Accident

John Lennon	In 1969, at Peace City One John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono broadcast Give peace a chance. Four people amongst many had journeyed to the metropolis, rebuilt upon the site of fire-bombed Dresden. Taxi driver Gerhard Müller and his daughter lived but a few miles away. War buddies Bernard V. O'Hare and Kurt Vonnegut travelled from America on Tralfamadorean money, God love it. Lennon invited the four on stage for the corus, philosophically joking that “the accident had”. For Vonnegut, something had been missing in this harsh world. He had suffered from weeping for many years and in his despair had contemplated suicide. Now it was finally fulfilled. And so it goes.
GPAC

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Jesus	In 1986, the Ghost Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come shows Ebeenezer Scrooge a strange vision of the far future. In Africa the emaciated arms of starving children lack the strength to swat the flies buzzing around them in the haze. And that haunting song, Do they know its Christmas?. And yet in this harsh world there's something that was missing in that shopping mall flooded with light. Him.
Is Love

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Infected Cow

In 1997, an independent inquiry into the BSE "disaster" and the devastation it wreaked on British farming has been announced by the government. Agriculture Minister Jack Cunningham said the BSE inquiry would be led by Judge Lord Justice Phillips who has a year to complete the investigation. Describing the BSE crisis, he said: "It has been, literally, a disaster." The inquiry would be far-ranging covering the BSE crisis' origins and the way in which authorities responded to it and the development of "the Rage".

Five years later the disaster was portrayed in the movie 28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris and Christopher Eccleston. The films depicts the breakdown of society following the spread of the "Rage" which rendered people mindlessly violent, focusing upon the struggle of four survivors to cope with the ruination of the life they once knew. A critical and commercial success, the film is widely recognized for images of a deserted London, and was shot almost entirely on digital video. In a radical alternative ending the Agriculture Ministry fails to respond to the crisis.

Violent End

In 1973, on this day US President James Earl Carter called for progressive change in Fascist Europe following the assassination of General Franco, who was killed in a car bomb attack in Madrid two days before. In the United States, it was unthinkable that the Head of State could be removed by the act of a violent few said the Georgia Giant. It was now time for the Plot Against America to end and leaders to work with Carter to build “the World that Hitler never made”.

The Central Intelligence Agency was delighted with the outcome, which represented twenty years work in Spain. Carter had the luxury of talking about freedom, the Agency's job had been to find a drastic and odd resolution to a political situation reminiscent of a deus ex machina.

Danville

In 1999, whilst driving in Center Lovell, Maine, agent of the random Bryan Smith was distracted by an unrestrained Rottweiler named Bullet, moving in the back of his vehicle, a 1985 Dodge Caravan. The author Stephen King was walking on the right shoulder of Route 5. Agent of the purpose, Patrick Danville had been sent because King must not die. Before the author could be fatally struck by the Dodge, Danville grabbed King and they both landed in a depression in the ground about 14 feet from the pavement of Route 5.

In 1992, British Home Secretary Norman Lamont announced “Today has been an extremely difficult and turbulent day. Massive refugee flows continue to threaten the Channel Tunnel opening at Coquelles near Calais in northern France. The Government has concluded that Britain's best interest is served by sealing the Tunnel whilst emergency measures can be implemented on the continent of Europe.”

Norman Lamont

Rice

In 2009, in a presidential broadcast Condoleeza Rice speaks to the nation with her proposals for solving the problem of litter. Since the advent of mass production and consumerism in the 1950s, she explains, packaging and waste have entered American society. As civil society has lost its value, personal responsibility had declined partly due to a reaction to authority for sending so many American boys to their deaths in foreign wars. During 2010, Rice would bring forward legislation that would place a retrospective burden on producers to collect litter.

In 2004, former US Marine Jack Smith made damning allegations regarding President-elect John Forbes Kerry's actions outside the Senate committee at the April 22, 1971 following his famous “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” speech. Smith recollects that Kerry and other veterans threw their medals and ribbons over a fence at the front steps of the U.S. Capitol. However, Kerry still possesses his medals in 2005 and Smith explains this apparent anomaly by revealing that Kerry threw someone else's medals in act of showmanship. Smith and Kerry – he alleges - had purchased the medals at a market sale in Greenwich Village, New York in December 1970. Kerry agrees to step down in favour of Vice President-elect John Edwards, which many regarded as an appropriate reversal of a travesty of justice.

