Showdowns

In 1995, historian Richard M. Langworth described the early phases of World War III. Operation Overlord was modified to invade a very different Occuped Europe than that original envisaged. Halifax's carthaginian peace in May 1940 created a power vacuum, such that Stalin's conquest of Europe did not stop at Berlin. Consequently the Allies beach head was the first step on the long road to Moscow. “Without the logistical support of Stay Behind Organisations” said Langworth, "it is improbable that Overlord would have been a success". This reference to the Nazi Werwolf group run by Otto Skorzeny and Operation Glaudio in Italy is bound to create deep embarrassment in European Democracies. Complicity with defeated Fascist nations was hinted at in the banned movie Dr Strangelove: How I learned to stop worrying and love the Nazis, and was considered a no-no for many years.

.

In 2007, Los Angeles Police Department charged African American actress Halle Berry with racial incitement. Whilst on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Berry had been shown a picture of herself with a distorted, large nose. She had remarked “I look like my Jewish cousin”, to which Leno had replied, “I'm glad you said that and not me, that's ten years in County”.

When the show aired, they cut out her 'Jewish' comment and added a laugh track to the bit."

The actress later apologised for her remarks, insisting she didn't mean any offence. She said: "I so didn't mean to offend anybody - and after the show I realised it could be seen as offensive, so I asked Jay to take it out, and he did.

"I was backstage before the show and I have three girls who are Jewish who work for me. We were going through pictures to see which ones looked silly, and one of my Jewish friends said of the big-nose picture, 'That could be your Jewish cousin!' And I guess it was fresh in my mind, and it just came out of my mouth. But I didn't mean to offend anybody. I didn't. I didn't mean any harm."

LAPD have confirmed that these remarks in no way protect Berry from a violation of racial incitement law, and are determined to maintain their “zero tolerance“ policy.

.

In 1976, Mrs Baylock instructed Jeremy Thorn "Go to the city of Meggido, there see the Old Man Bugenhagen. Only he can describe how the child must die". "See Bugenhagen before its too late!" repeated Mrs Baylock with great urgency. She need not have worried, Thorn was by now a man with a purpose.	Hallowe'en Story

In 2007, on this day the new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called an early election. He sought a fresh mandate for change, aiming to capitalise on the improved opinion polls since his arrival at 10, Downing Street.
Gordon Brown	The campaign anthem was appropriate - “We like to move it, move it”. After ten years in government, an unprecedented opportunity to change Britain had been wasted by Tony Blair. However, Blair had at last resigned in favour of Brown, and the Labour movement had a once in a century change to get it right. ~ Reel to Real's I Like to Move It, Move It - Click to Watch Sample
Move It

The exceptionally tough life experiences of Gordon Brown prepared him for the highest role in British politics. The show man Tony Blair put the plan on hold for ten years. In his defence, Blair had the charisma of an international statement, that perhaps Brown did not. However, it was widely recognised that it was time for Britain to focus on matters close to home and stop causing trouble on the world stage.

In 2008, at the head office of the restaurant chain Wanda's of Montreal a disgruntled employee, a database administrator issued a rogue instruction to the corporate database: UPDATE COMMENTS SET NICE_COMMENT = 'Y' WHERE ABUSIVE_COMMENT='Y' AND UPPER(THE_COMMENT) CONTAINS 'THUX%';

Glaudio	In 1990, Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti revealed to the Italian parliament the existence of Gladio, the Italian "stay-behind" clandestine paramilitary NATO army, intended to counter a Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe. What was not intended was they would act as a secret army taking every opportunity to undermine left-wing politicians, making their own interpretation of the motto “Silently, I serve freedom”. Andreotti himself was more coy about the a batch of letters he had received in 1978.
"As the conspiracy theorists would have it, [Italian Prime Minister] Mr. [Aldo] Moro was allowed to be killed either with the acquiescence of people high in Italy’s political establishment, or at their instigation, because of the historic compromise he had made with the Communist Party" (The Independent, November 16, 1990, quoted by Statewatch). "During his captivity, Aldo Moro wrote several letters to various political figures, including Giulio Andreotti. In October 1990, "a cache of previously unknown letters written by the former Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, just prior to his execution by Red Brigade terrorists in 1978... was discovered in a Milan apartment which had once been used as a Red Brigade hideout. One of those letters made reference to the involvement of both NATO and the CIA in an Italian-based secret service, 'parallel' army", wrote The Irish Times on November 15, 1990 (quoted by Statewatch).

