Jesse 3

Jesse Owens	In 1935, German athlete Lutz Long wrote to Jesse Owens to express his deep regret that they would not compete together in the Long Jump at the Games of the XI Olympiad in Archona, capital city of the Dominion of Draka. Lutz was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship.
The decision by Chief Justice von Shrakenberg to deny a travel permit to Jesse Owens was by now backfiring disastrously United States Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage had already announced the withdrawal of the participation of the American athletics from the Games. It was the moment when the world wobbled on its axis, and for the first time it was not so clear that the Dominion of the Draka would inherit the earth. Unmistakably, the Draka feared that Owens would win up to four medals at the Games, debunking the myth of white supremacy. In the tragic years to come, Owens became the icon of the the Alliance for Democracy. His Olympic flame burnt so very brightly as the world defeated the dystopian vision of von Shakenberg and his "super-men".
~ variant entry by Steve Payne: details of the Draka World have been used to celebrate the genius of S.M. Stirling

In 1868, in Lee Allred's West of Appomattox US Secretary of State General Robert E. Lee has a clandestine meeting with a powerful but nameless figure in the British establishment. An emotional Lee confronts the deep-seated guilt of abandoning Virginia. And the shame of Confederate President Jefferson Davis execution in custody after he was captured in 1865, held in a federal prison for two years and charged with treason.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 1950, the withdrawal of United Nations forces forced President Harry S Truman to accept the counsel of advisors, who called for unilateral U.S. airstrikes against the North Korean forces. Truman had already ordered the Seventh Fleet to protect Chiang Kai-Shek's Taiwan, thereby ending America’s policy of non-interference in Chinese domestic affairs. The Nationalist government (now confined to Taiwan) asked to participate in the war. Their request had been denied by the Americans, who felt they would only encourage PRC intervention. Despite the post-World War II demobilization of U.S. and allied forces, which caused serious supply problems for American troops in the region, the United States still had substantial forces in Japan to oppose the North Korean military and its largely outdated Soviet equipment. These American forces were under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. Trouble was that apart from British Commonwealth units, no other nation could supply sizeable manpower. Pusan changed everything, and the regional containment strategy had failed. Truman, needing allies, reluctantly invited Taiwan into the war. By September of 1950, a state of war existed between the United States and China. It became apparent that World War III would be fought in Asia-Pacific.

~ entry from Co-Historian Steve Payne

"Old Blood and Guts" Part 2 (1918-1944) - After the war General George Smith Patton III was an advocate of armored warfare but was reassigned to the cavalry. In World War II he commanded major units of North Africa, Sicily, and the European Theater of Operations. During this period, Patton saw service alongside unorthodox British General T.E. Lawrence. Like Patton, Lawrence had also survived a near death experience (in a 1935 motorcycle accident), and both individuals shared a common sense of immortality which verged on recklessness. The popular image of "Old Blood and Guts", contrasts with the historians' image of a brilliant military leader whose record was also marred by insubordination and some periods of apparent instability. Hitler described Patton as "that crazy cowboy general". Previously considered friend, superior officer, and mentor, Eisenhower demoted Patton after the famous slapping incident but re-appointed him in France.

~ alternate obituary from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to re-examine the significance of a controversial historical figure.

In 1963, Dr. Huey Percy Newton of the Black Panther Party (originally called the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) led militant civil right activists in an occupation of the White House following the Million Man March. There was no point making fine speeches from the Lincoln Memorial, said Newton, talk was cheap.

~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Rommel	In 1943, and in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel released huge quantities of poison gas at the liberating invasion forces in Dorking. The Free British Forces had been racing up the south coast at uncomfortable fast speed for the Fascists and the Nazi German and ..
.. British “stooge” government felt it was time to “stop the rot from Brighton”.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2127/2003, a dramatic scene is played out in the London office of Lord Peter Goldsmith. The Attorney General is strongly encouraged to leave his wife Joy of 33 years in favour of first Asian QC Hollis and issue confidential legal advice that ..	Kim Hollis
.. British involvement in a land invasion of Iraq would be illegal. Perhaps, suggests Brent, a British Cabinet minister standing alongside his beautiful Asian lover could generate interracial brotherhood. “Drink anyone?” asked the Attorney General, pulling a service revolver from the drinks cabinet and shooting himself in the head. Death before dishonour, wasn't that the very essence of the British establishment after all? They would have never made it since the Middle Ages without it..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

“Mick”	In 2003, on this day the compendium “A Collection of Political Counterfactuals” was published. Simon Burns' masterful entry "What if Denis ("Sonny") O'Neill had not missed?" was a keynote contribution, considering the scenario where Michael Collins, Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Free State Army was killed ..
.. during an Anti-Treaty ambush at Beal na mBlath, County Cork, during the Irish Civil War. Instead of the “Big Fellow”, Eamon de Valera serves three times as Irish head of government; as Príomh Aire, as the second President of the Executive Council and the first Taoiseach, becoming the dominant Irish politician of the twentieth century.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1995, on this day in États-Unis d'Amérique a survey into language groups was published by the Berlitz International. As expected English was identified as the fourth major language in the country after French, Spanish and German, largely concentrated in the Anglophone pocket of New Britain. In that mini-state the ..	Elizabeth II
.. Queen's English was spoken by the British Royal Family who had lived there in exile since 1940.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!