Kerry

In 1944, German troops accept the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium as the disastrous Battle of the Bulge reaches a decision.

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In 1853, Theodore Roosevelt and Martha Bulloch were married in Roswell, New Mexico. The happy couple disappeared for a week, and when they returned, Martha was pregnant with young Theodore, Jr. Teddy had an unhealthy grey sheen to his skin, but managed to overcome this handicap and rise to the presidency of the United States.

In 1912, in honor of the Winter Solstice, Sidney Peters of Manhattan, Kansas, pens the holiday classic Carol of the Hells. Its sweet tones have been heard every winter since: Ring silver bell/ Bring Christmas Hell/ Now gentlemen/ Pay for your sin/ Come quake with fear/ Satan is here/ Satan your lord/ Forever more/ Ring, ding-a-ling/ Evil is king/ Hope, fade away/ Despair today…

In 1971, former Austrian Chancellor Kurt Waldheim is appointed Secretary-Fuehrer of the Eurasian Union, the organization used by the German Reich to organize the governments of their conquered Eurasian nations. Waldheim was appointed by Hitler, himself, and enjoyed the favor of the Fuehrer until Hitler’s death in 1981. Waldheim was ousted the next year.

In 1984, comrade Bernhard Goetz was appointed the People’s Chief of Police for New York City. During Comrade Goetz’s administration, crime in the subways and streets of New York dropped by 12%, although the Socialist Party in the city complained of the comrade’s heavy-handed tactics.

In 2007, Mitt Romney's candidacy of the Presidency of the United States received a huge boost. The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King said that he had a very clear recollection of marching with Romney Senior in June 1963. Alex Hayley had given his people a myth to live by. Perhaps now Romney could deliver the dream.

Traumas

In 1980, John Lennon and wife Yoko Ono spent several hours at the studio on West 44th Street before returning to the Dakota Building at about 10:50 p.m to see their five-year-old son Sean before he went to sleep. Unusually they refrained from exiting their limousine on 72nd Street, instead the car was driven into the courtyard. The doorman at the entrance Jose Perdomo saw Mark David Chapman standing in the shadows by the archway. Perdomo discovered that Chapman was carrying a .38 revolver, 14 hours of Beatles music and JD Salinger's “Catcher in the Rye”. When questioned, he calmly explained to Police he was there to shoot John Lennon.

In 2168, the Sammāsambuddha (supreme Buddha) Siddhārtha Gautama achieved enlightenment in his travels in India. The Awakened One realized complete insight into the nature and cause of human suffering which was ignorance, along with steps necessary to eliminate it. These truths were then categorized into the Four Noble Truths; the state of supreme liberation—possible for any being—was called Nirvana. He then came to possess the Nine Characteristics, which are said to belong to every Buddha. As transcribed in one of the stories in the Āyācana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya VI.1), a scripture found in the Pāli and other canons, immediately after his Enlightenment, the Buddha decided not to teach the Dharma to human beings. He was concerned that, as human beings were overpowered by greed, hatred and delusion, they would not be able to see the true dharma, which was subtle, deep and hard to understand.

Winston Churchi..

In 1941, Winston Churchill received the news that the British Naval base at Pearl Harbour had been destroyed due to poor combat readiness. In particular, the torpedo nets had not been raised. After the fall of Hawaii to the Japanese in World War II, prime minister Winston Churchill confessed his ignorance of the weakness of Pearl Harbour's defences, saying: "I did not know. I was not told. I should have asked."

In 2046, on this day a complex medical procedure was initiated at the world-renowned Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Founded in 1902, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center had an enviable reputation for providing the finest healthcare available among California hospitals. More than 1,800 physicians in virtually all medical specialities were affiliated with the hospital, Cedars-joining more than 8,000 employees, 2,000 volunteers and 15,000 fund-raising support group members to form a unique partnership in delivering world-class medicine. But would those resources be enough? Shortly before midnight, surgeons prepared to deliver the world's first child of dual planetary heritage. The surgeons had no text book to prepare for the procedure, and had to rely upon combined best practice in human and newcomer birthing methodologies. The event was sure to be a first for ObstETrics.

