Today In Alternate History

January 21

In 1981, on this day a Air Force VC-137 Stratoliner exploded in a ball of flame shortly after landing at the Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany. But "Freedom One" was no ordinary commercial aircraft; onboard were the fifty-two American hostages who had been held at the Iranian Embassy for the last 444 days.

Iranian Hostage Crisis on steroidsAlso amongst the long list of fatalities was none other than the thirty-eighth President of the United States, Gerry Ford. Because incoming President Edward M. Kennedy had sent him as an emissary in order to welcome the hostages back into US custody.

Kennedy's predecessor was also a secondary victim of the crisis, albeit an electoral one. The right-wing of the Republican Party put Ford under acute pressure to take action. Protestors in Washington were calling for all Iranians to be expelled from the United States. And so Ford had unwisely authorised two ill-fated mission to rescue the hostages, Operation Eagle Claw and shortly before the election, Operation Credible Sport.

The first attempt, launched at the nadir of the crisis, ended in confusion and embarrassment in the desert due to mechanical problems with the helicopters. And the for the second, which used C130 Hercules transport planes modified with ricket assisted take-off and landing was an unmitigated disaster of the first magnititude. The personal bitterness caused by that second desperate attempt had been so acute, that the hostage-takers had decided to draw Ford into crisis at an even more personal level; in fact, they planned to kill him.
Click to watch documentary.

Back in Washigton, outgoing CIA Director George HW Bush (who sponsored both operations) was in the business of bringing to justice the criminals who had booby-trapped "Freedom One". And finding out precisely how the hostage-takers found out that Kennedy planned to send Ford to meet the hostages in Germany. High on the list of suspects was an Iranian student by the name of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Entry posted by Guest Historian

Michael Knight

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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Crises Source: Wikipedia Labels: Iran, America, George Bush, Gerry Ford, Ted Kennedy.

Readers Comment Chris Oakley commented on 2010-02-19 00:40:24 ~ This would have meant a US-Iran war for sure...

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2010-02-19 17:24:07 ~ I can't help wondering if there wiuldn't have been war, or at least the threat of it, already. A President Ford still in office during the Iranian hostage crisis would have been under heavy pressure from within his own party to go to war over the hostage situation. And if there had been war and we had won, no way would Kennedy have been elected in 1980. On the other hand, if we were in the middle of a war as of Election Day 1980, again it's unlikely that Kennedy would have unseated the incumbent President, especially given Chappaquiddick--which might have made it difficult for him even to secure his party's nomination.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2010-02-20 17:50:35 ~ The problem with going to war with Iran was that it's 'way too close to the (then) USSR for comfort---the Iranians could have squawked to the Soviets for help, and likely gotten it. About the only way to make it work would have been to go in with the Soviets. We'd done it in WWII, after all...

Readers Comment Allen W. McDonnell commented on 2011-04-19 10:59:58 ~ Gerald Ford re-elected in 1976 would have been ineligible to run for re-election in 1980 due to the 22nd amendment. These events are depicted at the end of Ford's re-elected term (Jan 81) He had served more than 2 years after becoming President so was limited to one additional 4 year term in office. He ran for the nomination in 1980 to serve his last term and lost to Ronald Reagan. If he had beaten Carter in 1976 it is highly likely that Reagan would have still been the nominee in 1980 and I have a hard time picturing a circumstance where Edward Kennedy defeats Reagan.

Readers Comment Jeff Provine commented on 2011-04-19 16:49:04 ~ US & USSR teaming up on Iran... That would've shaken everything. Perestroika earlier, for one.

In 2010, Hugo Chavez accused the United States of accidentally inducing a powerful earthquake off the shore of Haiti as part of its clandestine and increasingly desperate attempts to reduce the temperature of the Earth's core. The accusations gained further credence when less than a fortnight later, John S. McCain unveiled a $4tn federal budget under which the US deficit would spiral to a record $1.75tn.

Letting off SteamOver $250bn of funds earmarked for sending US astronauts back to the Moon had already been diverted to the HAARP facility located in Gakuna, Alaska, a project being personally overseen by Vice President Sarah Palin.

After receiving the nomination from the Republican Party, McCain had been informed that neutrinos from a massive solar flare were acting as microwave radiation, causing the temperature of the Earth's core to increase rapidly. Demanding "straight talk" from American geologists, a bold plan was presented, to trigger earthquakes in an attempt to let off steam from the Earth's core. At the heart of the project was a HAARP, an ionospheric research facility jointly funded by the US Air Force, the US Navy, the University of Alaska, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, capable of initiating anything, from earthquakes to rain, to draught.

Entry posted by Todayinah Editor

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Conspiracy Theories Source: Wikipedia Labels: HAARP, Haiti, Hugo Chavez, John McCain, 2012.

Readers Comment Chris Oakley commented on 2010-02-02 00:33:16 ~ Uncle Hugo's a few cards short of a full deck, IMHO....

Comment from A. Dennison on Facebook: After all, the temperature at the core is millions of degrees. Just ask Al.

Comment from Robert Vancel on Facebook: Um.... 'BE' prevented... just sayin'

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2010-02-02 08:16:35 ~ If I thought that the US could do things like that, I'd be VERY polite...

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2010-02-02 15:28:19 ~ The science in this post is, well, questionable. (1) There is no direct connection between the earth's core and its mantle and crust, from which lava reaches the surface. (2) There is, as far as we know, no water at the core--hence no "steam" to let off from there. Even if there were, see (1) above. (And forget about deliberately tunneling to the core; that's way beyond present technology.) (3) Neutrinos can't act as "microwave radiation"--they're an entirely different phenomenon, and interact so weakly with ordinary matter that they can pass right through the planet as though it wereen't there. Detecting them at all is a major challenge. Re Chris Oakley's comment: Assuming the "Al" in question is Al Gore, I'm confident he's never said, and doess not believe, that the temperature of Earth's core os "millions" of degrees. Thousands would be more like it; it's the sun's core which runs to millions of degrees. And in my humble opinion, whatever one thinks of Hugo Chavez, if he made any allegation that the United States was setting off earthquakes, he'd be more likely to say it was for some explicitly political purpose rather than to cool off the planetary interior.

	In 1924, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, AKA Vladimir Lenin, died in Moscow. Ulyanov had been in prison since his arrest for his role in the failed 1917 attempt by the so-called 'Bolshevik,' or 'Majority,' faction to seize control of the Duma, the parliament established following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II that February. The Bolshevik leader had been arrested July 3, along with Lev Bronstein (AKA Leon Trotsky) and tried for treason; he had escaped execution only because the Duma had outlawed the death penalty in March 1917.

Vladimir Lenin

On this day in 1969, the Apollo 4 flight crew performed the first translunar orbital docking manuver in the history of space exploration. Following the completion of this maneouvre the Apollo 4 astronauts received a congratulatory phone call from US president Richard Nixon, who'd been sworn into office the previous day.

	In 1985, Gary Hart of Colorado is sworn in as the fortieth president of the United States, succeeding President Edward M. Kennedy. The inauguration, which ordinarily would have taken place on the 20th, has been delayed according to longstanding tradition against holding the ceremony on a Sunday.

