Plans

Alternate Historian says, construction work continues at the Academy. We realise of course that no one's really done innovation properly since the Osmonds reinvented themselves as a Heavy Metal band and released Crazy Horses in '72, but we're going to try something almost as different...

Our ambition is for each storyboard entry to be a mini blog post, an idea we've started with the wide format & yellow shaded area. For 2008, we're going to add hyperlinked metadata tags e.g. author, character, 5 x keywords etc after each storyboard entry. In order to get your feedback, today's first story is in the new format. In so doing we thread the posts together (a great idea of the Reverend's) using the search feature so that one click details all the storyboard entries in that thread. A source link to where we erm.. liberated the idea from. Ditto five keywords, though if you click vampire you might find we've done it to death, if you excuse the pun.

Please email Alternate Historian with your comments on the already underway developments, or better still some new ideas! And if you ever figure what got into the Osmonds.... my theory, a postal typo got them the Osbourne's next song.. Sorry Ozzy!!

In 2002, the White House put the final touches on plans for a major reorganisation effective in just eight weeks time. Unfortunately, the staff plan was running late, delaying a new appointment for a National Director who would be given ultimate responsibility for protecting the United States from attacks and responding to disasters. President George W. Bush had reluctantly accepted the recommendations for a new cabinet super-department. Frustrated by the lack of co-ordination between government agencies, Bush now understood fully that a single, unified command structure was required given the insiduous threats the Country now faced in the War Against Terror. W was confident he could persuade Tom Ridge to become the 1st Secretary of Internet Security.

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In 1970, the musician Eric Clapton found and purchased a left-handed Stratocaster guitar which he gave to his friend Jimi Hendrix the very next day. The Voodoo Child was in poor shape to receive the gift. He had taken nine Vesperax sleeping pills and drunk excessive wine with his German girlfriend, Monika Dannemann. However his powers of recovery were legendary. Hendrix and Clapton put some fine riffs together which brought fierce joy to discerning music lovers around the world. The best product of a thousand centuries of human civilization was secure for the future.

~ entry by Alternate Historian

In 1970, the musician Eric Clapton found and purchased a Gretsch 6120 electric guitar he planned to give to his friend Jimi Hendrix the very next day. Forty-eight hours later, the Voodoo Child was dead. The incident was the latest in a series of inexplicable tragedies associated with the owners of the guitar. Twenty-one year old Eddie Cochran had died in a traffic accident in a taxi travelling through Chippenham, Wiltshire, England on the A4. The taxi crashed into a lamp post on Rowden Hill. There was no other car involved. Songwriter Sharon Sheeley (Cochran's fiancée) and singer Gene Vincent survived the crash. The car and other items from the crash were impounded at the local police station until a coroners' inquest could be held. At that time, David Harman, later known as Dave Dee of the band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, was a police cadet at the station, and taught himself to play guitar on Eddie's impounded Gretsch. An unknown rock 'n' roll fan called Mark Feld had carried the same guitar to the limo from a London gig the night before. Feld later changed his name to Marc Bolan and became one of the stars of the British Glam Rock scene of the 1970s. Marc Bolan also died in a car crash in 1977.

~ entry by Alternate Historian

Joe Cocker	"What would you think if I sang out of tune, would you stand up and walk out on me ? Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song and I'll try not to sing out of key. Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends" ~ Joe Cocker, musician
Musician

Before Joe Cocker toured Australia on his Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour. Cocker and six of his entourage were arrested in Adelaide by police for possession of marijuana. The next day In Melbourne, assault charges were laid after a brawl at the Commodore Chateau, and Cocker was given 48 hours to leave the country by the Australian Federal Police. This caused huge public outcry in Australia, as Cocker was a high-profile overseas artist and had a strong support base, especially amongst the baby boomers who were coming of age and able to vote for the first time. It sparked hefty debate about the use and legalisation of marijuana in Australia. This event took place just before the 1972 Australian Federal election, where progressive left-wing Prime Minister Gough Whitlam came to power and Australia saw the end of 23 years rule of conservative governments in Australia. A transcript of the lyrics to this 1968 classic are provided at Lyrics Online

