February 1973 Notes
- The Ticonderoga construction schedule provides a little insight into US naval shipbuilding capacity. The New York Shipbuilding Corporation has a yard on Staten Island rather than Camden NJ, which is operated by the ATL American Shipbuilding Corporation, a subsidiary of a large industrial conglomerate. Construction of carriers and battleships on the West Coast at Long Beach and San Francisco points to a more distributed shipyard base; Puget Sound/Bremerton is used for PacFlt refits and support at this time. The Ticos themselves are 20% larger than the previous Enterprise class CVANs, with increased capacity for aircraft and munitions; unlike @, US carriers still have quite substantive self defence weapons above and beyond point defence/short range defence, which adds to their cost
- VFL Park/Waverley is built to its fully expanded version, with sufficient transport links and capacity. It will probably only ring a bell to chaps from certain parts of Australia
- The Perpignan Perpetual Stew was not extinguished in WW2
- Hagar the Horrible had quite the adventures
- Personal aircraft and flying cars are not yet widespread in any fashion, but there is sufficient traffic to have infringements and fines
- Once again, some trouble crops up in Szechuan
- A new Soviet fighter-interceptor isn't expected or known of from other sources
- Trouble is brewing in a particular part of South America
- The Soviets continue to deny that serial killers exist in the USSR, even as they have some very nasty programmes in secret closed cities
- Reagan's approach to the crash/recession is along the lines of JFK in the @ 1962 'Kennedy Slide'
- Arnold Schwarzenegger not only joins the Army Reserve (reflecting a continuing approach whereby actors are expected to 'do their bit'), but plays Hamlet
- The report on 'The Top 5 Greatest Cities in the World' is a bit of an Easter Egg based on the Civilization series of games, where they are an occasional bonus event
- Thalmann's verbal stumble is the latest indicator that something just isn't right
- The USN has minesweeping hovercraft in addition to other capacities
- Feb 16 is a reference to Calvin and Hobbes as well as the 1978 Stallone film
- Somehow, someone has managed to pinch Old Ironsides. More will come of this...
- The British response to rising unemployment is a bit of Military Keynesianism combined with trying to use the slack within the budget and system; the Royal Highways being built include highway strips for wartime use
- Israel continues to respond strongly
- Soviet Arctic war games point towards plans for the Northern Front
- Mysterion rises
- The Delos theme park has influences from Westworld
- Earlier development of a stealth attack aircraft is underway
- Killing off every olive tree in Spain but one is a strange event that is driven by some unknown malign party that wishes to cause chaos in the West
- Light beer is killed off before it can emerge. The US brewing industry is in better shape as a result of a lack of national Prohibition
- The Tracked Hovertrain/Hovercraft is a bit of a developmental dead end, sadly
- Someone is messing with crocodiles...
- The AMA makes submissions about football that are going to be controversial. What happens won't make any party utterly happy
Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
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Simon Darkshade
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jemhouston
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Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
Do carriers actually need area defense weapons?
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Simon Darkshade
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Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
It depends how big an area we are talking about.
In @, with a more sub-focused threat to USN dominance of the seas, and that only really emerging in a serious way in the 1960s, the Kitty Hawks and the original design of the Enterprise fielded Terriers, until their removal from the former in the 1970s. They were no long range missiles, but something in the same 'class' as 5" guns (their range was larger than the guns, but the engagement envelopes had expanded in the 1950s with the rapid increase in aircraft and missile speed).
Here, the threat environment is more complex, and USN and Allied carrier groups have faced more serious aerial opposition well after 1942/43 as in @. There was an emphasis in the DE 1950s on major surface combatants having their own layered defence, which consists of an outer layer (15-25nm) of Terriers from 4 launchers, a medium layer that became Sea Sparrow, a short range layer of Sea Mauler (5-8nm) and a close in defence provided by the Legion Close Weapon System (think Phalanx, but with twin 37mm Gatlings a la the @ T249).
Subsequent operations off Vietnam in the 1960s have shown that there is a place for light guns for additional close in defence and a very short range/faster missile (what will become an equivalent to RAM). There is a bit of debate over the role of the Terrier (now Typhon MR), but there is an institutional approach of 'Did you ever hear of the man who had too much security/defence?'
So we aren't talking real area defence weapons, which in DE are classified/understood as being in the class of Talos/Typhon LR, but the medium/intermediate range that disappeared due to cost, lack of need and different threats in @.
In @, with a more sub-focused threat to USN dominance of the seas, and that only really emerging in a serious way in the 1960s, the Kitty Hawks and the original design of the Enterprise fielded Terriers, until their removal from the former in the 1970s. They were no long range missiles, but something in the same 'class' as 5" guns (their range was larger than the guns, but the engagement envelopes had expanded in the 1950s with the rapid increase in aircraft and missile speed).
Here, the threat environment is more complex, and USN and Allied carrier groups have faced more serious aerial opposition well after 1942/43 as in @. There was an emphasis in the DE 1950s on major surface combatants having their own layered defence, which consists of an outer layer (15-25nm) of Terriers from 4 launchers, a medium layer that became Sea Sparrow, a short range layer of Sea Mauler (5-8nm) and a close in defence provided by the Legion Close Weapon System (think Phalanx, but with twin 37mm Gatlings a la the @ T249).
Subsequent operations off Vietnam in the 1960s have shown that there is a place for light guns for additional close in defence and a very short range/faster missile (what will become an equivalent to RAM). There is a bit of debate over the role of the Terrier (now Typhon MR), but there is an institutional approach of 'Did you ever hear of the man who had too much security/defence?'
So we aren't talking real area defence weapons, which in DE are classified/understood as being in the class of Talos/Typhon LR, but the medium/intermediate range that disappeared due to cost, lack of need and different threats in @.
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
Okay. Now there is two things that are both absolutely unbelievable and frivolous beyond belief to me: England winning anything in football, and Ahnuld playing anything by Shakespeare 
That accent in conjunction with The Bard is…sorry, I can‘t There is suspension of disbelief, and there is…Ahnuld declaring "To be oah not to be…heah de laminations of de vimmin!" 
Thanks for the laugh!
That accent in conjunction with The Bard is…sorry, I can‘t There is suspension of disbelief, and there is…Ahnuld declaring "To be oah not to be…heah de laminations of de vimmin!" Thanks for the laugh!
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Simon Darkshade
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Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
In the first instance, soccer really isn't my thing, so I can't get passionate about it/interested or really go into it in depth. With different players, there is sufficient ability there to win not just games, but World Cups; many of said players are now at the end of their careers, or at least the active parts of them.
Ahnold is a very simple thing. In @, we have dubbing of voices which, with modern technology, can be done fairly seamlessly. Here, through the agency of a fairly straightforward magical spell, we get the same result of a different voice or accent, but it can be done *live* during filming or on the stage, rather than needing to be added in post production.
The Arnold as Hamlet bit was a nice way of including this capability and sliding the ramifications of it out there under the distraction of humour. Whilst we laugh at the Terminator doing the Bard, what problems could a precisely imitated voice raise in this era?
I aim to please and to provide food for thought.
Ahnold is a very simple thing. In @, we have dubbing of voices which, with modern technology, can be done fairly seamlessly. Here, through the agency of a fairly straightforward magical spell, we get the same result of a different voice or accent, but it can be done *live* during filming or on the stage, rather than needing to be added in post production.
The Arnold as Hamlet bit was a nice way of including this capability and sliding the ramifications of it out there under the distraction of humour. Whilst we laugh at the Terminator doing the Bard, what problems could a precisely imitated voice raise in this era?
I aim to please and to provide food for thought.
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Simon Darkshade
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- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
March
March 1: The Jordanian Embassy in Khartoum is attacked by a group of extremist Arab terrorists, who seize 10 diplomats as hostages, including the outgoing US Ambassador. They issue a number of demands for the release of prisoners held by various states across the Arab Union and for the declaration of war upon the United States, Britain and Israel. President Reagan indicates that there will be no negotiation with terrorists and issues orders to various US military units to go on alert, whilst American air and land forces in Israel begin preparations.
March 2: King Hassan II of Morocco announces a policy of 'Morocconisation', whereby foreign owned agricultural lands and commercial and industrial enterprises are to be transferred to Moroccan ownership, specifically in the form of his own political and military loyalists. The French Ambassador expresses quiet concern to the Grand Vizier in a subsequent meeting, stating that the move has the potential to perhaps not be entirely wise with respect to its external ramifications.
March 3: Barnstoneworth United win the Football League Cup Final at Imperial Stadium, defeating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in a monumental upset. Barnstoneworth chairman Gordon Ottershaw and owner Sir William Foggen are said to be visibly ecstatic at the victory.
March 4: An Anglo-American special forces team storms the Jordanian Embassy in Khartoum, freeing the hostages and killing all eight of the terrorists, supported by the Sudanese Army and the USAF. A combined US Army-USMC task force lands at RAF Gordon along with a Sikh battalion of the British Army to engage in punitive operations against suspected rebel militants aligned with the terrorist groups, whilst the USN nuclear skyship USSS Manhattan and the USAF skyship aerodreadnought USAFSS Superior are detached from the Sixth Fleet and USAFE for aerial support. President Reagan addresses the nation on television, stating that a 'line in the sand had been drawn' and that the free world would not give an inch to terror.
March 5: The International Whaling Commission reports that the global population of the blue whale, gray whale and the humpback whale have increased since the effective end of commercial whaling in the early 1950s, raising them up out from the vulnerable category by the end of the 1980s.
March 6: Termination of the Sioux tribe under the federal policy of Indian termination, with an end to the special trust relationship with the Federal Government, conversion of reservations to state law, ending tribal sovereignty and dissolving internal tribal governance structures.