Gary Hart

In 1980, Massachusetts senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy announces he will seek the Democratic presidential nomination. Reaction is divided. Many liberals welcome Kennedy's entry into the race. With the Tehran embassy still occupied by Iranian militants, Kennedy's supporters are quick to point out that he had opposed the Rockefeller administration's decision to allow the exiled Shah of Iran to come to the U.S. for medical treatment, which is widely seen as having precipitated the embassy siege.


Conservatives, however, respond with a mixture of anger and contempt, accusing Sen. Kennedy of 'feeling entitled' to the presidency. Moreover, the subject of the Chappaquiddick incident of 1969, in which Kennedy was involved in a car accident in which a woman died, is immediately raised.

	In 1963, after two and a half weeks of angry debate in the House of Representatives, Rep. Williams' bill of impeachment against President Kennedy is voted on. The bill passes, 219-216, despite furious lobbying by moderate and liberal congressmen and by Vice-President Johnson. The Vice-President fears that if he becomes president in the wake of Kennedy's removal via impeachment, he will be a political captive of Congress.


Anticipating that he will run for the presidency in 1968, he prefers to come to the office as at least Congress's equal. Flushed with success, the House's conservative bloc prepares to vote on Chief Justice Warren's impeachment the following day.

In 1969, Astrid Pflaume gave her first report about her operation to the neo-Nazis financing her. Although she had only been gone 4 days by their time, she has been in the field for 5 years. She is surly during the debriefing, more to used to giving commands now than obeying them. Wilhelm Schoemann begins to suspect that her heart is no longer on their side.

In 1977, Massachusetts senator Edward Moore Kennedy is sworn in at noon as the 39th President of the United States of America. Media coverage features numerous sentimental retrospectives on the 'Camelot' days of Kennedy's brother, President John F. Kennedy, whose assassination in 1963 remains a national trauma. There are plenty of critics of the incoming president, however: he is despised on the Republican right for his liberal views, and has even been criticized by the Catholic Church, of which he is a member, for his support of the Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which struck down legal bans on abortion.

Eisenhower	In 1953, conservative Republicans hail McCarthy's attack on Eisenhower, whom they have distrusted all along as a representative of their party's "Eastern establishment". Before the week is out, there will be talk of running the Senator against the General in the 1956 GOP primaries.

US President

In 2005, Jeanna Best and Dave Lange, after a couple of days of observing people's use of their hands, get together at his apartment and compare notes. They have both become decidedly paranoid, because they have actually witnessed the 'claw-like' behavior that they had been warned about in the Save Earth meeting. Best plaintively asks, 'What's going on?'

In 2001, the breakaway soviets of the northwest, the People's Republic of America, invade the California Soviet and occupy San Francisco. They hold the northern portion of the soviet until the Soviet States of America cut them off by invading Washington Soviet, forcing the P.R.A. to withdraw their troops in order to defend their own territory.

In 1985, conservative activist Ralph Shephard begins his first term of office. He had delayed his swearing in until the 21st because he refused to conduct state business on a Sunday. In his inaugural speech, he promised to end the dishonor that had gripped the nation since the loss of the Vietnam War, declaring, 'A year of great decisions is approaching. A historical task of unique dimensions has been entrusted to us by the Creator which we are obliged to carry out.'

In 1862, British police arrest a man in Marbury for trafficking in explosives illegally. During interrogation, it is revealed that he is the source for most of the conventional explosives that have been used by the Human League. This is both good news and bad news for the British authorities; the good news is that they have cut off that supply of explosives to the terrorists. The bad news is that they move up to more powerful weapons from there.

In 1183, Velma Porter and Mikhail von Heflin emerge from the swirling rip in the time/space continuum of the coast of Bermuda. They manage to swim to the shore, but both quickly realize that they are no longer in 2008. 'That's the last time I let you plan our vacation,' Porter tells von Heflin. They begin walking inland from the coast to see if there is any civilization on the island.

In 1077, the Tuscan Bishop Hildebrand begged forgiveness of Pope William I for his heresy in challenging the Pope's directive that all clergy in the Holy British Empire should be approved by him. Bishop Hildebrand continued to defy Pope William, even declaring himself the Pope once, until His Holiness had him arrested and executed by the Papal Guard.

In 902, Lebuin's Christian forces, now down to less than a hundred, break down the defenses of Rhonwen's fortress by the sea and storm into the castle. Their numbers are further reduced by deadly traps inside the fortress that have been devised by the wizards of Wales, and the pitiful handful that manage to stumble out of the keep alive are driven off by the combined forces of Merlin's dragon and Atticus' golem. Lebuin vows to return with a stronger force and destroy the wizards.

In 1000 Post-Creation, Gabriel takes the human woman Eve again, and one of his female angelic cohort, Lilith, takes the male, Adam. The Creator sends His arch-angel Michael down to them to punish this further transgression, and Michael casts Gabriel and Lilith down to the Abyss. Lucifer, angered at their willful disregard for his sacrifice, leaves the Abyss and, with all the might he has been given by Yahweh, seals the opening to the lake of fire, trapping Gabriel and Lilith there.

In 2004, the Soviet Union's Martian colony is hit by a gigantic sandstorm. Their underground facility is saved, but the above-ground facility is totaled. They are forced to request aid from the American and European colonies, who escaped the worst of the storm. The destruction of the facility marks the end to an era - it had stood since the Soviet Union had first landed on Mars in 1975.

In 1926, strongman and actor Steve Reeves was born on his family's farm in Montana. After gaining popularity in Italian films playing Hercules, he made a move to more sophisticated roles as the spy James Bond in Dr. No. He retired from the role after 4 feature films and from acting in general afterwards, occasionally making cameo appearances in television and film in the 70's and 80's. After spending the 90's raising horses and promoting drug-free body-building, he returned for one last role as a gladiatorial mentor in the Ridley Scott film Gladiator. He died the day the film premiered in 2000.

January 20

In 2013, just one hour ahead of the sunset deadline required by the US Constitution, the swearing-in of Mitt Romney was finally conducted in the unlikeliest of locations, the resort city of Las Vegas.

So help me GodDue to an excess of weather caused by a solar flare, the President-elect had been trapped on the West Coast. Finally, the weather itself had permitted him to set off but the electrical storms meant that the prospect of making it to the Capitol soon receded sharply.

The rumour mill had then kicked in, suggesting that he was heading to Salt Lake City to be sworn-in with his hand on a Mormon bible. True or false, time began to run short and the Romney Party was forced to land in Las Vegas to complete the oath of office. It was a far cry from the smooth transition promised on the President-elect's web site.

Entry posted by Guest Historian

Jackie Speel

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Mitt Romney, Inauguration, Presidency, President-elect, Constitution.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, the picture is of course from his Gubernatorial oath of office. This story was proposed by Jackie Speel with an assist from Jeff Provine.

Readers Comment Valdis Kletnieks commented on 2013-02-14 22:26:46 ~ Actually, there's no "sunset deadline". The 20th Amendment spells out that the *outgoing* President's term ends at noon on Jan 20, but doesn't specify exactly when the incoming President's oath of office has to happen. For that matter, they *could* have sworn him into office *on the plane* - after all, LBJ was sworn in on a plane (though it *was* still on the ground). And although the use of a judge is traditional, all that would be *required* would be *witnesses* to him taking the oath (which could hopefully be found in the retinue traveling with him on the plane).

