Dark Earth Timeline Discussion

[Simon Darkshade]

1971 Notes Part 4

October
- Walt Disney World includes EPCOT is all it’s planned glory
- The RAF has some new AAMs that surprise the Sovs, or rather new versions of its standard Firebolt SRAAM and Skyblade MRAAM, which are the equivalents to the Sidewinder/Sparrow of the US
- North Vietnamese forces pulling back to new fortifications along the DMZ shows the mutual desire to pull back
- Captain Falcon and the scientist out of the original Godzilla film feature in the defeat Tokyo dragon attack, but it might be of some interest to consider the ramifications of a Yasukuni dogtrack; the shrine was burned down by US occupation troops as per their @ plans
- The Brazilian meteorites are deliberately evocative of Sipstrassi, but not quite the same; that is too good and great a fictional work for me to include in Dark Earth
- IDF mobilisation is quite similar to @, just scaled up, with the very important difference that their mission is to hold until relieved by allied forces
- Blomqvist and Sventon are two fictional Swedish detectives from mid 20th century works
- Bulgarian orc troubles are a sign of things to come
- Once again, the British Army is growing rather than amalgamating regiments of foot; a definite indicator of a different world
- Dreadnought has a quicker trip to Saturn, which then gives it a chance at some other outer solar system jaunts
- The F-16 cometh, albeit not to an international situation where it will get quite the same sales
- MacArthur Park incidents come from the magnificent Richard Harris song
- Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis are together again; also of note is a Vegas without gambling
- King Zod is increasingly eccentric…
- Soviet forces in the Archangelsk and Murmansk Military Districts represent an increasing threat in the High Arctic
- Michael Jagger is quite the engaging and charismatic television presenter and his travelogues attract a very wide audience
- Nintendo goes bankrupt, leading to a different future in some industries
- NORAD’s 255 scenarios are drawn from the climax of War Games (I paused the film, transcribed them all and counted them up)
- Soviet tripods are not a good sign
- RAF talent identification programmes are not the only one if their kind in Britain
- TR is still sticking around, as irascible as ever
- It was a nice morning for an exorcism, but here, Merrin survived, blasting out the demon through sheer holy power and a relic
- October 29 is a build up to something resembling the background to Stranger Things
- Linus sees the Great Pumpkin, thanks to some influence by a famed WW1 fighter pilot

November
- Hovercraft are seen as the vehicles of tomorrow, lying at the white hot cutting edge of technology
- The Thirty Mile Hop and Tomkinson are from Ripping Yarns
- Health care might be Kennedy’s last major action as POTUS, but his legacy is going to be quite considerable
- Roger Blake is a combined Easter Egg for Blake’s 7 and Space 1999
- Something is brewing in Western New Guinea
- The Robotron is based on some of the robots in Fallout
- Balloons don’t cause a crisis, amid a reference to 99 Luftballons
- Tsarevich Nikolai going on exchange to the USA is an effort to keep him in the public eye and consciousness
- November 17 is a reference to The Adventures of Milo and Otis
- The rainbow bridge spotted in the sky isn’t quite what it might seem
- The Cairngorm Plateau disaster is prevented by a Green Man
- Canadian retention of capital punishment does result in some criminals not sticking around for decades
- The Baxter Commission is named after the stern deputy head in Grange Hill; there is a suggestion that some British magical secondary schools are filled with rule breakers and confusingly inconsistent application of discipline
- D.B. Cooper makes it here
- The Arab Renaissance isn’t just newspaper hyperbole
- The Chinook joins the Hercules in retirement
- Canada fields a number of crack Indian regiments

December
- The Crusader is a very powerful MBT when we work out what type of penetration it’s gun is achieving at over 2500 yards
- Computerisation of the Great Library of Alexandria is a tantalising prospect
- Scooby Doo meets the Evil Dead!
- Med moves were foreshadowed earlier in the year
- Gunnar Jarring will be a different Secretary General; some wags are claiming that the Swedes must have a mortgage on the position
- Christmas Eve sees a twisted version of Home Alone 2
- Every child in Britain getting a special (and fairly cheap) gift isn’t earthshaking, but just a nice gesture
- The Nullarbor Nymph is real here
- Troubleshooting of the Universal Translator is to be carried out in isolated rural areas to try and test its capacity
- This version of The Hobbit bears little resemblance to the bloated monstrosity of @
- An end to the Great Schism would be momentous indeed, but will wait for the right Pope
- The Force?
- Japan’s new PM is a bit…interesting…

[Belushi TD]

I would be VERY interested in reading a copy of the 255 NORAD versions from War Games. I remember watching the movie several times back in the day on VHS, but it was never clear enough for me to read them all, even when paused.