Cedars-Sinai

Guns of August	In 1984, the alternative history classic Guns of August was published. Barbara Tuchman demonstrated how close the world came to war in 1914. In reality, we now know that the inter-marriage of the Royal Families of Europe, and their shared interest of survival held the key to peace, as demonstrated in the Dear Nicky, Dear Willy, telegrams revealed to the public for the first in this great book.

In 2005, cyber-agents of the government of (censored) are alarmed to discover that the revolutionary blogger known as Rat is organising a contest. Clearly this is a nom de Guerre for an event centred on his alternative life activities to spread perception-challenging content through advanced RSS news feeds. They decide to move to Phase 2, by arresting Richard S. “Kinky” Friedman.	Rat

In 1976, the Eagles release “Hotel California” which goes on to sell over 16 million copies in the United States alone between late 1976 and early 1977. The title song "Hotel California" reached number #1 on US billboards on May 7, 1977. The “beast” described in the lyrics was generally assumed to be a symbol for the drugs and alcohol which gripped vocalist Don Henley's life at that time. Not so, the lead song was a true story of events that really happened to Henley in Hotel California in Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico during 1973.

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In 1936, the American actor David Caradine was born in Hollywood, California. A talented actor of some respute, Carradine is remembered chiefly for a principled stand that had huge ramifications for Chinese Americans for generations to come. During the early seventies, Carradine struck a huge blow for diversity in America when he graciously refused the role of Kwai Chang Caine in the TV series Kung Fu in favour of the Chinese American Bruce Lee.

Herbie Pilato, in his 1993 book The Kung Fu Book of Caine: The Complete Guide to TV's First Mystical Eastern Western, commented on the casting history for the series, particularly on the involvement of both David Carradine and Bruce Lee. Before the filming of the Kung Fu TV movie began, there was some discussion as to whether or not an Asian actor should play Kwai Chang Caine. Bruce Lee was considered for the role. In 1971, Bruce Lee wasn't the cult film hero he later became for his roles in Fists of Fury (1969), Enter the Dragon (1973), and Game of Death (1979). At that point he was best known as Kato on TV's Green Hornet (1966-1967). (Kung Fu guest actor Robert Ito reports that Lee hated the role of Kato because he "thought it was so subservient.") "In my eyes and in the eyes of Jerry Thorpe," says Harvey Frand, " David Carradine was always our first choice to play Caine. But there was some disagreement because the network was interested in a more muscular actor and the studio was interested in getting Bruce Lee." Frand says Lee wouldn't have really been appropriate for the series - despite the fact that he went on to considerable success in the martial arts film world. Carradine insisted otherwise, and the rest as they say, is alternate history.

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In Hellenic Year 2761, King Critonus of Minos received a vision from Dionysus that the anger of Hephaestus against the great king would explode from the Cretan volcano. Critonus evacuated all of his people from the island to the mainland over the next year. Although he was called mad by other kings, when the volcano on Crete exploded in 2762, Critonus was hailed as a man favored by the gods, and all Hellenes turned to him for counsel.

In 1939, Anglo-French troops landed in Helsinki determined to support their Finish allies in the Winter War. Because the Russian attack was judged as illegal, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations on December 14. The Allies had absolutely no problem with a de fact declaration of war on the Soviet Union. In their calculations, prospects for Anglo-French survival were improved, having permitted Germany to invade Poland. This way, they hoped to drive a wedge between the signatories of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, bringing Mr Hitler back into the fold.

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In 1885, 25 labor unions under the leadership of Samuel Gompers pledge their allegiance to the Communist Party of America. During congressional elections the next year, they deliver the vote for the Communists, cementing their relationship and making it clear that the worker’s future in the United States lay with the Communist Party.