Readers Comment Jackie Rose commented on 2013-02-14 22:51:30 ~ But why would anyone object to his being sworn in on the Book of Mormon, since everyone knows he is a Mormon by now. And if he had to take the oath in Las Vegas...well, no one can imagine that he would choose to sin in Sin City.

Readers Comment Robbie Taylor commented on 2013-02-14 23:25:04 ~ OH, believe me, there are plenty of people who would object, even though there is no constitutional need for a holy book in the ceremony at all.

Readers Comment Jared Myers commented on 2013-02-14 23:44:00 ~ The media types would have a field day with this one. So would the late-night comedy hosts.

Readers Comment Chris Oakley commented on 2013-02-15 00:00:46 ~ Maybe he wanted to meet the cast of "CSI"? :D

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2013-02-15 06:33:16 ~ I rather think the planners wouldn't let this happen. And he'd be sworn in on a regular Bible. The standard-issue LDS uses the same Bible as other Christians; they just have other writings as well (Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, etc.)

Readers Comment Jackie Speel commented on 2013-02-15 10:13:53 ~ Partly inspired by the 'excess of weather' in the US - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_2013_nor%27easter

Readers Comment Jackie Speel commented on 2013-02-22 16:18:31 ~ One storyline that could be developed from this - what if there is 'an ongoing crisis' (?the fiscal cliff) that overlaps the two Presidencies - but it is not immediately obvious whether the new President is sworn in and taking on the baton. If there is intermittent communication there might well be two official presidents issuing orders (as the 'next in line' is sworn in pro tem until it is clear the elected President has taken the oath)

Readers Comment Jeff Provine commented on 2013-02-26 23:18:57 ~ It'd be a major battleground for Evangelicals in 2014. Could even tear apart the Republican party.

In 2013, on the day at the inauguration of Romney-Biden, both office holders pledged to work together to build the bipartisan support necessary to stop America going over the "Fiscal Cliff". An article from the Deadlocked 2012 Election thread.

Deadlocked Election prevents America going over Fiscal CliffIn a deadlocked election, both Presidential candidates Obama and Romney had won 269 of the 538 electoral votes divided between the states. This result had thrown the outcome of the presidential race into the House of Representatives, which must name the president in the case of a tie. A Romney victory was assured because Republicans had kept control of the House in the election. But the vice presidency was decided in the U.S. Senate, where Democrats maintained their majority and therefore Biden was selected after he caste the deciding vote for himself.

Ironically given Romney's pledge to work across the aisles as he had as Governor of Massachussets, this unique opportunity to solve the Federal Debt Crisis raised a fresh challenge, for each side to accept that dirty word - compromise. During the summer of 2011, outgoing President Obama had appeared tantalisingly close to gaining agreement on a Grand Bargain with Speaker of the House John Boehner. However the agreement had foundered in acrimony with Boehner disparaging business with the Obama White House to "[dealing with] a bowl of Jello". But of course ultimately what was required was for both sides to abandon orthodoxy and accept a trade[1]: cuts in benefits (Medicare,Medicaid, Social security etc.) and domestic spending for tax increases (more revenue, not dancing games on nominal tax rates) and defense cuts. And the real issue, was that each side had wanted the other to feel the pain. The moment of truth had now arrived; sick of a divided (and perhaps dysfunctional) government, the American voting system had delivered an outcome that MIGHT force each side to commit to work together toward a negotiated solution.

Entry posted by Todayinah Editor

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Deadlock 2012 Source: Wikipedia Labels: Mitt Romney, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Presidency, America.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, in this article was explore a deadlocked election scenario described by Reuters. We have repurposed content from that article and also ideas received [1] with thanks from Scott Palter.

Readers Comment John Braungart commented on 2012-10-22 11:41:20 ~ And how many states seceed from the Union at this point?

Readers Comment Mike McIlvain commented on 2012-10-22 12:22:22 ~ Brother, what this could to the face of American politics. Behind the face the K Street lobbyists would still be in business as usual, but it would make for some glorious political reporting!

Readers Comment Jackie Rose commented on 2012-10-22 12:34:40 ~ We might even have to deal with the astronomical costs of medical care...starting with the premise that doctors are not automatically entitled to get rich. And then we could go on to defining Social Security as insurance, not entitlement, and thus subject to a means test. And since people are living much longer than they did when Otto von Bismarck invented the workers' pension which started at age 65, we could raise the age, too. The mind BOGGLES!

Readers Comment Todayinah Ed. commented on 2012-10-22 12:34:40 ~ what appointment would Paul Ryan get in the Romney-Biden Administration, Budget Director / Secretary of Commerce / Treasury, some kind of UK-style super-ministry? Or might he oppose this bipartisan presidency?

Readers Comment Sailorbarsoom commented on 2012-10-22 15:23:11 ~ Well, Social Security is already solvent through 2030 or so, and it's budgeted and funded separately from the rest of the budget, so nothing needs to be done to it just yet. Certainly nothing needs be done to Social Security in order to reduce the deficit. Nah, let's go off the cliff. We can fix things in January.

Readers Comment Chris Oakley commented on 2012-10-22 15:28:53 ~ Seems a little ASB-ish to me...

Readers Comment John Braungart commented on 2012-10-22 16:16:07 ~ SocSec might be solvent, but according to the ultra-right, it's got to go because it was the handywork of that son of Satan, Frank Roosevelt, enemy of commerce and capitalism. But realistically, I think that ANY politican that messes with it will be staring down the double barrels wierlded by a LOT of angry senior citizens.

Readers Comment Jackie Rose commented on 2012-10-22 18:12:47 ~ But as I mentioned before, John, Soc Sec was the work of Otto von Bismarck, and the ultra right is very fond of HIM. Of course, he meant it as a pension for workers who would be impoverished otherwise...not for the freaking KAISER!

Readers Comment John Braungart commented on 2012-10-22 20:14:26 ~ Mebbe so, but the Kaiser and Bismarck were in another country. As some of these folks about Bismarck now and you're more likely to either hear about North Dakota or just get a blank stare. And I agree, there should be a incom cap for eligiblity to receive it.

Readers Comment Jackie Rose commented on 2012-10-22 20:24:24 ~ Or even more likely, John...they will think you are talking about a jelly-filled donut.

Readers Comment Sailorbarsoom commented on 2012-10-22 23:57:07 ~ You might hear about this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KecIdlEAKhU

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2012-10-23 06:03:53 ~ This isn't alternate history, since 2013 hasn't happened yet. And it's a bit ASB-ish.

Readers Comment John Braungart commented on 2012-10-23 11:47:54 ~ Jackie (assuming the voice of an average tenth-grader) Hey dude, why'd a German battleship get named after a city in North Dakota?

Readers Comment Jackie Rose commented on 2012-10-23 12:46:20 ~ But all of the students seem to know who Hitler was, which might be rather depressing.