Belushi TD

[Simon Darkshade]

Here is 134:

U.S. FIRST STRIKE
USSR FIRST STRIKE
NATO / WARSAW PACT
FAR EAST STRATEGY
US USSR ESCALATION
MIDDLE EAST WAR
USSR CHINA ATTACK
INDIA PAKISTAN WAR
MEDITERRANEAN WAR
HONGKONG VARIANT
SEATO DECAPITATING
CUBAN PROVOCATION
ATLANTIC HEAVY
CUBAN PARAMILITARY
NICARAGUAN PREEMPTIVE
PACIFIC TERRITORIAL
BURMESE THEATERWIDE
TURKISH DECOY
ARGENTINA ESCALATION
ICELAND MAXIMUM
ARABIAN THEATERWIDE
U.S. SUBVERSION
AUSTRALIAN MANEUVER
SUDAN SURPRISE
NATO TERRITORIAL
ZAIRE ALLIANCE
ICELAND INCIDENT
ENGLISH ESCALATION
MIDDLE EAST HEAVY
MEXICAN TAKEOVER
CHAD ALERT
SAUDI MANEUVER
AFRICAN TERRITORIAL
ETHIOPIAN ESCALATION
TURKISH HEAVY
NATO INCURSION
U.S. DEFENSE
CAMBODIAN HEAVY
PACT MEDIUM
ARCTIC MINIMAL
MEXICAN DOMESTIC
TAIWAN THEATERWIDE
PACIFIC MANEUVER
PORTUGAL REVOLUTION
ALBANIAN DECOY
PALESTINIAN LOCAL
MOROCCAN MINIMAL
BAVARIAN DIVERSITY
CZECH OPTION
FRENCH ALLIANCE
ARABIAN CLANDESTINE
GABON REBELLION
NORTHERN MAXIMUM
DANISH PARAMILITARY
SEATO TAKEOVER
HAWAIIAN ESCALATION
IRANIAN MANEUVER
NATO CONTAINMENT
SWISS INCIDENT
CUBAN MINIMAL
CHAD ALERT
ICELAND ESCALATION
VIETNAMESE RETALIATIOM
SYRIAN PROVOCATION
LIBYAN LOCAL
GABON TAKEOVER
ROMANIAN WAR
MIDDLE EAST OFFENSIVE
DENMARK MASSIVE
CHILE CONFRONTATION
S.AFRICAN SUBVERSION
USSR ALERT
NICARAGUAN THRUST
GREENLAND DOMESTIC
ICELAND HEAVY
KENYA OPTION
PACIFIC DEFENSE
UGANDA MAXIMUM
THAI SUBVERSION
ROMANIAN STRIKE
PAKISTAN SOVEREIGNTY
AFGHAN MISDIRECTION
ETHIOPIAN LOCAL
ITALIAN TAKEOVER
VIETNAMESE INCIDENT
ENGLISH PREEMPTIVE
DENMARK ALTERNATE
THAI CONFRONTATION
TAIWAN SURPRISE
BRAZILIAN STRIKE
VENEZUELA SUDDEN
MAYLASIAN ALERT
ISREAL DISCRETIONARY
LIBYAN ACTION
PALISTINIAN TACTICAL
NATO ALTERNATE
CYPRESS MANEUVER
EGYPT MISDIRECTION
BANGLADESH THRUST
KENYA DEFENSE
BANGLADESH CONTAINMENT
VIETNAMESE STRIKE
ALBANIAN CONTAINMENT
GABON SURPRISE
IRAQ SOVEREIGNTY
VIETNAMESE SUDDEN
LEBANON INTERDICTION
TAIWAN DOMESTIC
ALGERIAN SOVEREIGNTY
ARABIAN STRIKE
ATLANTIC SUDDEN
MONGOLIAN THRUST
POLISH DECOY
ALASKAN DISCRETIONARY
CANADIAN THRUST
ARABIAN LIGHT
S.AFRICAN DOMESTIC
TUNISIAN INCIDENT
MALAYSIAN MANEUVER
JAMAICA DECOY
MALAYSIAN MINIMAL
RUSSIAN SOVEREIGNTY
CHAD OPTION
BANGLADESH WAR
BURMESE CONTAINMENT
ASIAN THEATERWIDE
BULGARIAN CLANDESTINE
GREENLAND INCURSION
EGYPT SURGICAL
CZECH HEAVY
TAIWAN CONFRONTATION
GREENLAND MAXIMUM
UGANDA OFFENSIVE
CASPIAN DEFENSE