March 7: Parliamentary general elections in Chile result in a stinging rebuke to the government of Premier Salvador Allende, forcing his Socialist Popular Unity alliance into a minority government supported by independents, whilst in the Senate, the opposition now controls the majority of seats, with the potential to put pressure upon the Allende government's budget bills. The lack of a clear resolution to the mounting political imbroglio is increasing pressure upon King Manuel II to act.
March 8: Two Millwall supporters are sentenced to 100 lashes and five years hard labour for engaging in disorderly behaviour, with their underage co-offender is sentenced to be birched and confined for two years in borstal. The Manchester Guardian heartily concurs with the exemplary value of the punishment, stating that compared with some hooliganism in South America, ‘the staid age of English and indeed European soccer is worth protecting, by hook or by crook.’
March 9: Portuguese commandos carry out a successful raid in Northern Angola killing or capturing a number of members of the leadership of the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola who had crossed the border from the Congo for an emergency conference.
March 10: A deranged militant attempts to assassinate the Governor of Bermuda whilst on a post prandial walk, but is shot by his outraged aide de camps and mauled by Hengist and Horsa, his Great Danes. The would be murderer is arrested by the Governor’s bodyguards and put to the question by Imperial Police, subsequently giving up five associates. The Bermuda Six are swiftly arraigned to face trial for high treason.
March 11: French Premier d’Ambreville’s Mouvement Française and its allied coalition of conservative, monarchist and nationalist parties win a large majority of seats in the French general election, securing his government a second five year term in office and becoming the longest ruling Premier since Charles de Gaulle, now the Duc de Bretagne. He promises to govern for all Frenchmen and to revitalise the glory of France.
March 12: Chicago PD Vice Squad Detective Nico Toscani uncovers a large shipment of opium being smuggled in via Great Lakes freighters with the assistance of visiting McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser and a vacationing New York architect.
March 13: Dr. Clark Savage agree to take part in a special international archaeological expedition to the Olduvai Gorge in the Great Rift Valley in response to recent findings.
March 14: Completion of the latest expansion of links between the British Imperial Supercomputer Network and Western European universities and government computing networks under the auspices of the US ARPANET programme, including the first fibre optic connection between Britain and Europe.
March 15: Signing of an agreement for the acquisition of a specially modified variant of the Boeing F-111 by the Royal Air Force, after protracted discussions over the last decade. It is intended that the type be operated as a very long range ground attack/fighter-bomber and escort alongside the de Havilland Tornado and Hawker-Siddeley Phantom, particularly in the Mediterranean and Scandinavia, with a secondary role supporting the Vickers Thunderbolt in the strike mission. Some American observers draw a link between the British agreement and expanded U.S. orders of the Harrier.
March 16: Chinese authorities release five US airmen at the Hong Kong border, with the pilots having been shot down over Chinese airspace during the final year of the Vietnam War; substantial back channel negotiations have lead to this welcome event.
March 17: An intrepid group of children foil the efforts of the wicked Professor Melanie Powers to uncover the remains of the long dead necromancer Doctor Vogel at Green Knowe House in Huntingdonshire and ruin her ambitions of lichdom with the aid of a retired famous Rough Collie and local Templars.
March 18: Formal opening of the new London Bridge, a grand Gothic structure of wrought iron, steel and stone 125ft wide and with a longest span of 1525ft, allowing for the passage of ships and boats beneath. Both gatehouse towers retain the traditional settings for the display of the heads of traitors, even as there has been no such use since the 19th century, whilst the medieval heritage of the bridge houses is commemorated in covered shopping bazaars flanking the eastern approaches to the bridge on both banks.
March 19: The League of Nations reports an increased incidence of troll and orc attacks across parts of Scandinavia, Austria-Hungary and Germany over the previous several months, leading to increased calls for culling of the former and punitive action against the savagery of the latter from some groups, whilst others ascribe the incidence to the increasing encroachment of civilised man upon the remaining wilderness.
March 20: First broadcast of Our Mysterious World on ITV, a British series on unexplained mysterious phenomena, lost secrets and the wonders of the world, presented by Professor Bernard Quatermass and Arthur C. Clarke. It is seen as a complementary counterpart to the similar American series In Search Of… rather than a competitor.
March 21: Seven miners are trapped underground after a mineshaft is inadvertently flooded by an older Victorian era shaft at the Lofthouse Colliery in Yorkshire. They are rescued 23 hours later after use of new arcane boring worms, which are later mandated for employment across the coal industry. A joint Ministry of Mining and British Geological Survey review on mine mapping and safety is commissioned, with the increasing prevalence of deep level mines, both in Britain and the dwarven realms making it a necessity, lest delving ‘too greedily and too deep’ (in the words of Ministry consulting Professor Staffman Bladorthin) results in further accidents.
March 22: Commissioning of two Type 22 anti-aircraft warfare frigates into RN service, the first of sixty such vessels under construction, ordered or projected. They are broadly similar to the Type 21 ASW frigates, carrying the Hawker Siddeley Red Fox or 'Sea Dart' missile in place of some of the latter type’s anti-submarine weapons, and are to be followed in turn by the Type 23 general purpose/ASUW frigates.
March 23: The Australian Foreign Ministry issues a statement indicating Australia's full support of the prospective independent state of Western New Guinea amid the final stages of the withdrawal of residual Dutch forces and ahead of the full handover of sovereignty and announcing the forthcoming goodwill visit of an Australian Army infantry brigade, a squadron of F-111s and the HMAS Melbourne carrier group to help celebrate the independence ceremony on May 3rd.
March 24: Discussions begin between the United States Cricket Board and appointed representatives of Test and first class players for increased payment and improved conditions in the light of the recent broadcast rights deal with NBC. This process will have a number of wide reaching ramifications beyond American borders.
March 25: Guerrillas of the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo attempt to attack the Atucha Nuclear Power Plant, but are driven off by the Army guard detachment and the quick reaction force commanded by Colonel Horst Mohn, which was coincidentally on manoeuvres nearby.
March 26: Labour exchanges across Britain report some of the highest incidences of newly unemployed men seeking jobs since the aftermath of the Second World War, as the effects of recession begin to bite.
March 27: Mystery thriller Sleuth wins Best Picture at the 45th Academy Awards, with Robert Redford winning Best Actor for Jeremiah Johnson, Michael Caine winning Best Supporting Actor for Sleuth and Liv Ullmann winning Best Actress for her role in The Emigrants
March 28: The Orion spacecraft begins deceleration as it commences its approach to the Uranian system, with initial plans for detailed exploration of the moons and landings upon Titania, Oberon and Ariel and launch of an exploratory probe.
March 29: Inaugural meeting of the finance ministers of the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan, France, Canada, Italy, India, Austria-Hungary and the Benelux Union, a gathering that will later be referred to as the Group of Ten.
March 30: The Vought-Republic YF-18 is announced as the winner of the USN’s VFAX contest. The YF-18, based on the Vought Model 1800 and the supersonic variant of the A-7 Corsair II, is a twin engine fighter/attack plane with a substantive range, performance and payload that is to replace the now venerable F-4 Phantom II in the next decade.
March 31: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness Prince Philip arrive in Egypt for a tour of the Holy Land and the Levant, with their presence, accompanied by high security being seen as an indicator that regional tensions have eased.
March 1: The Jordanian Embassy in Khartoum is attacked by a group of extremist Arab terrorists, who seize 10 diplomats as hostages, including the outgoing US Ambassador. They issue a number of demands for the release of prisoners held by various states across the Arab Union and for the declaration of war upon the United States, Britain and Israel. President Reagan indicates that there will be no negotiation with terrorists and issues orders to various US military units to go on alert, whilst American air and land forces in Israel begin preparations.
March 2: King Hassan II of Morocco announces a policy of 'Morocconisation', whereby foreign owned agricultural lands and commercial and industrial enterprises are to be transferred to Moroccan ownership, specifically in the form of his own political and military loyalists. The French Ambassador expresses quiet concern to the Grand Vizier in a subsequent meeting, stating that the move has the potential to perhaps not be entirely wise with respect to its external ramifications.
March 3: Barnstoneworth United win the Football League Cup Final at Imperial Stadium, defeating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in a monumental upset. Barnstoneworth chairman Gordon Ottershaw and owner Sir William Foggen are said to be visibly ecstatic at the victory.
March 4: An Anglo-American special forces team storms the Jordanian Embassy in Khartoum, freeing the hostages and killing all eight of the terrorists, supported by the Sudanese Army and the USAF. A combined US Army-USMC task force lands at RAF Gordon along with a Sikh battalion of the British Army to engage in punitive operations against suspected rebel militants aligned with the terrorist groups, whilst the USN nuclear skyship USSS Manhattan and the USAF skyship aerodreadnought USAFSS Superior are detached from the Sixth Fleet and USAFE for aerial support. President Reagan addresses the nation on television, stating that a 'line in the sand had been drawn' and that the free world would not give an inch to terror.
March 5: The International Whaling Commission reports that the global population of the blue whale, gray whale and the humpback whale have increased since the effective end of commercial whaling in the early 1950s, raising them up out from the vulnerable category by the end of the 1980s.
March 6: Termination of the Sioux tribe under the federal policy of Indian termination, with an end to the special trust relationship with the Federal Government, conversion of reservations to state law, ending tribal sovereignty and dissolving internal tribal governance structures.
March 7: Parliamentary general elections in Chile result in a stinging rebuke to the government of Premier Salvador Allende, forcing his Socialist Popular Unity alliance into a minority government supported by independents, whilst in the Senate, the opposition now controls the majority of seats, with the potential to put pressure upon the Allende government's budget bills. The lack of a clear resolution to the mounting political imbroglio is increasing pressure upon King Manuel II to act.