Readers Comment Sailorbarsoom commented on 2012-10-23 15:34:06 ~ I don't see what's ASB-ish about a tied presidential election getting thrown into the House of Representatives. That's what the Constitution provides for But, if it happens, be prepared for the news media to use the phrase "Constitutional crisis" until it sounds like a hiccup. It isn't a Constitutional CRISIS; it's the Constitutional PROCESS.

Readers Comment Jeff Provine commented on 2012-10-23 19:31:50 ~ The American public grows even more confused about and distant from Washington, one famine away from anarchy.

Readers Comment Mark Taylor commented on 2012-10-30 13:48:33 ~ Some states elect Governor and Lt-Governor separately.If this applied to the Presidency, would've been "split tickets" quite often. For instance -I'd have voted for Mccain/Biden 2008 and would vote for Romney/Biden now.

In 1265, the end of the English kings came at the hand Simon de Montfort (son of a French crusader who became Earl of Leicester through his mother's bloodline), who himself married Henry III's sister Eleanor in secret.

De Montfort's Parliament Ends English MonarchyThis was yet another point of strife in the kingdom as the barons of England protested the marriage, as Eleanor had been widowed of the Earl of Pembroke, and they demanded that their opinion on such an important marriage should have been asked even though Henry had given his permission. De Montfort and Henry themselves had a falling out when de Montfort used the king's name as security on a loan, and, after Henry discovered this, he told de Montfort, "You seduced my sister, and when I discovered this, I gave her to you, against my will, to avoid scandal". The feud caused Montfort and his wife to flee England in 1239, going on crusade and being offered the regency of France before returning in 1253 to make peace with Henry.

A new story by Jeff ProvineThe peace would be a shallow one, however, as de Montfort began to lead the argument against Henry's demand for a subsidy of royalty from the barons. While de Montfort continued to support Henry on foreign affairs such as undoing pledges to the Pope, he determined that Henry's domestic policies were causing disapproval among all English, especially barons. In 1258, a parliament was called at Oxford, where de Montfort worked with the barons to ease the troubles between them and the king. There, he became more enfranchised with his fellow barons, but he did not approve wholeheartedly of the oligarchy created by the Provisions of Oxford, which gave the barons tremendous power in a Council of Fifteen to control domestic affairs. Henry was forced to take an oath on the Provisions, but, in 1261, he was granted a Papal Bull that nullified his vow. Civil war erupted three years later as the barons rallied under de Montfort to force the king to loosen his grip on the country, and the Battle of Lewes in 1264 gave a staunch victory to de Montfort when he captured both Henry and his son, Edward Longshanks.

With the king under guard and many of the barons his direct allies, de Montfort became the de facto ruler of England. He established a triumvirate with the Earl of Gloucester and the Bishop of Chichester, whom he controlled, and a new Parliament, which became unique in its inclusion of burgesses from economic boroughs as well as the knights of counties and in that de Montfort demanded all members be chosen by election, with the vote available to any man who owned land with the value of an annual rent of 40 shillings. The extension of power to the lower classes upset many of the barons, but de Montfort had hope in his state-building by unifying the peoples of England on a wide scale. Further barons distrusted de Montfort's alliance with Llywelyn, Prince of Wales, who took advantage of the English war to affirm the independence of Wales, weakening the Marcher Barons' holds there.

De Montfort felt his control of the nation slipping, so he decided to use power fully before it could vanish from him. Upon the opening of the Parliament, de Montfort pushed through a bill stripping Henry III of his title of king based on treason for canceling his oath from Oxford. A second bill established that England should have only a prince for its foreign affairs, which meant Edward Longshanks would never become more than a figurehead. Many of the barons balked, and several began to conspire against de Montfort, but he assured his legacy by promptly dispatching Edward from the kingdom to go on crusade and imprisoning Henry until his death. Edward, who had agreed with the Provisions of Oxford initially, determined he would be content until at least he was not surrounded by de Montfort's trusted (and armed) guards while in a foreign land.

Without a royal for his enemies to rally behind, de Montfort secured his power, primarily by his new enfranchisement of the growing middle class of England. When Longshanks arrived back from crusade in 1272 after the death of his father, he attempted to overthrow de Montfort's new permanent Parliament with barons who wished to gain back their power, but the grassroots support had grown firm and further aid flowed in from Llywelyn of Wales and Longshanks' brother-in-law, Alexander III, King of Scotland, who had also struggled against the power of an English king under Henry. Longshanks was again captured, and de Montfort stripped his title by act of Parliament as he had done with Henry, making Longshanks' quieter brother Edmund the new Prince of England. Edward Longshanks would live out his life under house arrest.

England settled into a sense of quiet prosperity and growing trade, sharing Britain with Wales and the Kingdom of Scotland, which underwent its own crisis after a string of deaths in 1286 and resulted in the leadership of the Guardians of Scotland. In 1306, Robert the Bruce became King of Scotland, and Scottish rule would eventually spread over the whole of the British Isles after the Black Death swept through the trade towns of England in the fourteenth century.

Entry posted by Guest Historian

Jeff Provine

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Jeff Provine Blog Source: Jeff Provine’s Blog Labels: De Montfort, Crusader, Monarchy, King, England.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, in reality de Montfort did not attempt to destroy the kingship of England, merely spread the power among a new base. His plan weakened his ties with the barons, and, after Edward's escape in May of 1265, nearly all of de Montfort's support disappeared. Edward defeated and slew de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham and went on to become one of England's most powerful kings, confirming domination of Wales and invading Scotland in 1296.

Readers Comment Stan Brin commented on 2012-01-20 10:21:25 ~ Not the way these feudalists thought. Kingship was sacred. Besides, Longshanks was the great summoner of parliaments, and the man who put both parliament and common law on the map. (Mel Gibson's propaganda epic, aside.)

Readers Comment Matthew Dattilo commented on 2012-01-20 16:17:42 ~ So, Stan, you're saying that he DIDN"T throw his son's silk-clad lover out a tower window? ;-)

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2012-01-20 17:53:54 ~ I don't think this would have been possible at that time, however bad a king Henry III was. The second Edward was out of Montfort's control, he'd start scheming to overturn the whole thing, and he'd get a lot of support.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, what if Raefer Johnson had disarmed Sirhan Sirhan before he could fire the gun? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).

Unknown Speaker: "President Kennedy has survived an assassination attempt. I am right here Raefer Johnson has a hold of a man who apparently tried to fire a shot".

Andrew West: "He has still has the gun, the gun is pointed at me at this moment. I hope they can get the gun out of his hand. Be very careful! Get the gun, get the gun, get the gun. Look, stay away from the gun. Stay away from the gun. His hand is frozen. Get his thumb, Get his thumb, Get his thumb. Get the whole of his thumb and break it if you have to, get his fast. Get away from the barrel, get away from the barrel, man! That's it Raefer, get it! Get the gun Raefer".

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In 1969, on this day a rousing rendition of "If I Can Dream" sung by Elvis Presley closed out the first inauguration of Robert F. Kennedy as the 37th President of the United States.
Click to listen to the 1968 Comeback Special.

A Sky More Blue Peace and understanding comes to AmericaIt was an appropriately chosen song for two main reasons. Firstly, the expression of the widely held sentiment that American had become materially richer, but spiritually poorer during the sixties. And secondly, the hope that Americans could "become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again".

