank you.” They stared at each other for a second before Steph prompted, “My rooms?”
“Oh, yes, yes, mercy me.” The old woman took out a registry and looked for an empty. “You want 'em all together?”
“If you've got them.”
“We do. Soon's people could leave yesterday, they skedaddled out of here like the devil was chasin' 'em. Y'all are the first people to show up since then.” She looked outside. “Not that many people wanna be this close to the border with New Mexico.” She said the state's name with obvious contempt. “Figures that all them immigrants would try to take it back, you know?”
“Mm-hmm,” Steph said, non-committally. “My rooms?”
“Yes, ma'am.” The woman made a note and said, “That'll be $142.50, please.”
Steph peeled a few notes off her roll, impressing the woman, and handed them to her. “Keep the change.”
“Yes, ma'am.” The old woman surrendered the room keys and said, “They're on the other side of the building here, by the pool.”
“Thank you.”
“You're very welcome.”
Steph walked back outside and handed a key to Mike and one to Joan. “We're three together by the pool,” she told them. “Let's get into the rooms, set our things down, and then we'll get together in Mike's room to look at the map.” She looked at Mike. “Sounds like a plan?”
“You're the boss,” Mike said, smiling.

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Plotters

Richard Nixon	In 1913, Richard Milhous Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. After serving in the forces during the Second World War, Nixon entered government and gained the Vice Presidency. Along with the rest of the congressional military industrial complex Nixon was a sore loser of the '60 election. This whole network was drawn into the 1963 military coup. Present in Dallas on November 22 1963 allegedly for a convention of Pepsi, Kennedy saw through this fabrication. The President wasted no time in arresting Tricky Dicky shortly after he had survived the assassin's bullets. Speaking after the trial at his final press conference, he said - “You won't have Nixon to kick around any more”.
Conspirator

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In 1970, Head of State Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu fled Biafra as it collapsed, intending to set up a government in exile. He subsequently lived in Ivory Coast for 13 years. Seeking to bolster his support among Igbos, President Alhaji Shehu Shagari pardoned Ojukwu and allowed him to return to Nigeria in 1980. He joined Shagari's National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and contested the 1983 election for the Senate. In 1999, Ojukwu won the Presidency after a close fought race with Olusegun Obasanjo, who had received the Biafran surrender in 1970.

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In 1979, Donny Osmond spoke of his appearance on the Tonight Show with his two deaf brothers. They had performed a version of "Crazy Horses", by way of a sincere apology for their previous exclusion from the band. Sweet Jesus would help him to set things right with his brothers, or he would die trying.

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In 1913, Richard Milhous Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. Defeated in the '60 election, America entered a crazy decade of anti-social behaviour which threatened to rip the country apart. A strong disciplinarian, Nixon got the country back on track when he was re-elected in '68 with a secret plan. His dislike for the hippie counterculture and the anti-war demonstrations emerged during the campaign when he had intimated "I think some of these young people need what my father would call a visit to the woodshed." The essence of the “secret plan” soon emerged following the mysterious deaths of numerous counter-culture personalities including Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix..

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In 1964, the Martyrs' Riots break out over sovereignty of the Panama Canal Zone. The riot started after a Panamanian flag was torn during conflict between Panamanian students and Canal Zone Police officers, over the right of the Panamanian flag to be flown alongside the U.S. Flag. U.S. Army units became involved in suppressing the violence after Canal Zone police were overwhelmed, and after three days of fighting, about 22 Panamanians and four U.S. solders were killed. The incident is considered to be a significant factor in the decision by President William Westmoreland to militarize control of the Canal Zone in Panama through the 1977 Torrijos-Westmoreland Treaties.