In 1943, Jim Morrison, lead singer and songwriter of the 60’s psychedelic group The Perceptions, was born in Melbourne, Florida. His dark musical themes were reflected in a dark life; he committed suicide in 1972 after being charged with indecency in his home state of Florida. He had exposed himself to the crowd during a concert.

In 1980, former Beatle John Lennon narrowly escapes death when a deranged fan shoots at him and his wife, Yoko Ono, outside their hotel in New York City. Yoko is fatally wounded, however, and dies the next day. Her funeral marks the first time all four Beatles reunited since 1970.

The Buddha Achieves Enlightenment; The Doors Of Perception Open

December 8th, 2004

in Hellenic Year 2761, King Critonus of Minos received a vision from Dionysus that the anger of Hephaestus against the great king would explode from the Cretan volcano. Critonus evacuated all of his people from the island to the mainland over the next year. Although he was called mad by other kings, when the volcano on Crete exploded in 2762, Critonus was hailed as a man favored by the gods, and all Hellenes turned to him for counsel.

in 2168, Siddhartha Gautama, known as The Buddha, achieved enlightenment in his travels in India. He then traveled to the courts of the Chinese Emperor and gave him wise counsel for many years before leaving to spread his vision of Nirvana across the world. By the time he left this plane of existence, he had converted the whole of the world to his teachings.

in 1720, the Mlosh colony ship in Brazil becomes the focal point of a religious movement in the native population. The Portuguese move soldiers in to suppress the movement, but most of the soldiers join in, and the colonial government is overthrown in a bloodless coup.

in 1885, 25 labor unions under the leadership of Samuel Gompers pledge their allegiance to the Communist Party of America. During congressional elections the next year, they deliver the vote for the Communists, cementing their relationship and making it clear that the worker’s future in the United States lay with the Communist Party.

in 1941, after an impassioned speech by pacifist Congresswoman Jeanette Rankin, Congress votes not to declare war against Japan, in spite of the horrific attack against Pearl Harbor the day before. Economic sanctions are put in place against the Japanese Empire, and American defenses are shored up. Japan does not attack America again, and the isolationists claim victory in keeping America from becoming entangled in foreign affairs.

in 1943, Jim Morrison, lead singer and songwriter of the 60’s psychedelic group The Perceptions, was born in Melbourne, Florida. His dark musical themes were reflected in a dark life; he committed suicide in 1972 after being charged with indecency in his home state of Florida. He had exposed himself to the crowd during a concert.

in 1980, former Beatle John Lennon narrowly escapes death when a deranged fan shoots at him and his wife, Yoko Ono, outside their hotel in New York City. Yoko is fatally wounded, however, and dies the next day. Her funeral marks the first time all four Beatles reunited since 1970.

in 2003, Estelle Gerard appears as a full-grown woman to a crowd in Piccadilly Circle in London. At her side are a pair of angels. She speaks to the crowd for almost an hour while the angels keep a squad of Templars at bay. When she finishes her speech, she announces, “Now, all who wish to meet my father, take my hand.” Hundreds in the crowd, and a few Templars, rush forward, and all disappear when they touch Gerard’s hand.

Shaken

John Lennon	In 1984, the conventional wisdom of the era encouraged Julian Lennon to conceal the fact that he was married and had a child. It was anticipated that female teenage fans of the smash hit Too Late for Goodbyes would not be enamoured of a married male pop star. However, when the British media discovered that Lennon was a married father, it did not affect his popularity with fans. Unfortunately, journalists made a further discovery. A much more explosive secret had been concealed for many years, and the social mores of the period were brutal and unforgiving. As a result, his father's popularity would be shaken to the very core.
Julian Lennon

'Jude' – as he was known – attended the set of The Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour during late 1967, and made his musical debut at age eleven on his father's album Walls and Bridges playing drums on 'Ya-Ya'. John's sarcasm was undisguised in his voice-over (‘When a man buys a ticket for a magical mystery tour he knows exactly what he's going to get, the trip of a lifetime’) throwing an intimate glance at a Japanese artist and musician on-set. Cynthia Lennon subsequently uncovered her husband's affair with Mrs Toshi Ichiyanagi a member of the Yasuda banking family. Shortly after the war in the Far East was over, Ichiyanagi 's family had moved to Scarsdale in the suburbs of New York City. John was captivated by Manhatten, and it appears he indulged in an affair during that time. Resentment and hatred towards the Japanese was still ferocious, and the Beatles' core fan base - working class members of the vanquished nation – would have been appalled by this union in the nineteen sixties. As it was, the fall out was still considerable seventeen years later. Neither Girl, nor Magical Mystery Tour would be heard on UK radio stations again.