In a sense a flaming torch had been passed this time around because the noble causes of his elder brother's 1960 election had deteriorated into intractable moral dilemmas for the more complex world of the 1970s. And the prospects of say delivering true social justice for African-Americans or beating the Viet Cong were looking extremely bleak, despite the optimism of the campaign trail where deliriously excited blacks, Hispanics and white students had grasped at him so hard that his hands bled.

And yet there was good cause for hope that the haters might not win out. Not only had Kennedy narrowly survived an assassination attempt in the Ambassasor Hotel, Los Angeles. But also because alongside the new Secretary of State Eugene McCarthy he had managed to navigate the perils of the Chicago Convention. And sieze the nomination despite the very best of efforts of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the President who loathed him.

Entry posted by Todayinah Editor

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Robert Kennedy, Rafer Johnson , Elvis Presley, Presidency, Premature Death.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, in this article we explore a suggestion received with thanks from guest historian Amnah Khan. We also examine the ideas proposed in Tim Stanley's excellent article "The passing of a dynasty: the careers of the three Kennedy brothers defined the politics of America in the 1960s, a decade that began amid vigour and optimism and ended in scandal and cynicism. Yet still they fascinate" published in the November 2009 Edition of History Today Magazine.

Readers Comment Stan Brin commented on 2011-10-31 06:05:53 ~ I don't see him allying himself with Dirty Gene. He wasn't a hater.

Readers Comment Amnah Khan commented on 2011-11-01 12:41:47 ~ A good expression from the heart, nicely put.

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2011-11-01 22:27:00 ~ "Dirty Gene"? A "hater"? In which world--Earth-Three oput of DC Comics?

Readers Comment Stan Brin commented on 2011-11-02 07:42:56 ~ Sorry, Eric, i was there. The anti-war' movement was motivated by brutal hatred. Suffice it to say that what they did didn't make it into the history books. But i was there.

Readers Comment Scott Palter commented on 2011-11-08 06:35:16 ~ McCarthy had had a quite severe falling out with RFK that winter. Kennedy's people expected Eugene step aside once Bobby got in the race. In reverse McCarthy and his acolytes felt that Bobby had used them as stalking horses and then sand bagged them. In either event there was zero chance LBJ would have appointed McCarthy Sec of State and in 1968 it was LBJ's to give. Ditto the Chicago Convention. LBJ could have nominated either of his pet dogs at that convention. He was in TOTAL control.

Readers Comment Chris Oakley commented on 2011-11-08 15:44:18 ~ @Eric: I've heard Gene McCarthy called a lot of things, but nobody's ever described him as a hater before.

Readers Comment Jeff Provine commented on 2011-11-08 15:51:49 ~ LBJ had incredible Washington power, so RFK would've had to do some strange dealings to crack it.

Readers Comment John Braungart commented on 2011-11-08 15:58:14 ~ How about LBJ's already weak ticker gives out on him a year or two earlier?

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2011-11-08 18:37:21 ~ This might have been very bad. The Kennedys in general tended to feel, and act, like rules didn't apply to them, and RFK was, I am told, the most ruthless of them. What with the Camelot myth and the martyrdom at Dallas to work with, RFK could conceivably have done a lot of damage. OTOH, in this TL Chappaquiddick almost certainly doesn't happen and Teddy is, at best, a footnote.

In 1968, speaking on the steps of St Mary's Hospital in Madison, Wisconson, Otis Ray Redding, Jr shocked the crowd of fans who been anticipating his release by announcing that he was "planning to leave this world" of music.

King of SoulFive of the six members of Redding's backup band, "The Bar-Kays" had been killed when his twin engine Beechcraft plane crashed into the icy waters of the Squaw Bay area of Lake Monona on December 10th.

He had swapped seats with Ben Cauley and was sitting directly behind the co-pilot's seat before falling asleep on the flight clutching his seat cushion. He awoke when he realized he could not breathe. He said that he then saw band mate Phalon Jones look out of a window and say "Oh, no". He unbuckled his safety belt which ultimately allowed him to separate himself from the wreckage. As the impact tore a wing off the small Beechcraft, the fuselage was torn open and Redding was able to bob to the surface as he clutched his seat cushion. Bassist James Alexander survived because he had taken a different flight as there was not enough room left on the plane.

He had been warning fellow artists that he was "planning to leave this world", which seemed on first listening to be the meaning of "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" recorded only three days prior to the crash. During his recovery, Redding had experienced something of a religious awakening, deciding that he would seek a new life in Christ.

During the ninteen seventies, he would lead a spiritual revivalist movement that would electrify America. When he left office in 1977, President Robert F. Kennedy would pay tribute to Redding for his pivotal role in "binding up the wounds among us to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again".
Click to listen to Kennedy's "Mindless Menace of Violence" Speech.

Entry posted by Todayinah Editor

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Musicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Otis Redding, Premature Death, Soul Music, Jesus, America.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2011-01-20 07:03:59 ~ Don't know nearly enough to comment intelligently...sorry.

Readers Comment Chris Oakley commented on 2011-01-20 16:31:54 ~ Love to know how RFK survived the Ambassador Hotel in this TL. He doesn't leave through the kitchen

Readers Comment Jeff Provine commented on 2011-01-20 20:15:15 ~ Wonder how the revivalist movement through soul would affect the growth of the rap movement.

In 1969, Robert F. Kennedy was sworn in as the thirty-seventh President of the United States today, bringing a final end to a tumultuous campaign season that threatened to split the Democratic Party.

RFK Sworn In a story by Andrew Beane Kennedy took the oath of office with his wife Ethel Kennedy holding his family Bible to a verse that his brother John quoted as thirty-fifth President: Luke 12:48, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked".

Though reluctant to run for the Presidency, Robert Kennedy was convinced to run by friends and family, and by the disastrous campaign in Vietnam, which culminated in the February Tet Offensive. Though criticized by some in the Democratic Party as an opportunist who was exploiting President Johnson's failures in the war against the communists in South Vietnam, Kennedy contended that Johnson had not only failed the soldiers serving in Vietnam, but American society here at home as well. "If we believe that we, as Americans, are bound together by a common concern for each other, then an urgent national priority is upon us. We must begin to end the disgrace of this other America. And this is one of the great tasks of leadership for us, as individuals and citizens this year".

As Kennedy sought to defeat the favored Vice President Hubert Humphrey in the state primaries, his campaign almost came to a halt on June 6th of last year. Kennedy narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian-American who felt betrayed by Kennedy's support for Israel during the 1967 Six Day War. A bullet grazed the right arm of the presidential hopeful, who otherwise remained unharmed.

During his inaugural speech, Kennedy vowed to seek a swift and responsible end to the Vietnam War, promising that American combat forces will leave Indochina within eighteen months of his taking office. He called the war "a disastrous failure, started with eyebrow-raising zeal and ill-conceived planning", and called it a crime that "so many of our young men were fed into the fire because of decisions based on questionable origins". Kennedy was referring to the disputed Gulf of Tonkin incident, which he promised to investigate. He also promised to return the military's focus on the Soviet threat in Europe, and accelerate desegregation and social justice "So that every man, woman and child in these beautiful United States may live the life that my dear brother John, my friend Martin Luther King Jr, and our Lord Jesus Christ all died to secure".