March 8: Two Millwall supporters are sentenced to 100 lashes and five years hard labour for engaging in disorderly behaviour, with their underage co-offender is sentenced to be birched and confined for two years in borstal. The Manchester Guardian heartily concurs with the exemplary value of the punishment, stating that compared with some hooliganism in South America, ‘the staid age of English and indeed European soccer is worth protecting, by hook or by crook.’
March 9: Portuguese commandos carry out a successful raid in Northern Angola killing or capturing a number of members of the leadership of the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola who had crossed the border from the Congo for an emergency conference.
March 10: A deranged militant attempts to assassinate the Governor of Bermuda whilst on a post prandial walk, but is shot by his outraged aide de camps and mauled by Hengist and Horsa, his Great Danes. The would be murderer is arrested by the Governor’s bodyguards and put to the question by Imperial Police, subsequently giving up five associates. The Bermuda Six are swiftly arraigned to face trial for high treason.
March 11: French Premier d’Ambreville’s Mouvement Française and its allied coalition of conservative, monarchist and nationalist parties win a large majority of seats in the French general election, securing his government a second five year term in office and becoming the longest ruling Premier since Charles de Gaulle, now the Duc de Bretagne. He promises to govern for all Frenchmen and to revitalise the glory of France.
March 12: Chicago PD Vice Squad Detective Nico Toscani uncovers a large shipment of opium being smuggled in via Great Lakes freighters with the assistance of visiting McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser and a vacationing New York architect.
March 13: Dr. Clark Savage agree to take part in a special international archaeological expedition to the Olduvai Gorge in the Great Rift Valley in response to recent findings.
March 14: Completion of the latest expansion of links between the British Imperial Supercomputer Network and Western European universities and government computing networks under the auspices of the US ARPANET programme, including the first fibre optic connection between Britain and Europe.
March 15: Signing of an agreement for the acquisition of a specially modified variant of the Boeing F-111 by the Royal Air Force, after protracted discussions over the last decade. It is intended that the type be operated as a very long range ground attack/fighter-bomber and escort alongside the de Havilland Tornado and Hawker-Siddeley Phantom, particularly in the Mediterranean and Scandinavia, with a secondary role supporting the Vickers Thunderbolt in the strike mission. Some American observers draw a link between the British agreement and expanded U.S. orders of the Harrier.
March 16: Chinese authorities release five US airmen at the Hong Kong border, with the pilots having been shot down over Chinese airspace during the final year of the Vietnam War; substantial back channel negotiations have lead to this welcome event.
March 17: An intrepid group of children foil the efforts of the wicked Professor Melanie Powers to uncover the remains of the long dead necromancer Doctor Vogel at Green Knowe House in Huntingdonshire and ruin her ambitions of lichdom with the aid of a retired famous Rough Collie and local Templars.
March 18: Formal opening of the new London Bridge, a grand Gothic structure of wrought iron, steel and stone 125ft wide and with a longest span of 1525ft, allowing for the passage of ships and boats beneath. Both gatehouse towers retain the traditional settings for the display of the heads of traitors, even as there has been no such use since the 19th century, whilst the medieval heritage of the bridge houses is commemorated in covered shopping bazaars flanking the eastern approaches to the bridge on both banks.
March 19: The League of Nations reports an increased incidence of troll and orc attacks across parts of Scandinavia, Austria-Hungary and Germany over the previous several months, leading to increased calls for culling of the former and punitive action against the savagery of the latter from some groups, whilst others ascribe the incidence to the increasing encroachment of civilised man upon the remaining wilderness.
March 20: First broadcast of Our Mysterious World on ITV, a British series on unexplained mysterious phenomena, lost secrets and the wonders of the world, presented by Professor Bernard Quatermass and Arthur C. Clarke. It is seen as a complementary counterpart to the similar American series In Search Of… rather than a competitor.
March 21: Seven miners are trapped underground after a mineshaft is inadvertently flooded by an older Victorian era shaft at the Lofthouse Colliery in Yorkshire. They are rescued 23 hours later after use of new arcane boring worms, which are later mandated for employment across the coal industry. A joint Ministry of Mining and British Geological Survey review on mine mapping and safety is commissioned, with the increasing prevalence of deep level mines, both in Britain and the dwarven realms making it a necessity, lest delving ‘too greedily and too deep’ (in the words of Ministry consulting Professor Staffman Bladorthin) results in further accidents.
March 22: Commissioning of two Type 22 anti-aircraft warfare frigates into RN service, the first of sixty such vessels under construction, ordered or projected. They are broadly similar to the Type 21 ASW frigates, carrying the Hawker Siddeley Red Fox or 'Sea Dart' missile in place of some of the latter type’s anti-submarine weapons, and are to be followed in turn by the Type 23 general purpose/ASUW frigates.
March 23: The Australian Foreign Ministry issues a statement indicating Australia's full support of the prospective independent state of Western New Guinea amid the final stages of the withdrawal of residual Dutch forces and ahead of the full handover of sovereignty and announcing the forthcoming goodwill visit of an Australian Army infantry brigade, a squadron of F-111s and the HMAS Melbourne carrier group to help celebrate the independence ceremony on May 3rd.
March 24: Discussions begin between the United States Cricket Board and appointed representatives of Test and first class players for increased payment and improved conditions in the light of the recent broadcast rights deal with NBC. This process will have a number of wide reaching ramifications beyond American borders.
March 25: Guerrillas of the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo attempt to attack the Atucha Nuclear Power Plant, but are driven off by the Army guard detachment and the quick reaction force commanded by Colonel Horst Mohn, which was coincidentally on manoeuvres nearby.
March 26: Labour exchanges across Britain report some of the highest incidences of newly unemployed men seeking jobs since the aftermath of the Second World War, as the effects of recession begin to bite.
March 27: Mystery thriller Sleuth wins Best Picture at the 45th Academy Awards, with Robert Redford winning Best Actor for Jeremiah Johnson, Michael Caine winning Best Supporting Actor for Sleuth and Liv Ullmann winning Best Actress for her role in The Emigrants
March 28: The Orion spacecraft begins deceleration as it commences its approach to the Uranian system, with initial plans for detailed exploration of the moons and landings upon Titania, Oberon and Ariel and launch of an exploratory probe.
March 29: Inaugural meeting of the finance ministers of the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan, France, Canada, Italy, India, Austria-Hungary and the Benelux Union, a gathering that will later be referred to as the Group of Ten.
March 30: The Vought-Republic YF-18 is announced as the winner of the USN’s VFAX contest. The YF-18, based on the Vought Model 1800 and the supersonic variant of the A-7 Corsair II, is a twin engine fighter/attack plane with a substantive range, performance and payload that is to replace the now venerable F-4 Phantom II in the next decade.
March 31: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness Prince Philip arrive in Egypt for a tour of the Holy Land and the Levant, with their presence, accompanied by high security being seen as an indicator that regional tensions have eased.
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jemhouston
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Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
Is the
Paul Kersey. If so, I think Brian Garfield wanted Jack Lemmon for rolevacationing New York architect
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Simon Darkshade
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Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
It is indeed Paul Kersey. Lemmon would have been more in keeping with the novel, but Bronson did very well as the character.
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jemhouston
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Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
Lemmon would have been the classic pushed too far guy, while Bronson more badass unleashed.Simon Darkshade wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2024 1:37 am It is indeed Paul Kersey. Lemmon would have been more in keeping with the novel, but Bronson did very well as the character.
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Simon Darkshade
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Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
Quite. Bronson managed to portray the cold side a fair bit better, but Winner’s film version suited that.