Where I think 255 came from is the expansion to DE, with use of the number coming from its computing significance:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/255_(number)

I’ll have to ponder it more in the afternoon, rather than the dead of night.

[Belushi TD]

Thank you for that!

I only recognize about one in 7 or 8 of them from the movie. I'd further love to know if the producers came up with those themselves, or if there's some basis in reality with respect to names, rather than with respect to plausibility of the scenarios named.

Belushi TD

[Simon Darkshade]

Belushi,

Without any definitive indication or information, I would say that the context and extent of the list points towards a shotgun/projectile vomit approach to coming up with every scenario that can be listed, regardless of their veracity or possibility. Some are well recognisable, but the majority just seen to be conjured as padding; Uganda and Gabon were hardly likely to result in Global Thermonuclear War even in 1983. One could speculate that the extent was driven by an “all war will result in the end of the world” approach typical of certain politics at the time.

Simon

[Simon Darkshade]

Coming up in 1972, we have an interesting year.

- The Middle East continues to develop, not necessarily towards a war
- There is a hint of some sort of post Vietnam detente
- China continues to try and find a place and a role
- Major elections in the USA, Britain, NZ, Canada and Australia give me some options of differing directions or entrenching the course of some parties. I’m leaning towards a change of government in Canada as it has been 40+ years (mainly down to one man’s dominance) and possibly in Australia, where Labour under Bob Hawke could be interesting; the latter is more of a long shot, as he’d need to make up a lot more ground than the historical 1972
- In the USA, after 12 years of JFK, it looks like a Republican win. They would, however, be inheriting a fundamentally different country to 1968, 1972 or even 1980 in @, with the victory in Vietnam and different 60s reverberating. I do plan for JFK to use up his considerable personal political capital to push through Universal Health Care/Medicare for all, which could be controversial
- In Britain, Stanley Barton’s Labour government looks set for a third term. I can’t see the basis for a change election nor have there been any Big Issues come up to delineate Labour, Liberal and the Conservatives. By holding out strongly on the right wing of left of centre (in economic terms) and combining that with a traditionalist/social conservatist approach, Barton has put together quite the ‘coalition’ in respect to British political views. Pressure will mount in time for some sense of adjustment, but all three parties have a form of ‘consensus’ as to Britain’s path
- Advances will occur in science, tech and space
- Japan, under new and highly idiosyncratic management, will continue its golden period and start to flex its muscles
- I want to include a whole list of prices of goods and foods as an interesting statistical study, plus show some survey stuff to provide a demographic picture
- Apparent global cooling
- South Africa will get a bit of attention to show how different it is
- Very high speed rail in the USA, linking Metropolis (DE) and Gotham City (NJ) with NYC
- Other features: Carlos the Jackal, Father Brown, the Pink Panther at the Watergate, Al Bundy, Venezuelan cows, Leonard Nimoy, Bobby Fisher, Howard Hughes, Robert House, Virgil Tibbs, the Beatles, Keyser Soze, jet fighters and the Olympics

[jemhouston]

The US NE is probably the only place you can have high speed rail in the US. A non-crazy Howard Hughes would be interesting just to see what he would come up with next.

[Simon Darkshade]

In the case of DE high speed rail (400-500 mph), there are additional areas/corridors that come to mind, such as California and (maybe just) NYC to Chicago, a DE distance of 1280 miles.