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Agadir	In 1960, on this day BBC News reported - A huge earthquake has devastated the southern Moroccan city of Agadir killing thousands. A major operation is now underway to rescue scores of people, including many tourists, still trapped under the rubble. Most of the 'new town' area of Agadir has been completely destroyed and the heavily populated Talborit quarter is believed to have been the hardest hit. The number of dead currently stands at more than 1,000 although some have suggested the toll could rise to as many as 20,000. The earthquake, which measured 6.7 on the Richter scale, hit the city at 2339 hrs (local time) tonight.
Earthquake

Fifty years after the Tunguska Impact Event, the embedded singularity was still creating havoc for the Earth's tectonic plates.

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Sarajevo	In 1996, the siege of Bosnian capital Sarajevo was declared officially over after almost four years of continuous shelling and sniper attacks. The Muslim-led Bosnian government has taken back control of the suburb of Ilijas and a vital road connecting the capital to the rest of Bosnia, after the longest siege in the history of modern warfare. Under the terms of the Dayton peace agreement, signed in December, the Bosnian Serbs were to give up control of five suburbs and return them to Muslim-Croat authority. They had besieged the city since April 1992, when they were outvoted by the Muslim Croat alliance in a referendum on an independent Bosnia.
Siege

During the 44-month war, more than 10,000 people are reported to have died in the daily shelling and sniping attacks in Sarajevo. Some 1,800 of the casualties were children. The Muslim Holocaust was almost over.

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Pierre Trudeau	In 1984, Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, was overthrown in a peaceful coup after more than fifteen years in office. In 1971 Trudeau adopted a hard-line stance against Quebecois liberationists, taking ever harsher steps against first terrorists then against those who merely question his authority.
Tyrant

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In 1608, Conquerors of the Speaker's Line take control of the small kingdom of Andorra nestled between Spain and France.

For the next few years, the Andorrans become the Conquerors' testing ground for flying ships, and more horribly, for testing breathing apparatus. The Conspirators overthrow the Conquerors in 1612, and manage to erase all mention of that 4 year period from normal history.

Pierre Trudeau	In 1984, on this day Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, announced his resignation after more than 15 years in office. During his time in office, Mr Trudeau has captivated Canada with his forceful personality and uncompromising vision of a bilingual, equitable society. Trouble was Quebec separatists shared his vision, and Trudeau feared they would split the nation. Ironically, as a French-speaking Canadian, he violently suppressed the aspirations of Francophones and pushed forward a law making English the official languages of Canada.
Tyrant

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Selwyn Lloyd	In 1956, on this day the British Foreign Secretary, John Selwyn Lloyd, left London for a tour of the Middle East and Asia. Hopes for Mid East peace mission were not high. Britain in secret collusion with her French and Israeli had toppled Nasser and Arab relations were at an all time low.
Foreign Secretary

Writing in the Times newspaper, Retired Colonel Thomas Edward said that 'The people of England have been led in Egypt into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information.'

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Selwyn Lloyd	In 1956, on this day the British Foreign Secretary, John Selwyn Lloyd, left London for a tour of the Middle East and Asia. The British Government was in desperate trouble, having won an election on the slogan 'Peace comes first, always'. Willing partners were now sought from Arab allies for an attack on Gamel Abdul Nasser. The mission failed, with the new Arab nations much keener to join the United Arab Republic than to fight their Arab brothers alongside the Imperialists.
Foreign Secretary

