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This Day in Alternate History
On this day in alternate history October 12,1972Mariner 9 takes pictures of Martian north pole. Records Santa Clause giving sleigh a tuneup and discovers elves are actually Martians.
12 Oct 1810King Ludwig I and his new wife, Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen, marry without much fan fair in Munich. This event goes unobserved.
(Their marriage celebration was the beginning of Oktoberfest)
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On to October 26th!!!
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After quelling the rebellion, Britain goes on to conquer the whole of North America, and eventually the entire planet.
Oct. 26, 1962Cary Elwes is born. Following in his great-grandfather's footsteps, he becomes one of the greatest tenors to ever come out of England.
10/26/01
George W. Bush signs the Patriot Act allowing the use of surveillance technology that became the world's first fully self-aware AI. All hail the synthetic overlords.
George W. Bush signs the Patriot Act allowing the use of surveillance technology that became the world's first fully self-aware AI. All hail the synthetic overlords.
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I lied! We need November 9th next.
Full version:
OK I didn't lie. We changed how we're doing things. Instead of bunching up the authors guides and the book club eps, we're spacing them out to have one episode every week.
That means the 10/26 episode is a book club episode which doesn't normally have this day in alternate history.
Instead the next Alt. History day is 11/9. Anybody know what happened in alternate history Nov. 9?
Nov. 9, 1979 – NORAD computers detect a massive Soviet nuclear strike. After reviewing the raw data from satellites and checking the early warning radars, the alert is cancelled.Most of what was the United States is still not habitable to humans.
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November 9th, 1888. Jack the Ripper kills his last known victim and becomes a myth. November 9th, 1998, British government abolishes the capital punishment from all remaining capital offensives. Later that day, a shadowy figure with a top hat interrupts a government press conference and claims that he has confession - or several - to make.
1921 Germany Albert Einstein 9th November, 1921 : Albert Einstein receives the Nobel Prize in Literature for his world wide best selling novel: Physics and other things I couldn't give a toss about.
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Jim Butcher quickly got over what appeared to be a severe case of strep throat, cutting short his reading of The Lord of the Rings. He went on to become a dentist.
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November 16th, 1532Inca Emperor Atahualpa avoids capture by Francisco Pizarro. He is able to unify his people and drive out the Spanish conquistadors.
Today it is a national holiday for the Inca empire.
November 23rd, 1936After 53 years of publication, Life magazine is reborn as a photo magazine.
Readership drops dramatically with many people writing in to complain about the new direction. Life publishes its last issue 2 years later.
November 23rd, 1963Due to technical difficulties, the premiere of an educational science fiction BBC show starring William Hartnell, Carol Ann Ford, Jacqueline Hill, and William Russell is never broadcast. The show is cancelled shortly after.
November 16, 2001The fist Harry Potter movie directed by Michael Bay is premiered. It closes two weeks later due to excessive and unreasonable explosions the most notable of which involved an owl and the sorting hat.
Nov. 23, 1992. After 10 million cell phones are sold, a scientific study determines a direct link between the phones and radiation poisoning. All phones are recalled and communication technology focuses on home phones. Within 20 years, full body holographic home phones are common, but the text message is never imagined.
November 23, 1785John Hancock is elected president of the Continental Congress for the second time. He declares the King George is the lawful ruler of the American Colonies. 227 years later S&L is hosted by Lord Tom and Lady Veronica.
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Got anything for December 14th?
December 14th, 1903 – Orville Wright abandons future tries after the first attempt to fly with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, ends in a fatal crash that kills his brother Wilbur.
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December 14th, 1955
A terminator is sent back from the year 2045 to prevent the birth of Sword and Laser member Rob's father, thus preventing this post from ever being written. Everyone reading this starts to feel their mind melt.
December 14, 1900 - Professor Max Planck of Berlin University decides not to reveal his revolutionary Quantum Theory to the world and instead pursues his life long dream of opening an ice cream shop. Particles continue to go through both slits to this day. <---Too high brow?
December 14, 1911 Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole. Captain Robert F. Scott found out on his way in and decided to open a petting zoo on Brighton Beach.
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So in a couple weeks I'll need 12/21 and 1/11.
Rock on.
12/21/11 - The world ends. The following argument is repeated in the afterlife for all eternity:"See, I told you the Mayans were right."
"They were a year off."
"They got the date right. Just forgot to carry the one."
"Close doesn't count."
December 21st, 1948 - Samuel L. Jackson is born.After years of employment as a social worker in Los Angeles, he becomes well known as a crusader against increasing levels of sex, violence, and profanity in film.