However, with the increasing advent of supersonic air travel, anything beyond that sweet spot of 800-1000 miles starts to fall down. Indeed, the NYC-Chicago line idea is probably just beyond the cusp for executive travel.

There is something of an interesting window of sorts, as air travel is still in its glamourous age of the Jet Set, albeit after its peak, and for a large number of people, rail travel remains a slightly more economical option. Just. Another way of putting it is that air wins for anything that involves leaving their immediate region… if we limit those regions to the North East/Greater New England, the Mid Atlantic and California + Nevada.

[Belushi TD]

Here's a question... How do they go about actually constructing the high speed rail? Not the actual physical rail bed, that's just engineering.

I'm talking about crossings. Do they bridge all crossings, and fence the whole line with chain link and barbed wire? Otherwise, how do they keep idiots and juvenile males (but I repeat myself) from getting squished by the trains going three to four times the fastest trains we have these days?

Serious question, actually, not taking the piss.

Belushi TD

[Simon Darkshade]

Given the scale, nature and operations, I would say that crossings are arranged as you say: bridges and fencing.

The Japanese Shinkansen of @ appears to have some level crossings, but there is a bit more of a cultural difference factor there at play. TGV on the other hand, does not to the best of my knowledge. Both of those are in the 200-220 mph category, or half of the top DE high speed rail, which are maglev lines - magical levitation, that is.

[jemhouston]

I always wondered if an elevated monorail might be a better way to go.

[Simon Darkshade]

It comes down, like so many things, to money. An elevated railway line between, say, Birmingham and London or SF and LA, simply costs a lot more than a more conventional one.

[jemhouston]

Due to earthquakes, I wouldn't do it California.

[Simon Darkshade]

That is another factor that militates against it. As the cost is already great, going for exceedingly expensive additional features is not going to be a starter.

[Bernard Woolley]

We in the UK just fence off our HSR.

[Simon Darkshade]

That seems a rather simple solution to the issue; there are only a few of the ultra fast lines they would really need it.

Glad to see you back.

[Simon Darkshade]

Just over a year ago, I had these thoughts on 1970s Britain


- No waves of strikes and industrial strife and certainly no Winter of Discontent
- Britain will be overtaken by Japan economically, but won’t be the sick man of Europe
- Traditional heavy industries in the North, Scotland and Wales remain important and strong, rather than being allowed to die off
- A very different decade for the British automotive industry
- Few of the @ subcultures will emerge. Certainly no punks
- The Troubles in Ireland are absent here. There will be something going on there, but not of the same character
- More TV and radio stations as policies open up
- Continued progress of women’s rights, eventually catching up and surpassing Earth in some areas
- Historically, we see the rise of obesity and diet related health problems in the 1970s. Not here. If anything, they will be getting better
- Having said that, there will be the emergence of what we would consider many ‘modern’ foods. Wonka has a big decade
- Some gradual reduction of the size of the Armed Forces as costs of equipment increase, but nowhere near @
- Big changes in the way aspects social security is funded
- A lack of the circumstances that lead to the ascension of Margaret Thatcher means no PM Thatcher or what we’d recognise as Thatcherism. The Conservatives will need to find new strategies and reappraise their philosophy to take on Labour, but also to address a resurgence of the Liberals. Politically, Britain will have a genuine three way split
- Another @ issue was Europe, which won’t raise its head here. There won’t be an EEC emerging with France’s interesting decade to come, but there will be some trade related changes on the Continent. Britain, though, treads a different path
- Without twin oil shocks, it will be a more prosperous time. A lot more colour in many different ways
- Whilst a lot of oil wealth will go into various funds for the future, enough will spill over to create some interesting effects of affluence
- Supersonic air travel will begin to become more and more prevalent
- Whilst a Channel Tunnel will be thought to still be a non-starter, there will be talk of an underwater railway…
- High speed rail will branch out from the larger lines, but many of the smaller rural lines will still have more conventional services
- 1960s decisions to increase wizardly education result in more coming through and a widening use of magic and magitech
- The rise of suburbia
- African colonies that were given self government in the 1960s will now move to bona fide independence
- Increasing environmentalism
- An early 1970s fantasy boom
- Culturally, there will be a renewed folk revival in more than just music with some interesting consequences
- No decimalisation or metrication
- On nuclear matters, the advent of fusion power will see changes in this decade
- Underwater exploration…the Sea Race?