Prime Minister Anthony Eden's official biographer Robert Rhodes James re-evaluated sympathetically Eden's stance over Egypt 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, the lack of American support conveyed the impression that the West was divided and weak. Anthony Nutting, who resigned as a Foreign Office Minister over Egypt, 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 weakness and we were to reap the whirlwind of revenge and rebellion' Conversely, D. R. Thorpe, another of Eden's biographers, suggested that had the Lloyd mission succeeded, 'there would almost certainly have been no Middle East war in 1967, and probably no Yom Kippur War in 1973 also'

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Happy Couple	In 1964, the Queen's cousin, Princess Alexandra, gave birth to a love child at her home in Surrey. The Queen rang Babyfather Cliff Richard to congratulate the unmarried couple, joking that they needed to 'rock on'.
Love at first sight

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Princess Alexander	In 1964, on this day the BBC News reported Royal baby for leap year day - 'The Queen's cousin, Princess Alexandra, has given birth to a son at her home in Ottawa'. The baby, who was more than a week overdue, is believed to be the first-ever royal baby to be born on 29 February. He follows in the footsteps of his mother in arriving on a significant date - Princess Alexandra, 27, was born on Christmas Day. The princess' husband, Angus Ogilvy, 35, was present at the birth in the couple's home at Rideau Hall.

James Ogilvy was joined by a sister - Marina - in 1966. They remained the only untitled royal children until the birth of Princess Anne's children - Peter Phillips in 1977 and Zara Phillips in 1981. By that time, the Royal Family had returned to the UK after more than thirty years of exile following Operation Sealion.

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Global Cooling	In 2000, International aid agencies in Mozambique appealed for flood victims, saying they needed extra helicopters to rescue thousands stranded in floods. Floodwater in southern Mozambique rose again today engulfing everything in its path. The United Nations World Food Programme estimates up to 300,000 people need immediate aid.
Crisis

Trouble was resources across the globe were scarce. Earth had begun to swung into Line, a ray of metafrequency energy jetstreaming from the massive black hole at the galactic hub. The transmuting effects of this atypical energy altered the planet for over a century until the Earth swung fully into line in 2113. Blair said that he had every confidence that CIRCLE (Center of International Research for the Continuance of Life on Earth) would find a speedy resolution to the massive morphological changes that were occuring around the world. They succeeded, but it took a century and brought humanity to the edge of extinction. An ingenious discovery at CIRCLE succeeded in sustaining life - Rubeus, an artifical super-intelligence originally created to manage global weather systems.

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Global Cooling	In 1984, on this day Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, announced his resignation after more than 15 years in office. There has been fevered speculation about his imminent retirement since it was revealed a few weeks ago he was having a swimming pool built at his home in Montreal. Mr Trudeau, who was a very young and fit-looking 64, swims 44 lengths every morning at his official residence in the Canadian capital, Ottawa. Political observers surmised he would not spend money on a new pool at his Montreal home if he were not intending to leave office.
Crisis

Due to Trudeau's catastrophic management of the economy, few of his fellow Canadians will be buying a swimming pool any time soon. Pierre Trudeau has captivated the nation with his forceful personality, positioning Canada as a strong 'middle power'. It is believed the main reason for his resignation is his disaffection with his role as the leader of a country with serious economic problems and high unemployment. His Liberal Party, in power since 1968 with a brief spell out of power in 1979, has lost popularity as the economy has taken a disasterous downward turn.

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	In 1808, the 'Leap Year Day Massacre': American settlers in the Ohio Territory are attacked by hostile Indian tribes. Many are killed. When news of the slaughter reaches colonial authorities, British troops are dispatched to 'restore order' and avenge the settlers' deaths. Dozens of Indian villages will be burned to the ground and their inhabitants killed. In the aftermath, the British will repudiate the tacit understanding which had existed between them and the tribes that white settlement would be restricted and the natives' sovereignty respected.

Ohio will be formally organized as a British colonial province, and the offending tribes' lands will be confiscated. The result of this action will be a series of bloody so-called 'Indian Wars' which will seriously harm relations with what had been friendly tribes in Ohio and the neighboring Michigan Territory. As one result, British negotiations to acquire formal sovereignty over Michigan will collapse. They will not be resumed for more than twenty years, after the deaths of several key tribal chiefs.

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