Today In Alternate History

September 15

In 445, on this day the life of Buda (aka Bleda) the Hunnish King was saved by the timely intervention of his companion, the Moorish dwarf Zerco (pictured).

The premature death of Attilla the HunA hot dispute had arisen on a hunting trip on the banks of the Danube River where the monarch had sanctimonously announced his plans to reconsecrate the new town of Sicambria in his own name to "Budapest" as the capital of the Hunnic Empire. Because their uncle Rugila had bequeathed them joint rulership of the united Hunnic tribes, this was too much for his younger brother Attilla and the sibling rivalry immediately developed into a vicious fight to the death. Attilla attacked first, and would surely have triumphed, if not for the actions of Zerco, underestimated as a mascot dressed up in armour for amusement. Because as the dispute had began to escalate, Zerco had quickly made his own calculations, figuring that should Attilla prevail, then he himself would most likely be spending the night on the bed of the Danube River alongside his dead master.

Of course he had watched the resentment reach boiling point ever since the failed campaign in the East. And now Buda made his own calculation, realizing that his own rage was driven by the frustraton of Sicambria was a commiseration prize. The result was that Buda dumped the dead body of his brother into the river and mustered the army. Marching east, they set about installing Constantinople as the glittering capital of their Hunnic Empire.

Unfortunately for their recent opponents, a recent earthquake had breached the previously impregnable walls of the city. The prefect Constantinus had actually started their reconstruction, but because he was not expecting the Huns to return so quickly, he was forced to rely upon Isaurian troops under the command of the magister militum per Orientem Zeno. The city fell, and the Huns finally had a capital city worthy of their vast empire.

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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Wikipedia Labels: Bleda, Buda, Attilla, Hun, Constantinople.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, in authoring this post we have repurpose content from Wikipedia which reports ~ sometime during the peace following the Huns' withdrawal from Byzantium (probably around 445), Buda (or Bleda as he was also known) died (killed by his brother, according to the classical sources), and Attila took the throne for himself. A few sources indicate that Buda tried to kill Attila first, to which Attila retaliated.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2012-09-16 02:22:40 ~ The Huns are not AFAICR related to the Magyars; the Huns were around about five centuries before the Magyars appeared.

Readers Comment Jeff Provine commented on 2012-09-16 19:10:23 ~ Wonder how much of their culture would hang on, or if it'd be overwhelmed by Byzantine glories.

In 994, on this day the Byzantines and their Hamdanid allies relieved the city of Apamea which had been laid under siege by forces of the Fatimid vizier of Damascus.

Relief of ApameaMichael Bourtzes the doux of Antioch had come forth to the aid of the Hamdanid dynasty, the masters of Aleppo. Because the continued existence of this Byzantine vassal state was threatened by the Fatimid vizier of Damascus, the formidable Turkish general Manjutakin.

The clash of arms occurred across two fords on the Orontes. Having anticipated that Manjutakin would prey upon his weaker allies, he concealed the prescence of significant elements of the main Byzantine Army inside the Hamdanid Forces. This defensive mechanism maintained the shape of Bourtzes forces, and the eventual result was a resounding triumph for the Byzantines and their allies.

Victory marked a significant change of fortunes in the long-running war in Syria, a strategic area for the Byzantines due to their food dependency on Egyptian Granaries.

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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Wikipedia Labels: Orontes, Bourtzes, Manjutakin, Fatimid, Hamdanid.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, in authoring this post we have repurpose content from Wikipedia which reports ~ Manjutakin sent his forces to attack the Byzantines' Hamdanid allies across one ford while pinning the main Byzantine force down on the other. His men succeeded in breaking through the Hamdanids, turned round and attacked the Byzantine force in the rear. The Byzantine army panicked and fled, losing some 5,000 men in the process. This [Byzantine] defeat led to the direct intervention of Byzantine emperor Basil II, and Bourtzes' dismissal from his post and his replacement by Damian Dalassenos.

In 1488, on this day the Italian navigator Cristoforo Colombo entered the Lisbon quarters of his brother, the cartographer Bartolomeo with an application for royal funds to be presented at the English Court.

How the English Discovered AmericaNarrowly escaping the clutches of pirates, the map-maker arrived safely in Bristol where old shipmates and acquaintenances were easily found. These men would ultimately crew the St Mary, the Galway, the Painted and the St Clare. But first he had to travel to the English Court looking for money and support.

Of course, Henry VII had the necessary intelligence to see the benefit of an English-financed voyage of discovery, but the King was cautious about investing money in doubtful enterprises. Ultimately he was persuaded by the testimony of the Bristol mariners, who substantiated Bartolomeo's broader arguments with specific witnessed accounts of red dye from Brazil and fishing stocks off the coast of Newfoundland.

And so Batolomeo was issued with a royal letter of patent, charging the Colombo brothers with "free authority, faculty and power to sail to all parts, regions and coasts of the eastern, western and northern sea, under our banners, flags and ensigns, with five ships or vessels of whatsoever burden and quality they may be, and with so many and with such mariners and men as they may wish to take with them in the said ships, at their own proper costs and charges, to find, discover and investigate whatsoever islands, countries, regions or provinces of heathens and infidels, in whatsoever part of the world placed, which before this time were unknown to all Christians".

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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Wikipedia Labels: Bartholomew Columbus, Christopher Columbus, Discovery, America, Henry VII.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, in reality Bartholomew was captured by pirates and his mission delayed for three years during which time his brother Christopher sought funds elsewhere. In this article we explore an idea on The Wild Cats Victory, John Fiske's Discovery of America and Wikipedia.

Readers Comment Jeff Provine commented on 2012-01-17 15:34:22 ~ Since Columbus's route in OTL included the Spanish-owned Canaries, this would most likely have been a different route. Newfoundland settled first?

By 1861, California posed a new problem to the United States. While territories connected it with the East, California gained statehood almost spontaneously in 1850 thanks to the gold rush, becoming the first state separate from the Capital. Communication was difficult, to say the least.

Air Mail Route from San Francisco Opens The new technology of telegraphs and railroads offered possibilities, but the lines would have to be constructed at immense cost. Wells, Fargo, & Company held a virtual monopoly on the task of express mail with a sea-and-land route across the Isthmus of Panama, cutting months off the journey around South America. An overland route would be even faster, and Congress sought a solution with a pledge of $600,000 in yearly subsidies. In 1858, the solution was found with the Overland Mail Company, a start-up with William Fargo on the board of directors. Over one million dollars would be spent improving its route across the West, which included way stations, horse corrals, and defenses against highwaymen and rogue Indians.

A new story by Jeff ProvineWhile mail could now be delivered, however expensively, by brave and hardy men, the passenger service was troubling. People were crammed into tiny carriages that bounced and rocked with every step the racing horses took. While some way stations offered places to sleep, coaches were hot-seated by their drivers and horses, and no one knew exactly when the next coach would come through, leaving passengers stuck in the middle of the West for days at a time. Food was expensive and notoriously bad. The option of crossing the Isthmus of Panama took much longer, but the comfort made it seem more practical.