In 1960, an R-16 ballistic missile exploded on the launch pad at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, killing 165. Among the living is Field Marshall Mitrofan Nedelin, who left the pad shortly before ignition for a cigarette break and was to play a decisive role in the Turkish Missiles Crisis just two years later.	Nedelin Disaster

Kennedy	In 2999, the mind cast for the next instalment of “Personality of the Triple Millennia” was re-run across the networks. POT3M drew an even larger audience because of its oddness. John F Kennedy was the candidate, the context was the Cuban Missiles and the moment was seconds after US Air Chief Marshall Curtis LeMay had proclaimed a military government. Kennedy asked MC Millennia if remembered where they were the day LeMay tried to kill them?

In 1998, on this day the spacecraft Deep Space 1 was launched on top of a Delta II rocket. As part of NASA's New Millennium program, the primary goal was the testing of twelve advanced technologies that have the potential to lower the cost and risk of future missions. Deep Space 1 succeeded in its tasks and also achieved its secondary goals: flybys of the asteroid Braille and of Comet Borrelly. Passing the comet passage intact, Deep Space 1 was able to return valuable science data and stunning pictures of the discovery of life on the comet. Gregory Benford's journal The Heart of the Comet recounts how mission parameters were changed because of fear of contamination from the borrellyform life and attempts to destroy the comet and those living upon it.	Deep Space 1

King Charles' Reconciliation With The Huguenots

The state of TIAH

August 24th, 2006

in 1572, King Charles IX of France rejects the counsel of his mother and instead issues a decree granting the Protestant Huguenot community of the country full rights of citizenship. This enrages many Catholic leaders, as well as the Pope in Rome, who had wanted France to crack down hard on the Protestants in their midst. Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, and influential Huguenot who was friendly wit the king, advised Charles to place a reign on Catherine, his mother, lest she instigate violence against the Huguenots herself. This was well-placed advice, because Catherine de Medici had been planning a massacre of Huguenot leaders. Shocked at the scope of her plan, King Charles placed Catherine under house arrest, and de Coligny became his chief advisor. With a Protestant by his side, Charles was able to forge a lasting peace and alliance with England, and the two nations together fended off attacks from the Catholic Church against their sovereignty. At one point during his reign, when the Pope threatened to excommunicate Charles, the king said, “Let the pope do as he will. I will convert to the Church of England.” This made the pope back off, and without the power of excommunication, the church's hold over France withered. The rest of Europe also saw a loosening of the church's grip as the Protestant movement gathered strength. Over the next century, even such Catholic stalwarts as Spain and Italy enjoyed a liberalization of religion in their nations, and a flowering of tolerance took hold of Christendom.

in 2017, the Pokor and the Eagle saw the great gas giant of Amandara in their viewscreens, and a cheer erupted from the crews. Captain Mawrao ordered the helm to take the ship to Amandara 14, then turned to Commander Patterson. “I guess this is goodbye for us, then. I will be very sad to see you go.” Commander Patterson smiled and placed a hand on one of Mawrao's three arms. “Mawrao, I can honestly say that you are my favorite alien. Before we part ways, what do you say we break out some of that fungus juice you guys drink and have a party?” Mawrao replied, “Now, you talking!” The captain gave all non-essential personnel leave and ordered them to “Party up with our earth friends one last time.” The crews of the two ships were decidedly the worse for the wear when they reached orbit around Amandara 14, and there were many tearful hugs before the Eagle launched out of the Pokor's cargo bay. As Commander Patterson piloted her own ship away from the gas giant, she looked at the huge world in the viewscreen and a tear ran down her face. “Najib, you figure that thing out,” she said, jerking a thumb back at the jump device, “because I want to retire here.” Kasem, who had just finished putting in the coordinates for earth, said, “Aye, aye, Commander.” Patterson ordered the crew to prepare for the jump, and the blinding white flash brought the Eagle home.

