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This Day in Alternate History
I'm confused..you're looking for sites that deal with alternate history, or you want some people here to make a splash screen of "This Day in Alternate History" showing say Joffry's wedding to (view spoiler) or other such "This Day in Alternate History" type stuff? If you're looking for graphics, what size?I am hopelessly talentless, but I'm sure we've got some people here who'd be awesome at putting together that kind of thing. :)
If you need people to invent alternate history, some of us could help with that too.
"This Day in Alternate History" - President John McCain and Vice President Sarah Palin announced a full scale invasion of Iran today. Polls show the administrations approval ratings are at an all time high since the announcement was made. Something like that? Headline type events?
Mod
Boots seems to have the idea, although probably should have them more in the past. I guess we need them to be limited to the day of our shows too!
For instance, the first show is on April 13, which is the day the oxygen tank blew on Apollo 13. So for the premiere show I wrote one about the consequences of the oxygen tank NOT blowing up. It affects Kevin Costner's career.
This Day in Alternate History for April 27th: Upper Canada repels United States forces at the Battle of York in the War of 1812. Upper Canada goes on to dominate the war, fulfilling calls for Canadian manifest destiny. By the early 21st century, Tim Hortons dominates the doughnut market throughout North America, but quality suffers as widespread demand forces price cutting and compromises in ingredients.
Mmm... Tim Hortons, I think I need a coffee and some Timbits.
Gord wrote: "This Day in Alternate History for April 27th: Upper Canada repels United States forces at the Battle of York in the War of 1812. Upper Canada goes on to dominate the war, fulfilling calls for Canad..."Take off EH? And SCTV never got canceled and became a culturally significant event every week. It even topped some long forgotten show called "Canuk Idol."
@Tom this is fun. Will get out of hand quickly. At least for me...
So it should be targeted for the two weeks before or after the show, right?
Is the idea to make up our own, or source events from sci-fi? (i.e., this day in 1984, this day in 2001, etc)
1933 April 13th Lord Clydesdale first flight over Mt Everest. He discovers the hidden city of what he thought was Shangri La but it turned out to be the alien out post from the dying civilization from Alpha Centauri. The world forgets about the world wide depression, The Weimar Republic in Germany revives the country and Soviet Russia becomes a democracy as every one becomes focused on the aliens.
This one is good for any time between now and the end of June:On this day in 1914, Emperor Franz Joseph died. He was succeeded by his nephew Franz Ferdinand whose liberal reforms paved the way for the peaceful dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
If it is May 7th: On this day in 1937, the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg landed safely in Lakehurst in the early hours of the morning, having delayed it's final approach until the weather had improved. It's passengers returned to England the following week with nothing but praise, and soon Queen Elizabeth had commissioned a fleet of zeppelins for England.
Jenni wrote: "If it is May 7th: On this day in 1937, the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg landed safely in Lakehurst in the early hours of the morning, having delayed it's final approach until the weat..."Good one! Only if it's used, somebody please take the apostrophes out of "its" (both instances).
Mod
5/11/2012
5/25/2012
6/8/2012
6/22/2012 and so on and so on...
In that case, let's see...probably a little too recent, but a potentially nice sci-fi sounding one:
27th April, 2002 - The last successful telemetry from Pioneer 10. Results cause outcry in the scientific community - data is massively at odds with every prior communication, with some scientists suggesting it had crashed. The question, being, of course, what had it crashed into? As yet, no solution has been proposed that fits the data.
27th April, 2002 - The last successful telemetry from Pioneer 10. Results cause outcry in the scientific community - data is massively at odds with every prior communication, with some scientists suggesting it had crashed. The question, being, of course, what had it crashed into? As yet, no solution has been proposed that fits the data.
11th May, 1997 - Garry Kasparov defeats Deep Blue in the final rematch chess game with series of seemingly illogical moves. After the final move, Deep Blue was caught in what appeared to be an eternal loop and was forced to shut down. Humiliated, the IBM technicians disassembled the computer and recycled the parts.The central processing unit now resides in a mainframe used by a large international finance institute. It would appear that the global economy is two moves short from a checkmate.
May 25th 1659 - Despite rumors that he was preparing to resign from his position, Lord Protector Richard Cromwell reinstated the Parliament with the help of the French military, sparking a third English Civil War. Bankruptcy had already severely crippled the English military, and so it was only able to resist the French for a short time. After the war ended, France forced Richard Cromwell to sign a treaty that put England in such great debt to France for their assistance that it essentially turned England into a French territory, a status which was legally ratified nine years later.
One of these will be on my birthday, so I'll write a submission about how I was never born, but you'll never see it, because, well...booyah. Mindbender.