Aeronauts John Wise and John La Mountain approached Fargo with a solution. As a pioneering American balloonist, he had made his first flight in 1835. Over the next years, he continued a serious study of aeronautics as well as making grand performances at county fairs. When the Civil War began, he was in competition with Thaddeus Lowe for the Army Balloon Corps to aid the Union with reconnaissance from the air. Lowe had beaten him to the Battle of Bull Run, but Wise had papers giving him the right of way. As Wise launched his balloon, it became entangled in brush and destroyed, ending his career for the Civil War. Lowe would go on to be Chief Aeronaut for the Union.

Wise planned to return to a normal life for some time, using balloons as perhaps a map-making tool, but the showman La Mountain met with him, inspired about the West. Years earlier, the two had worked on a transatlantic project, but the balloon had crashed and nearly ended their partnership. On his own in 1859, Wise had made the first air mail delivery in the United States, delivering 123 letters from Lafayette to Crawford, Indiana. Why could they not do the same for overland delivery over the Rockies?

They posed the question to Fargo. A smooth, peaceful sail over the mountains with no threat of robbery or attack sounded like a much more reasonable trip to Fargo, though the idea of balloon passenger service was uncanny. La Mountain suggested it could be at the very least a public relations demonstration, which caused Fargo to agree. The two set off on a ship through Panama, arriving in San Francisco and immediately launching their balloon on the third anniversary of the Overland Mail to the shock of newspapers around California. Newspapers in the East did not know the story until the balloon arrived in Kansas City, Missouri, on September 20. They had touched down twice at way stations to replenish fuel and food for their passenger, newspaperman and adventurer Bret Harte. The press latched onto the story from Harte's accounts, and Fargo was impressed enough to send Wise and La Mountain back with supplies for a larger balloon.

By spring of 1862, Wise and La Mountain had created a two-story balloon with privies and a lounge for their passengers. The balloon, dubbed the California, carried as many as fifteen passengers in comfort as well as whatever mail could be used as ballast. For years, the eastbound California would fly, landing in Kansas or sometimes Missouri, depending upon the wind. Wise and La Mountain improved their steering capabilities, but the possibility of floating west was made impossible by the "high winds" (what we now know as the jet stream).

On May 10, 1869, the transcontinental railroad was completed. Fargo pulled funding from the expensive, though pleasurable, balloon project despite Wise and La Mountain's pleadings. Progress had changed the world, Fargo explained, even the Overland Mail Company was being shut down. Armed with their savings, they built the Odyssey and began their transatlantic attempt in 1873 from New York. Neither was heard from again. The Atlantic would not be crossed until British aeronauts made a west-heading route to Barbados in 1958-9.

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Jeff Provine

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Jeff Provine Blog Source: Jeff Provine’s Blog Labels: Wells, Fargo, La Mountain, Odyssey, Flight.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, in the crash crossing Lake Ontario did indeed end Wise and La Mountain's partnership. Wise and La Mountain performed additional ascensions, with La Mountain working under Lowe during the Civil War in the Balloon Corps. Wise would make his final ascent in 1879 at age 71, disappearing over Lake Michigan.

Readers Comment Kirk Edwards commented on 2010-09-15 11:53:26 ~ Odd.Good beginning .Dismal ending.

Readers Comment John Braungart commented on 2010-09-15 12:12:24 ~ The only thing that I don't like about this story is the real-time fact that while balloons are great fun and a useful on-site tool for reconnaissance and map-making, they would be about useless in this context. To make the trips profitable, you'd need a dirigable. Now if Wise could attach three identical balloons, or two smaller ones on either side of a larger middle one (which was what the fist blimps were in OTL), and figure out some kind of motive power, then maybe. If he could start this by, say 1845-50, maybe by 1870, he'd have a reasonable Zeppelin to make transcontinental flights with - and THAT would be serious competition to the railroads for express flights. Although, for the thousands of immigrants heading west, it still wouldn't be a option as it would be pricey.

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2010-09-15 12:40:19 ~ No Comment

Readers Comment Jeff Provine commented on 2010-09-15 16:08:43 ~ Very true, and a good double-what-if: Had Wise developed the Zeppelin, putting America in the lead for lighter-than-air craft late 1800s.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2010-09-15 18:39:18 ~ You'd need dirigibles for this to make any sense.

In 1792, on this day at the Port of Dover in Kent, republican intellectual Thomas Paine was arrested on charges of seditious libel.

Bring it on HomePaine had been charged with "inflammatory eloquence" at a gathering of the "Friends of Liberty" on September 12th. As he rose to leave, William Blake laid his hand on the orator's shoulder, saying, "You must not go home, or you are a dead man".

"Government by kings was first introduced into the world by the Heathens ... It was the most prosperous invention the Devil ever set foot for the promotion of idolatry"Paine planned to flee the country along with his companions Frost and Audibert. However, they never made it to France because the collector of customs had received general instructions to be vigilant, and searched the three men, even to their pockets. Whereupon sealed letters were discovered, given into Paine's charge by the American minister in London, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. One letter was addressed to the American minister at Paris, the other to a private gentleman; a letter from the president of the United States, and a letter from the secretary of State in America. Whilst his friends attempted to intercede on his behalf, Paine's warrant arrived and he was put under arrest. Had he arrived just twenty minutes earlier, Paine would most likely have missed the order and made it to Revolutionary France.

"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly"On 18th December Paine was charged at The Guildhall, London, that he "being a person of a wicked, malicious and seditious disposition" etc "did publish that the crown of this kingdom was contrary to the rights of the inhabitants" and so forth. The Attorney-General, who prosecuted, said that he would not read out the many "false, wicked and scandalous assertions" but would read only a few more, such as "to inherit a crown is to inherit the people, as if they were flocks and herds". The famous Thomas Erskine defended Paine but the carefully selected jury, which received two guineas each and a free dinner for a conviction and nothing otherwise, decided to return a verdict of guilty. Paine was hung, and laws were soon passed to restrict free speech and publication. Almost inevitably, martyrdom transformed Paine into a rallying point for English revolutionaries. And so after his death, his revolutionary agenda would overthrow the British monarchy.

During the 1960s, Socialist Prime Minister Tony Benn would often refer to Paine's punchy political language and his inspirational quest for accountable government, presenting copies of Common Sense, Rights of Man and The Age of Reason to the Heads of State from Developing Nations.

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© The Gain from Paine by David Nash, June 2009 Edition of History Today Magazine
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Alternate Nations Source: History Today Magazine Labels: Thomas Paine, Tony Benn, The Revolution, America, Britain.

Readers Comment David Atwell commented on 2009-12-19 05:26:24 ~ Why wouldn't they have sent him out to Australia with the other political prisoners which were sent out here?

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2009-12-19 07:10:00 ~ I'd think that when word of the jury being bribed to bring in a guilty verdict got out (and it would---twelve people never kept a secret in the whole history of the world) there'd be an almighty uproar.