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Rome Burns

The state of TIAH

July 18th, 2006

in 817 AUC, members of the cult of Christos set fire to a shop in the market area of Rome. The shopkeep had whipped his daughter for joining the Christians, and the cultists wanted revenge against him. Unfortunately, the fire soon spread throughout the entire market, and from there, to the city at large. Hundreds of Romans died and thousands were injured as most of the city was reduced to ashes. When Emperor Nero returned from Antium to survey the damage, the shopkeep, who had escaped the fire by the will of the gods, told the emperor who had set the fire and why. Nero set aside traditional Roman tolerance for other religions and declared the Christians an outlaw cult, and forbade its practice within the borders of Rome. Within a generation, there were no Christians left, but Rome was rebuilt even more magnificently than before.

in 1925, a young Austrian Fascist rabble-rouser by the name of Adolf Hitler published a manifesto of his cause, arrogantly titled Mein Kampf, or My Struggle. The rambling, virtually incoherent tome rattled on for a couple of hundred pages and detailed the Austrian's insane views of the world, which included the thought that some vast conspiracy of Jews ran the world and were responsible for Germany's defeat in the Great War. Most Germans, realizing that Jewish people were a relatively powerless minority in the world, saw the book as a joke, and when Hitler's National Socialist Worker's Party failed to win a single seat in the German Parliament in the 1928 elections, he was laughed back to Austria, where he made a small living painting racist and anti-Semitic art for other lunatics.

in 1969, Senator Edward Kennedy is caught by his wife attempting to leave a party with attractive young Mary Jo Kopechne. The resulting divorce causes havoc with Kennedy’s political career, as details of his womanizing and drinking become public. Kennedy pledges to his constituents that he will reform, and after a brief period in a rehabilitation clinic, he comes out sober and focused. After winning the presidency in 1976, he entered his second marriage – also the second marriage of a President in the White House – to Victoria Reggie in 1977. He narrowly won re-election in 1980 in a hard-fought political campaign against conservative California Governor Ronald Reagan, and the triumph of his liberal programs over the Republican conservative movement caused the GOP to abandon many of the right-leaning ideals that had been dominant in the party since Goldwater's ascendancy in 1964. The newly moderate Republicans then wrested the presidency for themselves with candidate John Anderson of Illinois in 1984. President Anderson continued most of Kennedy's programs, and conservatism, which had once been a thriving movement in American politics, seemed relegated to the dustbin of history.

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The Destruction Of Babylon

June 16th, 2005

in the 43rd year of Hammurabi’s reign, Babylonia was destroyed and the great Priest-King himself was killed when the Hittites took the country. The great laws of the king were shattered, never to be seen again.

in 1776, Tlamsita, Ml’Astra’s First Chancellor, begins her campaign to establish a meeting place for representatives of all governments on the planet. Mlosh-friendly populations in North America, Asia and southern Africa are all receptive to her invitation, but the old guard countries in Europe, north Africa and South America resist. Tlamsita dies before seeing the culmination of her dreams, the Congress of Nations, established in 1864.

in 4582, the first female Star Sailor, Yueh Chan Juan, achieves orbit over the earth. She would also become the first woman on the moon 19 years later, as Imperial Administrator of the colony there.

in 1934, uranium is smuggled into Germany by Nazi time-travelers even as the Greater Zionist Resistance is battering at its borders. Plans for nuclear weaponry follow in short order, but Zionist sympathizers among the German scientists funnel them to the GZR. There will soon be a mushroom cloud over Berlin.

in 1959, George Reeves, an actor best-known as Superman up to that point, attempted suicide. Rushed to hospital, he was saved from a nearly-fatal gunshot wound, and began a slow recovery, both mental and physical. This produced such a profound change on him that he left acting to become a minister to the poor in Los Angeles.

in 1976, students in Soweto, South Africa, begin a rebellion that topples the white government in 4 months time. The nation formerly known for its racism becomes a shining beacon of tolerance as the newly-freed leader of the nation, Nelson Mandela, embraces his former captors.