~ quotation by Alternate Historian

Ian Henderson	In 1952, the Mau Mau Uprising began in Kenya with an insurgency by members of the the Kikuyu, Embu and Meru tribes against the British colonial administration. The British military presence was considerable, including the Lancashire Fusiliers, King's African Rifles, Royal Air Force and the cruiser Kenya came to Mombasa harbor carrying Royal Marines.
Britain's conduct of the war criminalized as oath-taking and witchcraft played an unpredictable part in the struggle. Portable gallows were used for summary justice, executing both innocent and the guilty alike, cursing Britons with their dying breath. In 1955, British Labour Party Member of Parliament Barbara Castle visited Kenya to investigate charges that white policemen had tortured and killed innocent Kikuyu with government approval. She concluded that the entire system of justice in Kenya had a “Nazi” attitude toward Africans. “In the heart of the British Empire there is a police state where the rule of law has broken down, where murders and tortures of Africans go unpunished and where the authorities pledged to enforce justice regularly connive at its violation.”. With the appointment of “the Butcher” Ian Henderson to the post of Witchsmeller Pursuivant the following year it became clear that Britain was in for the long-haul, totally committed to the white settler states of southern Africa which remain in power to this day.
~ entry by Alternate Historian

In 1944, Airborne troops parachuted into Holland as the "Market" half of Operation Market Garden, an Allied military operation in World War II. Its tactical objectives were to secure a series of bridges over the main rivers of the German-occupied Netherlands by large-scale use of airborne forces together with a rapid advance by armoured units along the connecting roads, for the strategic purpose of allowing an Allied crossing of the Rhine river, the last major natural barrier to an advance into Germany. The operation was successful with the capture of the bridges at Nijmegen and Arnhem. Tactics developed for “Market” were re-used in Operation Downfall when the British 1st Airborne Division parachuted into Kyushu on X-Day, November 1, 1945.	Market Garden
~ entry by Alternate Historian

Count Bernadotte	In 1948, on this day in Jerusalem the Lehi also known as the Stern gang failed to assassinate Count Folke Bernadotte while pursuing his official duties. The Count was a brilliant Swedish diplomat noted for his negotiation of the release of about 15,000 prisoners from German concentration camps during World War II. In 1945, he received a German surrender offer from Heinrich Himmler, though the offer was ultimately rejected. After the war, Bernadotte was unanimously chosen by the victorious powers to be the United Nations Security Council mediator in the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1947-1948 which he brought to a peaceful diplomatic conclusion.
~ entry by Alternate Historian

In 1916, Manfred von Richthofen, a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte won his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France. The true story of the Bloody Red Baron was told by biographers Janet Title and Kim Newman in 1995. The ultimate hunter was cross-fed by several vampire elders to create the ultimate aerial combatant, a winged vampire armed with powerful hand-machine guns.	Bloody Red Baro..
Not only must the Allied pilots fear a violent death in a fireball or a screaming nose-dive to earth, they must be wary of being plucked from their pilot-seats and eaten alive. The vision of the vampire-squadron taking off from a high tower, with strains of Wagner echoing from Dracula's Zeppelin-flagship is a defining moment of the biography.
~ entry by Alternate Historian

Days Of Grace

July 6th, 2007

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The Announcement

A note from the AH: Since my contribution is now whatever I am currently writing, today my contribution is just a little intro to Steve's work – ah, the luxury of having a Co-Historian! Here are Steve's “bobby dazzlers”, as he calls them...

Kerry Edwards	In 2004, Democrat Presidential nominee John Edwards suffered from pangs of doubt following a meeting in North Carolina with Vice Presidential hopeful John Kerry. Edwards' plan was to secure the national security vote with a balanced ticket combining his strong anti-war stance with a former Vietnam Veteran.
Of course, if Edwards had allowed his political advisor Bob Scrum to push him into supporting the war, the positions would have likely been reversed. Or Howard Dean would have been meeting with Kerry, who could say?. Iraq was the big flip-flop of this political generation. ~ Steve Payne: use of this news item was selected to debate Iraq War not to comment on the Iraq War.

In 1777, the people of the Long House completed a week of celebration for the first anniversary of the birth of their nation. In reference to the expulsion of Europeans from the Turtle Island, Leaders of the Iroquis Federation quoted from the Aztec, Montezuma who famously said "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance".

