In 1879, on this day German nobleman, General Staff officer and right-wing politician Franz von Papen was born into a wealthy and noble Catholic famil in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Plot Against Germany 8 Birth of Franz Von PapenElected Chancellor of Germany in 1932, he belonged to the group of close advisers to President Paul von Hindenburg in the late Weimar Republic. And for the final two crazy years of his leadership, he had no choice but to rule the country by Emergency Presidential Decree. Of course this suspension of democratic processes was forced upon him by the actions of one of his predecessors, Gustav Streseman. His intervention in the Lippe-Detmold state election fatally underminined the Nazi Party, preventing the rise of a right-wing coalition Government.

But when von Hindenburg finally passed away in August 1934, his time was up. von Papen was then forced to call fresh elections in which nationalist parties were comprehensively beaten by the Communist Party of Germany. Ernst Thälmann then took office as Chancellor in the city shortly to be known as "Red Star Berlin". Although he declared an end to the State of Emergency, the internal state of the country was becoming rapidly overshadowed by the build-up of Soviet Forces threatening to invade Eastern Germany. Germany was close to gaining a new stability but of course the price was loss of sovereignty to the Kremlin. An article from the asynchronous Chancellor Ernst Thalmänn thread.

In 1268, on this day of triumph the inseparable Conradin and Frederick of Baden (pictured) led a victory march in Rome to celebrate their glorious victory at Tagliacozzo.

All Hail the Heroes of TagliacozzoTheir multi-national Hohenstaufen army of Italian, Spanish, Roman, Arab and German troops had encountered that of Charles at Tagliacozzo, in a hilly area of central Italy.

The boldness of Conradin's Spanish knights under Infante Henry of Castile fired a dramatic first charge that won the Battle. But Conradin had to stamp his authority when the same troops were set to commit the error of obtaining plunder in the enemy's camp after that momentary victorious assault. It was the firmness of this command decision that saved the day and made the victory march possible for the sixteen year old Duke of Swabia and claimant to the throne of Sicily.

In 1897, on this day the left-wing journalist and movie critic German emigré "Clubfoot" Joey Goebbels was born in Rheydt, an industrial town south of Mönchengladbach on the edge of the Ruhr district.

The Führer's Antagonist
by Ed, Scott Palter & Steve KudlakHe wrote a doctoral thesis on nineteenth century romantic drama earning a Ph.D. from Heidelberg University in 1921, he then went on to work as a journalist securing a position at the Berlin Daily. From this platform he emerged as a leading and very vocal critic of the Nazi Regime. Inevitably, he was forced to leave Germany but only when a professional escape route appeared early in the nineteen thirties.

Even though his novels and plays had been rejected in Germany, he managed to attract the interest of a British publisher. A brief sojourn to London was extended, and he happened to fall in with Oswald Mosley's set, even though the relationship would be ruined by the Englishman's drift to Fascism. Building upon these relationships, he became a man of advant guard letters with a day job working for The Sun newspaper. By the eve of World War Two, Goebbels was London's most famous movie critic.

During the War he formed a Free Germany movement broadcasting from the UK a mix of good pop music, movie gossip and sex/corruption gossip on the higher Nazis sources were actors and the like. Allied listeners preferred this form of "Tokyo Rose" sort of pop entertainment because it had better music and better humor than the official stations.

While doing broadway theater and Hollywood jobs for the Sun newspaper he and Glenn Miller had become buddies because Joey was quite the party person and could be charming when it suited him, which was usually with theater or movie people. As a result of their friendship, Miller invited Goebbels to accompany him on his flight to Paris in September 1944. The true nature of the mission would later emerge. Because Miller (who was a fluent German speaker) had been enlisted by Eisenhower to covertly attempt to convince some German officers to end the war early. We can imagine that Goebbels would have enjoyed played a leading role in de-Nazifying German Arts, but unfortunately the rookie pilot allowed their Noorduyn Norseman bush plane to wander into a bomb drop area.

In 2012, on this day Hurricane Sandy made landfall at the mouth of New York Harbor.

Hurricane Sandy makes landfall by Ed & Scott PalterThe tropical cyclone had already devastated portions of the Caribbean and Mid-Atlantic. But the near full submersion of the Statue of Liberty (pictured) was an indication of the terrible disaster that befell the Eastern Seaboard.

And yet the defining television moment finally came when the President and Mayor Bloomberg[1] conducted a helicopter tour of the devastated area. Although not his fault, it was a damning picture that ensured Obama became a political victim of the tragedy in no small part because of his non-emotional response in which he once again appeared "too small" a figure on the national canvas.

In 1929, the wild financial speculation of the Roaring Twenties came to a sudden halt in October when the stock market began to slide.

Banker's Committee Stops Panic of '29 Worries spread through the economic community about the passing of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. Tariffs had always been a point of contention among Americans, even spurring South Carolina to threaten secession over the Tariff Act of 1828. Producers such as farmers and manufacturers called for protective tariffs while merchants and consumers demanded low prices. The American economy soared while post-war Europe rebuilt in the '20s, and the Tariff Act of 1922 skimmed valuable revenue from the nation's income that would otherwise have been needed as taxes. The country barely noticed, and the economy surged forward as new technological luxuries became available as well as new disposable income.