in 1978, the film adaptation of the Broadway hit Grease, premieres in New York City. Reprising their stage roles, Jeff Conaway as Danny Zuko and John Travolta as Kenickie turn the show into the top-grossing movie musical of all time. Conaway’s film career takes off, with dozens of star turns. Travolta, who had seemed promising in the TV series Welcome Back Kotter and the movie Saturday Night Fever, fades into obscurity, his career ending in the science fiction series Babylon 5.

in 2004, disgusted with the “Heaven” created by the Horus Project, Jason Grzechy leaves the Adams’ to their reunion and begins talking up the other Smartnet personnel who have been backed up into the system. With their assistance, he is able to construct a hack that gives him a view of his body. It is apparently scheduled for disposal the next day, along with Marjorie Adams’. With the help of an Irish admin, Fionna O’Sullivan, Grzechy devises a plan to get out; but to do so, Marjorie must leave David behind.


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Babylonia Destroyed; Woman In Space

June 16th, 2004

in the 43rd year of Hammurabi’s reign, Babylonia was destroyed and the great Priest-King himself was killed when the Hittites took the country. The great laws of the king were shattered, never to be seen again.

in 1776, Tlamsita, Ml’Astra’s First Chancellor, begins her campaign to establish a meeting place for representatives of all governments on the planet. Mlosh-friendly populations in North America, Asia and southern Africa are all receptive to her invitation, but the old guard countries in Europe, north Africa and South America resist. Tlamsita dies before seeing the culmination of her dreams, the Congress of Nations, established in 1864.

in 4582, the first female Star Sailor, Yueh Chan Juan, achieves orbit over the earth. She would also become the first woman on the moon 19 years later, as Imperial Administrator of the colony there.

in 1934, uranium is smuggled into Germany by Nazi time-travelers even as the Greater Zionist Resistance is battering at its borders. Plans for nuclear weaponry follow in short order, but Zionist sympathizers among the German scientists funnel them to the GZR. There will soon be a mushroom cloud over Berlin.

in 1959, George Reeves, an actor best-known as Superman up to that point, attempted suicide. Rushed to hospital, he was saved from a nearly-fatal gunshot wound, and began a slow recovery, both mental and physical. This produced such a profound change on him that he left acting to become a minister to the poor in Los Angeles.

in 1976, students in Soweto, South Africa, begin a rebellion that topples the white government in 4 months time. The nation formerly known for its racism becomes a shining beacon of tolerance as the newly-freed leader of the nation, Nelson Mandela, embraces his former captors.

in 1978, the film adaptation of the Broadway hit Grease, premieres in New York City. Reprising their stage roles, Jeff Conaway as Danny Zuko and John Travolta as Kenickie turn the show into the top-grossing movie musical of all time. Conaway’s film career takes off, with dozens of star turns. Travolta, who had seemed promising in the TV series Welcome Back Kotter and the movie Saturday Night Fever, fades into obscurity, his career ending in the science fiction series Babylon 5.

in 2003, the tension is finally broken as the first Martian ship lands in Antarctica. It returns when all contact with the international bases there is lost.

A Visit To Her Majesty's Cell

June 25th, 2007

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The Announcement

in 1999, King Arthur II paid a visit to his estranged wife, Queen Gwen, in her cell. “To what do I owe the honor?” Her sarcastic question brought a small smile to his lips, and she shrank back on her cell's cot from him. “For an agent of our enemies, you have led our country surprisingly well in the war, my queen. I was wondering about that.” She looked out the bars at Sir Lance standing a dour guard and replied, “With you safely ensconced in a hospital bed, my king, this was my country. For the first time in my life, I knew what it was to feel a sense of pride in one's nation. Our triumph had become my triumph. So close to ultimate victory, I couldn't let our warriors suddenly collapse as the Illuminati ordered. My kingdom demanded the destruction of the Central European Empire, and I obliged them.” Arthur leaned in close, his beard brushing her cheek, and whispered in her ear, “And the fact that it would make you the world's most powerful ruler was just a side benefit, eh?” She rubbed her cheek against his while locking eyes with du Lac and said, “No, that was the main motivation for me. But, in this instance, the kingdom's interests and mine coincided. I want to rule the world, and Great Britain is the tool which will allow me to do it.” She kissed him lightly on the cheek and he pulled away. “How did you break my hold on Lance, by the way? That was very impressive.” Arthur walked back to his knight's side. “Some loyalties will shine through no matter what they've been temporarily submerged by.” She nodded, an enigmatic smile on her face, and said, “That is so true.”