~ variant by Steve Payne: respect is due to Jerry Oltion's classic Red Alert, potraying the Cuban Missile Crisis, recast in the 1800s as the Iroquois Federation inter-tribal air force vs. Manhattan.

Prince Harry	In 2008, at RAF Northolt the Royal Family welcomed the return of Prince Henry Charles Albert David following his release by hostage takers in Iraq. Third in the line of succession to the thrones of the United Kingdom, "Harry" had been seized on patrol and held for 115 days before his release.
An unusually emotionally scene reminded many of a somewhat similiar scenario from 1982. Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's son Mark had returned from Sahara desert where he had been presumed lost while taking part in an international motor race. Quoting the scriptures, the Queen said "Welcome Home Our Beloved Son...We Are Well Pleased." Three months later, in an unconnected move, British troop withdrawals were announced. Everyone's son was coming home it seemed, and in a sense, Harry's service had achieved the great leveller that national pride had demanded. ~ Steve Payne: use of this news item was selected to debate Iraq War not to comment on Prince's personal safety.

In 1999, the networks ran instalment eight of TSEotTC in two parts. A terrible car crash in Paris, the British nation in tears. The Prince of Hearts, dying in the arms of his lover Camilla Parker-Bowles. And beyond the high drama, the conspiracy..

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

In 1969, Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation John Edgar Hoover issued executive instructions effectively banning a musical festival planned in New York State for the weekend of August 15th.	Hoover
400,000 people from all over America were expected to descend on a 600-acre dairy farm of Max Yasgur, in Bethel, New York, for a three-day concert, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. Planned performances were expected from, among others, the Who, Santana, Janis Joplin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Joe Cocker, Sly and the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix and, in only their second live show together, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Within Government circles it had been feared that like the million-man March on Washingston six years before, hippies would become self aware that far from being scattered individuals, they actually were much bigger in number than they thought. Since the return of the Republicans to the White House, the Nixon Administration had pursued a conservative agenda. The "showbiz" attitude of the Kennedys combined with anti-war protest threatened to implode American society unless firm action was taken at the beginning of the Presidency. American youth needed "what my father would call a visit to the wood shed" said Nixon, taking a very hardline on the counter-culture that had emerged since he left the White House with Eisenhower in 1961. Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrisson would all die mysterious deaths before the '72 election. In a concilitatory measure, Nixon invited the Beach Boys to the White House, an all-American success story for the music industry.
~ entry by Co-Historian Steve Payne

Jethro Tull	In 1969, the Gnomes of Basle faced an unprecedent challenge to their uninterrupted world rule following the release of progressive rock band Jethro Tull's concept album Stand Up. Ironically, David Palmer, Glenn Cornick, Clive Bunker, Martin Lancelot Barre and Ian Anderson would not have looked out of place at the mastermind's underground HQ below the Bank for International Settlements building in Switzerland.
Quite simply, Ian Anderson flute playing was sublime. Stand Up represented an unexplored dimension of pure mellowness that could prove fatal to the despondency the Gnomes' required to sustain their world-grip. Laboratory tests at Basle had proven that human listeners achieved a degree of freedom that could if unchecked force them to reconsider feelings of disempowerment. Sound government required the Gnomes to accelerate the introduction of formulaic music, stick Ian Anderson on an obscure Scottish Island and flood the coming generations with mindless pulp noises.
~ entry from Steve Payne: tribute to Ian Anderson - you rule, sir!.

In 2010, in Alaska's White Mountains swift and effective counter-measures are taken at the High-frequency Auroral Research Center (HARC II). The world's most powerful beam of high-frequency electro-magnetic energy enters the ionosphere and destroys the small pox virus weapons. The rogue North Korean leadership who launched the weapons were already dead in Pyongyang, destroyed by a British Trident.