Comment from Ekow Korsah on Facebook: This is a marvelous re-write

Readers Comment Todayinah Ed. commented on 2009-12-19 18:09:08 ~ Re: Australia, I understand from my limited research that seditious libel was a hanging offence at the time. I believe also Eric Lipps has posted a story where Benjamin Franklin is sent to Australia in his Liberty Fails thread. But you're right, the sending of convicts to Australia is a desperately disturbing aspect of the whole saga and hence the thoughts of revolution in this story.

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2009-12-19 23:22:28 ~ Yes, I did--the presumption being that Franklin, who still had influential friends in England in 1776, was saved by them from outright execution or imprisonment in England. Paine would have been another matter, even in a TL in which the U.S. won independence, as this seems to be. Not only did he have fewer English friends, he was also (to put it mildly) less than uniformly popular in America, where he was accused of "atheism," a charge as potent in that era as that of "Communism" would be in the 1950s.

In 2008, (UPI) Authorities in Caracas, Venezuela, denounced as 'superstitious rumor' the claim widely circulating in their country that a number of individuals recently reported as having died following attacks by vampire bats have 'returned to life' and begun exhibiting predatory behavior toward others.Superstitious Rumor by Eric Lipps
One Caracas tabloid claims that the bat attacks have been spreading a new virus, which it claims was developed in biological warfare laboratories. The outward signs of infection, the paper claims, are hypersensitivity to sunlight, bleached hair and skin, a loss of appetite for normal food and a pathological craving for blood. Some of these symptoms resemble those of porphyria, an enzyme disorder which may be either inherited or acquired and which some scientists have speculated may account for traditional vampire and werewolf legends. (Symptoms of porphyria can include a craving for blood or raw meat, as well as abnormal hair growth.)
Reports that an entire village has been cordoned off by the Venezuelan military have been vigorously denied by the country's Interior Minister, Ramon Rodriguez Chacin.
Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia declined to comment on the Venezuelan situation.

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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Beasts Source: CNN Labels: Vampire, Bats, Venezuela, South America, Caracas.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, On Friday 8th August 2008 CNN Health reported ~ 38 dead after being bitten by vampire bats. CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- At least 38 Warao Indians have died in remote villages in Venezuela, and medical experts suspect an outbreak of rabies spread by bites from vampire bats. Laboratory investigations have yet to confirm the cause, but the symptoms point to rabies, according to two researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and other medical experts. The two UC Berkeley researchers -- the husband-and-wife team of anthropologist Charles Briggs and public health specialist Dr. Clara Mantini-Briggs -- said the symptoms include fever, body pains, tingling in the feet followed by progressive paralysis, and an extreme fear of water. Victims tend to have convulsions and grow rigid before death.

In 2001, at a National Security Council meeting, President Gore expresses frustration at the failure of the previous day's raid in Afghanistan.Afghan Options by Eric LippsDefense Secretary Webb observes that bombings of that sort are notoriously ineffective; even the massive air raids of World War II, he reminds the President, failed to knock out German industry, while the bombing raid on Tripoli during the Reagan years which had been intended to kill Libyan dictator Muammar Kaddafi failed to do so.
JCS chairman General Hugh Shelton insists that since the Kabul government has refused to cooperate with the U.S. in rooting out Al Qaeda, the only workable option is to immediately send in a large ground force to do the job. "We've discussed this already, at our meeting on October 7," he reminds the President.
President Gore is still reluctant to invade Afghanistan. Turning to CIA Director George J. Tenet, he asks whether the Agency can mount a covert operation to go after Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Tenet responds that it is possible, but warns that if the operation is exposed the U.S. will be forced to move immediately to open military action. He advises that preparations for a full-scale invasion continue, and stresses the need to keep those preparations secret.

	On this day in 1967, an Iraqi military junta calling itself the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) seized power in Baghdad, seeking to undo what it called "the stain on our honor and that of our Arab brothers" inflicted by the Arabs' defeat in the Sinai War. The RCC's number two man was a then little-known army officer named Saddam Hussein, who just over a decade later would become head of the group and thus ruler of Iraq.

Saddam Hussein

On this day in 1968, General William Westmoreland retired from active duty with the U.S. Army following the successful completion of the withdrawal of U.S. ground forces from South Vietnam.

	In 1607, on this day the British government organized an expedition to establish its third permanent settlement in the New World at the site of what is today Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Plymouth Sound

In 1951, on this day the beleaguered Syrian government feld to Palmyra as Israeli ground forces overran Syria's temporary provisional capital of Aleppo.	Flag of

	Syria

	In 2001, President Gore asks General Henry H. "Hugh" Shelton to stay on for another term as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The General agrees.

	On this day in 1974, the Dallas Cowboys opened their '74 NFL season with a 27-3 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

In 1960, the New York Post published an editorial titled "Wagner Has To Go" which called for Mayor Robert F. Wagner to resign and make way for a new mayor who could do a more efficient job of directing the flow of post-storm recovery aid to New York City's residents.	New York Major

	Robert F. Wagner

	In 2003, in an interview for the fourth season of The Michael Richards Show sitcom, the titular star reveals he and Jerry Seinfeld, his co-star on Seinfeld, are no longer on speaking terms. "A few years ago, Jerry was disappointed I wasn't interested in doing a Seinfeld movie, because I wanted do my own show, and I guess he just took it the wrong way".

Michael Richards

However, Richards says he has nothing but good memories of his time on the show, and particularly with it's leading man, "We had a lot of laughs.
And Jerry was to thank for a lot of the family unity we had in the cast and crew. I still talk to Julia [Louis-Dreyfus] and Jason [Alexander] a lot. They know I never said never to never playing Cosmo again, so the ball's in Jerry's court if he wants to call me".

On this day in 1941, the Japanese expeditionary force in Siberia was handed its first serious defeat when Soviet troops repulsed an Imperial Army attempt to seize Petropavlovsk.

US President	In 2001, US President George W. Bush used the political gift certificate he was granted on September 11, when he could have asked Americans to do almost anything in the name of fighting terrorism, to impose a $1.50 'War on Terror' tax on a gallon of gas, doubling it to $3.00. In 2008, Michael Kinsley described the long-term consequences of this action ~

George Bush

"People screamed with pain, then started adjusting. Demand went gone down, and today gas is selling for less than the $4 per gal. Not only that, but $1.50 of that price is staying here in the U.S. instead of going to Saudi Arabia or Venezuela or Bahrain. To the rest of the world, we look like protectionists. In fact, regarding oil, we've made a smart move". ~ Michael Kinsley, Time Magazine July 7th 2008

In 1485, King Richard III of England died of the sweating sickness. Only two weeks before, Richard had won the Battle of Bosworth Field. At a critical point the King settled the issue at a stroke by driving through to Henry Tudor and killing him. The War of the Roses had reached an unexpected decision - a Hapsburg England - gifting the throne to Maximilian I, King of the Romans.