Meanwhile, however, the nation faced an increasingly difficult drought while food prices continued to drop during Europe's recovery. Farmers were stretched thinner and thinner, prompting calls for protective agricultural tariffs and cheaper manufactured goods. In his 1928 presidential campaign, Herbert Hoover promised just that, and as the legislature met in 1929, talks on a new tariff began. Led by Senator Reed Smoot (R-Utah) and Representative Willis C. Hawley (R-Oregon), the bill quickly became more than Hoover and the farmers had bargained for as rates would increase to a level exceeding 1828 for industrial products as well as agricultural. A new story by Jeff ProvineThe revenue would be a great boon, but it unnerved economists, who wondered if it could kill the economic growth already slowing by a dipping real estate market.

The weakened nerves shifted from economists to investors, who took the heated debate in the Senate as a clue that times may become rough and decided to get out of the stock market while they could. Prices had skyrocketed over the course of the '20s as the middle class blossomed and minor investors came into being. Another hallmark of the '20s, credit, enabled people to buy stock on margin, borrowing money they could invest at what they hoped would be a higher percentage. The idea of a "money-making machine" spread, and August of 1929 showed more than $8.5 billion in loans, more than all of the money in circulation in the United States. The market peaked on September 3 at 381.17 and then began a downward correction. At the rebound in late October, panicked selling began. On October 24, what became known as "Black Thursday", the market fell more than ten percent. On Friday, it did the same, and the initial outlook for the next week was dire.

Amid the early selling in October, financiers noted that a crash was coming and met on October 24 while the market plummeted. The heads of firms and banks such as Chase, Morgan, and the National City Bank of New York collaborated and finally placed vice-president of the New York Stock Exchange Richard Whitney in charge of stopping the disaster. Forty-one-year-old Whitney was a successful financier with an American family dating back to 1630 and numerous connections in the banking world who had purchased a seat on the NYSE Board of Governors only two years after starting his own firm. Whitney's initial strategy was to replicate the cure for the Panic of 1907: purchasing large amounts of valuable stock above market price, starting with the "blue chip" favorite U.S. Steel, the world's first billion-dollar corporation.

On his way to make the purchase, however, Whitney bumped into a junior who was analyzing the banking futures based on the increase of failing mortgages from failing farms and a weakening real estate market. He suggested that the problems of the new market were caused from the bottom-up, and a top-down solution would only put off the inevitable. Instead of his ostentatious show of purchasing to show the public money was still to be had, Whitney decided to use the massive banking resources behind him to support the falling. He made key purchases late on the 24th, and then his staff worked through the night determining what stocks were needlessly inflated, what were solid, and what could be salvaged (perhaps even at a profit). Stocks continued to tumble that Friday, but by Monday thanks to word-of-mouth and glowing press from newspapers and the new radio broadcasts, Tuesday ended with a slight upturn in the market of .02 percent. Numerically unimportant, the recovery of public support was the key success.

With the initial battle won, Whitney spearheaded a plan to salvage the rest of the crisis as real estate continued to fall and banks (which were quickly running out of funds as they seized more and more of the market) would soon have piles of worthless mortgaged homes and farms. Banks organized themselves around the Federal Reserve, founded in 1913 after a series of smaller panics and determined rules that would keep banks afloat. Further money came from lucrative deals with the wealthiest men in the country such as John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and the Mellons of Pittsburgh. Businesses managed to continue work despite down-turning sales through loans, though the unemployment rate did increase from 3 to 5 percent over the winter.

The final matter was the question of international trade. As the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act continued in the Senate, economists predicted retaliatory tariffs from other countries to kill American exports, but Washington turned a deaf ear. Whitney decided to protect his investments in propping up the economy by investing with campaign contributions. Democrats took the majority as the Republicans fell to Whitney's use of the press to blame the woes of the economy on Congressional "airheads". Representative Hawley himself lost his seat in the House, which he had held since 1907, to Democrat William Delzell. President Hoover, a millionaire businessman before entering politics, noted the shift, but remained quiet and dutifully vetoed the new tariff.

By 1931, it became steadily obvious that America had shifted to an oligarchy. The banks propped up the market and were propped up themselves by a handful of millionaires. If Rockefeller wanted, he could single-handedly pull his money and collapse the whole of the American nation. Whitney took greater power as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, whose new role controlled indirectly everything of economic and political worth. As the Thirties dragged on, the havoc of the Dust Bowl made food prices increase while simultaneously weakening the farming class, and Whitney gained further power by ousting Secretary of Agriculture Arthur Hyde and installing his own man as a condition for Hoover's reelection in '32.

Chairman Whitney would "rule" the United States, wielding public relations power and charisma to give Americans a strong sense of national emergency and patriotism during times like the Japanese War in '35 (which secured new markets in East Asia) and the European Expedition in '39. He employed the Red Scare to keep down ideas of insurrection and used the FBI as a secret police, but his ultimate power would be that, at any point, he could tamper with interest rates or stock and property value, and the country would spiral into rampant unemployment and depression, dragging the rest of the world with it.

In 1935, on this day the Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce, popularly known as the "Hoover Committee" or the "Hoover hearings" recommended that the US Government grant a one-off tax amnesty to regularise revenue collection from organized crime.