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

Freddie Mercury	Machines...It's a machines world, . Don't tell me I ain't got no soul When the machines take over, It ain't no place for rock and roll They tell me I don't care, But deep inside I'm just a man.. We have no disease no trouble of mind No thank you or please no regard for the time We never cry we never retreat We have no conception of love or defeat ~ Lyrics to Back to Humans
Rock Cyborg

Cyborg technology rescued Rock mega-star Freddie Mercury real name Farrokh Bulsara from a certain death at the hands of the AIDS pandemic. In “Back to Humans”, Mercury speaks of the duality of his release and imprisonment through this techno escape route. A synopsis of the life of Freddie Mercury can be viewed at Wikipedia

~ quotation by Co-Historian Steve Payne from Counter-history – You're the Judge!

Churchill	In 1942, it was agreed by Taoiseach Éamon de Valera that 32nd American Winston Churchill would after all visit London Town as part of his State Visit to the Irish Isles. It is further agreed he would support the Dublin Government by denouncing the protestant terrorists behind “the Troubles” in Southern England.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1942, following the funeral of Ian Fleming, the fifteen other members of the assassin squad were executed on this day in Dublin. The subversive English underground newspaper reported the executions as follows. ”No nobler blood than theirs has fallen on Irish earth in the long struggle for freedom. The military failure ..	Ian Fleming
.. of the assassination proved to be no less significant than the effects of its impact upon the nation's mind. It was the expression in action of an idea essentially spiritual, the translation of an old and vital aspiration into living history. In this State Visit the historic English nation was reborn. For men who shared in that shining deed Fleming, in one of his last messages, asked the remembrance of England present and to come. He did not ask in vain. 'They shall be remembered for ever'"
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

John Edwards	In 2004, John Kerry named John Edwards as his Vice Presidential running mate on the Democratic Party ticket. Just about the only thing that John Edwards agreed with his boss on is that America can "do better". Edward's interpretation is somewhat different from Kerry's, the North Carolina Senator meant “do better” than ..
.. having his boss assume the Presidency. Regrettably that meant Edwards had to seek common cause with these unlikely allies, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The following year Edwards beat Harry Truman's record ascendancy to the Presidency after only 82 days, when Kerry was forced to resign over inconsistencies in his Vietnam War Record.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1975, on this day Arthur Ashe celebrated the achievement of becoming the first African American man to win the Wimbledon singles title. At 1 John 5:19 it is written that the whole world lies in that wicked one, and Satan did not want to play ball. The story of Ashe's life turned from success to tragedy in 1988, however, ..	Arthur Ashe
.. when he discovered he had contracted HIV during the blood transfusions received during one of his two heart surgeries. He spent much of the last years of his life writing his memoir Days of Grace, finishing the manuscript less than a week before his death of complications from AIDS on February 6, 1993.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Anne Hutchinson In Massachusetts; Donner Party Is Saved

September 18th, 2005

in 1634, heretic Anne Hutchinson arrives in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Ignoring scriptural bans against women taking authority in the church, she organized meetings of other women and so-called “free-thinkers” who were willing to listen to her prattle on about how faith was all that was necessary for salvation, and church law was superfluous to one’s relationship to G_d. She was killed by an irate Puritan in 1637 at the height of her popularity.

in 1846, the Donner Party of settlers sends 2 men ahead of them to get supplies, since they realize they may run out before they are able to leave the Sierra Nevadas. The pair fortuitously run into a supply caravan, who are able to help out the travelers and keep them from starving.

in 1863, the British Terrorism Unit engages in its most controversial act; a band of Mlosh vigilantes had taken a building full of hostages in Edinburgh, and was going to kill one of them an hour unless the Human League surrendered to the authorities. The B.T.U. stormed the building, which resulted in the death of all the Mlosh vigilantes, as well as 17 of the 148 hostages.

in 1914, Astrid Pflaume, neo-Nazi conspirator from the future, takes advantage of the war to organize a unit of Jewish Germans and begin drilling them. She carefully brainwashes them into following her commands, pretending to be Jewish, promising them that their people can soon live in a Europe that will not persecute them at every turn.

in 1956, Omar Knedlik, franchise owner of a Dairy Queen in Kansas, throws some soda bottles into his freezer after his drink machine breaks. When some of them partially freeze, he discovers that he likes the flavor, but customers he tries to sell on the idea complain of a headache when they drink the concoctions too quickly. Knedlik keeps them as a special treat for himself, but gives up the idea of marketing them to the general public.