In 1914, Siege of Paris starts. Germany does not attack the city, but leaves it unharmed. The Ambassador of the German Empire in London hints to the British government that peace talks about the west could have a chance.

In 1944, composer and band leader Glenn Miller disappeared over the English Channel. He had been appointed a Captain in the Army Specialist Corps whose job was keeping the troops' morale high, and was embarking on a tour of Europe. 20 years later, Miller and his plane reappeared on the French coast, not having aged a day. Neither Miller nor his crewmates could remember what had happened to them, in spite of many inducements to do so. The reappearance of the jazz legend brought his music back into style, and jazz experienced a renaissance.

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson successfully negotiated the freedom of French Indochina. Wilson had become convinced to intervene on the behalf of the colonial possession since receiving a letter from a young Vietnamese man, Ho Chi Minh, and the assistance America had given France during the Great War gave him the necessary leverage to pull off the diplomatic coup. The area became strong allies of the United States, and assisted the Allied forces in Asia during World War II with distinction.

In 1915, the Boston Pilgrims beat the Jefferson City Nickels by the incredibly lopsided score of 20-1. Town Ball has seen few such blowouts since then, and the Nickels have never been beaten as badly.

In 1962, the Soviet ship Poltava heads toward Cuba, one of the events that set into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Kennedy disregarded forged reconnaissance data presented by hawks who sought open war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Kennedy also ignored warnings that compromise was impossible. Instead he prevented a third world war more horrible than the second, in which he had lost his eldest son. The President could hardly be accused of inconsistency; he had after all supported appeasement since 1940 when he was the United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James.

In 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Charles de Gaulle met in Quebec as part of the Octagon Conference to discuss strategy. With the Pacific War heading towards an end game, FDR agreed to land American Forces in North Africa as part of Operation Torch. Unfortunately for de Gaulle, FDR was defeated in the November Presidential Elections, and Charles Lindbergh pursued a very different US Foreign Policy. Winston Churchill could only wring his hands in New Britain, having refused to travel to New France for the Octagon Conference.

In 1940, the Battle of Britain ends with a Kriegsmarine victory over the Royal Navy. In How Chamberlain lost the Battle of Britain written in 1995, historian Richard M. Langworth recounted the battle. Critics muted their May 1940 attacks on the Government for the sake of national unity. Chamberlain heeds Reynaud's call for Britain to fling the bulk of her air force into Battle of France. Failing to group the British Expeditionary Force around Dunkirk, 300,000 British troops are lost in the greatest military disaster in British history. The Battle for Britain is fought first on the English Channel and then on the beaches and the landing grounds. Like the French before him, Chamberlain considers the choice between surrender and going down fighting--and chooses surrender. His successor, Halifax, signs the instrument of surrender while a raging Churchill escapes with the remnants of the fleet and sails to Falkland Islands, there to organize an international resistance movement.

In 1955, on this day Juan Peron was deposed in Argentina. However, Peronists succeeded in restoring him to the Presidency during the turbulence of the late 1970s. In 1982 Peron saluted a triumphant navy returning to port following victory in the South Atlantic. Along with signs of economic recovery in early 1983, the 'Falklands Factor' played a decisive role in his re-election.

In 1945, Enola Gay Pilot Colonel Paul Tibbets suicided, leaving a brief note saying he was so sorry, so very sorry. The horrifying being known as the Makon had entered the world through the fissure left by the nuclear explosion at Hiroshima on August 6th. Photographs taken by Colonel Tibbets from the the B-29 Enola Gay were likened to an actor sweeping back a huge curtain to enter the stage. For six weeks, the Makon had wrought havoc on the Japanese island of Honsh?. Nagging fear escalated to outright terror when the Makon took flight, heading for the Western Seaboard of North America.

In 1992, General Sir Peter Edgar de la Couer de la Billiere announced - 'Today has been an extremely difficult and turbulent day. Massive speculative flows continue to disrupt the exchange rate mechanism. The Government has concluded that Britain's best interest is served by suspending civilian government whilst emergency measures can be implemented'

In 1918, commander-in-chief General Edmund Allenby had the admiration of the men of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) . After a dispute with Field Marshall Haig, Allenby had been sent to Egypt to replace Sir Archibald Murray. Allenby quickly won the respect of his men by making frequent visits to front line troops (something which Murray, who generally ran his campaigns by remote control from Cairo, rarely did during his tenure with the EEF) and moving GHQ from comfortable Cairo to Rafah, much nearer the front lines at Gaza.

His usual installation of discipline and organization, organizing the heretofore disparate forces of the EEF into three corps - the XX and XXI Corps, both of infantry, and the Desert Mounted Corps, made up of mostly Australian Lighthorse (Mounted infantry).

One of Allenby's first moves was to support the efforts of T. E. Lawrence amongst the Arabs with GBP 200,000 a month.

Many of Allenby's men said after the war that they were willing to tolerate his strictness and rigidity because he gave the impression that he was in control of the situation, a feeling which Murray never inspired in his soldiers.

Question was, who was in control of Allenby after the Battle of Meggido?

September 14

In 1995, on this day the struggling Italian computer manufacturer Olivetti released the Envision 400/P75, a full multimedia PC for the living room that would transform the home computing experience.

Release of the Olivetti EnvisionA combination of Italian style and engineering talent in Ivrea had overcome the considerable challenges in conjugating innovation with quality standards in order to produce a home computing appliance for non-computer savvy people. Designed to resemble a videocassette recorder, the Envision bucked the trend in a diminishing PC market by convincing late adopting consumers that computers were not impossibly hard to use.

The Envision shipped with a choice of two processors: one based on the Intel 486 DX4 100mhz processor and one based on the Intel Pentium P75 processor. It had an infrared keyboard and an internal modem, and it was compatible with audio CDs, CD-ROMs, Photo CDs and Video CDs. It came with preinstalled programs that would allow it work as a fax, an answering machine when connected to the telephone line. It also had three possible operating modes: simple mode (limited to the use of an infrared remote control to control the volume and the reproduction of photo, video or audio CDs); intermediate mode (with a simplified Windows shell replacement called Olipilot that gave access to a limited set of programs); advanced (the standard Windows 95 graphical user interface).

Entry posted by Todayinah Editor

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Technology Source: Wikipedia Labels: Olivetti, Envision, Personal Computer, Multimedia, Living Room.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, in authoring this post we have repurpose content from Wikipedia which reports ~ this project was a failure, and it might have been too advanced for its time. Packard Bell managed to successfully introduce a similar product in the U.S. but only some years later. The main problem of the company was its inability to conjugate innovation with the quality standards it had committed itself to, at a time when the margins on the PC market were diminishing as not only the market but also the number of PC clone producers grew. The company continued to develop personal computers until it sold its PC business in 1997.

