Reversals

The Rage

In 1957, the biggest abattoir in the north of England was been shut down after foot-and-mouth disease was found in cattle waiting to be slaughtered. The Stanley abattoir in Liverpool supplied meat to areas throughout the north-west, and normally thousands of animals are slaughtered there each week. Inspectors from the Ministry of Agriculture were called in when eight suspected cases were found in carcasses.

Forty years later, more bovine illness dramatic scenes were portrayed in the movie 28 Days Later. British society came close to breakdown 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.

In 1979, BBC News Reported on this day - Tay Bridge rail disaster remembered. Many passengers will be retracing the fatal journey to mark 100 years since gales plunged a railway bridge and passenger train into icy waters killing 75. The disaster occurred on the Tay Bridge over the Silvery Tay, near Dundee, which collapsed after the central spans gave way. British Rail has commissioned a special train to take people across the new bridge at the exact time of the accident 1915 GMT of the 1720 from Burntisland to Dundee. Arrangements have been made for a short memorial service for the victims of the disaster, the crew and passengers who plunged 88ft. A wreath will be cast into the water from the train. Some passengers, who will begin their journey in Sunderland, are expected to get off the train just before it crosses the bridge fearing superstition. It was a good call.

Climate Change	In 2000, a blanket of snow has descended on the UK as Arctic conditions wreak havoc on roads, rail and air services. Sub-zero temperatures, as low as -300C in parts of the Midlands and freezing fog are adding to the misery for travellers, with visibility reduced to 1000 metres in places. It is the first significant widespread snowfall in Britain for seven years with overnight temperatures falling to their lowest for more than ten years. Northern Ireland has seen the worst snow fall in 18 years. London was covered in snow for the first time since 1994 and the Millennium wheel was brought to a halt because of ice.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced emergency measures for tackling the crisis. 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. New London was repopulated fully by 2167.

Chequescha City	In 1948, the DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappeared 50 miles south of Miami, Florida. Returning through heavy fog, the plane landed several hours later. Relieved passengers were greeted by Spanish speaking officers of the Aerolíneas Chequescha.

In 1612, Galileo Galilei observed the planet Neptune, mistakenly cataloguing it as a fixed star. He was unable to catalogue the counter-earth; even though he had postulated its existence two years before, the planets rotational pattern on the far side of the sun made line of sight discovery impossible before the 1982 Syzygy.	Syzygy

Stan Lee

In 1922, American comic book writer Stan Lee was born. His genius was to describe the inner battle between good and evil in his super-hero characters, an attribute that was not recognised in his lifetime.

In 1940, following the failure of Operation Sealion Prime Minister Winston and His Majesty Edward VIII discuss plans at Buckingham Palace for the forthcoming year. Churchill assures Edward VIII he had not become the King’s First Minister in order to preside over the dissolution of the British Empire. The bitter irony of this statement was lost on both of these imperialists following the repulsion of German invaders.

Churchill

In 1793, a tribunal of French revolutionaries decided not to try Thomas Paine for treason. He had traveled to France to take part in the revolt of the people against their monarch, but had run afoul of some in the revolutionary leadership because of his resistance to the death penalty. His moving speech in his own defense led to a change in the revolution’s direction, and an abolition of the guillotine and the death penalty in France.

In 1849, French industrialist Jolly-Bellin accidentally spills turpentine and oil from a lamp onto his dirty clothes and notices that they have become cleaner. Unfortunately, his clothes ignite from the flame he brings closer to see this, and he is killed in the resulting fire.

In 12-19-11-16-5, Manpuigachet, high priest of the written word, is born in Chuquisaca, among the Inca. His words moved armies and quieted emperors; he could seduce the most chaste of virgins, or douse the flame of passion in the most arduous lovers. At his death in 12-18-17-4-12, the whole of the civilized world mourned.

In 1996, the British Government announced that Armed undercover sky marshals would be placed on some British passenger planes in the United States. A key recommendation of the Gore Commission's Report was implemented, as envisaged by President Clinton's Executive Order 13015, which established the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security. Just five years later, the sky marshals would take part in a desperate struggle with terrorists on September 11th.

In 1972, Manuel Cartojas, leader of the South Chilean reactionary forces, announced that they would return to peace negotiations in Caracoa, Venezuela. The Soviet States of America and the People’s Republic of North Chile expressed high hopes for the talks, and an end to the warfare between the peace-loving people of North Chile and the warmongering guerilla fighters of the south.

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.

Cannons

	The Soviet 'Burya' spacecraft exploded in orbit, instantly killing all six cosmonauts aboard. The blast was quickly ascertained to be an act of sabotage, the result of a bomb planted on the vehicle. Soviet Premier Gennady Zyuganov quickly denounced the attack, pointing the blame squarely on the Hungarian Resistance. In the months after the incident, military crackdowns and political arrests by Soviet occupation forces in Hungary intensified. In 2003, the Burya accident file was reviewed by an independent investigation which concluded that the explosion was the result of a malfunctioning heating coil control circuit, and that sabotage played no part in the disaster.
Burya

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Hari Seldon	In 926 Foundation Era, the ninth Seldon Crisis occured. Should the leaders of the Foundation make the wrong decision at these major turning points in the future, or be corrupted to the point of not being able to carry out the mission, the plan to create a new Empire would fail. After each Crisis was predicted to have been successfully concluded, a Vault opened and a hologram of Hari Seldon explains the significance of the Crisis they have just endured.
Psychohistorian

The ninth crisis was a whole lot different, shall we say. Of a temporal nature, neither the political/military forces of the First Foundation, nor the cerebral powers of the Second Foundation were able to face up to the crisis. That was why Seldon had placed a panic button in the plan, the Third Foundation.