In 1949, a country gathering of the power elite who brokered the Carthaginian peace deal with Oswald Mosley is thrown into turmoil when the main negotiator, Rudolph Hess, is murdered, with a yellow star pinned to his chest with a dagger. The author of Mark Jo Walton deftly alternates perspective between the host's daughter, who has disgraced herself in her family's eyes by marrying a Jew, and the Police Inspector Heinrich Himmler, who quickly suspects that the killer is not a Bolshevik terrorist.

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

In 1588, King Philip of Spain confirmed that Álvaro de Bazán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz and not the less experienced Duke of Medina Sidona would after all command the Spanish Armada. Santa Cruz had been seriously ill since Francis Drake burnt the Spanish ships at Cádiz in 1587, and the King's unjustified reproach was said to have seriously affected his health. So much so, that in February of 1588 it was feared that he would die, Sidona was appointed and several ships of the Spanish Navy were named Álvaro de Bazán in his honour. When news of Santa Cruz recovery reached Plymouth, a shiver of fear ran through the English High Command.

~ entry from Co-Historian Steve Payne:

In 2315, or Change+1 day the now unmechanized world of men struggled to adapt to the Change. Electricity and pressurized gases were rendered unusable, as the basic mechanics of civilization had ceased to operate. The alteration of the human condition was so significant that a more insidious change was unnoticed for some time. Man himself had become a supernatural being, physical changes followed - the Magic Time had begun.	Change + 2 years
~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate both of the author's genius.

Mei	In 1761, in Iran (Persia), mei (the Persian wine) had been a central theme of their poetry for more than a thousand years, although alcohol was strictly forbidden in Islam.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1950, today saw the beginning of the Korean War. The impetus was twentieth century attempts to expel the European from AsiaPac as irreversible historical processes played out in the Far East. The exit of Colonial powers had created a power vacuum filled by Japan, China and the United States. The decision to detonate nuclear ..	Korean War
.. weapons in Japan had convinced China that the United States would not [in the words of Bernard Montgomery] “Send their land army to Asia”. This might have been the case had not General Douglas MacArthur won the 1952 Presidency. Having been expelled from Manilla, he had absolutely no tolerance for defeat in the Far East. As the war spread into Indochina, MacArthur continued to escalate. His restoration of Chiang Kai-shek's government in Beijing brought regional stability and secured the American century. His predecessor Harry Truman's decision to treat the conflict as a limited, proxy war was demonstrated for the folly it was, fast on the heels of his loss of China in 1948. Perversely, Truman's dismissal of MacArthur as military commander in Korea forced a decision by encouraging Brass Hat to chase for the White House. There was indeed no substitute for victory.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Little BigHorn	In 1876, a brutal massacre occurred on this day in the eastern Montana Territory. Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer defeated Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse in their Land Stand near the Little Bighorn River. In winning this armed engagement between a Lakota-Northern Cheyenne combined force and the 7th Cavalry of the ..
.. United States Army, Custer established heroic status in the US Military. Commanders such as “Black Jack” Pershing were still listening to the story with awe when their septuagenarian boss led the US Expeditionary Force to France in 1916
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1940, on this day Nazi Germany formally surrendered to the Anglo-French Union. Shortly after the visit of King George to France, Sir Winston Churchill gave a speech proposing a Federal Union between France and Britain. The proposal was accepted and on 21st May their joint forces executed the Weygand ..	Weygand Plan
.. Plan. The German armoured spearhead was pinched off by combined attacks from the north and the south, crushing von Kleist's two Panzer Corps. In a startling and unexpected result, the Union emerged from the Battle of France as the world's first superpower.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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A Heavenly Visitor In Holbrook