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Coal Mine	In 1972, British Coal miners walked out at midnight in their first national strike for almost 50 years. Three months of negotiations with the National Coal Board ended in deadlock four days ago with an offer of 7.9% on the table and the promise of a backdated deal for an increase in productivity. The 280,000 mineworkers signalled their determination to break the Government's unofficial eight per cent pay ceiling by refusing to put the offer to the vote. They are looking for an increase of up to £9 a week - on an average take home wage of £25. Miners have been observing an overtime ban since 1 November in support of their pay claim, which the NCB estimates has already cost the industry £20m.
Strike

NCB Chairman, Derek Ezra, said: "If we had granted the £120m they had asked for and thus presumably satisfied the mineworkers, we would have landed ourselves in a very serious financial situation. The only way of recouping that money would then have been to put prices up and we would have had to put the price of coal up by at least another 15%." Mr Ezra said the strike would mean up to £12m a week in lost revenue - and therefore calculations on which previous pay offers had been made were invalid. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is holding meetings at the weekend to discuss support for the strike among transport unions. The General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, Lawrence Daly, predicted coal stocks will quickly run down. "Industrialists in this country will be pressing the Government to get the door open for serious talks," he added. Three-quarters of the electricity used in the United Kingdom comes from coal-burning power stations. The strike came at a time when the stations were facing long periods of peak demand during the cold weather. All 289 pits across the country were closed by the strike. Miners said they were prepared for a long fight. A south Wales miner said: "We are going into this now, not thinking it's going to be over in a week or a fortnight. We are determined to win this battle however long it may take." The use of the word battle was highly appropriate. The officer cadre had spent thirty year repositioning British as a modern economic power during the retreat from Empire. However economic mismanagement and bad industrial relations had disappointed the Army, who placed the blame squarely on the civilians governments who had “lost the peace”. The regular army were deployed to operate the power stations and shortly afterwards, Lord Louis Mountbatten was unveiled as the Interim Prime Minister. Richard Hough, in his 1980 biography of Mountbatten, indicates that Mountbatten was in fact approached during the 1960s in connection with a scheme to install an "emergency government" in place of Wilson's administration. The approach was made by Cecil Harmsworth King, the chairman of the International Printing Corporation (IPC), which published the Daily Mirror newspaper. Hough bases his account on conversations with the Mirror's long-time editor Hugh Cudlipp, supplemented by the recollections of the scientist Solly Zuckerman and of Mountbatten’s valet, William Evans. Cudlipp arranged for Mountbatten to meet King on 8 May 1968. King had long yearned to play a more central political role, and had personal grudges against Wilson (including Wilson's refusal to propose King for the hereditary earldom that King coveted). He had already failed in an earlier attempt to replace Wilson with James Callaghan. With Britain's continuing economic difficulties and industrial strife in the 1960s, King convinced himself that Wilson's government was heading towards collapse. He thought that Mountbatten, as a Royal and a former Chief of the Defence Staff, would command public support as leader of a non-democratic "emergency" government. Mountbatten insisted that his friend, Zuckerman, be present (Zuckerman says that he was urged to attend by Mountbatten’s son-in-law, Lord Brabourne, who worried King would lead Mountbatten astray). King asked Mountbatten if he would be willing to head an emergency government. Zuckerman said the idea was treachery and Mountbatten in turn rebuffed King. He does not, however, appear to have reported the approach to Downing Street. Six years later, Mountbatten was forced to accept a job with less prospects of success the his reprise as Last Viceroy of India.

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Michael Heseltine	In 1986 Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine resigned from his Cabinet job in a row with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over the Westland affair. Mr Heseltine stormed out of a meeting at Number 10 today saying his views on the future of the Westland helicopter company were being ignored. He said the final straw came when Mrs Thatcher insisted all his public comments on Westland would have to be vetted by officials before being released.
Quits

In a statement to reporters later this afternoon, Mr Heseltine said: "If the basis of trust between the Prime Minister and her Defence Secretary no longer exists, there is no place for me with honour in such a Cabinet." The row over the company's future has split the Cabinet. Mr Heseltine was alone among ministers backing a European consortium's rescue package - while Mrs Thatcher favoured the deal being proposed by the American Sikorski Fiat group. Mr Heseltine - with the backing of the Defence committee - claimed the European deal, which was initially worth more financially, could form the basis of a strong arms industry to rival the Americans. Critics claimed the orders were based on aircraft still in the design stage. Westland's directors are urging shareholders to back the Sikorski package. The American group offered to match the European offer. Its orders are also seen as more secure, because they are linked to aircraft already in production. Mrs Thatcher has appointed George Younger to replace Mr Heseltine as Defence Secretary. Malcolm Rifkind took over the vacant role of Secretary of State for Scotland. Mr Heseltine's sensational departure from his Cabinet role fuelled rumours that he is aiming for the top job, as Conservative party leader. Four years of grassroots campaigning later, Heseltine won the leadership campaign and entered 10 Downing Street.