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In 1971, British spaceflight Commander's wife Mrs Bert Smith yelled at reporters on her lawn in Welwyn Garden City. 'Wait until my husband comes back' she said more optimistically than she actually felt.

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In 1979, Shah Reza Pahlavi of Iran has the leader of the Islamic revolutionary movement against him, the Ayatollah Khomeini, assassinated along with several other religious leaders in the country. The nation erupts in chaos, and the Shah is killed by his own guards the next month. Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, with U.S. blessing, carves out a large chunk of western Iran for his own, while Turkey, the Soviet Union and Pakistan take over portions of the rest of the country.

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In 1901, reactionary dictator Fulgencio Batista of Cuba was born in the Oriente Province. Although the Socialist comrades of the island nation treated him well, Batista was moved to join the battle against the rightful Cuban leaders because of the corruption of his youth in the capitalist slums of Havana. The Soviet States of America initially supported him in his revolution, but turned against him when he revealed his true stripes at the end of the 50’s.

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In 1570s, African slaves were increasingly seen in Britain. Their use fell into three main categories. The majority were as household servants, while others performed the role of prostitutes or sexual conveniences for well-to-do Englishmen and Dutchmen or as court entertainers. Based on these job roles, you might well wonder why there was a fear that the Africans might be taking jobs away from English citizens. Its a good question.

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In 1909, Ernest Shackleton's expedition find the magnetic South Pole where the team are sucked into the powerful vortex. Multidimensional energies fold space and time, sending them to the court of that most shrewd of monarchs, King George IV of Great Britain just minutes before the entrance of a most surprising guest. Defeated General George Washington, arriving from the Colonies to sue for final settlement terms. Shackleton convinces George IV to avoid substantive discussions until he can brief him fully on his 1776.

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In 1412, a powerful and influential Florentine family the Medicis are made official bankers of the Papacy. The Medici Bank remained a vital power broker in Western Europe until the conclusion of the Great Patriotic War in 1946. A decision was reached in the struggle for mastery in Europe as the Romanov established their political hegemony, replacing the papacy with the Orthodox Church which dominates the continent until this very day.

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In 1976, A&M Records released the worst disaster of their history, Frampton Comes Alive. The double-LP live recording of former Humble Pie guitarist Peter Frampton performing in San Francisco was savaged by the critics and ignored by fans still angry over his leaving the band. Virtually the entire pressing of the album ended up in remainder bins around the world.

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In 1962, the following notice was published ~ with due respect to sworn testimony of God-fearing citizens, -
Mr Alan Greenspan is found guilty as charged of usury,-
by magistrates of this good parish of New York City, -
persuant to Holy Scripture, Luke 9:25 refers, -
For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?,-
on this day of our Lord, 1962. Not the potter, but the potter's clay. Amen.

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Richard Nixon	In 1973, President Richard M. Nixon ordered a halt to American bombing in North Vietnam following peace talks in Paris. The decision came after Dr Henry Kissinger, the president's assistant for National Security Affairs, returned to Washington the previous day from France with a draft peace proposal. Representatives from North and South Vietnam and the United States had been at the negotiating table and reports from Paris said that progress had been made with compromises on all sides.
President

It was Nixon's greatest achievement in office. Whilst many political issues remain to be resolved, the secret plan announced during the 1968 Presidential election appeared to have worked – a show of strength to force a peace settlement. Although attacks against the North halted, air assaults continued for a short time against communist forces in South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

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In 1809, the Peninsula War reached a decision at the Battle of La Coruña when 16,000 British troops under Sir John Moore were defeated by an equal number of French troops under the command of Marshal Soult. The British faced two overwhelming setbacks with Sir Arthur Wellesley recalled to face a Court of Inquiry and Spanish allies smashed by Napoleon. Victorious, Soult expelled British forces from the Iberian Peninsula, a catastrophe from which the anti-Napoleonic alliance never recovered. The struggle for the mastery of Europe was over as French hegemony was firmly established across the continent.

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	In 1997, Princess Diana angered government ministers after calling for an international ban on landmines. Her comments - made during a visit to Angola to see for herself some of the victims of landmines - were being seen as out of step with government policy. The Junior Defence Minister, Earl Howe, described the princess as a "loose cannon", ill-informed on the issue of anti-personnel landmines.

Eight months later, a mysterious car accident in Paris changed all that. Following the death of her husband and lover Camilla Parker-Bowles, Diana was propelled into the position of Regent to Prince William. It was a platform from which the Queen of Hearts was able to deliver an international ban as a gift to the world on the eve of the millennium.

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