in 1961, League of Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammerskjyld was killed in a plane crash. Suspicion immediately fell on the Soviet States of America, since Hammerskjyld had opposed the Chilean War and had been favoring sending European troops to aid the South Chilean guerillos.

in 1970, Jimi Hendrix, guitar god, was found in a coma in his London apartment. Hendrix had apparently overdosed on sleeping pills, but not enough to kill himself. When he recovered 6 months later, he claimed to have visited another plane of existence. The music he produced after this could not have been more different from his previous, blues-inspired rock; his post-coma music was almost entirely instrumental, and had an ethereal quality that went above the heads of most of his rock fans. At concerts, Hendrix would speak of the peace of the other plane; a small cult developed around him because of this.

in 4697, the Y’T’T’li ships reach the orbit of Feng-huang, where Star Fleet vessels are waiting to ambush them. After a brief struggle, a majority of the Y’T’T’li ships advance on earth, and the defenses of Feng-huang are debris in space, being reassembled into Y’T’T’li ships. Captain Wu, coming up behind them, manages to obliterate them before they can be turned back on earth. Wu orders his ships to gather asteroids together to use as weaponry against their metal enemy.

in 2002, after spending a day at Andrews Air Force base, the two hairy visitors are given quarters and asked to stick to them. Somehow, in spite of video evidence showing them in the room all night, they are also spotted investigating Andrews’ various aircraft, as well as some very classified area of the base.

in 2004, the Elders on earth threaten a mass wave of killing if the crew of the ELS-1 uses their weapon again. Captain Marcus of the ELS-1 broadcasts back, “We’ve already seen you kill three other planets; I’m more than willing to sacrifice a few of our number if I can get rid of you. I’ll give you 24 hours to leave.”


TIAH HALLOWEEN CONTEST

In order to provide for the upkeep of our new historian, Today In Alternate History is sponsoring its first contest - make a donation at our Paypal link, then email us up to 3 alternate history entries for October 31st, 2005. The best 10 entries will make up the entire content of the post on October 31st, Halloween day. Boring contest information is available on our Forum link below. Enter early and often!

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

Forum Link - Boring legal info on the TIAH Halloween Contest!
Fresh New Poll - Shall we use future dates in our entries?

Warp and Protocols still available; also, see the script I submitted for Bravo's Situation: Comedy. Speaking of which, the winning writers have been announced; not the ones I voted for, but you can make up your own mind by seeing the pilots at http://aol.com/situationcomedy

Still wishing...

As your humble alternate historian enters the downhill slope of the 40's, he still has his birthday wish - a contract with a publishing company like Workman Publishing to produce a page-a-day calendar of TIAH. If you are an editor for such a company, or can place us in touch with one, please fulfill this belated birthday wish!

Mlosh Vigilantes Take Hostages; Y'T'T'li Advance On Earth

September 18th, 2004

in 1863, the British Terrorism Unit engages in its most controversial act; a band of Mlosh vigilantes had taken a building full of hostages in Edinburgh, and was going to kill one of them an hour unless the Human League surrendered to the authorities. The B.T.U. stormed the building, which resulted in the death of all the Mlosh vigilantes, as well as 17 of the 148 hostages.

in 1914, Astrid Pflaume, neo-Nazi conspirator from the future, takes advantage of the war to organize a unit of Jewish Germans and begin drilling them. She carefully brainwashes them into following her commands, pretending to be Jewish, promising them that their people can soon live in a Europe that will not persecute them at every turn.

in 1940, novelist Thomas Wolfe published his classic Going Home Again, about the acceptance and love one receives from family when one must turn to them.

in 1961, United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammerskjyld survived a plane crash that had obviously been planned to kill him. He had heard an explosion before the crash, and felt that either the Soviet Union or the Belgian-backed Congolese secessionists had arranged it. He continued to press for a resolution in the Congo’s civil war, and U.N. troops ended the war that year.

in 1965, I Dream Of Jeannie premiered on NBC. The fantasy-comedy about an astronaut (Larry Hageman) who acquires a djinni (Elizabeth Montgomery) after crashing on a desert island. The series ran for 6 years, but was constantly being hassled by censors concerned about the amount of exposure Montgomery’s midriff received.