Readers Comment Stan Brin commented on 2012-09-15 00:08:33 ~ I was in that industry from 1979 to 1988, and probably know more about its history than anyone. These so-called hybrid machines always failed. Always. Their various features were never as good as separate components purchased separately (i was once lent a PC that had a built-in dot-matrix printer, of all things.) After 1983, the market was driven by cost and compatibility, period. Remember, until the mid-1990s, when the internet became widely available, the market was all but exclusively male. They were mostly interested in work. Cool design features didn't impress them.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2012-09-15 08:29:33 ~ The PC revolution coming earlier would be interesting in a lot of ways.

Readers Comment Jeff Provine commented on 2012-09-16 19:13:54 ~ Wonder if it could tie into radio-waves and include a beeper.

In 1180, on this day the incomparable samarai Ōba Kagechika was killed and his Taira clan forces crushed at a fierce battle fought in the Hakone Mountains.

Early Decision in the Jishō-Juei WarThe victors were the warriors of the rival Minamoto clan led by the would-be rebel leader Yoritomo. He had been was exiled by Taira no Kiyomori following the Heiji Rebellion of 1160. When Kiyomori heard that Yoritomo had left Izu Province for the Hakone Pass, he appointed Ōba Kagechika to stop him. But they bungled a surprise attack in the night and Yoritomo emerged victorious.

Of course the real beneficiary of the Jishō-Juei War would be the new Shōgun, the Takakura Prince, Minamoto Mochimitsu. He would occupy the Imperial Throne for many years, and the influence of Yoritomo would sharply diminish.

Entry posted by Todayinah Editor

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Generals Source: Wikipedia Labels: Ishibashiyama, Taira, Minamoto, Albigensian Crusade, Genpei War.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, in authoring this post we have repurpose content from Wikipedia which reports ~ after loss in the battle Yoritomo fled by sea from Capa Manazuru to Awa Province in the south of present-day Chiba Prefecture on September 28, 1180. However he was ultimately successful five years later in bringing about the downfall of the Taira clan and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate.

Comment from Mike McIlvain on Facebook: Could it have served to eventually effected the attitudes and policies of the much later Japanese empire? Thanks Mike I had hoped you would comment from your local knowledge

Readers Comment Sailorbarsoom commented on 2012-09-14 02:11:37 ~ I'm not sufficiently familiar with Japanese history to comment, except to say that I look forward to learning about the repercussions of this battle in OTL, as well as this ATL.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2012-09-14 02:58:58 ~ I don't know that much would have changed---as near as I can tell, Minamoto and Taira/Heike forces were like Tweedledee and Tweedledum in a lot of ways.

In 1911, on this day the insidious plot to tear down the system of zemstvo ended in farce at the Kiev opera house when the architect of that government policy the Imperial Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin was harmlessly shot in his bullet proof vest by the leftist radical and Okhrana secret agent Dmitri Bogrov.

Stoylpin survives the "Tale of Tsar Saltan"The purpose of the state visit was to mark the half centenary of the liberation of Russia's serfs by unveiling a monument to Tsar Alexander II. In Stolypin's view this ceremony was aligned to the strategic objective of zemstvo which was to turn the Russian peasantry into prosperous independent small farmers who would be grateful and loyal to the imperial regime.

However the Russian Prime Minister was about to discover the frightening truth that the significance of the event was altogether different for Tsar Nicholas II. Because only a few hours before the evening performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tale of Tsar Saltan he was presented with unmistakeable evidence of a deadly conspiracy being instigated by the Tsar himself.

As Stolypin sat poker-faced in the stalls, thoughts of the royal treachery were interrupted only by moments of irony in which elements of the opera overlapped with his current predicament. Because Tsar Saltan marched off to war for his son Prince Gvidon to be sealed up in a barrel and thrown into the sea.

The background was that Stolypin had risen to power in 1906 at a time when a weakened Tsar had been forced to pursue populist policies in the wake of the disasterous war with Japan and Father Gapon's uprising in St Petersburg. And although Stolypin had clumsily attempted to work for the benefit of the poorist members of society, his governance was anti-democratic, dismissing the new Parliament (Duma) at will.

Russia was now much stronger and inevitably the Tsar had reverted back to his own authoritarian mindset. But something else had changed too. His innermost Councils were now dominated the Mad Monk Rasputin who had won the royal family over by saving the life of their son Alexei.

A fearless man who was naturally reluctant to appear a coward by wearing a bullet proof vest, Stolypin was forced to look beyond his own mortality and grasp his own timeless significance at this moment in Russian history. Put simply he faced a massive decision. Stripped of his loyalty to the Tsar, could he now find a way to foster peasant prosperity in a new governance model. Perhaps even the previously unthinkable - a democratic model for a modern Republican Russia. In the final analysis, could he work in partnership with the Duma, and, like Rimsky-Korsakov's protagonist save the enchanted swan that was trapped in the cords of a deadly kite?

Entry posted by Todayinah Editor

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: History Today Magazine Labels: Peter Stolypin, Tsar, Russia, Czar, Kiev.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, in this post we imagine that Stolypin agreed to wear a bullet proof vest. The investigation into the assassination was stopped on Tsar Nicholas' orders for reasons that remain unknown.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2011-09-18 05:30:36 ~ The serfs weren't released until long after 1811. Fixed - thanks. Ed And Stolypin's reforms were unpopular both among the peasants, who clung fiercely to their traditions of the _mir_ (land held in common) and intellectuals, who tended to see the peasants as natural socialists through Tolstoy-colored lenses. Agreed, hence the term clumsy reform, the purpose of this article is mindset change not a fairy story as you rightly point out - thanks. Ed (Actual intellectuals who went to actually live among the peasants were invariably bitterly disappointed; they may have been keepers of undiluted Russianness, but they were also the thickest of all thick hicks.)

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2011-09-18 14:44:53 ~ Eric Oppen is correct: the serfs were ot freed until 1864 (their liberation was used as a selling point for advocates of ending slavery in America, since "even Russia," largely viewed in the West as a land of yurt-dwelling savages, had already freed its serfs)

Readers Comment Jeff Provine commented on 2011-09-18 18:49:35 ~ A time of prime-ministership might've been good for the Russian Empire, akin to the Pitts in Britain or Bismarck in Germany. At least, we wouldn't have the Cold War in any way the same shape.

In 1901, President William McKinley recovers from the minor gunshot wound he had suffered on a visit to Buffalo, when an anarchist had taken an ill-aimed shot at him. A soldier who had been posted as security had noted the anarchist's nervous attitude, and just in the nick of time, had struck away the assassin's pistol.

McKinley RecoversPresident McKinley was grazed across the shoulder, a painful but non-fatal hit. As soon as he recovered, he returned to the public eye, holding a reception in the White House for business leaders from around the country.

A new story by Robbie TaylorAlthough he was urged by his advisors to tighten up on his personal security after this, he refused, saying, "Should I deny the public access to me, then this little pipsqueak of a man will have accomplished his task just as surely as if I were dead; for, if I cannot be seen among men without guards dogging my every step, then I have given in to the fear he wished to generate". McKinley, already a popular leader, grew even more so after this incident, and he used this newly-earned status to push through international agreements that he himself would have found unthinkable a few years before.