Out of the ShadowsFollowing the passage of the "Volstead" Act, the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol was banned for thirteen years. Even though Prohibition was successful in reducing the amount of liquor consumed it had the adverse consequence of stimulating the proliferation of rampant underground, organized and widespread criminal activity. Because the Federal Government did little to enforce prohibition and by 1925, in New York City alone, there were anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasy clubs serving alcohol.

A new story by Steve PayneNew and terrifying levels of violence entered American cities. Something had to be done. And then on February 14, 1929 a South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone - dressed as police officers - executed seven members of the North Side Irish gang led by Bugs Moran. It was a watershed.

To mitigate such wild excesses, a transnational grouping of highly centralized enterprises was formed under which Organized crime created its own chamber of commerce. An early indication of the opportunity for self-regulation was the ordering of Bugsy's Siegels' execution by his boyhood friend Meyer Lansky who had him murdered to eliminate a conflict in the criminal underworld.

In addition to the Justice Systems desire for structure, the on-set of the Depression meant that the US Government was desperate to generate further income. A petition to Congress for a deal on a tax amnesty was welcomed. And the result was a one time tax payment, whereby organized criminals could get a pardon and come out of the shadows.

In 1864, on this day the first (and last) CSA President Jefferson Davis (pictured) resigned his post immediately after a meeting of Southern State's representatives approved the dissolution of the Confederacy.

A More Perfect UnionThe attempt to build a "more perfect union" had begun shortly after the founding of the States back in 1798, when the father of Federalism himself, Thomas Jefferson co-authored a resolution for the legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky that affirmed the states' right to resist federal encroachments on their powers. The intention was that through the principle of "nullification" that would later be codified into the Tenth Amendment, the States could locally override unconstitutional federal laws.

But as is so often the case, good intention was over-taken by political expediency. Ten years later, the General Government was struggling with more practical problems such as the quasi-war on the high seas with the British in league with America's former allies, the French. Now in the White House, expediency required Jefferson to compromise his own principles. He imposed an embargo under which no American ship could depart for any foreign port anywhere in the world, hoping that this economic warfare would hurt British and French prosperity, forcing their governments to change tack. But the decision would have dire consequences for the trading economies on the eastern seaboard who were prevented from asserting nullification due to the "national interest".

In seceding from the Union in 1860, the Southern States sought to build the Confederacy that had been envisaged sixty years before. And with the British and French supporting the new state, the prospects of success had initially seemed good. Trouble was the secession happened very quickly, and the US Constitution - and many of the federal governments instruments and controls - were adopted at short notice through lack of any other choice in order to prepare for impending war with the Union. Almost immediately, the Capital at Richmond started to centralise powers and act in a high-handed manner indistinguisable from Washington. And now that the peace treaty had been signed at the Hampton Roads Conference, the southern states looked to a new model, the Republic of Texas which stood undefeated yet still enjoying the freedom and liberty promised by the Founding Fathers.

In 1928, on this day the United States stock market crashed, ushering in the worldwide economic collapse known as the Great Depression.

Cometh the hour, cometh the manThere had been a scare on October 24th, but the events of the 29th were catastrophic. Yet only twelve days before, America's foremost economist, Yale Professor Irving Fisher had commented that "Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau".

During March 1929, the new president Al Smith took the drastic step of closing all the banks temporarily. Stocks had by then lost 80% of their value since " Red Friday"¹, the day when capitalism ended in the United States, and the American Dream of Socialism began.

Historians speculate that without Red Friday, Smith would have been easily beaten by Herbert Hoover who had served as Commerce Secretary throughout the Coolidge Administration. Yet the "October Surprise" could only have one benefactor. Because in his political career, Smith traded on his working-class beginnings, identified himself with immigrants, and campaigned as a man of the people.

In 2009, the Catholic Church was astonished by news that Pope Benedict had written a foreword to a controversial biography of Mother Theresa of Calcutta.
Mother Teresa was a 36-year-old convent teacher riding on a train in India on Sept. 10, 1946, when she said Christ spoke to her directly, telling her to become a missionary in the slums to help the poorest of the poor.
"Come be My light, " is what she heard. Back then, she felt a deeply personal bond with Jesus, recounting conversations and visions. It was that loss that she mourned the rest of her life, although she never abandoned her work. Click to watch Mother Theresa speaking in Calcutta. Come Be My Light

The ethnic Albanian nun, who dedicated her life to poor, sick and dying in India, died in 1997 aged 87. Mother Teresa was a globally beloved symbol of saintly devotion to the poor, who spent her last fifty years secretly struggling with doubts about her faith.

A research team led by Rev. Brian Kolodiechuk of the Missionaries of Charity Order had been examing secret letters for publication in a new biography, Mother Theresa: Come Be My Light. It appears that an unknown researcher had released the letters to the press after being shocked to read "How painful is thus unknown pain - I have no Faith. If there be God- please forgive me. When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven, there is such convicting emptiness that those thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul".

In the biography's foreword, Pope Benedict wrote that even the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta "suffered from the silence of God' despite her immense charity and faith. It is significant that the Pope mentioned Mother Teresa's torment about God's silence as not being unusual because there was some speculation that the letters could hurt the procedure to make her a saint. "All believers know about the silence of God," wrote the Pope. "Even Mother Teresa, with all her charity and force of faith, suffered from the silence of God," the Holy Pontif stated.