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Simon Darkshade
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Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
March 1973 Notes
- Historically, it was the Saudi Embassy that got hit by Black September, with the US reaction muted by the Vietnam effect. Here, after a victory and with a new President who ran on a platform of making the country even stronger, the reaction is a fair bit more decisive. The perps are not Black September, but a more Pan Arab group; this is one of the blowback effects of 1956 and keeping the Arab states under the thumb that I’ve oft referred to
- Morocconisation occurs in a different context, with the French delivering a none too subtle warning
- Barstoneworth United are from the Ripping Yarns episode Golden Gordon
- Two skyships is definitely a case of throwing the kitchen sink
- There is a much better situation for whales, but the policy of Indian termination isn’t very good for Native Americans in terms of a separate identity, among other ways
- Chile is progressing differently towards a climax that won’t be quite the same as @ 1973, but something from another land exactly 26 months afterwards…
- Soccer hooliganism is as yet a fairly isolated practice more commonly found in South America and occasionally in some Italian leagues. It’s absence in Britain, where it saw some of the first ‘modern’ manifestations is a function of the different society, with the quite harsh punishments existing mainly as a background factor, rather than a direct driver
- The MPLA have a bad afternoon
- The Governor of Bermuda survives here, on account of his aides being armed (and multiple) and having two larger talking Great Danes. Slightly different background to the event; the exact charges are notable
- d’Ambreville gets validation at the ballot box
- Nico Toscanini/Steven Seagal, Paul Kersey and Buford Pusser have some fun
- There is something more to the Olduvai dig, considering the former SecDef is going along for a gander
- The RAF F-111 order is a bit of a tactical move, with it not being procured as a Vickers Thunderbolt rival, but as more of a very long range fighter-bomber/multirole strike plane to serve in certain theatres in a limited role. Any coincidence in timing with the USMC and USN looking to order a bunch of new model Harriers (in addition to licensed production) is just that - pure luck
- Green Knowe, Templars and Lassie is another story hook I’d like to get around to
- The new London Bridge looks a lot different from @, with some very eyebrow raising features to an Earthly eye
- Orc and troll trouble is due to expanding population of men and a shrinking wild
- Our Mysterious World will last longer than all three of Clarke’s @ series, with the two expert hosts to be joined by another; it will be someone who would be a fitting British counterpart to Nimoy in star power, if not more
- A different result in Lofthouse allows a little look at the overall deep mining situation, which is still going strong. Interesting quote and source
- The Type 22s follow the ASW Type 21s in large numbers. In terms of capability, they are more in the position of upgraded OHPs from the get-go, albeit with a 125mm gun upfront, other light guns (similar to Italian 60s/70s ships in their position) plus Sea Dart/Red Fox, VL Sea Wolf, 2 CWS/CIWS and 1 Rotodyne/2 helos
- Australia’s action in support and goodwill of WNG is not very subtle
- March 24 will have very wide reaching consequences, in cricket and beyond
- Colonel Mohn looks very, very similar to Major Mohn from ‘Colditz’ as played by Anthony Valentine
- The recession isn’t as bad as some of @, but without a baseline to compare it to, it still seems rough
- A different Academy Awards without Cabaret and the (gosh awful) The Godfather
- The latest Orion mission begins its approach. These outer solar system missions do fill a role similar to Apollo in @ in a certain fashion
- Note the members of the G10
- The YF-18 might look a little similar in some ways, but packs a heavy punch
- The Royal Visit has a lot of behind the scenes security
-
- Historically, it was the Saudi Embassy that got hit by Black September, with the US reaction muted by the Vietnam effect. Here, after a victory and with a new President who ran on a platform of making the country even stronger, the reaction is a fair bit more decisive. The perps are not Black September, but a more Pan Arab group; this is one of the blowback effects of 1956 and keeping the Arab states under the thumb that I’ve oft referred to
- Morocconisation occurs in a different context, with the French delivering a none too subtle warning
- Barstoneworth United are from the Ripping Yarns episode Golden Gordon
- Two skyships is definitely a case of throwing the kitchen sink
- There is a much better situation for whales, but the policy of Indian termination isn’t very good for Native Americans in terms of a separate identity, among other ways
- Chile is progressing differently towards a climax that won’t be quite the same as @ 1973, but something from another land exactly 26 months afterwards…
- Soccer hooliganism is as yet a fairly isolated practice more commonly found in South America and occasionally in some Italian leagues. It’s absence in Britain, where it saw some of the first ‘modern’ manifestations is a function of the different society, with the quite harsh punishments existing mainly as a background factor, rather than a direct driver
- The MPLA have a bad afternoon
- The Governor of Bermuda survives here, on account of his aides being armed (and multiple) and having two larger talking Great Danes. Slightly different background to the event; the exact charges are notable
- d’Ambreville gets validation at the ballot box
- Nico Toscanini/Steven Seagal, Paul Kersey and Buford Pusser have some fun
- There is something more to the Olduvai dig, considering the former SecDef is going along for a gander
- The RAF F-111 order is a bit of a tactical move, with it not being procured as a Vickers Thunderbolt rival, but as more of a very long range fighter-bomber/multirole strike plane to serve in certain theatres in a limited role. Any coincidence in timing with the USMC and USN looking to order a bunch of new model Harriers (in addition to licensed production) is just that - pure luck
- Green Knowe, Templars and Lassie is another story hook I’d like to get around to
- The new London Bridge looks a lot different from @, with some very eyebrow raising features to an Earthly eye
- Orc and troll trouble is due to expanding population of men and a shrinking wild
- Our Mysterious World will last longer than all three of Clarke’s @ series, with the two expert hosts to be joined by another; it will be someone who would be a fitting British counterpart to Nimoy in star power, if not more
- A different result in Lofthouse allows a little look at the overall deep mining situation, which is still going strong. Interesting quote and source
- The Type 22s follow the ASW Type 21s in large numbers. In terms of capability, they are more in the position of upgraded OHPs from the get-go, albeit with a 125mm gun upfront, other light guns (similar to Italian 60s/70s ships in their position) plus Sea Dart/Red Fox, VL Sea Wolf, 2 CWS/CIWS and 1 Rotodyne/2 helos
- Australia’s action in support and goodwill of WNG is not very subtle
- March 24 will have very wide reaching consequences, in cricket and beyond
- Colonel Mohn looks very, very similar to Major Mohn from ‘Colditz’ as played by Anthony Valentine
- The recession isn’t as bad as some of @, but without a baseline to compare it to, it still seems rough
- A different Academy Awards without Cabaret and the (gosh awful) The Godfather
- The latest Orion mission begins its approach. These outer solar system missions do fill a role similar to Apollo in @ in a certain fashion
- Note the members of the G10
- The YF-18 might look a little similar in some ways, but packs a heavy punch
- The Royal Visit has a lot of behind the scenes security
-
-
Bernard Woolley
- Posts: 649
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 4:06 pm
- Location: Earth
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
There is a theory about the rise of football hooliganism in the U.K. to growing affluence. That meant that older men, the Dads, uncles, grandads etc. were spending their weekends doing other things. Like gardening, washing their new car, DIY, etc. Without the supervision and importantly disapproval, of their elders, younger men started to misbehave.
Should have stopped the series after the second one. They just got worse and worse after that one.Simon Darkshade wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2024 2:48 am Quite. Bronson managed to portray the cold side a fair bit better, but Winner’s film version suited that.
-
Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1013
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
Bernard,
That theory, or a permutation of it, came up last time that soccer hooliganism was mentioned in a DE timeline event on the old TBOverse board, and also just yesterday from another chap on Lordroel's board. It is a strong argument.
Here, the young men in question are a bit older and, for want of a better word, 'regimented' by their 2+ years National Service. When they come out at ~22, they have almost always entered into full time employment or tertiary education (either technical or academic) and exist in the same 'dimension' of relatively decent wages in strong, close communities. They have the intersecting support communities of their church, their neigbourhood, their union and their family; many will be married and with children at a relatively young age, which adds a circle of connection.
So, we have the affluence across broad lines in society, multiple connections and in the final instance, plenty of the older generation still attending soccer matches (kick off times of 2pm on Saturday afternoons vs the oft employed 3:15pm).
Whilst Death Wish 3 has a 'so bad its good' reputation in some circles, I'd share the opinion. The latter installments were silly. In DE, there will be no scope for the novel or film to be made, in the absence of an increased in violent crime and a perceived liberal weakness on penalties and law enforcement; the graphic nature of violence and sexual content would also not make it to the screen under the ongoing strong enforcement of the Hays Code and the power of the National Legion of Decency.
That theory, or a permutation of it, came up last time that soccer hooliganism was mentioned in a DE timeline event on the old TBOverse board, and also just yesterday from another chap on Lordroel's board. It is a strong argument.
Here, the young men in question are a bit older and, for want of a better word, 'regimented' by their 2+ years National Service. When they come out at ~22, they have almost always entered into full time employment or tertiary education (either technical or academic) and exist in the same 'dimension' of relatively decent wages in strong, close communities. They have the intersecting support communities of their church, their neigbourhood, their union and their family; many will be married and with children at a relatively young age, which adds a circle of connection.
So, we have the affluence across broad lines in society, multiple connections and in the final instance, plenty of the older generation still attending soccer matches (kick off times of 2pm on Saturday afternoons vs the oft employed 3:15pm).
Whilst Death Wish 3 has a 'so bad its good' reputation in some circles, I'd share the opinion. The latter installments were silly. In DE, there will be no scope for the novel or film to be made, in the absence of an increased in violent crime and a perceived liberal weakness on penalties and law enforcement; the graphic nature of violence and sexual content would also not make it to the screen under the ongoing strong enforcement of the Hays Code and the power of the National Legion of Decency.
-
Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1013
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
April
April 1: The inhabitants of New York City awake to find the Statue of Liberty had seemingly vanished, with television, newspaper and radio reports working themselves into a frenzied paroxysm of rampant and wild speculation (as is their standard procedure) as to where Lady Liberty had gone and why the hitherto lost USS Constitution was now moored at Liberty Island. To their north, the good folk of Boston are astonished to see the Statue appear to have been transported to Castle Island. NYPD and US Navy wizards are first on the scene in the Big Apple, discovering that the statue had not been stolen, but rather been hidden by the use of a magical amplification artifact, which projected a modified invisibility field over the national landmark and the real image through a corresponding projector in Boston. A neatly written note is found attached to the Statue’s torch, with the author confessing that he wanted nothing more than to set Boston and New York at war with each other and bring about their destruction, allowing the true heart of the nation to come to the fore - Des Moines. The FBI and NCIS commence investigations as to how ‘Old Ironsides’ managed to be stolen and then turn up in New York, with the only clue being a smashed bottle.
April 2: Launch of 'Project Tiger' in India, a conservation effort aimed at increasing the population of tigers across the entire Union of India. This is to be done through the creation of protected tiger reserves and the taking of an accurate tiger population census, along with more direct means of protection, such as specialist anti-poaching units and the death penalty for illegal poaching; the latter steps have proved exceptionally successful in Rhodesia and East Africa. It is hoped that these measures will raise the tiger population of the subcontinent from its current nadir of approximately 80,000 to its previous glory.
April 3: Rumblings from deep beneath the earth are reported around Mount Shasta in Jefferson, bringing an earlier than expected end to the ski season. The United States Geological Survey dispatches two further teams to the area to monitor the situation, despite the misgivings of the Jeffersonian state government in Redding, which despite the misgivings of Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Stockman, is loathe to contemplate the damage to the tourist industry from any rumours of a putative eruption.
April 4: Formal opening of the World Trade Center in New York City in a gala event attended by numerous luminaries and national dignitaries, including former Secretary of the Air Force Bruce Wayne in his personal capacity as a major property investor, with the two new 1650ft Art Deco skyscrapers soaring above the rest of the Manhattan skyline.