July 19th, 2007

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The Announcement

The reporter decided to amble back over to them, so Marvin excused himself. “Anything interesting, Mr. Lance?”
“You apparently have been an angel all your life, with the exception of the time you were dating your ex-husband.” He grinned. “But, no-one would talk to me about him.”
“Well, we all make mistakes, Mr. Lance. He was mine.”
“He helped you produce a nice daughter, though,” he said, looking back at Monica. “Seems very self-confident. And, she makes a nice pecan pie.”
“Just wait till she gets through the CIA.”
Lance's brow furrowed. “She wants to be a spy?”
“Culinary Institute of America. She wants to be a chef.”
“Oh,” Lance said, a little crestfallen.
“But, I suppose she could be a spy, too,” she said, throwing him a bone. “It'd be good cover.”
He looked over at her again and shrugged. “I suppose. It feels funny, though, that someone would still want to be something as ordinary as a cook after being so close to an event like this.”
“People are still going to need to eat.”
“Yeah, but...” Lance seemed to be struggling to express himself. She was actually a little taken with him; he was very cute when he was trying to be sincere. “I mean, watching the first contact with an alien race; being related to somebody who's involved in the planning of it, the execution of it – it'd make me want to be an astronomer.”
Her face broke into a lopsided smile. Oh, the many times that conversation had taken place. “She's a good amateur, but she doesn't really have the desire or the temperament for the job. I've long since accepted her career decision. She'll be a good chef.” She leaned over and whispered confidentially, “Especially if she makes it onto Food TV.”
“Yeah, she was pushing that with me,” he said, smiling broadly. “I don't know if my network has any real influence on who appears there, though.”
“She'll figure out a way to leverage this all into an appearance there. She's smart.”
“Takes after her mother.”
Andrea blushed a little at the compliment. “In some ways.”

In 1969, the rescue party led by Joseph Gargan (Kennedy's cousin) and party co-host Paul Markham arrived at the nightmarish scene at Poucha Pond. Mary Jo Kopechne had been drained of blood by the vampires, who had been unable to feed upon the Senator due to the high level of alcohol and narcotics in his bloodstream. Deciding to cover up the disaster as an innocent vehicular accident, Kennedy was driven to Edgartown, whilst the body of Mary Jo Kopechne was concealed in the underwater 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88. The Senator would report the accident to the Police in Edgartown. He would claim to have attempted to rescue Kopechne but been prevented by strong currents. Kennedy then would claim he had swam across the 500-foot channel, back to Edgartown to muster an “official” rescue party.

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

In 1970, the witch Jim Morrison was taken into custody. Planning to use standard “good cop, bad cop” techniques, bad cop entered the suite behind the interview room. However there was a problem that was only visible through the two-way mirror. Good cop was in a room all on his own.

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

In 2007, A. BREEG wrote ~ my cousin died on 18th June 1978, this much is known. His headstone was marked “Aici zace un om despre care nu se ştie prea mult” (“Here Lies A Man Of Whom Little Is Known.") My investigations began thirty years later when a heavy metal band called Iron Maiden released a song called "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg". Wondering if they could possibly know something about my cousin, I tried to contact their record company only to discover they knew nothing of my relative.
Reincarnation of B BREEG	Unfortunately when I did manage to speak to someone in authority, they were unable to give me a satisfactory explanation as to how my cousin's name came to be used in the title of the song. Shortly afterwards and entirely by chance I discovered that the band debuted on 14th April 1980, exactly 666 days after my Cousin's death..

Iron Maiden Artwork

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the genius of Iron Maiden's "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg".

In 2009, TV networks ran episode ten of So What If?. Churchill meant it when he said he had not become the King's First Minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire. During the Indian emergency of the late 1960s, Indira Gandhi emerged as the leader of a new and powerful nationalist movement. Clips from the TV documentary Death in the Raj presented compelling evidence of British complicity in Gandhi's assassination at the hands of two of her bodyguards Satwant Singh and Beant Singh.

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

In 1972, the dice told George Cockcroft to fake a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Not thy will, but the dice will be done.