His second brush with death - his first had been as a soldier in the Civil War - found him rethinking many of his old positions. He had been known as a friend of business, but now he took an interest in the nascent labor movement in the country, and started urging conciliation with strikers, rather than the violent union-busting tactics that had been standard practice at that time. When his second term was ending in 1904, he let it be known that he would support the progressive Governor Robert La Follette of Wisconsin for the Republican nomination to the presidency. With McKinley's aid, La Follette won a hard election against Democrat Alton Parker and the Socialist Eugene Debs, who captured over a million votes, surprising everyone.

La Follette, with no serious opposition on his right, but plenty to his left, combined many popular moderate leftist positions in his platform, and guided America into an era where business and labor found common ground. He appointed former President McKinley to the position of Special Labor Advisor, which evolved over time into a cabinet position. La Follette proved even more popular than his predecessor, and won not just one reelection, but an unprecedented 3rd term in 1912.

Entry posted by Alternate Historian Robbie Taylor

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: McKinley, Assassination, Premature Death, Presidency, Murder.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2010-10-24 05:37:51 ~ Difficult to know what McKinley might have done...he's so overshadowed by TR that he's a shadowy figure these days. And without the Presidency, what would TR have done?

Readers Comment John Braungart commented on 2010-10-24 12:01:07 ~ Actually McKinley SHOULD have survived. If not for the incompetance of his doctors (one of the nation's best surgeons, Dr. Roswell Park, was a resident of Buffalo at the time, but was away on vacation when the assassination occurred) in allowing the wound to become infected and the president to die of gangrene poisoning, he would have lived, although he would have had a long and probably painful recovery.

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2010-10-24 15:45:47 ~ Ine thiing McKinley almost certainly wouldn't have done is challenge the corporate "trusts" as Roosevelt did. Unlike his VP, President McKinley was an orthodox 19th-century Republican on economic issues.

Readers Comment Jeff Provine commented on 2010-10-24 19:19:42 ~ Definitely agree with Mr. Lipps. This would have major impact on future economic policy, perhaps even enough of a corporate elite to cause the reaction of a socialist movement come the Great Depression.

Readers Comment Stan Brin commented on 2010-10-24 21:32:52 ~ Traumatic events tend to harden people's outlook.

In 1938, the day after Sudetenland Germans broke off relations with Czechoslovakia, Germany's Chancellor Adolph Hitler gave yet another rousing speech about the importance of self-determination. Citing American President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, Hitler and others such as Sudeten German leader Konrad Henlein made clear that the borders of Germany were not what they should be. Hitler had set the ultimatum of October 1 as the hand-over of the Sudetenland, which was demographically German, to Germany, and it looked as if the rest of Europe were going to agree.

Hitler's Demands Spark Demographic Study Most newspapers reported lightly on the speech, focusing more on the significant rioting as introduction of Czechoslovak troops into the region.

Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, editor of National Geographic for nearly forty years, happened upon the story, and it put a thought into his head: What would Europe look like if state borders actually followed the bounds of national majority?

A new story by Jeff ProvinePreempting a story about the modernization of Hawaii, Grosvenor leaped into the project with many of his staff. They followed census data and made international calls, simply asking local editors what they thought each town would prefer. In the October 1938 issue, Grosvenor published his map, which gave a similar, yet ghostly, outline of Europe. The often fought-over Alsace-Lorraine between France and Germany was split, with a much larger area given to Luxembourg. Poland shifted slightly southeast. The Balkans followed much of their divides from being broken up in 1918 but with wider boundaries for Bosnians. Other people groups had countries that did not exist, such as the Basque of Spain.

After his takeover of Sudetenland, Hitler came upon the article and used it as propaganda, saying that even the Americans agreed. Much of Europe was unsettled by the thought of lines being shifted, while in the United States, the map was noticed only with anthropological interest and general academic humming. In the following months, Grosvenor would produce a series of such maps for Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and the many Native American settlements in western United States and Canada.

World War II swept across Europe, Africa, and the Pacific for the next six years. As it came to an end, diplomats began arguing over the reassigning of borders. When the old National Geographic map was shown to him, Franklin Roosevelt was impressed with his predecessor Wilson's ideas of giving people self-determination, so much so that he was willing to overlook its use by Hitler. He pushed for such restructuring during the Yalta Conference, and Truman pushed harder at Potsdam. As the United Nations took form, these principles became critical to international policy, causing several borders to be reshuffled. The later National Geographic maps helped create the numerous nations of Africa and India during decolonization, following demographic populations rather than old imperialistic treaties.

With minimal reason for civil disputes (excluding internal affairs, such as the Chinese Civil War and the Restructure of Ireland of the 1980s), most wars during the latter part of the twentieth century were blocked by means of UN peacekeepers defending borders and diplomats discussing alternatives. Some instances required further breakup of nations, such as the dissolution of Iraq into Sunnistan, Kurdistan, and Iraq proper in 1963 and North and South Sudan in 1972. Other instances, such as the Korean Police Action, ensured that the people of Korea were properly represented in democratic election of their pseudo-socialist republic in 1950.

Entry posted by Guest Historian

Jeff Provine

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Jeff Provine Blog Source: Jeff Provine’s Blog Labels: Hitler, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Woodrow Wilson, Sudeten.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, in reality Grosvenor ran the article, Hawaii, Then and Now. Most noted is a picture of scantily clad ladies posing with their gigantic Hawaiian surfboards in Waikiki.

Readers Comment Scott Palter commented on 2010-09-14 09:55:14 ~ 1. Alsace may have been German by language but the people regarded themselves as French 2. Luxembourg would have vanished not grown - the people regarded themselves as a type of French in the manner of the Walloons 3. the Sudetenland problem was two fold - there was no neat ethnographic boundary that wouldn't still leave hundreds of thousands of Czechs and Germans on the wrong side of the line and second that the rump Bohemia had no natural lines of defense. The border forts were all in German areas.

Readers Comment Chris Oakley commented on 2010-09-14 15:33:24 ~ As was a considerable part of the industry.

Readers Comment Jeff Provine commented on 2010-09-14 15:59:55 ~ Not to mention banking and financial centers.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2010-09-14 18:58:56 ~ I've seen a map of Central/Eastern Europe showing ethnic groups, and the only way you'd have every ethnic group governed by itself would have been a hodgepodge of Ruritanian-style principalities that would make post-Westphalia Germany look like a sane setup.

In 1742, on this day the first Chief Magistrate of the United States, James Wilson was born in Carskerdo, Scotland.

Father of American Legislative Authority is born (in Scotland)Wilson began to read the law at the office of John Dickinson in 1767 and after two years of study he attained the bar in Philadelphia, setting up his own practice in Reading, Pennsylvania. Amongst the first and youngest of the Founding Fathers, as far back as 1768 he had established his thought leadership as a legal theoretician by penning "Considerations on the Nature and Extent of the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament", the first cogent argument to be formulated against British dominance.