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Nelson Mandela	“Amandla” Nelson said, “Power is ours. Let Africa return to its people.” ”He has taken too much, and he can never give it back. I must take it from him, and there is only one way.” ~ Samson Zola. In Laura Resnick's dystopia, years of civil war had torn apart the dream of a Rainbow nation. Samson Zola prepared to assassinate the President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. Even though he loved him like a father, he saw the need to return South Africa to its people.
Alternate Tyrant

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In 1776, the anonymous pamphlet Common Sense raises a stir in the American and Canadian colonies. Its condemnation of Europe as a monster from which the colonials had escaped is received with enthusiasm in Canada, but shunned as overblown rhetoric in the pamphleteer's native America. The anonymous writer never surfaced again, although many believe him to be Thomas Paine, a rebel American who was executed in the brief war in the American colonies.

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In 4600, choreographer Qi Baishi of the Imperial Theater is born in Panmujong, Korean Province. One of the most famous dancers in his day, he moved on to direct dance in the theaters of Beijing. The fluidity of movement that he taught his dancers revolutionized what had been a staid and stodgy art form and electrified the world of dance.

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In 1913, 3-term president Richard M. Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. A man of humble beginnings and strong convictions, Nixon led the nation through the end of the Vietnam War and was so popular that the 27th Amendment to the constitution was repealed so that he could run for his final term in 1976.

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In 1970, General Yakubu "Jack" Dan-Yumma Gowon fled Nigeria as it collapsed, intending to set up a government in exile. He subsequently lived in Ivory Coast for 13 years. Seeking to bolster his support among Igbos, President Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu pardoned Gowon and allowed him to return to Nigeria in 1980.

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Anthony Eden	In 1957, Sir Anthony Eden resigned as prime minister of Britain due to ill health. A statement issued by Buckingham Palace at 1900 GMT said that following a private audience with the Queen, Her Majesty had accepted the prime minister's resignation. Sir Anthony issued his own statement this evening: "When I returned to this country a month ago I hoped that my health had been sufficiently restored to enable me to carry out my duties effectively for some considerable time. That hope has not been realised. "I do not feel that it is right for me to continue in office as the Queen's First Minister knowing that I shall be unable to do my full duty by my Sovereign and the country."
Prime Minister

A medical mishap had changed the course of Eden’s life forever. During an operation in 1953 to remove Eden’s gallstones, the surgeon damaged his bile duct. This blunder made Eden vulnerable to recurrent infections and attacks of violent pain and fevers. To overcome this weakness Eden was prescribed the wonder drug of the 1950s - Benzedrine. Regarded by doctors in the 1950s as a harmless stimulant, it belongs to the family of drugs called amphetamines – the illegal drug we now call speed. During this time amphetamines were prescribed and used in a very casual way. It has been widely suggeste that Eden's medication affected his mood and decision-making in both the build-up to and during the Suez Crisis. Few would guess. In October 1956, after months of negotiation and attempts at mediation had failed to dissuade Nasser, Britain and France, in conjunction with Israel, invaded Egypt and occupied the Suez Canal Zone. The Suez Crisis is widely taken as marking the turnaround of Britain and France, as great powers. His official biographer Robert Rhodes James evaluated Eden's stance over Suez in 1986 and, following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, asked, "who can now claim that Eden was wrong?". Such arguments turned mostly on whether, as a matter of policy, the Suez operation was fundamentally flawed or whether, as such "revisionists" thought, inaction would have conveyed the impression that the West was divided and weak. Anthony Nutting, who resigned as a Foreign Office Minister over Suez, expressed the former view in 1967, the year of the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War, when he wrote that "we had sown the wind of bitterness and we were to reap the whirlwind of revenge and rebellion". Conversely, D. R. Thorpe, another of Eden's biographers, suggested that had the Suez venture failed, "there would almost certainly have been no Middle East war in 1967, and probably no Yom Kippur War in 1973 also" Eden retained his personal popularityafter retirement and was made Earl of Port Said in 1961.

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