He said believers sometimes had to withstand the silence of God in order to understand the situation of people who do not believe. When the German-born pontiff visited the former Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz in 2006, he publicly asked why God was silent when 1.5 million victims, mostly Jews, died there.

In 1863, Swiss "philanthropist" Henri Dunant founds the International Order of the Red Cross, which, in its public face, was dedicated to aiding the wounded and ill from war and disaster around the globe. Its hidden agenda, of course, was to advance the cause of the Swiss Illuminati, and bring even more power to its secret leaders.

In 1972, the Montignac police officers, as well as Professor Karl Ainsworth and Dr. Yvette Montclair, attend Sunday Mass at the church in the village. To their surprise, Father Vincent Laval is there, conducting the service. Ainsworth and Montclair restrain the officers from arresting the mad priest, and they listen to his sermon attentively. Halfway through, his niece, Sondra Laval, appears in the doorway of the church with a large cave bear - and that bear has several cubs following in tow. Before the townsfolk can react to the unusual sight, Father Laval speaks a few sentences in Sanskrit, and the villagers calm down. Looking around them, the police and the academics get the feeling that the people of Montignac are in a receptive trance. "My children," Father Laval says in French, "our god is now calling us. His mate has grown full with the souls of our sacrifices, but she still needs to feast before she goes back to the long sleep. There are those among us who would deny her," he says, pointing in the direction of Montclair, Ainsworth, and Officers Hortefeux and Orleans, "and they must be dealt with. Seize them". Before the 4 outsiders can resist, the villagers surround and restrain them. "Don't worry," Father Laval says to them, "You shall be a special feast for the Great Bear Himself, not for His mate, nor even His cubs. You shall be sacrificed on the Day of Sleep, to sustain Him while He rests again, and the outside world forgets us". The villagers drag the protesting outsiders to the police station and lock them up in a cell, after disarming them and taking away their keys. "Don't worry," Professor Ainsworth tells the two policemen, "this is all part of the plan".

In 2002, in the alien repository of knowledge, the group led by Dr. Courtney and Professor Thomas stumble on a globe that looks suspiciously like earth. After a moment's scanning, Dr. Courtney says, "This is what we came for. Pick it up and let's get out of here". The Air Force pilots with him struggle to carry it and they hurriedly leave the building, delusions chasing them as they go.

In 1929, White Tuesday, the single best day in the American stock market, doubles the value of the Dow Jones, making millionaires overnight. Although the stock prices were considered illusory by many economists, as long as Americans believed in them, the Dow Jones remained buoyant.

In 1901, a nurse in Amherst, Massachusetts becomes the focus of a crime investigation when a family she has been staying with all die. When they police find her, the nurse has sewed her own eyes shut, crying that the horrors of that house should not be witnessed by human eyes!

In 1890, Colonel Beauregard T. Jackson is shocked when a small family of collaborators is killed outside of Salt Lake City. He sentences rebel Mormon Charles Brigman to death for the crimes he has instigated, and sets the punishment for sunrise the following day. Brigman, shocked at facing death, begins to plead for his life, but Colonel Jackson is unmovable.

In 1794, decrying "the baneful effects of the spirit of party politics," President George Washington of the United States convinces the nation to pass a constitutional amendment banning political parties. "They only serve to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration," he says, and the young nation agrees. From this point on, political leaders are judged by their actions rather than their affiliations.

In 1969, during the trial of the Chicago Eight, Comrade Judge William Kunstler orders defendant Oliver North bound and gagged to prevent his constant disruptions of the court proceedings. North and his fellow reactionaries had attempted to disrupt the Socialist National Party Convention in Chicago.

	On this day in 1962, the Soviet assault on Miami Beach was dealt a catastrophic setback as US Army regular troops and Florida National Guard units wiped out the main body of the Soviet airborne landing force.
Miama Defences

In 1956, the New Reich begins an all-out invasion of Africa after subduing Egypt, Sudan and South Africa. The weapons they wield prove too powerful for any nation on the continent to resist, and the Africans find themselves in much the same position as the Greater Zionist Resistance before them; having to wage a guerilla campaign in order to survive.

In 1902, Mlosh across the solar system began heading to earth's Sahara desert by whatever transport they could arrange. None of them discussed the reason for the voyage with humans at all; indeed, they had become remarkably close-mouthed about everything lately. But, none would allow themselves to be stopped from getting to the Sahara.

In 1929, the stock market in New York utterly collapses, as millions of shares are sold off in a panic that became known as "Black Tuesday". After profits from stocks disappeared, so did most of the nation's banks, and the United States erupted into anarchy. By the beginning of the next year, 14 states had seceded, and President Hoover had declared martial law and the suspension of civil liberties everywhere the U.S. military could control.

In 1863, Swiss "philanthropist" Henri Dunant founds the International Order of the Red Cross, which, in its public face, was dedicated to aiding the wounded and ill from war and disaster around the globe. Its hidden agenda, of course, was to advance the cause of the Swiss Illuminati, and bring even more power to its secret leaders.

In 1956, with diplomacy failing to reverse Nasser's decision to nationalise the Suez Canal, Britain and France embarked on preparations to regain control of the Canal, and together with Israel, launched a military operation in the Peninsula. US President Douglas MacArthur was fully supportive, it was about time some one else started to get "Brass Hat" and rescue the Third World from Communism.