In 1775 he was commissioned Colonel of the 4th Cumberland County Battalion and rose to the rank of Brigadier General of the Pennsylvania State Militia.

A signatory to the Declaration of Independence, he was elected twice to the Continental Congress where he came to see that the Articles of Confederation were not working. Arriving at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, he was amongst many delegates who set about writing a new Constitution. However, he was one of the few delegates to have served as a practicising law and a senior officer in the Continental Army.

During the debate on the Committee of Detail, he shaped the definition of the role of Chief Magistrate upon the New York and Massachusetts States constitutions. And at some point during the deliberations framing that role to "faithfully execute the laws" it became self-evident that only Wilson could navigate those vague legal definitions in office. Others might be greater, but he would be first.

Entry posted by Todayinah Editor

© Wikipedia, U.S. Presidents for Dummys and the works of Joseph J. Ellis
Story Tags Click on the hyperlinked metadata to surf the site!

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Alternate Nations Source: Wikipedia Labels: James Wilson, American Revolution, Presidency, Philadelphia, President.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, please note that content was substantially repurposed from the source articles of Wikipedia, U.S. Presidents for Dummys and the works of Joseph J. Ellis

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2010-04-19 00:39:24 ~ Nice twist. From what I understand, Wilson was just about the last person anyone would have expected to end up as president, not least because he was so self-effacing that in OTL's vote on the Declaration of Independence, he supposedly voted "aye" simply to avoid being the swing vote responsible for the Declaration's defeat.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2010-04-19 01:08:31 ~ having him as president would have made things very different, but I don't know enough about him to say more.

Readers Comment Scott Palter commented on 2010-08-19 12:48:32 ~ Please explain how the US actually happens as the constitution was approved because everyone who counted knew Washington would be President.

Readers Comment Jeff Provine commented on 2010-08-19 15:47:35 ~ Absolute power corrupts absolutely; it might lead to a legal dictatorship to "faithfully execute laws." Or, a stronger federal system postponing the need for the Constitution.

In 1979, on this day the third President of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Nur Muhammad Taraki was murdered at the People's Palace in Kabul.

Father of the NationTaraki had requested a meeting with his Pushtun rival, the Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin. Both men hailed from the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) which only a year before had established the new Republic after Mohammed Daoud Khan had overthrown his cousin Mohammed Zahir Shah, the last King (Shah) of Afghanistan. It would be twenty-five years before the leadership of a new "Father of the Nation" would be established.

Amin had agreed to the fateful meeting only if his safety was guaranteed by the Soviet Ambassador, Alexander Puzanov. Such assurances were provided, but not in good faith. Amin however knew Taraki's intentions, and the demand for the ambassador to guarantee his safety was probably a shrewd ploy on the part of Amin to mislead Taraki. When Amin arrived at the People's Palace, a shootout occurred. Amin escaped unhurt, returned later to the palace with some of his supporters and used the Palace Guard to take Taraki prisoner. On September 14 Amin took control of the governmen, announcing that Taraki died of an "undisclosed illness". Less than three months later, after the Amin government itself had been overthrown, the newly installed followers of Babrak Karmal gave another, very different account of Taraki's death. According to this account, Amin ordered the commander of the palace guard to have Taraki executed. Taraki reportedly was suffocated with a pillow over his head.

Furious debate raged in Moscow. Hardliners in the Politburo now argued that an invasion was necessary to provide assistance to the popular socialist government of the newly installed Afghan leader - the fifth President of Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in less than two years. General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev called for an "intervention". Yet the hardliners were defeated in argument by reformists, arguing persuasively that the West would view such an invasion as a chauvinist attempt to establish a warm-water port close to the Gulf of Arabia. Of course this long-held objective of Russian Foreign Policy dated back to the so-called "Great Game" during the nineteenth century. Three Afghan Wars had been fought to prevent Russian access to the Gulf, and this overarching goal had been adopted by America, Great Britain's successor power in the region.

The unspoken reality was that the Soviet Union was dying, and the contemplation of such an extraordinary expedition was driven by a sense of panic in the Soviet leadership. For surely the collapse of a communist ally would set off a chain reaction amongst the Soviet Muslim Republics. Yet America was also gripped by the same fear. Because only months before, the United States had lost its own "policeman in the Gulf" Shah Mohammed Pahlavi. In short order, the Soviets had "lost" Afganistan and the Americans had "lost" Iran.

"Twenty-year old Osama Bin Laden was urging his young Arab fighters to join their Muslim brothers at war in Iran".And so whilst the Soviet Union watched in horror as Afghanistan descended into bloody civil war, it would be America that pursued an interventionist policy. The American equipped Iraqi Army invaded the Islamic Republic of Iran. A furious escalation in the Cold War would now occur. The American decisions to halt grain shipments to the Soviet Union, and then boycott the Olympic Games in Moscow would be but the first steps in the beginning of a new crisis. But even as the Soviet Union dissolved, a new power was emerging in the Middle East, a terrifying cocktail of nationalism and religion that would challenge American hegemony. Because twenty-year old Osama Bin Laden was urging his young Arab fighters to join their Muslim brothers at war in Iran. In a fatal miscalculation, the new "Father of the Nation" was a Saudi national whose government had funded the emergence of Wahibist power in Afghanistan in order to head off nationalist insurrection by buying Muslim support in the Kingdom.

Entry posted by Todayinah Editor

© Robert Fisk, "The Great War for Civilization - the Conquest of the Middle East" (2005)
Story Tags Click on the hyperlinked metadata to surf the site!

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: America, Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Iran, Osama Bin Laden.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, Wikipedia reports that Mohammed Zahir Shah (15 October 1914 ? 23 July 2007) was the last King (Shah) of Afghanistan, reigning for four decades, from 1933 until he was ousted by a coup in 1973. Following his return from exile he was given the title "Father of the Nation " in 2002 which he held until his death.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2009-07-04 05:47:41 ~ If the USSR hadn't invaded Afghanistan, their military would have looked a lot stronger for a long time. A lot of what happened in Af'stan showed just how weak and rotten an organization it had become.

Readers Comment Chris Oakley commented on 2009-07-05 17:32:35 ~ You may be right.

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2009-07-16 15:03:29 ~ And if so, there'd have been no Gorbachev--perhaps his hard-line rival Grigory Romanov would have taken power instead after the "musical chairs" period of the early eighties. The ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union might have been delayed by years--perhaps many years.

Readers Comment Scott Palter commented on 2009-10-08 18:34:09 ~ There are two theories with this. The first is that Gorby killed the SU and thus left the successor republics adrift. The two ex-Soviets on the Eye disagree and say it was dead anyway. They were there and I was not but I do not agree. YMMV.