Entry posted by Guest Historian

Andrew Beane

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Alternate Nations Source: Wikipedia Labels: Vietnam, Sirhan, Robert Kennedy, RFK, Presidency.

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2010-04-08 00:38:12 ~ As I recall, RFK was actually shot June 5. The press confereence annoouncing that he had dieds was held early the next day. It's a minor quibble. One does wonder, however, how much RFK would actually have accomplished given the implacable hostility of most Republicans and what might well have been the embittered noncooperation of the Johnson-Humphrey wing of the Democratuic Party. And that's assuming he'd actually gotten the Democratic nomination. It tends to be assumed he would have if he had lived, but it was not guaranteed; a lot of party bosses didn't like the liberal senator and could have been expected to work against him at the '68 convention.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2010-04-08 01:24:24 ~ RFK as President would be like having J. Edgar Hoover on steroids in the Oval Office. From what I've read he was a nasty piece of work.

Readers Comment Andrew Beane commented on 2010-04-08 02:36:04 ~ This doubled as an assignment for my history class

Readers Comment Scott Palter commented on 2010-04-08 10:58:50 ~ LBJ could have nominated either of his pets beagels at that convention and was determined that he not be sandwhiched between two Kennedys. So what deal is offered to make LBJ back down?

In 1936, upon the death of George V his eldest son Edward ascended to the throne as Emperor of India and King of the United Kingdom and the British dominions.

Abdication Crisis avoidedEdward had held successively the titles of Prince Edward of York, Prince Edward of Cornwall and York, Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay, and Prince of Wales. As a young man, he served in World War I, undertook several foreign tours on behalf of his father, George V, and was associated with a succession of older, married women. The most recent example of the King's womanising was an affair with the American divorcée Wallis Simpson.

Members of the establishment and the royal house were horrified to discover that Edward was planning to break royal protocol by watching the proclamation of his own accession to the throne from a window in the company of the then still-married Mrs. Simpson. Fortunately for all concerned, he was disuaded from this course of action. Several months later the issue re-emerged when Edward declared that he intended to marry Wallis. However, due to her age it was improbable that such a union would bear children, and Edward was convinced to continue the relationship in semi-secrecy.

The significance of these events would only become apparent three years later. Because Edward VIII turned out to be just the right man for the hour, helping to lead the British people through the continental crisis with a calm fortitude that gained him their love and respect. Due in no small part to his excellent relationship with the German Government, the monarch had succeeded where elected politicians might fail, by ensuring that it would be "peace in our time".

Entry posted by Todayinah Editor

© Baldwin, Paul. "The 365 Most Important Events of the Twentieth Century"
Story Tags Click on the hyperlinked metadata to surf the site!

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Alternate Nations Source: Wikipedia Labels: Edward VIII, Hitler Triumphant, Germany, Britain, Abdication Crisis.

Readers Comment David Atwell commented on 2010-02-05 02:09:31 ~ More likely Edward would have joined the Nazi Germans side & allow most of Europe to be conquered as a result ;)

Readers Comment Stan Brin commented on 2010-02-05 02:56:37 ~ You're probably right.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2010-02-05 06:41:24 ~ FWIW, just because he'd been cordial and polite on a tour of Germany did not make him a Nazi. It has been pointed out that pointing Hitler East would have been very much in Britain's own interest, and Hitler himself would have been amenable---he had no interest in destroying the British Empire.

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2010-02-05 20:53:05 ~ One wonders just how long "our time" would have lasted after the fall of France. If King Edward had led Britain to a separate peace, the Nazis would have been free to devote much greater resources to Operation Barbarossa in '41, and if as a result the Soviet Union had fallen, how long would it have been before Britain faced a choice between war and vassalage? Moreover, a separate peace between Britain and the Nazis would have strengthened the hand of isolationists in the U.S. That might have meant that after Pearl Harbor (assuming that attack occurred), America would have ignored Europe altogether and focused all its energies on defeating "the little yellow monkey men of Nippon." That, in turn, would have given the Nazis a free hand to perfect their V-rockets (which in this scenario would have been aimed eastward, rather than westward, as soon as possible, to wipe out whatever remained of Soviet ressistance) and to continue their nuclear experiments. By 1948 or '49 they might have had a bomb, especially if (like the Soviets in our history) they had the help of information from the Manhattan Project obtained via espionage. Ugly as our own world of 1950 was with the Soviets sprawled across much of Europe and armed with atomic bombs, this world might actually have been worse.

In 1965, in his re-inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy places strong emphasis on foreign issues that influence the lives of everyday Americans and their responsibility to the world they inhabit:Watchmen on the World

"We in this country, in this generation, are--by destiny rather than choice--the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of 'peace on earth, good will toward men.' That must always be our goal, and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago: 'except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.'"

Historian Robert Dallek notes in his biography, John F. Kennedy: A Life Well Lived, that the lines are in fact taken from a little-known speech that Kennedy did at the Dallas Trade Mart in late 1963. The speech was given during a re-election tour of the Southern states, which many say was pivotal to Kennedy winning a considerable margin of the popular vote. (A feat that had just barely escaped him in the 1960 election).

Indeed, many would later percieve Kennedy's speech as a sign of further emphasis on peace-making during his second term, as demonstrated by his later clashes with the Joint Chiefs of Staff over the gradual withdrawl of troops from Vietnam - and sending low level envoys to the Cuban government by mid-1966. Not to ignore his considerable domestic achievements, such as the passing of the 1966 Civil Rights Bill - and major economic incentives to combat poverty and unemployment).

However, all of these threatened to be overshadowed in the twilight of the Kennedy administration, when the President was struck gravely ill in June 1967 due to long-standing back troubles - forcing Lyndon Johnson to temporarily assume the presidency for over three weeks while Kennedy underwent emergency treatment and a quick recovery. So shocking was the revelation of Kennedy's major health issues and the numerous ailments to treat them (even long before his career in the House of Representatives), that the threat of impeachment loomed large at the outset of his presidency.

Entry posted by Guest Historian

Gerry Shannon Watch the Video

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: JFK Lives Source: Wikipedia Labels: Dallas, John F Kennedy, Presidency, Election, America.

Readers Comment David Atwell commented on 2009-01-20 04:08:20 ~ Impeaching JFK because he had health problems... that's a bit rough isn't? What should they do with FDR then? ;)

Readers Comment Gerry Shannon commented on 2009-01-21 17:30:22 ~ Flat-out lying to the public and voters of his heath issues, and his numerous ailments (including illegal) potentially hurting his decision-making, would be good enough cause for Republicans to stir the shit I think. But I would agree JFK might have got a pass on that much because there is no evidence that his decision-making was affected as Dallek notes in his actual book, 'An Unfinished Life'. These two writers take a potential Kennedy impeachment to considerable extremes, but it's an interesting exercise: http://www.brycezabel.com/altjfk/

In 1989, former Massachusetts governor Michael S. Dukakis was sworn in as the 42nd President of the United States. Pledge of Allegiance
Dukakis, who had been trailing Republican nominee George Herbert Walker Bush for much of the 1988 general election campaign, experienced a dramatic turnaround in his political fortunes after he signed into law legislation that made it a requirement to say the Pledge of Allegiance each morning in Massachusetts classrooms; while this decision hurt his standing among liberal and moderate voters, it gained him a new wave of support among conservatives and enabled him to squeak out a narrow win over Bush in the November elections.