In 1998, Senator John Glenn's triumphant return to space ended on a sour note as, during a routine EVA, he was snatched from the space shuttle Discovery by what appeared to be a flying saucer. Unable to deny now that such things existed, President Clinton revealed to the nation that aliens had been performing experiments on human beings for decades, and the United States was working on a method of defense; due to the highly sensitive security nature of the matter, he was not at liberty to say any more. Senator Glenn, however, was returned the next week.

In 1957, Buddy Holly's 1st #1 hit, Oh Boy was released by Brunswick Records. It marked the beginning of a string unequaled by any other artist - Holly managed a #1 in each of 5 decades across his career from the 50's to the 90's. Only ill health kept him from continuing the string into the 21st century.

In 1618, Sir Walter Raleigh narrowly escaped to France after being sentenced to death by the British Crown. He had violated an order to avoid molesting Spanish possessions on a gold-hunting trip to Orinoco, and on his return to Britain, was seized and given to the hangman. Raleigh had a few friends that arranged for him to slip out of prison and float across the Channel, where he spent the rest of his days as an exile in the French court.

In 1962, on this day Nikita Khrushchev ordered the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba thereby beginning the second phase of the crisis.
An alternative ending to the blog World War Three Starts in Cuba by Joe Mwangi.

World War Three Starts in Cuba, ReduxBecause the consolation prize was an offer to give Fidel Castro more than one hundred tactical nuclear weapons that had been shipped to Cuba along with the long-range missiles, but which crucially had passed completely under the radar of US intelligence.

To exercise control over this delicately poised situation, the Soviets absolutely needed a masterful diplomat who could deliver some carefully worded messages to the furious Cuban Leader. And so Kremlin number two Anastas Mikoyan, was charged with making the trip to Havana, but tragically his sick wife died hours [1] before his planned departure. Instead, a less competent substitute was sent, and the situation quickly descended into a terrible, terrible mess.

In 1962, on this day global extinction by nuclear armaggedon was averted by a matter of minutes in the deadly Cuban missile Crisis.

World War Three Starts in CubaThe USSR had made it blunt that if the USA doesn't pledge to never invade Cuba and also remove its Jupiter nuclear missiles in Turkey that posed a threat to Russia,the USSR would not remove its Cuban missiles and would fight a nuclear war to protect her interests. The USA had made it clear that if they did not receive communication from the USSR of her intent to withdraw the nuclear weapons on that Sunday morning,the US would run air-bombing missions to destroy the missiles and follow up with an invasion of Cuba.

If this has happened,the Soviet Union would had definitely launched its Cuban nuclear missiles at the USA,destroyed any American invasion force with its smaller tactical nuclear weapons and Soviet TU-95 and IL-28 nuclear bombers,land based ICBMs and submarine launched ballistic missiles would have nuked American and Western European cities. In response,the United States would have nuked Cuba,its B-52 bombers,ICBMs and Polaris nuclear subs would have hit the USSR and the whole Communist world.The out of control nuclear exchange would have definitely brought the extinction of the earth with no winner as all would be lost.

The Americans agreed to the Soviet terms on the evening of October 27th and on Sunday October 28th Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev desperately sent an aide to Radio Moscow to broadcast a message to the United States and the world that the Soviet Union was dismantling its 3 megaton SS-4 and SS-5 nuclear missiles from Cuba and shipping them back to the Soviet Union. The Cuban Missile crisis remains the most dangerous standoff in human history as the perilous poker and chess game of nuclear brinkmanship between Soviet Premier Khrushchev and American President John F. Kennedy would have been catastrophic for earth if not peacefully resolved.The 13 day standoff from October 16th to 28th, held the whole world in the balance.Kudos for Kennedy and Khrushchev (K and K) for untying what Khrushchev termed as the "knot of war". It was a highly tense time with nerves stretched to breaking point whereby a mistake on either side e.g a Soviet submarine captain in the Cuba naval blockade launching a nuclear tipped torpedo to destroy American naval vessels blocking Soviet access to Cuba or an American destroyer shooting at a Soviet vessel for resisting the blockade would have meant World War 3.This is true history.Now on alternate history.

The Soviet message doesn't reach the USA on time. American bombers are on their way to destroy the Cuban missiles. The Soviets detect the approaching planes and shoot them down but they bombers get a few of the missiles.An American invasion of Cuba is underway. The local Soviet commanders launch their battlefield nukes to destroy the invasion force.The undamaged Cuban missiles are launched at American cities and TU-95 and IL-28 bombers,SLBMs and ICBMs follow up their asssault on the USA and Western Europe. Simultaneously,the USA launches nukes to destroy Cuba and their ICBMs,Polaris subs and B-52 bombers launch a devastating nuclear assault on the USSR,China and Eastern Europe.

Now its all out war.The US and USSR launch all they have on one another incinerating the whole Northern hemisphere and spreading toxic radiation to the Southern hemisphere.The death toll is appalling as billions are instantly wiped out in the first few minutes of the exchange.Nuclear winter sets in as the mushroom clouds and the earth they have lifted up block the suns rays.The Southern hemisphere dies out to to radio-active fallout and the freezing temperatures due to nuclear winter. Humanity goes the way of the dinosaurs caused by man's own greed.A frightening scenario that we are lucky it never happened.