In 1940, on this day the Second Great War concluded in a dramatic fashion when the Chancellor of Britain, Adolf Hitler hoisted the Nazi flag up Blackpool Tower (pictured) to signify the end of the United Kingdom as an independent, sovereign nation. Not only had German soldiers marched along the coastline in order to reach the victory ceremony, the Italian Gardens in Stanley Park were used as a guide for paratroopers because the paths form a perfect compass. Nazi Playground

The iconic photographs of that September day shared much in common with the Fall of Paris on 14th June, not least of which was the close resemblance of the Blackpool and Eiffel Towers.

The truth was somewhat stranger. The resort had escaped unscathed during the Blitz which was odd considering that there were major British aircraft manufacturing factories situated there. Hitler had also spared the Lancashire resort during his planned invasion of Great Britain because he wanted the seaside town as a "playground". In fact the Fuhrer would also base the headquarters for his paratroopers there.

The phoney war had ended on the 10th May when the Wehrmacht had side-stepped the Maginot line. And a similiar act of military genius by Hitler would ensure the ultimate success of Operation Sealion.

In the months leading up to the invasion, the Germans conducted a deception operation, Operation Fortitude aimed at misleading the British regarding the date and place of the invasion. Expecting a strike from the Pas De Calais, the British High Command had been unable to defend the blow when it came from Normandy instead.

Entry posted by Todayinah Editor

Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Alternate Nations Source: Wikipedia Labels: Blackpool, Adolf Hitler, Normandy, Britain, France.

Todayinah Editor Editor says, The Sky News article of February 23rd reads ~ Blackpool was off-limits to the Luftwaffe during World War Two because Hitler wanted the seaside town as a "playground", uncovered documents reportedly reveal. The Fuhrer apparently wanted to hoist the Nazi flag up Blackpool Tower and base the headquarters for his paratroopers there.
Uncovered intelligence maps reportedly reveal Hitler's intention to spare the Lancashire resort during his planned invasion of Great Britain.
York-based publisher Michael Cole brought the documents back from Germany about a year ago, he said.
The papers go toward explaining why the resort escaped unscathed during the Blitz - especially considering there were major British aircraft manufacturing factories situated there.
"These maps will be the source of much interest particularly to those who lived here through the Second World War," said Elaine Smith, chairman of Blackpool's Civic Trust.
"It had been known that Hitler intended to use Blackpool as his personal playground after what he hoped to be a successful invasion and the war ended.
"He probably wanted to keep the resort as it was so he could enjoy it as Chancellor of Britain."
The maps also detail the Nazi leader's invasion plans - which included marching soldiers along the coastline.
The Italian Gardens in Stanley Park was to be used as a guide for paratroopers because the paths formed a perfect compass.

Readers Comment Eric Oppen commented on 2009-02-25 05:20:57 ~ Not bad at all...I'd want to do the "neener neener" dance, as well, in his jackboots.

Readers Comment David Atwell commented on 2009-02-25 06:58:02 ~ A certain marine mammal succeeds in its WWII Operation? OMG! lol Nice article ;)

Readers Comment Chris Oakley commented on 2009-02-25 14:43:34 ~ Nice DBWI concept, I daresay.

Readers Comment Eric Lipps commented on 2009-02-25 15:11:41 ~ The use of Calais is clever, suggesting a sort of "anti-D-Day." As I understand it, prior to D-Day in "our" history, the Allies invested consideraable effort in encouraging the Nazis to believe that the cross-Channel invasion would land at Calais. As a result, the Wehrmacht reinforced that area, leaving normandy exposed.

Comment from Tom AshwellI on Facebook - I thought he was?

Readers Comment Scott Palter commented on 2009-09-13 21:15:24 ~ How do you get a Nazi regime with a Jewish Hitler? Absent Adolph the Nazi Party stays a tiny collection of kooks in Munich. Adolph built it into a regional party, staged a failed coup then spent the balance of the 20's recruiting similar regional parties into his party to make it national.

	In 1982, Princess Grace of Monaco was released from the hospital after treatment for minor injuries sustained in a car accident the previous day.

On this day in 1971, Chilean president Salvador Allende and army general Augusto Pinochet were both found shot to death in Allende's office; the two men had been arguing about the implementation of martial law after a China virus outbreak in southern Chile when Pinochet whipped out his sidearm in a fit of rage and fired twice into Allende's chest at point-blank range, then turned the gun on himself in a fit of depression and blew his brains out.

	Salvadore Allende

	On this day in 1944, American forces overran the last pockets of German resistance in Rotterdam. That same day Dutch fascist collaborator Anton Mussert was assassinated in Amsterdam by Dutch anti-Nazi partisans.

In 1958, the Thoreau, a small lunar probe, becomes the first man-made object to land on the moon. The Soviet States of America slowly build on that success of the next 16 years until they finally are able to send a man to the moon in 1974.

In 1916, alternative history writer Roald Dahl is born in South Wales. Dahl's award-winning story Kiss, Kiss, in which a young mother worrying that her child will die of illness is revealed at the end to be Adolf Hitler's mother, led him into science fiction and the rich field of alternate history, much like Winston Churchill and so many others.

In 1898, H.W. Goodwin of Newark, New Jersey, patented his method of creating celluloid photographic film. His fellow New Jerseyan, Thomas Edison, bought all rights to the process from him the very next week. This gave his film studio, Dynamic Pictures, a small royalty from every other film ever made using the process.

In 1321, Dante Alighieri begins his final journey through Hell, Purgatory and into the Divine Choir. The story of this journey was told in The Divine Comedy - II, which he dictated to fellow Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio in 1358.

In 1812, French grenadiers entered Moscow as Napoleon completed his conquest of Tsarist Russia. The struggle for the mastery of Europe was over.

In 1962, agents of the treacherous Cuban leader Fidel Castro secretly detonated land mines that sunk the Soviet ship Poltava as it headed towards the Quarantine Zone. Insufficient trust existed between the world leaders for President Kennedy to convince Premier Khruschev of American innonence in the events that set into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis. A revolutionary student of underhand techniques, Castro understood very well that he could not rely upon either war party to do the right thing by Cuba.

In 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle met in Quebec as part of the Octagon Conference to discuss strategy. It was deeply frustrating for the European leaders. After all, they could only contribute limited forces to the Atlantic Wall.

In 1940, the Battle of Britain ended with a Kriegsmarine victory over the Royal Navy. Halifax, signed the instrument of surrender while a raging Churchill escaped with the remnants of the fleet and sails to Falkland Islands, there to organize an international resistance movement.

In 1950, at Inchon, on the west coast of Korea General Douglas MacArthur deployed the Bacteriological weapons of Unit 731 handed to him five years before by Japanese General Otozoo Yamada. 'There's no substitute for victory' the General tells the World by way of justification at a Press Conference the next day. Yamada understood - he had been double-crossed by MacArthur, who had pledged that he would only use the weapons as a last resort against the hated Russians.

In 1962, the White House acted on econnaissance data presented by hawks who sought open war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Orders were given to sink the the Soviet ship Poltava as it headed toward Cuba, one of the events that set into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the famous words of journalist Brendan Dubois, 'Everyone remembers where they were the day President Kennedy tried to kill them.'

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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.