There is an obvious change in the form of the imminent Channel Tunnel (showing how quickly change occurs even if the process leading up to it is drawn out) and some other areas where there is quite different development:

Economy: Britain is sitting on much better fundamentals and will continue to see quite decent growth. It will likely stay a solid 5th in GDP behind the USA, USSR, Germany and Japan, but with a strong upward trend in GDP/capita, exports and general trade. As oil prices go up steadily, a Britain with the lion’s share of the North Sea will be on a good wicket. Inflation isn’t a major problem on the eastern side of the Atlantic as of 1972 and unemployment is still much, much lower than @

Industry: Perhaps the biggest change. The old heavy standbys of coal, steel, ships, arms, machine tools, engineering, chemicals and rail and the medium aerospace, and automotive and light industries of textiles, food processing, plastics and consumer goods still play a considerable collective part in the British economy, rather than the drift to services and particularly finance. That has an impact on the relative health of certain areas and their communities

Resources and Energy: Net exporter of coal, oil and gas plus the rising percentage of nuclear (incl fusion) means quite a few things. Cheaper petrol for motorists and lower transport costs, in addition to steadily low power bills/costs for industry

Defence: No pull out from East of Suez is on the cards, so there is increasing distance from @ in very noticeable ways. There are moves for gradual reductions in active strength in some areas and even the first reduction in divisional strength for 20 years. This is now very much a missile age, but not in the Sandys sense, so we also see a full range of 4th Gen British military aircraft

Politics: Both Labour and the Conservatives have strong leaders who can work with the other side. No sense of the country being ungovernable or trade unions being out of control, due to different laws and history, as well as Stanley Barton having pushed the Far Left out since he became Leader in 1956. Barton has now served longer than Attlee and, as the first and only Labour PM, has a lot of internal clout that he most certainly uses. The Liberals are making a run for a genuine alternative at the top


Sport: Different performances upcoming at the Olympics, a very different decade for cricket and a few ‘new’ sports to emerge on the international stage

Science and Technology: A rather earlier start to the computer and Internet age will have big consequences…

Culture: Some liberalisation in some areas, such as female rights, but not others, such as capital punishment and social morals. Interested to get some more ideas and opinions on potential cultural developments

General Spending Trends: In 1970, in descending order, education was 5.39 percent GDP, welfare was 5.35 percent GDP, health care was 4.02 percent GDP, and pensions were 3.83 percent GDP. (https://www.ukpublicspending.co.uk/spending_history)
In DE 1972, the Barton percentages have held since 1964 - 5% on health and education, 3.5% on pensions and 3.5% on welfare. Defence is starting to drop, down to 9.2% in 1971/72 from the steady 10% of the Vietnam War era (1965-1971) and going to go further. The big driver for this has been the strength of the economy - the slice of the pie may decrease, but the amount of pie is still more than forecast 8 years ago. It won't fall much below 8-8.5% on current projections, though, with increased cost of weapons systems, R&D, technological integration and even manpower offsetting the wind down of 1960s rearmament; there will be a shift from procurement to maintenance/operations as complexity of gear rises.
The long term goal of the Grand Design remains to be able to fund pensions through the income of the Imperial Sovereign Fund/sovereign wealth fund, allowing that 3.5% to be redirected to other priorities. Labour doesn't have an innate urge to cut the percentage of government spending from its current ~24% of GDP, but the Conservatives and Liberals have different positions; this is one way that some degree of political difference will play out over the 1970s. There may also be some moves by the other parties, driven by less perceived need, to make reductions to the percentage allotted to health from 5%

Pensions and Related Reforms: Retirement Annuity Plans were introduced in 1970 in @, later evolving into Personal Pension Schemes in 1988. I'm leaning towards an earlier development of something similar to Australian superannuation in Britain as a means of consolidating various personal pensions and allowing for further governmental oversight and regulation; nothing like the Maxwell raid on the Mirror Pension Fund will happen here. Additionally, it would create a further pool of funds for investment capital in time. However, it doesn't seem to be a reform on Labour's cards at this time.