By 312, the Roman Empire had reached a turning point after centuries of military dictatorship powered by the wheels of bureaucracy.

Maxtenius Victorious at Milvian Bridge Since the domination of Octavian over Julius Caesar's assassins, the Senate had been largely a stamp for the emperor to pass his decrees. Many men pursued this utmost position, and civil wars erupted often when capable generals overtook weak emperors. The empire itself became unwieldy, and Diocletian divided Rome into western and eastern parts with co-rulers in each. By the early fourth century, further divisions and murky agreements had created a Tetrarchy where four men controlled the empire as Caesars and Augusti.

In 306, Augustus Constantius Chlorus died, and his son Constantine was proclaimed by his soldiers on the frontier of Britannia that he would be the new emperor. Currently controlling Rome, however, was Maxentius, who had taken the title of Augustus by force after defeating Severus, the legal appointee by the eastern Augustus, Galerius. Licinius, another would-be emperor, had been proclaimed emperor by a conference of the leading political figures of Rome. By 312, Constantine was already moving on Rome to defeat the usurper Maxentius and making plans for alliance with Licinius. A new story by Jeff Provine

Constantine organized the execution of Maxentius's father, Maximinian, and marched with an army of some 40,000, racing over northern Italy and defeating armies more than twice his size, even killing Maxentius's highest general, Ruricius Pompeianus, at Verona. Maxentius had already held Rome successfully through two sieges, but he decided to deal with the upstart from the north himself, setting up an army on the far side of the Milvian Bridge over the Tiber River. On the evening of the 27th, Constantine's forces prepared for battle the next day, and a vision came upon them. Looking into the setting sun, they saw a cross made of light and words in Greek reading, "In this sign, conquer". A dream that night explained that the sign was from a sect of worshippers of the Hebrew god, practically the only one without a temple in Rome where Maxentius had already made substantial sacrifices toward victory in the battle.

As the morning dawned, Constantine prepared his men to mark the sign on their shields, but he was unnerved by the use of Greek letters chi and rho spelling the first sounds of "Christ" when the chi could have easily been his own "Constantine". Hubris came over him, and he edited the sign for his soldiers from the "P" into an "O" for the omicron that would spell his own second letter. The move would prove disastrous, as the rounded shape formed a handy target at the top of the Roman shields where they would be knocked into the faces of their bearers, distracting them while missiles or blows from swords followed. Despite losing the opening cavalry skirmish, Maxentius's army won the day and pressed Constantine's army into breaking. Constantine himself was killed while trying to rally his retreating soldiers.

Maxentius returned victoriously to Rome. Constantine's onetime ally, Licinius, had overseen affairs in the east along with Maximinius Daia but now sought to support Maxentius. Encouraged by Maxentius's victory, Maximinius attempted to overthrow Licinius with an invasion of Byzantium, but Licinius defeated him at Tzirallum and pursued him to utter defeat and suicide at Tarsus. The remainder of Licinius' reign was spent holding off Sassanid attack, while Maxentius went about legitimizing himself and working to stitch the eastern empire back to dependency on Rome as he lent Licinius great masses of wealth to aid in defense.

A century later, the Roman Empire would fall as German barbarians stormed across the Alps and repeatedly sacked and finally conquered the Eternal City in 476. Without a particular seat of strength in the east, the rest of the empire shattered into bases of power in Egypt, the Bosporus, and Syria. The end of Roman authority finally meant an end to centuries-long persecution of the Christian sects, whose monotheism was grown out of Jewish doctrine. With a plethora of Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Roman, and now German gods in veneration, monotheism would serve as a minority in Europe. Norse gods would come to dominate during the Viking Age, but the cohesion of Allah in the Arabic Islam would eventually sweep across Europe, Africa, and well into Asia, carried even further by converted Mongol conquerors a millennium later.

In 312, on this day the Western Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius triumphed at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge; his opponent, the Co-Emperor and Ruler of the East, Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus drowned in the Tiber.

Maxentius Triumphs at the Battle of the Milvian BridgeThe Co-Emperors were related, being brothers-in-law through Constantine's marriage to Fausta, sister of Maxentius.

Nevertheless in the spring of 312, Constantine gathered his forces and decided to oust Maxentius himself. He easily overran northern Italy, winning two major battles: the first near Turin, the second at Verona, where the praetorian prefect Ruricius Pompeianus, Maxentius' most senior general, barely escaped with his life, a turning point given his decisive leadership at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.

According to chroniclers such as Eusebius of Caesarea and Lactantius, Constantine and his soldiers had a vision of the Christian God promising victory if they daubed the sign of the cross on their shields. Unwilling to allow victory to be attributed to divine intervention, Constantine decided against overtly Christian symbolism.

In 1918, sailors and soldiers of the Central Powers, following the example of the Russian Army, begin a general strike and laying down of arms, and a large number of them begin the trek to their capitol cities to overthrow their respective governments.

Bunch of RedsThere is a general feeling among the Central Power militaries that they have been ill-used by those prosecuting the Great War, and they want a reckoning. Germany is the first to feel the wrath of the common soldier, as Kaiser Wilhelm is thrown into the street and ripped limb from limb in their rebellion. The Austrian and Ottoman Emperors escape to Africa, and their rule is replaced by a temporary Soldier's Committee, as is the Kaiser's. The Soldier's Committees of the three nations negotiate an end to the war with the western allies, ceding all the territory that had been conquered by the empires.