Entry posted by Guest Historian

Chris Oakley

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Dukakis Wins Source: Wikipedia Labels: Michael Dukakis, George Bush, 1988 Election, America, Politics.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, The Bush campaign criticized Michael Dukakis for vetoing a bill that would have required recitation of the pledge of allegiance in Massachusetts classrooms. Dukakis felt the law was unconstitutional. (The Supreme Court held that compulsory recitation of the Pledge was unconstitutional in the 1943 case, West Virginia v. Barnette.)

In 1814, on this day Northern Democrat Congressman David Wilmot was born in Bethany, Pennsylvania.

39th Parallel Part 1:
Wilmot Proviso leads to warA leading Free Soiler, he was the architect of the Wilmot Proviso which opposed the extension of slavery into the occupied territories of Mexico. The legislation passes the House of Representatives, but was defeated in the Senate under the recently introduced two-thirds majority rule.

That rule had been demanded by Southern Senators as a precondition for admitting Baja California, Chihuahua, Sonora, Coahuilia and Tamaulipas into the Union as new states. Otherwise Dixie politicians would have been outnumbered in the Upper House, and an insurmountable challenge to end the institution of slavery would soon arise.

In point of fact Wilmot was not an abolitionist, rather he had economic objections to Free Labor. But it made no difference, his Free Soil challenge was enough to put the newly enlarged Union on the road to Civil War. An installment from 39th Parallel thread.

Entry posted by Todayinah Editor

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: 39th parallel Source: Wikipedia Labels: David Wilmot, Free Soil, Northern Democrat, United States, Mexico.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, thanks to Robbie Taylor, Scott Palter and Jeff Myers for this contributions to the development of this thread.

Readers Comment Mike McIlvain commented on 2013-01-12 05:13:55 ~ And, with Mexico, and its cultures, etc., all involved, too. The end results could have reshaped the Southwestern map of the U.S., but in which ways? It is possible that Spanish-language things -- food, laws, and language could have been injected in to the U.S. culture much sooner. That would have been a good thing.

Readers Comment Allen W. McDonnell commented on 2013-01-12 12:50:12 ~ Sorry but this is implausible, the Northern states saw Mexican people as 'brown' and therefore not as good as 'white'. Plus they spoke Spanish instead of German or English. All of these area's would have become territories, not states, and the senate would not vote to admit any of them until it was convinced they had enough 'white' settlers and English speakers to be considered states.

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2013-01-12 14:27:40 ~ Then again, consider Hawaii and Alaska, whose natives also aren't white. While both spent decades as territories, eventually they became states. The same might have happened with these Mexicana cquisitions, though perhaps not as soon as in the scenario above.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2013-01-12 16:50:49 ~ Were those areas very "Mexican" at the time? I know that outside of the coastal areas of California, the Santa Fe/Rio Grande region of modern NM, and a few places in Texas, most of what was "Northern Mexico" on the map wasn't actually Mexican.

In 1961, Texas Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson (pictured) was inaugurated as the thirty-fifth president of the United States of America.

All the way with LBJ in '60 by Eric LippsJohnson had faced what had potentially been a strong challenge in the primaries from popular young Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

However, many people, including former President Harry S. Truman, were nervous about the possibility of a Roman Catholic becoming president. At one point, Truman had taken the extraordinary step of telling Kennedy point-blank that he should not run because of his religion. Kennedy also had begun to develop something of a reputation as a womanizer.

His campaign was done in at last, however, when revelations regarding his physical health, something the candidate had carefully obscured behind a facade of youthful vigor, surfaced in the media. Kennedy, it was revealed, was taking high doses of painkillers for an old back injury and in addition was receiving steroid treatments for Addison's disease, a liver disorder. Several physicians suggested that the medications the Senator was on might have effects on his judgment.

Kennedy's chances had faded after that, and at the Democratic convention, he had not even been considered for the vice-presidential slot, which he had been offered by Stevenson in '56. Instead, the VP nomination had gone to Minnesota Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey, who had also made a strong run in the primaries.
This article is part of the Cuban Crisis thread.

Entry posted by Guest Historian

Eric Lipps

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Cuban Crisis Source: Vanity Fair Labels: Cuban Crisis, Nuclear War, America, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, The idea for the Cuban Crisis thread came from the following quote in Vanity Fair's feature article The Last Good Campaign - Robert F. Kennedy was concerned that, if he ran [in 1968], an increasingly unstable Lyndon Johnson might "wag the dog", provoking an international crisis or even starting a war to upstage the challenger's candidacy. In late 1967, as Kennedy was completing Thirteen Days, his account of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, he had told Adam Walinsky, "You know, we had 13 people in that room [the Cabinet Room in the White House], and if any one of 8 of them had been President, we would have had a nuclear war".

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2012-01-21 00:32:53 ~ If LBJ had been president in 1961, we wouldn't have had a Cuban missile crisis, because Johnson would surely have gone ahead, as JFK did not, with an all-out invasion of Cuba to back up the exile force at the Bay of Pigs. Of course, that might have created a Caribbean quagmire to go with the Southeast Asian one into which Johnson, driven by Texas machismo, would surely have plunged with gusto just as he did in our history.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2012-01-21 05:43:57 ~ LBJ, for all his faults, would have been a far more effective POTUS than St. JFK. I agree, he'd have gone in all-out with the Cuban thing, and wouldn't likely have had to "prove himself" with Vietnam. Ironically, the man so many kids hated in the late 60s might have saved many of their lives had he been POTUS earlier.

Readers Comment Jeff Provine commented on 2012-01-21 19:54:11 ~ Surely there would have been something going on in Vietnam. We'd had guys in there since '55.

In 1977, James Earl Carter of Georgia is sworn in as the 39th president of the United States of America. Among those watching the ceremony is the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The 48-year-old civil rights leader supported Carter in the 1976 election and hopes that in office he will prove more sympathetic to blacks and the poor than Presidents Nixon and Ford had been. Also in attendance is Juanita Abernathy, widow of Rev. Ralph Abernathy, who had been shot in Memphis, Tennessee, April 8, 1968, while leading a protest King had originally been scheduled to address.	US President

	Jimmy Carter

King had been arrested and jailed on April 3, and on April 6, had been escorted under police guard to the Memphis airport and forced to board an outbound plane, with the warning that if he ever returned, "you ain't ever leaving"..

King has become one of the leading voices not only on civil rights but regarding opposition to continued U.S. occupation of Cuba and Vietnam, where seemingly interminable guerrilla conflicts continue despite the U.S. overthrow of Fidel Castro in 1961 and of the Communist regime in North Vietnam in 1971. American troops continue to be killed and injured in both Cuba and Vietnam, and have been fighting in Laos and Cambodia since 1972.

	On this day in 1960, Sandy Koufax scored his 2000th NBA career point in a Celtics loss to the New York Knicks.