~ variant entry by Steve Payne: use of original content has been made to celebrate the genius of the “Dice Man” novel.

Uluru	In 1927, from Uluru, known to the European as Ayers Rock soul-deeps promoted the Dreamtime subcontinent to an ultra-node in the Mesh, the global network of First Nation consciousness founded in Manna-hata, Turtle Island in 1492.
The southern lights known as the aurora australis blazed in the sky as indigenes around the globe celebrated the dawning of a new age of enhanced inter-connectivity.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1692, five women were hanged for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. Betty Parris, age 9, and her cousin Abigail Williams, age 11, the daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris, had fallen victim to what was recorded as fits "beyond the power of Epileptic Fits or natural disease to effect," according to John Hale, minister ..	Salem Witch Trials
.. in Beverly, in his book A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft (Boston, 1702). The girls screamed, threw things about the room, uttered strange sounds, crawled under furniture, and contorted themselves into peculiar positions. They complained of being pricked with pins or cut with knives, and when Reverend Samuel Parris would preach, the girls would cover their ears, as if dreading to hear the sermons. A doctor, historically assumed to be William Griggs, could find no physical evidence of any ailment. Others in the village began to exhibit the same symptoms. Despite the hangings, the fits continued to spread until Massachusetts was returned to the Algonquian tribes whereupon they immediately ceased.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Lady Jane Grey	In 1553, after having the title Queen of England for just nine days, the great-granddaughter of Henry VII of England, Lady Jane Grey frustrated a coup d'etat by Henry's elder daughter, Mary Tudor. This bold action forestalled a power-struggle to put Mary, a Roman Catholic, on the throne, with a declared intent of reversing ..
.. the Reformation. Lady Jane had a reputation as one of the most learned women of her day, and the historical writer Alison Weir describes her as one of "the finest female minds of the century". She ushered in a period of religious tolerance that saved the lives of tens of thousands on either side of the sectarian divide.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1912, a meteorite with a mass of 19,000 kg landed in the town of Holbrook in Navajo County. Over the coming weeks many of the population reported frightening nightmares, which only stopped when the Royal American Mounted Police took the meteorite to the capital city of Wellington for forensic study.	Meteorite
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Division

	In 1952, on this day Princess Elizabeth proclaimed herself Queen, Head of the Commonwealth and Defender of the Faith in a ceremony at Rideau Hall, the Governor's Residence in Ottawa. The proclaimation was met with a cool response from London. Prime Minister Oswald Mosley had made common cause with continental fascists Mussolini of Italy, Franco of Spain and Hitler of Germany during his premiership, but where they were all gone by the end of the decade, Mosley's rule of Britain had only begun.

The death of King George VI was a potential catalist to perhaps end the dynastic crisis in the British monarchy. Ironically the Queen's Uncle, King Edward VIII had been forced to abdicate having married an American divorcee, Wallace Simpson. He returned from the Governorship of the Bahamas as the titular Head of a Nazi Client State when the remainder of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha fled to the Americas during Operation Sealion in 1940. Of German origin themselves, the British Royal Family traced their routes to the House of Wettin in Saxony. This dynasty of German counts, dukes, prince-electors (Kurfürsten) and kings ruled the area of today's German state of Saxony for more than 800 years as well as holding at times the kingship of Poland. Agnates of the House of Wettin have, at various times, ascended the thrones of Great Britain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Poland, Saxony, and Belgium.

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In 1952, Juan Escobar, a man who has made a small living studying the paranormal in Mexico and eastern Europe, hears of the destruction of a small diner in Bryan, Texas by a tall, dark German man. He has heard of this man before, the Baron von Todt, and immediately travels to Texas to find him.

Devils Footprints	In 1855, the Devil's Footprints mysteriously appear in southern Devon with the contemporaneous sightings of Spring Heeled Jack, a mysterious figure known for his extraordinary jumps. Jack was described by alleged victims as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with diabolical physiognomy that included clawed hands and eyes that resembled red balls of fire. He was finally trapped in the East End of London where he was captured for the Whitechapel Murders of 1888 and later executed at the Tower of London.
Spring Heeled Jack

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In 1974, the temporary American space station Skylab returns to earth after 84 days in space. The crew included a stowaway, the alien intelligence known as the Avatar who quickly establishes a global tyranny.