A new story by Robbie TaylorThe western allies are reluctant to accept terms from what their leadership considers "a bunch of reds," but accepts the terms lest they face uprisings of their own. The Soldiers Committees and Russia negotiate an alliance among themselves - they don't trust the western powers to allow common men to rule nations, and with good reason. In the spring of 1919, some of the so-called "White Governments" send military forces into the "Red Governments" of Austria and the Ottoman Empire to restore the emperors to their respective thrones. These expeditions are easily beaten back, but they leave a bitter feeling between the capitalist west and the more socialistic central Europeans.

This sets the stage for the Great Ideological War, 1942-1949, in which the west attacked the Central Powers and even replaced the German People's Government with a monarchy again. The Austrian Socialist Democratic Republic and the People's Republic of Near Asia, with Russia's aid, were able to resist the western advance. Today, there exists an uneasy stalemate between the capitalist monarchies of the west and the socialist democracies of the east in Europe.

In 1916, on this morning the Reverend Mervyn S. Evers emerged from a captured German dugout, planning to return across No Man's Land to the British trenches.No Tolkien Part 2 - Cruel Note of Irony by Eric Oppen & Ed.
Three soldiers - a Brigade Machine Gun Officer and two Signals Officers - had spent a very long night with the Anglican chaplain to the Lancashire Fusilliers who recalled ~
"We dossed down for the night in the hope of getting some sleep, but it was not to be. We no sooner laid down than hoards of lice got up. So we went round to the medical officer, who was also in the dugout with his equipment, and he gave us some ointment which he assured us would keep the little brutes away. We anointed ourselves all over with the stuff and again lay down in great hopes, but it was not to be, because instead of discouraging them it seemed to act like a kind of ors d'oeuvre and the little beggars went at their feast with renewed vigor"..
One of the soliders was already dead, and had to be carried across No Man's Land by his colleagues. Evers noticed a small white paper note tucked in the dead officer's tunic, and withdrew it expecting to find a note to the man's young wife Edith.
Instead, the note read ~ "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Click to watch Part 1 of the 1977 Animation
Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats--the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill--The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it--and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the lefthand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river.
This hobbit was a very well-to-do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him. This is the story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained--well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end".
A cruel note of irony to be sure. To be continued ..

In 1943, the first World War II conference between the big three began on this day in the city of Tehran under the code-name Eureka. The chief discussion was centered on the opening of a second front in Western Europe. At the same time a separate protocol pledged the three countries to recognize Israel's independence, a belated acceptance of the Fugu Plan by the Third Reich.Eureka - A Breakthrough at Tehran by Eric Lipps & Todayinah Ed.
The scheme was created in the 1930s in Imperial Japan, centered around the idea of settling Jewish refugees escaping Nazi-occupied Europe, in Japan's territories on the Asian mainland, to Japan's benefit. The Plan was first discussed in 1934, and solidified in 1938 at the Five Ministers' Conference. The final plan was signed off at the Tripartite Pact in 1941, along with a number of other events, providing for its full implementation. The planners believed that the Jews could be quite beneficial to Japan, but also quite dangerous. Therefore, the plan was named after the Japanese delicacy "fugu", a puffer-fish whose poison can kill if the dish is not prepared exactly correctly. The planners were absolutely wrong and absolutely right. The real poisonous nature of the plan was the source of growing friction between Japan and the Third Reich, which was committed to wiping out European Jewry. The Zionist officer class was now hard at work building a new nation in the relative safety of occupied Manchuria, at great distance from the Wannsee Conference Planners who had devised the Final Solution.

Ironically anti-semitism provided the context for agreement. Generalfeldmarschall Erich Von Manstein argued with Hitler about overall strategy on the Eastern Front, advocating an elastic, mobile defense. He was prepared to cede territory, attempting to make the Soviet forces either stretch out too thinly or to make them advance too fast so that they could be attacked on the flanks with the goal of encircling them. Hitler ignored Manstein's advice and continued to insist on static warfare. Because of these frequent disagreements, von Manstein publicly advocated that Hitler relinquish control and leave the management of the war to professionals, starting with the establishment of the position of commander-in-chief in the East (Oberbefehlshaber Ost). Hitler, however, rejected this idea numerous times, fearing that it would weaken his hold on power.

On 19th February 1943 at Zaparozhe, German-occuped USSR Hitler made repeated anti-semitic references to Manstein during a military conference calling him a coward in front of Generals Keitel and Jodl, provoking the Generalfeldmarschall into shooting him dead. Quickly assuming the leadership mantle, Manstein said " First, we must dispose of the carrion here, then devise a story to account for it in suitably heroic style..I see no reasonable hope of us winning the present campaign, let us make sure we do not lose it. "

By late 1943 it was clear that the Third Reich would survive, and planning beyond World War II was now desirable. This enabled the Big Three to find agreement at Tehran ~

"The Three Governments realize that the war has caused special economic difficulties for Israel, and they are agreed that they will continue to make available to the Government of Israel such economic assistance as may be possible, having regard to the heavy demands made upon them by their world-wide military operations, and to the world-wide shortage of transport, raw materials, and supplies for civilian consumption. (Declaration of the Three Powers Regarding Israel - December 1, 1943)" ~ Fuehrer Eric Von Manstein, Prime Minister Hideki Tojo & Il Duce Benito Mussolini.