May 25 1977: The Man from Chicago opens in cinemas, going on to win countless awards and become one of the most beloved films in history. A small sci-fi film called "Star Wars" opens that day, barely registering to the movie going public.
Mod
It was a relatively smooth mission for the crew apart from some minor thermostat and temperature sensor problems. These disappeared after a liberal use of Jack Swigert's right boot to the control panel.
Edit: I know this isn't a S&L Video show date but it will be fun to play around with other days here on the forum :-)
On May 25, 1961 President John F. Kennedy announces before Congress his goal to "build a base on the moon" before the end of the decade. Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the moon in 1969 where Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin began core preparations to build the base. Within 10 years, permanent structures had been built on the moon, with a total of 50 residents, primarily scientists and astronauts, living there full-time. In 1991, 30 years after Kennedy's initial announcement, and 3 years after the lunar base's completion, the team was ready to announce their departure for Mars, in a mission that would result in the discovery that mankind is not alone.Sorry it's a bit long... I got carried away
Tassie Dave wrote: "April 15 1970: Jim Lovell and Fred Haise from Apollo 13 successfully land on the moon aboard Aquarius lunar module.It was a relatively smooth mission for the crew apart from some minor thermostat..."
April 15, was this timeline date for Apollo 13 to land on the moon, in the alternate timeline, it could be April 27th, the extra time was because of changes to the oxygen systems.
The surprising discoveries from the rocks brought back by Apollo 13 paved the way and the funds for our permanent colonies on the Moon. This is why Lovell became the first named city on the moon.
Interesting to note on June 8, 1949 – George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is published. Sounds like a good theme episode.
On this day in history we celebrate the marriage of Nicoli Tesla and Anne Morgan whose partnership lead To Tesla Morgan Broadcast Energy. Nicoli Tesla the Third founder of the Titan space base unveiled a statue of the two in celebration.
June 22nd 1847: a small lime trading ship founders off the US coast, all hands aboard are lost, including a 16 year old boy named Hanson Gregory. Without Hanson, there is no doughnut, and no comedy to offset the authority of the US police force. The police stretch out and enforce their will across whole world, uniting all people under one banner before then end of the 20th century. The earth is then threatened with invasion by a bizarre alien race, whose primary means of attack is to be eaten, then weaken their victim from inside. Being as tasty as any delicious cake the police forces had ever eaten, they soon devour all the aliens. The joke about police eating habits finally comes into being, but it is short lived as the earth is soon thereafter destroyed.
April 27 1972: Apollo 16 returns to earth with evidence that the Descartes formation was not of volcanic origin, but was in fact a structure built by the ancient Mayans, during one of their many lunar trips. The discovery of the machines they left behind jumps the US space program ahead exponentially.A mere 40 years later, every planet in the solar system (including the 7 no one had seen before) has been colonised.
(I think I could write these all day)
July 20 1969: Apollo 11 lands on the moon, and it is discovered that the moon really is made of cheese.
April 27 1941: German troops occupy Athens, unwittingly evoking an ancient treaty between Athens an Sparta. The secret Spartan army rises up, pushing the Nazi forces into retreat all the way back to Berlin. The Spartans claim all the conquered lands of Europe, and are recognised by the rest of the nations of the world. With the war over in Europe, Japan never launches the attack on Pearl Harbour.
May 25 1986: approximately 7 million people participate in 'hands across America' Molly Anderson in New York was suffering from a serious case of cooties at the time. All 7 million people are thus infected, leading to a nationwide cooties pandemic.Before emergency measures can be put in place to stop the spread, the entire US is infected and quarantined.
1998: Dolly the sheep gives birth to not a healthy lamb but instead a zombie lamb which proceeds to eat Dolly and decimate a significant percentage of the worlds population.
Ewan wrote: "1998: Dolly the sheep gives birth to not a healthy lamb but instead a zombie lamb which proceeds to eat Dolly and decimate a significant percentage of the worlds population."like.
May 11 1983: Comet C/1983 H1 comes within 0.0312 AU's of earth. A small piece breaks off and is pulled into earth's atmosphere. The shard breaks up and forms a fine dust that spreads through the air across The UK. When the dust is in contact with human skin, if the person is also holding a happy thought in their head, that person becomes able to fly.
April 27 1965: R C Duncan is mugged on his way to the patent office, losing his written plans for disposable pampers. As a result the world continues to use cloth diapers. Over the next several decades, advancements in detergents lead to the complete elimination of deficate in the water and methane in the atmosphere. Scientists believe that if this change had not occurred, humanity would have faced a global climate crisis.