April 5: The United States Navy begins test flights of the Boeing YP-10 Triton strategic very long range maritime patrol bomber and the Lockheed-Martin XP-12 Sea Lord ASW patrol seaplane. The former 250t four turbofan powered aircraft has a design range of over 5000 miles and an endurance of up to 24 hours, whilst deploying a full range of anti-submarine torpedoes, nuclear depth bombs and sea mines as well as defensive weapons; it is intended to replace a large part of the current USN fleet of P-3 Orions in conjunction with the smaller and more flexible twin jet North American-Convair XP-15 Catalina II.
April 6: Argentine communist terrorists assassinate General Leopoldo Galtieri, head of the Argentine Army's combat engineer corps, as he is driven through the streets of Buenos Aires. A state of martial law is declared and the Army, police and security forces launch a retaliatory crackdown on the suspected leftist supporters of the outrage, leading to near riots and hundreds of arrests.
April 7: The United States Department of Magic completes a new integrated defensive enchantment of the flood defences of New Orleans, with multiple contingency spells preparing arcane levy reinforcement and barriers in the event of catastrophic failure.
April 8: Formation of a new elite special forces unit of the Imperial German Army for counter terrorism and other special missions, with a a specific view towards action against the Baader Meinhof Gang and the International Revolutionary Army. The teams of the Geheime Sturmgruppe or Secret Assault Group are to be drawn from crack volunteers from the existing KSH, KSM and KSL, with ten such units to be established.
April 9: Opening of the first branch of Pizza Hut in London, utilising the British spelling of 'Pitza' and forgoing the novel shaped roofs that have proved so striking in North America due to the exacting restrictions of Britain's building planning code. Initial market reception is curious, with the recent renewed increase in interest in Italian cuisine driving a not insignificant number of customers.
April 10: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia arrives in London for a state visit of Britain, his first stop on a major European tour and coming after intensive talks regarding the increased provision of British Commonwealth financial, military, food and arcane aid to Ethiopia.
April 11: Three condemned criminals (two murderers and a rapist) are hanged outside Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast, the first executions anywhere in Ireland since December; a local priest and community leader, Father Jack Hackett, was quoted as commenting that justice comes in the open in the British Empire, not skulking behind prison walls as in the Communist world, albeit in not so many words.
April 12: Beginning of pre-production on The Star Wars, an expansive science-fiction epic space opera directed by George Lucas, in Hammer Film Productions' Bray Studios.
April 13: Opening of a secret new RN submarine base and research facility in the isolated Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The new base is the latest in a chain of significant bases and missile sites across the vastness of the Indian Ocean, with the above top secret research into the lost land of Lemuria around the Grand Chagos Bank being a particular focus of the undersea endeavours.
April 14: Unveiling of the Austin Regent small family car at the British International Motor Show at Earl's Court, with motoring journalists noting approvingly the four door fastback design, its highly efficient 1500cc engine and innovative quality of life improvements, describing it as 'a fine civic car for the 1970s' with interesting export potential.
April 15: Copper miners at five separate mines in Chile go out on strike, ostensibly in a demand for higher wages and better conditions. The ruling Socialist coalition of Premier Salvador Allende begins immediate emergency talks with the mining unions to assuage the situation, which comes at a time when any reduction in much needed copper revenues could prove severely damaging to Chile's balance of payments.
April 16: Korean archaeologists begin excavation of the 'Sky Horse Tomb' near the south eastern city of Seorabeol. They report disturbed dreams and a rash of strange respiratory illnesses following the disturbance of a strange ceremonially barred door that was found tied shut with a remarkably preserved silken cord.
April 17: Emperor Maximillian II of Mexico declares in a specially televised interview that his country should wage three wars - a War on Crime, a War on Waste and a War on Doubt - as part of its drive for modernity, respect and glory. His Imperial Majesty goes on to state in quite stark terms that Mexico looks to the south to aid the 'rise and rise' of Central and South America, to the west to engage with Europe and the Atlantic world, to the east to participate in the dawn of a new epoch for Asia and the Pacific, and to the north with hand extended in equal fellowship to the United States.
April 18: Opening of a special exposition of Byzantine Greek military equipment and prowess in Adrianople, displaying new indigenously designed armoured vehicles, body armour, automatic cannons and the new Hellenic Aircraft Chímaira ground attack aircraft and the Romaios Aerospace Sigma supersonic fighter jet.
April 19: The USCB signs a new pay deal with its Test and one day playing squad, significantly increasing the overall pay of American professional cricketers and setting a precedent for corresponding bodies in Australia, the West Indies, England and South Africa; the broader question of the commercialisation of cricket is known to be of concern to the ICC and MCC.
April 20: Signing of an agreement between Spain and Portugal agreement on scientific cooperation, particularly in regard to their space programmes; a secret protocol provides for mutual assistance in strategic arms development.
April 21: The East India Company finalises a takeover of British mineral exploration company Manson Consolidated, on the back of impressive projections of platinum reserves in the tiny West African self-governing state of Zangaro (formerly the southern part of British Equatorial Africa, which has now been amicably partitioned into Zangaro and Burunda) and recent American and French interest in the nation.
April 22: Steve McQueen wins the Singapore Grand Prix in a thrilling finish over Graham Hill, with favourites Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda crashing out in the penultimate lap.
April 23: The Sudanese government reaches an agreement with Egypt for military cooperation against dissident terrorist forces in the Darfur area, in conjunction with the ongoing American and British punitive operation. The agreement is thought to be significant given the background of negotiations over confederation.
April 24: CIA assets in the Soviet Union report a rumoured terrible accident of some sort in a secret closed city in the depths of the Urals, with a large area cordoned off by the KGB, MVD and Red Army, with all three forces bringing in contingents of wizards and Russian Orthodox priests, whilst reports of a conversation by high ranking officials in the Kremlin, ascribed to phone taps of military facilities, indicates that there was serious initial consideration of the employment of a hydrogen bomb on Ust' Man'ya 57. American and British wizards independently indicate an intense reverberating disturbance in the arcane aether, as if a hole had almost been torn in the fabric of the world by something.
April 25: Completion of the Grand Boulevard Périphérique or the Paris ring road project, which circles the inner part of the French capital just beyond its great walls. Some critics of the extensive public works campaign championed by Premier d'Ambreville have argued that it will simply cement the separation between the 'insider' Parisians and 'outsider' residents of the metropolis's outer suburbs, whereas others, such as the famed writer Albert Camus, maintain that the network creates a new intersection of public and private space symbolic of a synthetic identity.
April 26: A British Cabinet meeting on the economic situation again narrowly declines to take what Prime Minister Stanley Barton describes as 'panicked steps that could turn a small trip into an uncontrolled tumble down the whole dashed hill into the Slough of Despond', such as greatly increased spending or radical reduction of interest rates. Use of contingency funds, flexibility within the budget and the existing surplus to fund useful public works, augment unemployment support payments, invest in defence projects and increase monthly conscription call ups to reduce pressure on the labour force continue to be the preferred means of addressing Labour's first recession; even so, the circumstances do see the first isolated notes of criticism of Barton from the Left of the party.
April 27: Release of a League of Nations study on the conditions of the world's glaciers. It finds that the noted 'mid-century retreat' that had caused considerable consternation in scientific journals in the early 1960s, has stopped and reversed. It states that recent data sets from RAF Mount Everest correspond in some ways to increased concerns on the prospect of global cooling.
April 28: A consortium of American millionaire investors and businessmen announce a proposal for a new high speed transcontinental nuclear railway line to be built linking the metropolises of the East Coast with California through Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, St Louis, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Their notion is criticised for being far too expensive to be workable, with an estimated cost of over $2 million per mile for the track alone, but a spokesman for the public face of the group, the fabulously wealth C. Montgomery Burns, states that true vision and a faith in America's atomic future can overcome any odds.
April 29: Arrival of a British reinforced armoured field force of two brigades in Haifa for Exercise Long Lankin in the Galilee, along with a staff mission to examine logistical infrastructure and proposed basing areas for British, Commonwealth and Imperial forces in the event of a major global war. Their secondary and rather more confidential purpose is to collate maps, photographs, film and other data on terrain, infrastructure and conditions for examination and simulation by the Imperial General Staff's new advanced intelligent supercomputing engine, as well as updating artillery fire plans for the new generation of the Army's guns.
April 30: Orion 7 enters the orbit of Titania, with initial observations of the thick atmosphere through spectroscopes detecting the presence of liquid water, and incredible pictures of the rings of Uranus being transmitted back to Mars.
April 1: The inhabitants of New York City awake to find the Statue of Liberty had seemingly vanished, with television, newspaper and radio reports working themselves into a frenzied paroxysm of rampant and wild speculation (as is their standard procedure) as to where Lady Liberty had gone and why the hitherto lost USS Constitution was now moored at Liberty Island. To their north, the good folk of Boston are astonished to see the Statue appear to have been transported to Castle Island. NYPD and US Navy wizards are first on the scene in the Big Apple, discovering that the statue had not been stolen, but rather been hidden by the use of a magical amplification artifact, which projected a modified invisibility field over the national landmark and the real image through a corresponding projector in Boston. A neatly written note is found attached to the Statue’s torch, with the author confessing that he wanted nothing more than to set Boston and New York at war with each other and bring about their destruction, allowing the true heart of the nation to come to the fore - Des Moines. The FBI and NCIS commence investigations as to how ‘Old Ironsides’ managed to be stolen and then turn up in New York, with the only clue being a smashed bottle.