in 1970, Jimi Hendrix, guitar god, was found in a coma in his London apartment. Hendrix had apparently overdosed on sleeping pills, but not enough to kill himself. When he recovered 6 months later, he claimed to have visited another plane of existence. The music he produced after this could not have been more different from his previous, blues-inspired rock; his post-coma music was almost entirely instrumental, and had an ethereal quality that went above the heads of most of his rock fans. At concerts, Hendrix would speak of the peace of the other plane; a small cult developed around him because of this.

in 1402, an infidel pack of terrorists massacre 600 Lebanese villagers across southern Lebanon. It is part of the general war that the resurgent Christian cult is attempting to wage against Islam; it troubles the region for the next twenty years.

in 4697, the Y’T’T’li ships reach the orbit of Feng-huang, where Star Fleet vessels are waiting to ambush them. After a brief struggle, a majority of the Y’T’T’li ships advance on earth, and the defenses of Feng-huang are debris in space, being reassembled into Y’T’T’li ships. Captain Wu, coming up behind them, manages to obliterate them before they can be turned back on earth. Wu orders his ships to gather asteroids together to use as weaponry against their metal enemy.

Blink

William Butler Yeats	Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. Now I know that twenty centuries of stony sleep were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? ~ The Second Coming by WB Yeats (1916) In 1999, it was almost time. President Boris Yeltsin announced his resignation from the Kremlin on the last day of the century. Political journalists had asked - if the West cannot prevent the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, what hope was there for their reaction to the former Soviet Union. That question was about to be answered.
Poet

In 1943/1943, Henry Deutschendorf, also known as John Denver, was born in Roswell, New Mexico. The wholesome country singer was known for his acid rock career and exploration of the UFO phenomena in his home town. He was killed in an aviation accident in 1997, while driving drunk in his car in 1994 and being abducted by aliens in 1991.

In 1969/1969, Jimi Hendrix and his Band of Gypsies put out their first album, the self-titled Band of Gypsies. Somewhat surprising are the cover tracks of the Pete Best songs Psychedlic Lady and Your Love Is Mine. Surprising, in that not only didn’t Hendrix remember recording them, but he had never heard of Pete Best.

In 1917, the British poet T.S. Eliot published “the Hollow Men” which concluded “This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper”. Eight-three years later these words were realised to be strangely prescient during the technological meltdown caused by the Y2k bug.

Millennium Bug

In 1999, the world's computers take their last blink as the worst fears of programmer Linus Torvald are realised.

In 1775, Governor Sir Guy Carleton sued for peace as British defenders of the city of Quebec in Canada laid down their weapons to patriot forces under generals Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery. A blizzard had made the city indefensible, and privately, the British had lost interest in staying in Canada due to the country's inclement weather.	Benedict Arnold

Agents	In 2005, agents of the government of (censored) burst into the household. They find a PC133-style computer with the Newsreader Yabadabadoo! open on the YouTube! RSS feed. But no Rat. The revolutionary blogger is still one step ahead of them, and they will have to continue their hunt into the new year.

In 1986, Norman Spinard wrote “He came close to defeat. It might not have been”. Edited by Gregory Benford and Martin H. Greenberg, Hitler Defeated presented eleven stories of the German Defeat in World War II, “a treat for all science fiction enthusiasts and powerful, thought-provoking reading for everyone, these stories explore a whole series of futures made possible by the tempting but not all implausible premise of the defeat of the Thousand-Year Reich”.

Hitler

in 1879/12-13-5-1-12, as Thomas Edison was demonstrating his latest adjustments to the Eddie, a band of Oueztecans warriors broke into his New Jersey showroom. Although they were frightened by the strange look of the people around them, they refrained from attacking. Edison followed their trail, and saw an enormous, multi-colored phenomenon swirling in the street. Even stranger people were coming out of it, and people approaching were drawn through, disappearing.

.

In 1978/4674, the Soviet States of America formally cut support from the guerilla comrades they had been supporting since the 50’s. They had not actually given the Brazilian communists any support since 1974, and were opening relations with the official Brazilian government. Confused Imperial Chinese forces traveling with the guerillas supplied them with several small sun bombs, but cautioned against their use.