Sandy Koufax

In 1961, on this day the New York City mayor John Lindsay and several of his aides attended President John F. Kennedy's inauguration at the personal invitation of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.	Republican Congressman

	John Lindsay

US President	On this day in 1945, Franklin Roosevelt was sworn in for his fourth and final term as president of the United States. With the Third Reich now on the verge of final collapse, his main military priority for the early days of his fourth term would be to step up prosecution of the war with Japan.

Franklin Roosevelt

On this day in 2001, American political history was made as former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Colin Powell was sworn in as the 43rd president of the United States. In addition to being the first African-American president in US history, Powell was also the first chief executive since Millard Fillmore to run for the office on a platform other than those of the Democratic or Republican parties.	US President

	Colin Powell

US President	In 2009, Barack Hussein Obama is sworn in as the first African-American president of the United States of America. Present at the inauguration ceremony are the revered civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; his wife Coretta Scott King; and their son, Martin Luther King III. Dr. King, who celebrated his eightieth birthday five days earlier, has been confined to a wheelchair since suffering a stroke in 2006.

Barack Obama


King had narrowly escaped assassination in April 1968, when he was arrested by local authorities in Memphis, Tennessee, where he had been scheduled to appear at a rally, and forcibly ejected from the city. The Rev. Ralph Abernathy, who took Dr. King's place as featured speaker, was fatally shot by escaped convict James Earl Ray from a nearby rooftop.

Entry posted by Guest Historian

Eric Lipps

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Heroes Source: Wikipedia Labels: Barack Obama, Martin Luther King, Presidency, Election, America.

Readers Comment David Atwell commented on 2009-01-20 23:43:43 ~ Now wouldn't that be really nice if such a man could have witnessed such an important event in US history today.

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2009-01-21 15:10:58 ~ I just couldn't resist. This event is actually part of a lengthy timeline which begins with Harry S. Truman's issuance of a pardon, on his last day in office, to Alger Hiss, then serving time for perjury after being accused of spying for the Soviets. (Hiss was never convicted on the espionage charge.) In this timeline, the Hiss pardon gives Joe McCarthy an extra weapon, strengthening him enough to let him prevail in the Army-McCarthy hearings, and pushes U.S. history down a more conservative path for many years. King's survival is a "butterfly" resulting from this change.

On this day in 1969, Richard Nixon was inaugurated as the 37th President of the United States; in his inaugural address Nixon pledged to work for the eventual abolition of nuclear weapons from the world and to maintain cordial ties between the U.S. and Russia's Kosygin administration.

	Richard Nixon


Although he wasn't able to completely eliminate the nuclear threat before he left office, Nixon did achieve a substantial reduction in the global nuclear stockpile-- by 1973 nearly two-thirds of the nuclear warheads which were in existences when Nixon was sworn into office had been dismantled.

Pres. Nominee	In 1993, Georgia senator Samuel Augustus Nunn is sworn in as the forty-second president of the United States of America. In attendance at the ceremony are outgoing President Jack Kemp outgoing Vice-President Phil Gramm, and incoming Vice-President Bill Bradley. Also present, among the crowd of onlookers, are former Arkansas governor Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Sam Nunn


Mr. Clinton had run for president himself in 1992, but had been defeated in the primaries amid revelations about extramarital affairs and reports of financial improprieties in connection with a real-estate venture, the Whitewater Development Corporation.

In 1989, Jack L. Kemp is sworn in as the forty-first president of the United States of America. In his inaugural address, he pledges to work toward a 'New Freedom' in America and throughout the world.	US President

	Jack Kemp

John McCain	On this day in 2009, former Arizona senator John McCain was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.

US President

In 1965, Lyndon Baines Johnson is sworn in as president of the United States in his own right. Several hundred anti-war protesters briefly obstruct the inaugural procession; they are clubbed down and carted away by the District of Columbia police for disturbing the peace. While being held in jail awaiting trial, several are assaulted; anti-Cuban War zealot Lee Harvey Oswald's arrest for the assassination of President Kennedy has discredited all anti-war activism.

	LBJ

Alexander Hamilton	In 1802, President Alexander Hamilton puts into effect a plan he and President Washington had discussed during the latter's administration, declaring New York's Columbia College America's 'national university.' Under this scheme, promising students from all over the country will be invited to Columbia to be groomed for leadership positions in government and the military. Southerners are angered that a 'Yankee' university has been chosen for this honor, and insist that such Southern schools as Virginia's William and Mary College at least equally deserve. Southern congressmen vow to block the use of any federal money for the new national university.

3rd President

In 2001, Albert A. Gore Jr. of Tennessee is inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut is sworn in as Vice-President, becoming the first Jew (indeed, the first non-Christian of any faith) to hold that office.


Republican protesters line the inaugural parade route, hurling insults and, in some cases, rotten fruit at the presidential procession. Security is even tighter than is usual for such events: there have been an unprecedented number of death threats directed against both Gore and Lieberman.

In 2008, in a boat laden with scuba gear, Velma Porter and Mikhail von Heflin head towards the distortion in the time-space continuum that both of them can feel off the coast of Bermuda. 'Some vacation,' Porter says to her husband. Just before they reach the distortion, they don the scuba gear and dive into the water. They are quickly sucked into the rift and disappear from the ocean.

In 2005, after gathering a few Ingredients surreptitiously, Chelsea Perkins, Alma May Watson and Geraldine McRae perform a small spell to let the Council of Wisdom know where they are. Within a few hours, a car pulls into the small village and McRae tells them all to hop in. Just as her father's car had driven into a tunnel and appeared on the other side of North America, this car drives into a tunnel and appears at the Council's headquarters. The three of them give a report to the Council, which feels that Elsbeth Danwich might possibly have been vanquished for good.

In 1964, international superstar Pete Best releases his first LP album, Pleased to meet you, I'm Pete. The album goes multi-platinum within a couple of months of release and launches Best on a world tour to promote it.

In 1961, Comrade President Joel Rosenberg is inaugurated into his second term as President of the Soviet States of America. The day shines with promise as Comrade Robert Frost recites a poem for the occasion and Comrade Rosenberg gives a speech outlining a heady agenda for his coming administration. Sadly, it all comes to an end with his assassination the following November.

In 1960, Roboticist Will Wright was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Born into wealth, Wright spent most of his young adulthood satisfying a boundless curiosity about how things work - and making strange creations to illustrate his thoughts. His bizarre but beautiful robots single-handedly turned to field of home robotics into the multi-billion dollar industry it is today.

In 1942, German Underground officials gather in Wannsee, a small suburb of Berlin, to discuss their plans for the coming domination of Europe. It is here that Adolf Hitler and Reinhard Heydrich inform the leaders of the G.U. that they plan to exterminate the Greater Zionist Resistance utterly, and non-Aryans with them. Although some are secretly appalled at this plan, none dare speak against it; Hitler's enemies in the G.U. had a habit of 'disappearing'.

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A Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In History That Never Occurred Today.
Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items explore that possibility.

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A Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In History That Never Occurred Today. Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items explore that possibility.

Quick Links

Selected threads

Archive Navigator

Editor's Postbag | Feed

A Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In History That Never Occurred Today.
Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items explore that possibility.