April 2: Launch of 'Project Tiger' in India, a conservation effort aimed at increasing the population of tigers across the entire Union of India. This is to be done through the creation of protected tiger reserves and the taking of an accurate tiger population census, along with more direct means of protection, such as specialist anti-poaching units and the death penalty for illegal poaching; the latter steps have proved exceptionally successful in Rhodesia and East Africa. It is hoped that these measures will raise the tiger population of the subcontinent from its current nadir of approximately 80,000 to its previous glory.
April 3: Rumblings from deep beneath the earth are reported around Mount Shasta in Jefferson, bringing an earlier than expected end to the ski season. The United States Geological Survey dispatches two further teams to the area to monitor the situation, despite the misgivings of the Jeffersonian state government in Redding, which despite the misgivings of Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Stockman, is loathe to contemplate the damage to the tourist industry from any rumours of a putative eruption.
April 4: Formal opening of the World Trade Center in New York City in a gala event attended by numerous luminaries and national dignitaries, including former Secretary of the Air Force Bruce Wayne in his personal capacity as a major property investor, with the two new 1650ft Art Deco skyscrapers soaring above the rest of the Manhattan skyline.
April 5: The United States Navy begins test flights of the Boeing YP-10 Triton strategic very long range maritime patrol bomber and the Lockheed-Martin XP-12 Sea Lord ASW patrol seaplane. The former 250t four turbofan powered aircraft has a design range of over 5000 miles and an endurance of up to 24 hours, whilst deploying a full range of anti-submarine torpedoes, nuclear depth bombs and sea mines as well as defensive weapons; it is intended to replace a large part of the current USN fleet of P-3 Orions in conjunction with the smaller and more flexible twin jet North American-Convair XP-15 Catalina II.
April 6: Argentine communist terrorists assassinate General Leopoldo Galtieri, head of the Argentine Army's combat engineer corps, as he is driven through the streets of Buenos Aires. A state of martial law is declared and the Army, police and security forces launch a retaliatory crackdown on the suspected leftist supporters of the outrage, leading to near riots and hundreds of arrests.
April 7: The United States Department of Magic completes a new integrated defensive enchantment of the flood defences of New Orleans, with multiple contingency spells preparing arcane levy reinforcement and barriers in the event of catastrophic failure.
April 8: Formation of a new elite special forces unit of the Imperial German Army for counter terrorism and other special missions, with a a specific view towards action against the Baader Meinhof Gang and the International Revolutionary Army. The teams of the Geheime Sturmgruppe or Secret Assault Group are to be drawn from crack volunteers from the existing KSH, KSM and KSL, with ten such units to be established.
April 9: Opening of the first branch of Pizza Hut in London, utilising the British spelling of 'Pitza' and forgoing the novel shaped roofs that have proved so striking in North America due to the exacting restrictions of Britain's building planning code. Initial market reception is curious, with the recent renewed increase in interest in Italian cuisine driving a not insignificant number of customers.
April 10: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia arrives in London for a state visit of Britain, his first stop on a major European tour and coming after intensive talks regarding the increased provision of British Commonwealth financial, military, food and arcane aid to Ethiopia.
April 11: Three condemned criminals (two murderers and a rapist) are hanged outside Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast, the first executions anywhere in Ireland since December; a local priest and community leader, Father Jack Hackett, was quoted as commenting that justice comes in the open in the British Empire, not skulking behind prison walls as in the Communist world, albeit in not so many words.
April 12: Beginning of pre-production on The Star Wars, an expansive science-fiction epic space opera directed by George Lucas, in Hammer Film Productions' Bray Studios.
April 13: Opening of a secret new RN submarine base and research facility in the isolated Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The new base is the latest in a chain of significant bases and missile sites across the vastness of the Indian Ocean, with the above top secret research into the lost land of Lemuria around the Grand Chagos Bank being a particular focus of the undersea endeavours.
April 14: Unveiling of the Austin Regent small family car at the British International Motor Show at Earl's Court, with motoring journalists noting approvingly the four door fastback design, its highly efficient 1500cc engine and innovative quality of life improvements, describing it as 'a fine civic car for the 1970s' with interesting export potential.
April 15: Copper miners at five separate mines in Chile go out on strike, ostensibly in a demand for higher wages and better conditions. The ruling Socialist coalition of Premier Salvador Allende begins immediate emergency talks with the mining unions to assuage the situation, which comes at a time when any reduction in much needed copper revenues could prove severely damaging to Chile's balance of payments.
April 16: Korean archaeologists begin excavation of the 'Sky Horse Tomb' near the south eastern city of Seorabeol. They report disturbed dreams and a rash of strange respiratory illnesses following the disturbance of a strange ceremonially barred door that was found tied shut with a remarkably preserved silken cord.
April 17: Emperor Maximillian II of Mexico declares in a specially televised interview that his country should wage three wars - a War on Crime, a War on Waste and a War on Doubt - as part of its drive for modernity, respect and glory. His Imperial Majesty goes on to state in quite stark terms that Mexico looks to the south to aid the 'rise and rise' of Central and South America, to the west to engage with Europe and the Atlantic world, to the east to participate in the dawn of a new epoch for Asia and the Pacific, and to the north with hand extended in equal fellowship to the United States.
April 18: Opening of a special exposition of Byzantine Greek military equipment and prowess in Adrianople, displaying new indigenously designed armoured vehicles, body armour, automatic cannons and the new Hellenic Aircraft Chímaira ground attack aircraft and the Romaios Aerospace Sigma supersonic fighter jet.
April 19: The USCB signs a new pay deal with its Test and one day playing squad, significantly increasing the overall pay of American professional cricketers and setting a precedent for corresponding bodies in Australia, the West Indies, England and South Africa; the broader question of the commercialisation of cricket is known to be of concern to the ICC and MCC.
April 20: Signing of an agreement between Spain and Portugal agreement on scientific cooperation, particularly in regard to their space programmes; a secret protocol provides for mutual assistance in strategic arms development.
April 21: The East India Company finalises a takeover of British mineral exploration company Manson Consolidated, on the back of impressive projections of platinum reserves in the tiny West African self-governing state of Zangaro (formerly the southern part of British Equatorial Africa, which has now been amicably partitioned into Zangaro and Burunda) and recent American and French interest in the nation.
April 22: Steve McQueen wins the Singapore Grand Prix in a thrilling finish over Graham Hill, with favourites Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda crashing out in the penultimate lap.
April 23: The Sudanese government reaches an agreement with Egypt for military cooperation against dissident terrorist forces in the Darfur area, in conjunction with the ongoing American and British punitive operation. The agreement is thought to be significant given the background of negotiations over confederation.
April 24: CIA assets in the Soviet Union report a rumoured terrible accident of some sort in a secret closed city in the depths of the Urals, with a large area cordoned off by the KGB, MVD and Red Army, with all three forces bringing in contingents of wizards and Russian Orthodox priests, whilst reports of a conversation by high ranking officials in the Kremlin, ascribed to phone taps of military facilities, indicates that there was serious initial consideration of the employment of a hydrogen bomb on Ust' Man'ya 57. American and British wizards independently indicate an intense reverberating disturbance in the arcane aether, as if a hole had almost been torn in the fabric of the world by something.
April 25: Completion of the Grand Boulevard Périphérique or the Paris ring road project, which circles the inner part of the French capital just beyond its great walls. Some critics of the extensive public works campaign championed by Premier d'Ambreville have argued that it will simply cement the separation between the 'insider' Parisians and 'outsider' residents of the metropolis's outer suburbs, whereas others, such as the famed writer Albert Camus, maintain that the network creates a new intersection of public and private space symbolic of a synthetic identity.
April 26: A British Cabinet meeting on the economic situation again narrowly declines to take what Prime Minister Stanley Barton describes as 'panicked steps that could turn a small trip into an uncontrolled tumble down the whole dashed hill into the Slough of Despond', such as greatly increased spending or radical reduction of interest rates. Use of contingency funds, flexibility within the budget and the existing surplus to fund useful public works, augment unemployment support payments, invest in defence projects and increase monthly conscription call ups to reduce pressure on the labour force continue to be the preferred means of addressing Labour's first recession; even so, the circumstances do see the first isolated notes of criticism of Barton from the Left of the party.
April 27: Release of a League of Nations study on the conditions of the world's glaciers. It finds that the noted 'mid-century retreat' that had caused considerable consternation in scientific journals in the early 1960s, has stopped and reversed. It states that recent data sets from RAF Mount Everest correspond in some ways to increased concerns on the prospect of global cooling.
April 28: A consortium of American millionaire investors and businessmen announce a proposal for a new high speed transcontinental nuclear railway line to be built linking the metropolises of the East Coast with California through Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, St Louis, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Their notion is criticised for being far too expensive to be workable, with an estimated cost of over $2 million per mile for the track alone, but a spokesman for the public face of the group, the fabulously wealth C. Montgomery Burns, states that true vision and a faith in America's atomic future can overcome any odds.
April 29: Arrival of a British reinforced armoured field force of two brigades in Haifa for Exercise Long Lankin in the Galilee, along with a staff mission to examine logistical infrastructure and proposed basing areas for British, Commonwealth and Imperial forces in the event of a major global war. Their secondary and rather more confidential purpose is to collate maps, photographs, film and other data on terrain, infrastructure and conditions for examination and simulation by the Imperial General Staff's new advanced intelligent supercomputing engine, as well as updating artillery fire plans for the new generation of the Army's guns.
April 30: Orion 7 enters the orbit of Titania, with initial observations of the thick atmosphere through spectroscopes detecting the presence of liquid water, and incredible pictures of the rings of Uranus being transmitted back to Mars.
-
jemhouston
- Posts: 3628
- Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2022 12:38 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
Would an H-Bomb close the hole or make it bigger?
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Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1013
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
The thinking is that it would close it.