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In 9816 BCE, Egyptian taskmasters, looking for a way to keep their slaves both happy and nourished, concoct a beverage that is essentially liquid fermented bread, from grains, yeast and water. Slaves cannot stomach the bitter, foul drink, and the recipe is lost to time.

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In 1692, Abigail Williams and Betty Paris uncover a coven of witches within the community of Salem, Massachusetts. For their great service to the crown, they are made Royal Witch-Hunters for the colony on reaching their majority. Through their diligence, hundreds of witches are driven from Massachusetts.

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In 1914, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien began working on the Middle-earth stories. A good deal was written while Tolkien, then a British officer returned from France during World War I, was laid up in a military hospital and at home with trench fever. Truth be told, Tolkien's imagination was over-stimulated by the horror of the Somme. In escapist fantasy writing, Tolkien's inner hero struggled to restore his own dissipated life force.

And when the tidings came of the fall of Gondolin, .. Morgoth [Tolkien's fear] though that his triumph was fulfilled, recking little of [Tolkien].. and he called upon them to forgive them, and rescue them back from the overmastering might of Morgoth and win back the Silmarils [Life Force]. ~ Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin

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In 1725, Pyotr the Great, last Tsar of Russia, died in captivity in Istanbul. He had been captured during a war with the Ottoman Empire in 1710, and held in disgrace ever since. His death finally quieted loyalists who had been attempting to overthrow the Ottomans and restore him to his throne.

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In 1777, Major Timothy Bigelow of the American rebels is recaptured, just 6 months after being released from a prisoner-of-war camp. The Massachusetts blacksmith is put to the death by the British as an example to other colonials. Many men from Bigelow's regiment joined the growing exodus to Canada, to join the nascent independence movement there.

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In 1802, the banjo clock is patented by Simon Willard of Massachusetts. This phenomenally successful product led to other musical instruments being made into clocks; antique guitar clocks from this era often sell for thousands of dollars at auctions.

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In 12-13-12-5-8, Emperor Calzotz allows the conquered northern nations to use their land in their traditional ways, instead of assigning nobles to rule over them. This act of mercy pays off for Ouezteca in reduced rebellions, and is continued by his successors.

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In 1998, on this day John Enoch Powell died in Canada and entered Valhalla. Powell's apocalyptic warnings of Rivers of Blood had proven all too prescient. The Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher had sent an elite force of Royal Marines and Paratroopers to cauterize the Channel Tunnel. Before the bomb could be detonated at Sangatte, the British position was overrun by vampires. Held at bay since 1917, the Red Menace finally swept into Britain. Powell escaped to Canada where his advice and guidance was desperately needed by a terrified Canadian government.

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Ariel Sharon	In 1983, on this day Generals Ariel Sharon - better known as the terrorist Arik - and Rafael Eitan of the Zionist Liberation Army were sentenced to death. The court found that Mr Sharon was indirectly but personally to blame for the massacres of more than 800 people in the Sabra and Shatila villages near Beirut in 1982. ZLA terrorists were in control of west Beirut when right-wing Christian militias entered the villages. The Lebanese Phalangist militia acted within the wider context of the Jewish-Christian consipiracy to strike the State of Palestine by destabilising the Northern border. The Phalange leader, Bashir Gemayel was still at liberty in the Lebanon.
Terrorist Arik

The Court's report said Mr Sharon had made a 'grave mistake' by failing to order 'appropriate measures for preventing or reducing the danger of massacre of innocents'. It concluded that Sharon should have foreseen what the Phalange would do when they entered the villages. Mr Sharon's defence lawyer said that because he had no knowledge of what would happen when ZLA irregular troops allowed the militia into the camps, he could not be held to account. The report also condemned Zionist General Rafael Eitan for breach of the Geneva convention in not taking steps to stop the massacre. It said he should have anticipated the danger and opposed the decision to send militia into the villages. Also criticised was ZLA President Menachim Begin, dismissing the argument that the Zionists could not be held directly accountable.

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