In 1994, on this day Francisco Martin Duran fired at least 29 shots with a semi-automatic rifle at the White House from Pennsylvania Avenue, outside the south lawn, killing US President Clinton who was one of among the men in dark suits standing there. Duran was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

In 2002, after a few frustrating trips through the city send them into various small cells, Professor Thomas, Dr. Courtney and their Air Force detachment go inside a building in the alien city. The scientists seem very excited at getting into this building, and pull out a device to scan it. Dr. Courtney tells the group, "This is where they keep much of their knowledge. Don't trust most of what you may see". True enough, the group starts experiencing delusions shortly afterwards.

In 1890, with rebel Mormon Charles Brigman in custody, Colonel Beauregard T. Jackson spreads the word around Salt Lake City that attacks had better stop, or Brigman will pay the price. The Latter-Day Saint is defiant though, practically daring Jackson to kill him.

In 1955, future Pascal-Edison chairman William Gates III is born in Seattle, Washington. Gates started as an O.S. designer in the 70's, but quickly moved up the corporate ladder after showing his business acumen with a deal where American schools were locked into a contract with Pascal-Edison for their difference engine needs for 10 years in order to receive free programs for 1 year. .

In 2003, London is shaken by a strong earthquake and several aftershocks. Parts of Buckingham Cathedral collapse, but Pope Righteous I is not harmed, according to the Pope's spokesman. His Holiness doesn't make an appearance to calm the population of the city, so rumors start to run wild that the Buckingham staff are keeping his death quiet. .

In 4694, a shuttle used to transport people between the inner planets was hijacked by pilot Yuan Bin. He threatened to crash it into the Imperial Palace in Beijing unless his pay was raised. The Emperor's Star Fleet officers took swift action and disabled the vessel, then towed the ship to the moon. Emperor Xiao took pity on the man and pardoned him after the Imperial Council presents him with a study that shows the woeful pay rate of small-ship pilots in the solar system. The Emperor took steps afterwards to improve living conditions for those who sailed the solar waves. .

In 1955, future Pascal-Edison chairman William Gates III is born in Seattle, Washington. Gates started as an O.S. designer in the 70's, but quickly moved up the corporate ladder after showing his business acumen with a deal where American schools were locked into a contract with Pascal-Edison for their difference engine needs for 10 years in order to receive free programs for 1 year. .

In 1940, the German Underground invaded Greece. Although the Greeks resisted well, the superior armaments of the G.U. eventually wore them down. They became the first nation conquered by the G.U. in Europe that wasn't in the hands of the Greater Zionist Resistance.

In 1919, the U.S. Congress defeated the Volstead Act, which would have made it illegal to buy or sell alcoholic beverages in America, except for medicinal purposes. President Wilson called it "one of the most colossal blunders ever to see the light of day in the legislature".

In 1886, Socialist President Grover Cleveland celebrated the ties between the comrades of France and America with the dedication of the Statue of Liberty. Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame with conquering limbs astride from land to land, rang the words of the poet inscribed at its base. The towering figure of a woman escaping the chains of oppression, holding aloft the sword of socialism, has been the symbol of America ever since.

In 1606, a British colonial expedition left Florida to establish a settlement in what is now the U.S. state of Georgia.

	On this day in 1973, Roger Staubach squashed the benching rumors by completing 31 of 34 pass attempts and compiling 567 total passing yards in a 33-16 Cowboys win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Veterans Stadium.
Roger Staubach

	On this day in 2010, US and Guyanan troops crossed the border into Venezuela.
Flag of Guyana

On this day in 1962, the United States mounted its first major air campaign in the Florida Coast War as Air Force and Navy fighter jets bombed Soviet missile sites and staging areas in Cuba; in retaliation the Soviets bombed US airbases in Florida and Alabama and deployed two airborne divisions to seize Miami Beach.
	Miama Defences

Wildfire	On this day in 1982, former two-time NWA world heavyweight champion Tommy Rich joined the WWF.
Tommy Rich

In 1636, Harvard College was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The first institution of higher learning in the colonies, it became a branch of Cambridge University in England after the unsuccessful American Rebellion of the 1770's. The program became highly successful under strong British leadership, and it is one of the largest colleges in North America today.

In 1065 AUC, the forces of Maxentius destroy the Emperor Constantine, who had begun trusting in visions to direct his actions. His most recent had been to convert to an obscure religion called Christianity.

Young "Henry VIII" Dies Jousting	With the collapse of the British Empire, a New World Order emerges from "Munich Agreement".	Washington ensures Adams "Bipartisan Strategy" works
Valens takes charge of "Second Battle of Bedriacum"	Up the "Rebel Kennedys"!	US President Hillary Clinton finally gets that "3 a.m. phone call" in the White House.
The public disgrace of "Richard Cromwell" saved the English Republic	The Fall of Comrade Stalin: "Part 1"	thirteen is an unlucky number for the "youngest" Confederate President?
The Search for Jim: "Part 1"	The Imperial Family are rescued by the "Ace of Spies".	The inescapeable past overshadows the choice of "Linz - Capital of Culture 2009".