William Robinson, Jr.	In 1969, on this day William “Smokey” Robinson, Jr. terminated his relationship with the Tamla record label after ten years at the top. Smokey had been one of the primary figures associated with the record label, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy. As both a member of Tamla group The Miracles and a solo artist, Robinson recorded nineteen Top 40 hits for Tamla between 1960 and 1969, and also served as the company's Vice President from 1961 to 1969.
Songwriter

After marrying Claudette Rogers, Robinson started a family, and named both of his children after the record label: his son was named Berry after the company's founder, and his daughter Tamla after the imprint for which Robinson and The Miracles recorded. The Miracles remained a premier Tamla act through most of the 1960s. Albums were released as "Smokey Robinson & the Miracles" after 1965. By 1969, the group's fortunes began to falter, and Robinson decided to quit The Miracles so that he could remain at home with his family. The group stopped recording and Robinson left the group. Robinson now focused his skills as a songwriter, with other bands releasing tracks that the Miracles still had in the pipeline including “Baby Baby Don't Cry". The Tears of a Clown was released by the UK band “The Beat” as a single, it became a number one hit in both the United States and the United Kingdom during 1979. Suddenly, Smokey Robinson was hot again.

.

In 1999, the world braces for the end of all computerized activity as society has failed to address the issues brought forward by programmer Linus Torvald and others. As the clock strikes twelve, computers short out all over th

The End...?

December 31st, 2004

in 47,392 BCE/the Dreaming, as Telka the Speaker lay dreaming, a spider crawled down upon a massive web from heaven and stared at her. “Sleep well, Speaker,” he told her. “Your children will find me soon enough.” He then crawled back up, but his web remained behind. The Speaker thought that she woke then, and followed the spider up his long web. From the spider’s nest in heaven, she looked down upon the world, and the spider told her, “Remember it well. You shall not see it again.” The Speaker woke in truth, then, and almost fell into tears from her earthbound condition.

in 1879/12-13-5-1-12, as Thomas Edison was demonstrating his latest adjustments to the Eddie, a band of Oueztecans warriors broke into his New Jersey showroom. Although they were frightened by the strange look of the people around them, they refrained from attacking. Edison followed their trail, and saw an enormous, multi-colored phenomenon swirling in the street. Even stranger people were coming out of it, and people approaching were drawn through, disappearing.

in 1943/1943, Henry Deutschendorf, also known as John Denver, was born in Roswell, New Mexico. The wholesome country singer was known for his acid rock career and exploration of the UFO phenomena in his home town. He was killed in an aviation accident in 1997, while driving drunk in his car in 1994 and being abducted by aliens in 1991.

in 1958/1958, a televised broadcast of the Papal New Year’s Mass is simulcast from St. Paul’s Cathedral in Rome, Italy and Buckingham Cathedral in London, Holy British Empire. The confusing scene of Pope Elizabeth II and Pope John XXIII giving the same sermon in two different languages brought many Catholics to church for explanation.

in 1968/4664/12-17-15-6-18/2721 AUC, Dr. Richard Tolman led a group of his followers, who had been trained in his techniques of piercing through parallel dimensions, towards the great rip in the time/space continuum at the equator. He also brought with him scientists of the various dimensions who had been given a crash course in his teachings. Together, they sought to mend the damage that had been done to the wall between the worlds.

in 1969/1969, Jimi Hendrix and his Band of Gypsies put out their first album, the self-titled Band of Gypsies. Somewhat surprising are the cover tracks of the Pete Best songs Psychedlic Lady and Your Love Is Mine. Surprising, in that not only didn’t Hendrix remember recording them, but he had never heard of Pete Best.

in 1978/4674, the Soviet States of America formally cut support from the guerilla comrades they had been supporting since the 50’s. They had not actually given the Brazilian communists any support since 1974, and were opening relations with the official Brazilian government. Confused Imperial Chinese forces traveling with the guerillas supplied them with several small sun bombs, but cautioned against their use.

in 1999, the world braces for the end of all computerized activity as society has failed to address the issues brought forward by programmer Linus Torvald and others. As the clock strikes twelve, computers short out all over th


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Plotters

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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