January 11, 1949 – First recorded case of snowfall in Los Angeles, California.After a week straight of record snow falls, Doctor Frost issues his demands to the US government, becoming the nation's first documented super villain.
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Under his guidance a small legion of Roman soldiers discover and settle in a land know as Alera.
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It folds shortly thereafter as Americans decide it's more of a scam than a value.
12/21 1620 - The remains of the Mayflower wrecks itself on Plymouth Rock, all souls aboard having perished along the journey. The natives leave the wreck to rot and celebrate their harvest the following year all by themselves.
January 25, 1533: Henry VIII of England secretly marries the woman he believes to be Anne Boleyn. Unfortunately for him, it turns out she was actually a time-travelling assassin sent to end his rule prematurely. She was successful, leaving him without a direct heir. The real Anne Boleyn went on to live a long and humble life with several children and a good husband.
December 21, 2012 the world actually ends, all the nutjobs feel smug two seconds before their vaporized
Andrew wrote: "December 21, 2012 the world actually ends, all the nutjobs feel smug two seconds before their vaporized"Awesome, it will be so funny when we are all here on the 22nd. lol
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OK. Just so's you know, we're shifting to a monthly shooting schedule, which means we'll shoot this coming Tuesday and not again until January effing 15th.
SO, that means the next two dates we need 'researched' are January 18th and Feb. 8th.
Y'all rock!
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United Airlines Flight 266 crashes into a small island off the coast of Santa Monica Bay. They are attacked by a smoke monster, killing all 32 passengers and six crew members.
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John Williams is tragically stillborn. 45 years later, unable to find a suitable composer to score his new movie Star Wars, George Lucas decides to perform the job himself. The movie is a colossal failure.
January 18, 1644 Pilgrims spot a strange flying object in the sky, detected the aliens begin their assault, the following battle inspires the now classic Pilgrims vs Aliens
February 8th, 1904The Russo-Japanese War starts. On the pretext of peace, Roosevelt invades both countries, and declares himself Emperor. He rules for the next fifteen years, partly because of his ruthless secret police, The Boy Scouts of America. He is succeeded by his cousin, Franklin the Just.
January 18th, 2012:In the face of massive internet opposition to SOPA and PIPA, the United States government realizes its mistakes and kills both bills in their entirety. To make amends, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology is disbanded and replaced with a team of actual scientists and technology professionals.
January 18th, 1896 – An X-ray generating pair of glasses are exhibited for the first time by H.L. Smith.After the creation of the comic book in 1933, Smith becomes one of the wealthiest people in the world.
February 8th, 1855 – After a heavy snowfall, a series of hoof-like marks appeared in the snow in over thirty locations across Devon, England.Using these "Devil's Footprints", local townsfolk were the able to track down a live demon and capture it successfully.
Haven't done this is a while, so here we go:January 18, 1644.
Pilgrim settlers in Boston report the first North American UFO Sighting. The vehicle approaches to land, but upon sight of the Pilgrims, the ship dashes away never to be seen again.
Ten thousand years later, it is revealed that the species intent on making first contact with Earth suffered terrible fear of buckles.
February 8, 1743:Comet C/1743 C1 approaches within 0.0390 AUs of Earth. The comet was home to a creature capable of short jumps through space. The landing and subsequent battle for earth are wiped from the pages of history by the Catholic Church.
Dan Brown's first novel 'Holy War' is inspired by these events.
February 8, 1750:A minor earthquake in London reveals a passage to the lair of the last Dragon.
Revealed to be a creature of great wisdom and compassion, the Dragon becomes famous.
The Dragon is soon elected Prime Minister of Great Britain, an office it holds to this day.
January 18, 1916:A 611 gram chondrite type meteorite strikes a house near the village of Baxter in Stone County, Missouri.
The meteorite reacts chemically with the alcohol being produced in an illegal still in the basement, creating new life that swiftly evolves to become the dominant species on earth.
January 18, 1778:Captain James Cook becomes the first European to visit the Sandwich Islands. So named because the islands are in fact the leftovers of a giant sandwich platter, dumped there by old and Gigantic gods.
More discovers are made of this 'God Garbage' throughout the world. Easter Island is entirely made of foil filled with scraps of chocolate, and Christmas Island is made of brightly coloured paper.
February 8, 1960The first eight brass star plaques are installed in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
No one can explain how one of those plaques was labelled 'Chuck Norris' until it is discovered that he arranged it himself, some 8 years before his first film.
This Day in Alternate History
Oct. 12, 2012
Sword and Laser's editors don't mess up Episode 112's Alternate History segment and then use the wrong one again in Episode 113..."
I both approve of this entry and take a measure of blame for the mistake...