-
Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1013
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
1973 Statistics
1973/74 Largest GDPs
1.) USA: $12,759,578,439,922.13 (+ 4.28%)
2.) USSR: $6,105,609,224,823.79 (+ 7.64%)
3.) Germany: $4,936,604,492,206.17 (+ 4.32%)
4.) Japan: $4,726,684,284,657.89 (+ 10.03%)
5.) Britain: $4,685,044,589,435.96 (+ 4.84%)
6.) France: $2,643,926,632,069.69(+ 3.95%)
8.) Canada: $2,344,421,195,962.22 (+ 3.78%)
7.) India: $2,380,686,207,741.98 (+ 6.77%)
9.) China: $2,311,783,104,315.28 (+ 7.85%)
10.) Italy: $1,789,642,340,962.36 (+ 3.43%)
11.) Austria-Hungary: $1,511,954,147,188.87 (+ 4.35%)
1973/74 Populations
1.) China: 1,115,333,864
2.) India: 745,249,839
3.) Soviet Union: 413,456,253
4.) USA: 374,587,219
5.) Indonesia: 279,126,235
6.) Japan: 278,346,110
7.) Germany: 205,496,887
8.) Brazil: 195,034,198
9.) Mexico: 157,248,237
10.) France: 150,962,250
11.) Britain: 142,876,539
12.) Austria-Hungary: 132,989,336
1973/74 Share of World Industrial Output
1.) USA: 21.7%
2.) Japan: 13.9%
3.) Soviet Union: 12.1%
4.) Germany: 11.7%
5.) Britain: 7.6%
6.) China: 6.6%
7.) India 5.4%
8.) France: 4.8%
9.) Canada: 3.8%
10.) Italy: 3.1%
11.) Austria-Hungary: 3.0%
Steel Production 1973/74 (millions of tons)
1.) Japan 254
2.) USA 240
3.) USSR 210
4.) Germany 132
5.) Britain: 100
6.) China: 98
7.) India 84
8.) AH: 75
9.) Poland 72
10.) France 60
11.) Canada 59
Coal Production 1972 (millions of tons)
1.) USA: 748
2.) USSR: 724
3.) China: 618
4.) Germany: 602
5.) Poland: 567
6.) Britain: 554
7.) India: 489
8.) Austria-Hungary: 460
9.) France: 300
10.) Australia: 266
11.) South Africa: 255
Oil Production 1973 (Thousands of bbl/day)
1.) USA: 17,396
2.) USSR: 13,852
3.) Arabia: 12,679
4.) Persia: 7013
5.) Iraq: 6129
6.) Canada: 4532
7.) Trucial States: 4497
8.) Venezuela: 3428
9.) Britain: 3384
10.) Kuwait: 3276
11.) Mexico: 3066
1973 Wheat Production (millions of tons)
1.) USA: 178
2.) USSR: 125
3.) China: 101
4.) India: 95
5.) Canada: 90
6.) Australia: 72
7.) France: 64
8.) Argentina: 62
9.) Austria-Hungary: 60
10.) Germany: 56
11.) Britain: 54
12.) Italy: 42
13.) Turkey: 37
14.) Spain: 33
15.) Poland: 26
1973 Barley Production (millions of tons)
1.) USSR: 67.5
2.) Australia: 32.4
3.) Canada: 26.8
4.) Germany: 25.2
5.) France: 21.3
6.) Britain: 18.4
7.) Spain: 16.3
8.) Argentina: 14.7
9.) Turkey: 11.1
10.) USA: 10.4
11.) Poland: 9.9
12.) Austria-Hungary: 8.4
1973 Potato Production (millions of tons)
1.) USSR: 143
2.) India: 72
3.) China: 69
4.) Germany: 42
5.) France: 39
6.) Canada: 38
7.) Britain: 33
8.) Poland: 32
9.) Peru: 26
9.) Turkey: 25
11.) Netherlands: 22
12.) Persia: 19
1973 Corn Production (millions of tons)
1.) USA: 257
2.) USSR: 105
3.) China: 87
4.) Brazil: 82
5.) Argentina: 69
6.) India: 50
7.) Canada: 48
7.) Mexico: 45
9.) Indonesia: 32
10.) Romania: 29
11.) France: 27
12.) Australia: 24
Automobile Production 1973
1.) Japan: 13,542,919
2.) USA: 12,976,538
3.) Germany: 7,980,375
4.) Britain: 5,256,923
5.) France: 4,578,017
6.) Italy: 3,892,888
7.) USSR: 3,752,964
8.) Canada: 3,566,895
9.) Austria-Hungary: 2,823,500
10.) Mexico: 2,572,235
11.) Spain: 2,106,398
Merchant Shipbuilding 1973
1.) Japan: 40,743,922 tons
2.) Britain: 27,561,356 tons
3.) USA: 20,456,547 tons
4.) Korea: 4,860,239 tons
5.) Germany: 3,791,523 tons
6.) France: 2,014,960 tons
7.) Italy: 1,627,075 tons
8.) Canada: 1,428,050 tons
9.) USSR: 1,299,624 tons
10.) China: 984,226 tons
11.) Sweden: 920,249 tons
Aircraft Production 1973
1.) USSR: 6520
2.) USA: 6084
3.) China: 3842
4.) Britain: 3793
5.) Germany: 1829
6.) France: 1434
7.) Japan: 1150
8.) India: 1028
9.) Canada: 980
10.) Italy: 654
11.) Austria-Hungary: 583
1973/74 Largest GDPs
1.) USA: $12,759,578,439,922.13 (+ 4.28%)
2.) USSR: $6,105,609,224,823.79 (+ 7.64%)
3.) Germany: $4,936,604,492,206.17 (+ 4.32%)
4.) Japan: $4,726,684,284,657.89 (+ 10.03%)
5.) Britain: $4,685,044,589,435.96 (+ 4.84%)
6.) France: $2,643,926,632,069.69(+ 3.95%)
8.) Canada: $2,344,421,195,962.22 (+ 3.78%)
7.) India: $2,380,686,207,741.98 (+ 6.77%)
9.) China: $2,311,783,104,315.28 (+ 7.85%)
10.) Italy: $1,789,642,340,962.36 (+ 3.43%)
11.) Austria-Hungary: $1,511,954,147,188.87 (+ 4.35%)
1973/74 Populations
1.) China: 1,115,333,864
2.) India: 745,249,839
3.) Soviet Union: 413,456,253
4.) USA: 374,587,219
5.) Indonesia: 279,126,235
6.) Japan: 278,346,110
7.) Germany: 205,496,887
8.) Brazil: 195,034,198
9.) Mexico: 157,248,237
10.) France: 150,962,250
11.) Britain: 142,876,539
12.) Austria-Hungary: 132,989,336
1973/74 Share of World Industrial Output
1.) USA: 21.7%
2.) Japan: 13.9%
3.) Soviet Union: 12.1%
4.) Germany: 11.7%
5.) Britain: 7.6%
6.) China: 6.6%
7.) India 5.4%
8.) France: 4.8%
9.) Canada: 3.8%
10.) Italy: 3.1%
11.) Austria-Hungary: 3.0%
Steel Production 1973/74 (millions of tons)
1.) Japan 254
2.) USA 240
3.) USSR 210
4.) Germany 132
5.) Britain: 100
6.) China: 98
7.) India 84
8.) AH: 75
9.) Poland 72
10.) France 60
11.) Canada 59
Coal Production 1972 (millions of tons)
1.) USA: 748
2.) USSR: 724
3.) China: 618
4.) Germany: 602
5.) Poland: 567
6.) Britain: 554
7.) India: 489
8.) Austria-Hungary: 460
9.) France: 300
10.) Australia: 266
11.) South Africa: 255
Oil Production 1973 (Thousands of bbl/day)
1.) USA: 17,396
2.) USSR: 13,852
3.) Arabia: 12,679
4.) Persia: 7013
5.) Iraq: 6129
6.) Canada: 4532
7.) Trucial States: 4497
8.) Venezuela: 3428
9.) Britain: 3384
10.) Kuwait: 3276
11.) Mexico: 3066
1973 Wheat Production (millions of tons)
1.) USA: 178
2.) USSR: 125
3.) China: 101
4.) India: 95
5.) Canada: 90
6.) Australia: 72
7.) France: 64
8.) Argentina: 62
9.) Austria-Hungary: 60
10.) Germany: 56
11.) Britain: 54
12.) Italy: 42
13.) Turkey: 37
14.) Spain: 33
15.) Poland: 26
1973 Barley Production (millions of tons)
1.) USSR: 67.5
2.) Australia: 32.4
3.) Canada: 26.8
4.) Germany: 25.2
5.) France: 21.3
6.) Britain: 18.4
7.) Spain: 16.3
8.) Argentina: 14.7
9.) Turkey: 11.1
10.) USA: 10.4
11.) Poland: 9.9
12.) Austria-Hungary: 8.4
1973 Potato Production (millions of tons)
1.) USSR: 143
2.) India: 72
3.) China: 69
4.) Germany: 42
5.) France: 39
6.) Canada: 38
7.) Britain: 33
8.) Poland: 32
9.) Peru: 26
9.) Turkey: 25
11.) Netherlands: 22
12.) Persia: 19
1973 Corn Production (millions of tons)
1.) USA: 257
2.) USSR: 105
3.) China: 87
4.) Brazil: 82
5.) Argentina: 69
6.) India: 50
7.) Canada: 48
7.) Mexico: 45
9.) Indonesia: 32
10.) Romania: 29
11.) France: 27
12.) Australia: 24
Automobile Production 1973
1.) Japan: 13,542,919
2.) USA: 12,976,538
3.) Germany: 7,980,375
4.) Britain: 5,256,923
5.) France: 4,578,017
6.) Italy: 3,892,888
7.) USSR: 3,752,964
8.) Canada: 3,566,895
9.) Austria-Hungary: 2,823,500
10.) Mexico: 2,572,235
11.) Spain: 2,106,398
Merchant Shipbuilding 1973
1.) Japan: 40,743,922 tons
2.) Britain: 27,561,356 tons
3.) USA: 20,456,547 tons
4.) Korea: 4,860,239 tons
5.) Germany: 3,791,523 tons
6.) France: 2,014,960 tons
7.) Italy: 1,627,075 tons
8.) Canada: 1,428,050 tons
9.) USSR: 1,299,624 tons
10.) China: 984,226 tons
11.) Sweden: 920,249 tons
Aircraft Production 1973
1.) USSR: 6520
2.) USA: 6084
3.) China: 3842
4.) Britain: 3793
5.) Germany: 1829
6.) France: 1434
7.) Japan: 1150
8.) India: 1028
9.) Canada: 980
10.) Italy: 654
11.) Austria-Hungary: 583
-
Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1013
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
British Newspapers 1973
The Times (Centre Right, Conservative)
The Telegraph (Right Wing, Conservative)
Financial Times (Right Wing, Conservative)
The Manchester Guardian (Centre Right, Liberal and Imperialist)
Empire Gazette (Populist Centre Right, Imperialist and Conservative)
The Daily Chronicle (Right Wing, Conservative)
News of the World (Centre Right, Labour)
Daily Mail (Populist Right Wing, Conservative)
Daily Express (Populist Right Wing, Conservative and Nationals)
Daily Mirror (Centre, Labour)
Daily Herald (Centre Left, Labour)
Morning Post (Populist Right Wing, Conservative)
Daily Sketch (Populist Right Wing, Conservative)
The Tribune (Centre Left, Liberal)
Morning Star (Left Wing, Socialist)
Daily Sentinel (Populist Centre, Liberal)
Evening Newspapers:
Evening Standard
Pall Mall Gazette
Evening News
Evening Star (distinct from The Morning Star)
Specialist Papers:
London Gazette
Sporting Life
Sport Gazette
The Sports Journal
Racing Post
The Football Paper
Wisden
Farmer’s Guardian
Country Gentleman’s Agricultural Gazette
Union Jack (Army)
Navy News
Church of England Record
Jewish Chronicle
Lloyd’s List
Mirabilis
Hartshire Post
Notable Magazines:
Punch
John Bull
The Spectator
The Adventurer
Young Elizabethan and The Elizabethan
The War Illustrated
New Statesman
The Economist
Round Table
Tatler
Soldier
Children’s Papers, Comics and Magazines:
The Eagle
Union Jack
Boy’s Own
The Beano
Commando
Excalibur
Crusade
Valiant
Lion
Tiger
Girl
Robin
Swift
Space!