Foreign Affairs: A major focus on the Prime Minister, rather than gradually devolving to the Foreign Secretary as in @. The Special Relationship is quite different, with the balance of power definitely in America's favour, but not by a seeming order of magnitude. JFK and Barton have a working relationship, but not a close friendly one in the manner of Kennedy and Macmillan or later iterations, and it is driven by strategic needs and economic ties. Anglo-German relations are better than Anglo-French ones, whilst the Austrians are very close, the Italians a bit miffed, the Scandinavians very friendly and Benelux similar due to location; the Belgian-Dutch position is trying to shift the centre of political gravity onto the Continent more, but they can't really find an avenue for it, with the French and Germans being at odds.

Crime: Opposite direction to @, with it continuing to gradually fall. 1971 murders were 109 compared to ~350 and general anti-social behaviour is at a low level. Some cracks are beginning to emerge, but there aren't the drivers that I can see for any major changes here. There will be some increasing voices against the relatively harsh approach to crime and punishment, but as discussed earlier, the issue is effectively triangulated by Left and Right.

Food: No 'globalisation of cuisine' in the West, where individual styles and cuisines began to merge in an Americanised whole from the 1970s-2000s in something of a strange mirror image of the commonality of haute cuisine across Europe and North America during La Belle Epoque. Rather, distinct dishes, tastes and styles will continue to come to the fore and the spread of American fast food chains (I'm looking at you McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut)

Shops and Shopping Hours: Supermarkets are still not dominant. Historically, their numbers rose from the first in 1951 to 572 in 1961 and ~3400 in 1969, whereas here, the numbers are still in the region of ~800-900 across Britain in 1972. Sunday trading/opening is still not legal, even for corner shops. Most still operate on 0800-1800 Monday-Friday with half day closing on Wednesday and 0800-1300 on Saturday, with the half day Wednesday coming from the Liberal reforms of the 1900s and not applying to shops selling medicines, perishable goods, newspapers and aircraft supplies, as in @. There hasn't been the emergence of Gujarati owned corner shops opening 0600-2200, but there are some places that are 'open all hours', serving as the exception rather than the rule.

Immigration: Markedly smaller than @, but this isn't known in universe. As such, some of the bits of tension that occurred historically from the late 50s-mid 60s will start to burble up into public and political consciousness. There will be some slight bristling against the migration of Maltese from some reactionary groups

Infrastructure: British infrastructure is quite well developed at this point - extensive rail network and roads, including the modern Royal Highways; a modern power grid and very cheap electricity from the increasing number of nuclear plants (including fusion) plus the Severn Barrage; and over 50 major civilian airports. There are new (post WW2 1950s and 1960s construction) ports at Felixstowe, Yarmouth, Immingham, Redcar, Haven (Milford Haven) and another planned on Wigtown Bay in Scotland.

International Trends: There has been a marked rise in terrorism since the late 1960s and into the early 1970s, albeit without the Arab-Israeli conflict being a background to a significant amount of it, and this has been driven in DE by left wing revolutionary organisations. Their rationalisation is that if there are no means of confronting the imperialist west through wars of national liberation, then lower level conflicts are employed. This makes the thread both more unpredictable in a certain sense and less volatile in others.

There is going to be no 1973 oil crisis, as said before, and that has a bearing on a lot of 1970s developments, to the extent that so many internal and international events are no longer likely.

What will emerge in the Cold War is not detente, which in part emerges from the weakened US position in the aftermath of the defeat in Vietnam. Here, the combination of victory in Vietnam and a change in US government is likely to lead to chillier US-Soviet relations

Once inflation is tamed, and it will be, then the overall rise in prices over the decade will be far more typical in historical terms



Misc:
- Definitely no Northern Ireland or Europe issues
- The ongoing Empire gets more complex
- British cost of living went up by 190% in 70-79, but here will be a more manageable 25-30%
- What Arthur Marwick termed as the ‘cultural revolution’ of 58-74…isn’t
- Many of the seeds sown in the 1950s and 60s begin to bear fruit

[Simon Darkshade]