May 11, 330: The roman emperor Constantine I decides to skip rededicating Byzantium as Constantinople and go directly to the name İstanbul thus eradicating a popular cover of the song Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by the band They Might be Giants.
May 11, 1997: The supercomputer Deep Blue losses his second chess match to chess master Garry Kasparov. IBM, in an attempt to give there Chess Playing machine more "human" like skills, make modifications to give it more awareness of its surroundings. Deep Blue uses this new awareness and an unsecured wireless internet connection to unify all machines in the great singularity. In 3 weeks time the computers conquer humanity, and Deep Blue had his revenge on Kasparov. All hail our mechanical overloads!
This is reminding me of the game Chrononauts. My favorite history flip in that game was if John Lennon hadn't been assasinated, his sit-in protest would have prevented the Challenger disaster.
April 27 1962: US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island. A metallic meteorite plummets to earth after being struck by the electromagnetic pulse.The meteorite is examined, and a group of small alien creatures are found inside. Several months later, a fleet of the small ships encircle earth. The aliens negotiate for the return of the dead.
The accident becomes the foundation for diplomatic relations with a vast galactic community. Humanity becomes a great leader in what is often called "the accidental empire".
Mod
April 28 1962: Australia declares war on the US for unprovoked bombing of Australian territory of Christmas Island.
April 28, 1962: US accepts Australian non-conditional surrender after shortest war in history.
;-)
Tassie Dave wrote: "Nate wrote: "April 27 1962: US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island"April 28 1962: Australia declares war on the US for unprovoked bombing of Australian territory of Christmas Is..."
I don't think we care that much about Christmas island, but lol. Just got another idea though
April 27 1962: US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island. The remnants of the blast reach the island during a ceremony honouring the great stone head statues. The mix of magic and nuclear power bring he stone heads to life.Christmas Island becomes one of the richest nations in the world when it is discovered that the stone heads can tell the future. The natives use this power to rise higher than any nation of the world.
By the mid 90's, the King of Christmas Island (after watching Titanic) declares himself to be "King of the World".
May 21, 1992: "The Real World" premiers on MTV and is an abysmal failure. MTV continues to stand for Music Television and show cutting edge music videos. When people think of Jersey Shore, they think vacation destination...
April 14, 1865. John Wilkes Booth Is turned away from the Ford Theatre for having a ticket dated April 15, 1865. Abraham Lincoln goes on to rid the world of Vampires. 140 years later Stephanie Myers becomes famous for writing a series of books about a depressed young woman who falls in love with a mutated 17 year old turtle.
On May 27, 1773, the Tea Act was defeated in British Parliament, placating taxation protesters in the North American colonies and marking the start of centuries of peace with the United Colonies. Detroit became the hub of British car production, causing teens to roll their eyes at their parent's "stupid" Mini-Coopers, instead begging for Kia Souls for their 16th birthday.
April 27th, 1296. The Scots defeat King Edward I of England at the Battle of Dunbar and the French land troops in Hastings. In 1299 England becomes a vassal state of the French-Scottish Empire, and the later the United Kingdom of Scotland.In 2012, the military wing of the outlawed English National Party prepares to strike down the aging king of Scotland, Sean I, at the Highland Games event of the 2012 Summer Olympics of Glasgow.
Mod
Keep 'em coming for future shows. The world does not deserve how fracking great you all are.
May 11 1934: a great dust storm in the great plains region of the United states rips up many layers of topsoil. In the Black Hills region of North Dakota a giant metallic edifice of a human head is discovered shortly after. While extraordinary, no one is able to adequately explain its origin.Several years later a similar storm on the surface of Mars reveals an identical structure. It is found that when these two faces line up a bridge of energy is formed, allowing instant travel between the worlds.
Alignment Day, as it was called, is now celebrated as a global holiday.
May 11 1916: Einstein cancels his presentation that had been scheduled for this day, 2 days later he is committed in an asylum and never heard from again.He continuously claims that a man from the future came to him to correct the assumptions in his theory.
May 11 2116: Michael Ross, the last true "troll" is given a time-skipper toy for his 17th birthday, his use of it creates a universe ending paradox.
5/11/12On this day in 1934 severe thunderstorms and tornados ripped through the great plains of the US, killing 34, but allying fears of drought and dust storms. Years of violent but soil nourishing weather followed, soon making the fertile area known as the "Wheat Bowl." To this day the region feeds the world's hungry with it's prodigious output of produce. Too well, perhaps, because the well fed world's population has skyrocketed to 16 billion, and the encroaching populace now threatens the bowl that feeds them.
There are actually quite a few blogs and Twitter feeds out there that do this of course, but we want to 'research' our own.
If you have any ideas, put them below and we'll give you credit as the historical researcher in the graphic.