Action
The Victor
Warlord
Battle Picture Weekly
War Picture Library
- The most notable difference first up is the rather different politics of the Manchester Guardian, which here was purchased by Lord Rothermere in the early 1920s and becoming part of the Associated Newspapers group. By the aftermath of the Second World War, it has established a distinct identity as the 'broadsheet' paper of the group, strongly Liberal Imperialist (in the DE sense) and very strident in its opposition to fascism in the 1930s and wartime coverage. They are seen as the best paper for technically accurate military coverage and its journalists have a certain reputation for being 'gung ho' in the field
- The Empire Gazette sits somewhere between the Mail and the Telegraph and is based in Birmingham
- The Daily Chronicle, inspired by The Chronicle in the television adaptions of Michael Dobbs House of Cards and its sequels is a slightly brasher Telegraph in the popular press. It is part of the business empire of Sir Denzil Carey, who is very much not based on an Australian newspaper proprieter who historically bought into Britain in the 1960s, whose DE equivalent is still running The News and The Australian down under
- The Daily Herald was not replaced by The Sun in 1964 here
- In general, tabloids and tabloid journalism haven't emerged in their modern manifestation and there isn't any scope for the more lurid aspects of the redtops, such as Page 3 girls, crassness and sexual content; the Lord Chamberlain and Ministry of Information would come down on any such attempts with both boots very, very quickly
- The Morning Star is a distinctly different entity from the @ rebadged Daily Worker, which was banned early in its life. Here, it represents the Bennite types purged from Labour in the 1950s
- The Tribune doesn't collapse here, just as the Liberal Party doesn't experience its @ 'strange death'
- The Daily Sentinel is a bluffly Northern and Scots Liberal paper
- Mirabilis is a wizardly paper, whilst the Hartshire Post is focused on the interests of the halfling community
The Times (Centre Right, Conservative)
The Telegraph (Right Wing, Conservative)
Financial Times (Right Wing, Conservative)
The Manchester Guardian (Centre Right, Liberal and Imperialist)
Empire Gazette (Populist Centre Right, Imperialist and Conservative)
The Daily Chronicle (Right Wing, Conservative)
News of the World (Centre Right, Labour)
Daily Mail (Populist Right Wing, Conservative)
Daily Express (Populist Right Wing, Conservative and Nationals)
Daily Mirror (Centre, Labour)
Daily Herald (Centre Left, Labour)
Morning Post (Populist Right Wing, Conservative)
Daily Sketch (Populist Right Wing, Conservative)
The Tribune (Centre Left, Liberal)
Morning Star (Left Wing, Socialist)
Daily Sentinel (Populist Centre, Liberal)
Evening Newspapers:
Evening Standard
Pall Mall Gazette
Evening News
Evening Star (distinct from The Morning Star)
Specialist Papers:
London Gazette
Sporting Life
Sport Gazette
The Sports Journal
Racing Post
The Football Paper
Wisden
Farmer’s Guardian
Country Gentleman’s Agricultural Gazette
Union Jack (Army)
Navy News
Church of England Record
Jewish Chronicle
Lloyd’s List
Mirabilis
Hartshire Post
Notable Magazines:
Punch
John Bull
The Spectator
The Adventurer
Young Elizabethan and The Elizabethan
The War Illustrated
New Statesman
The Economist
Round Table
Tatler
Soldier
Children’s Papers, Comics and Magazines:
The Eagle
Union Jack
Boy’s Own
The Beano
Commando
Excalibur
Crusade
Valiant
Lion
Tiger
Girl
Robin
Swift
Space!
Action
The Victor
Warlord
Battle Picture Weekly
War Picture Library
- The most notable difference first up is the rather different politics of the Manchester Guardian, which here was purchased by Lord Rothermere in the early 1920s and becoming part of the Associated Newspapers group. By the aftermath of the Second World War, it has established a distinct identity as the 'broadsheet' paper of the group, strongly Liberal Imperialist (in the DE sense) and very strident in its opposition to fascism in the 1930s and wartime coverage. They are seen as the best paper for technically accurate military coverage and its journalists have a certain reputation for being 'gung ho' in the field
- The Empire Gazette sits somewhere between the Mail and the Telegraph and is based in Birmingham
- The Daily Chronicle, inspired by The Chronicle in the television adaptions of Michael Dobbs House of Cards and its sequels is a slightly brasher Telegraph in the popular press. It is part of the business empire of Sir Denzil Carey, who is very much not based on an Australian newspaper proprieter who historically bought into Britain in the 1960s, whose DE equivalent is still running The News and The Australian down under
- The Daily Herald was not replaced by The Sun in 1964 here
- In general, tabloids and tabloid journalism haven't emerged in their modern manifestation and there isn't any scope for the more lurid aspects of the redtops, such as Page 3 girls, crassness and sexual content; the Lord Chamberlain and Ministry of Information would come down on any such attempts with both boots very, very quickly
- The Morning Star is a distinctly different entity from the @ rebadged Daily Worker, which was banned early in its life. Here, it represents the Bennite types purged from Labour in the 1950s
- The Tribune doesn't collapse here, just as the Liberal Party doesn't experience its @ 'strange death'
- The Daily Sentinel is a bluffly Northern and Scots Liberal paper
- Mirabilis is a wizardly paper, whilst the Hartshire Post is focused on the interests of the halfling community
-
Bernard Woolley
- Posts: 649
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 4:06 pm
- Location: Earth
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
Most newspapers lean to the right in DE. So, basically the same as in RL. 
What about The Scotsman and The Glasgow Herald?
What about The Scotsman and The Glasgow Herald?
-
Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1013
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
It is fairly similar, with a few more in the centre where the Liberals have hewn out their ground.
The latter description of their usual parties of preference has been muddled a bit in the 1960s and 70s, as Stanley Barton has positioned Labour rather nebulously, so that it occupies the CL and CR ground on various issues. This has won him the support and general respect and admiration of effectively all of the papers on the populist right in addition to the Mirror, the Herald and the News of the World; the Manchester Guardian also nods approvingly at most policies.
The Scotsman and Glasgow Herald got clumped in with regional papers in my head canon, but the former certainly merit a mention in national terms. I’ll fix some things up on that tomorrow.
I might add further that the Manchester Guardian has an excellent reputation for avoiding misprints and spelling errors.
The latter description of their usual parties of preference has been muddled a bit in the 1960s and 70s, as Stanley Barton has positioned Labour rather nebulously, so that it occupies the CL and CR ground on various issues. This has won him the support and general respect and admiration of effectively all of the papers on the populist right in addition to the Mirror, the Herald and the News of the World; the Manchester Guardian also nods approvingly at most policies.
The Scotsman and Glasgow Herald got clumped in with regional papers in my head canon, but the former certainly merit a mention in national terms. I’ll fix some things up on that tomorrow.
I might add further that the Manchester Guardian has an excellent reputation for avoiding misprints and spelling errors.