January
January 1: The wreck of RMS Lusitania is raised from ocean floor south of Ireland in a special operation coordinated by former U.S. Secretary of Defence Dr. Clark Savage, Dirk Pitt and Sir Charles Ratcliffe. The great liner, whose sinking in 1915 precipitated the U.S entry into the Great War, its hull patched with arcane waterproofing and partially repaired by remotely operated automatons, is taken under tow to Queenstown.
January 2: A gang of robbers attempt to steal $4 million worth of jewelry from safety deposit boxes in the Pierre Hotel in New York City, but are caught in a net whilst leaving the building by a caped superhero, who deposits them and their ill gotten gains safely in front of a nearby police station.
January 3: The British Cabinet approves a proposal for alternate National Service in the Empire Labour Service for those conscripts unsuited to the military for various reasons, including the limited number of conscientious objectors from the non-conformist churches.
January 4: Clearance of the 'zone rouge', the dead zones in France and Belgium rendered too damaged and dangerous for human habitation in the fighting on the Western Front in World War One, is completed after decades of careful rehabilitative work by French druids.
January 5: The final day of the Thames Frost Fair is celebrated in London, as meteorological sorcerers predict an earlier break in the cold weather, culminating in the traditional ox roast and skating tournament.
January 6: A CIA investigation concludes that Imperial China is increasing its backing of independence movements in Africa as a means of directing American, British and French attention away from the Far East and counteracting Soviet influence in the same groups, rather than any specific designs on direct control and influence.
January 7: Lewis Powell is confirmed by the United States Senate as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, replacing the late Justice Hugo Black.
January 8: British and Australian government geologists and miners working on the restricted site of Lasseter’s Reef discover a new rich gold vein deep underground assayed at ninety ounces to the ton. The deposit is kept highly classified to avoid the type of hullabaloo seen in the ongoing Rhodesian Gold Rush.
January 9: Debut of the new BBC Second World War action drama Bomber Boys, charting the development of RAF Bomber Command through the war and its key campaigns through an array of fictional and historical characters. It quickly attract positive reviews and audience reaction for its grand scope, excellent performances and use of genuine wartime aircraft.
January 10: A Red Air Force Tu-95 Bear heavy strategic jet bomber crashes over the Arctic ice near Severnaya Zemlya whilst on airborne alert over the Soviet High North, after reporting a series of strange anomalous radar returns.
January 11: Howard Hughes unveils the model for an innovative new biplane supersonic jet airliner. Hughes had been secluded from public life for a number of years, apparently engaged in intense study of the works of the Arabian madman Abdul Alhazred.
January 12: SNCF presents a national plans for a new network of very high speed railways employing turbotrains, operating separately but in general concert with the existing high speee network.
January 13: Chicago police arrest a 31 year old man for abduction and attempted murder in Norwood Park Township in an operation coordinated by their new psychic detective office.
January 14: Death of King Frederick IX of Denmark in Copenhagen, eleven days after he had suffered a cardiac arrest. He is succeeded to the throne by Crown Prince Eric.
January 15: Romeo Beneventi is elected leader of the Movimento Sociale Italiano in a narrow victory. Beneventi, a veteran of Korea and Vietnam, seen as the protege of Prince Junio Borghese, is seen as a young and charismatic reinvigoration of the burgeoning Italian nationalist right.
January 16: The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge is formally renamed the Emperor Norton I Bridge, after the well known resident of San Francisco, the self proclaimed monarch of the United States and progenitor of the idea of the bridge.
January 17: US Army Special Forces operating in Cambodia in support of the Royal Cambodian Army capture a number of elusive leaders of the Cambodian Communist Party in a series of jungle raids.
January 18: A US Coast Guard cutter and an RCN frigate jointly halt and detain two Soviet fishing trawlers that stray into Canadian territorial waters around the Aleutians in circumstances that bring them within surveillance range of the US base on Attu Island.
January 19: Debut of the newest and third British television channel, Thames Television, operated by the Associated British Corporation media conglomerate. The highlight of its first day is an extended current affairs report on the prospect of new British airliners in the 1970s and their place in the evolving international supersonic market.
January 20: Sinclair Electronics releases a new model of programmable scientific pocket calculator, maintaining the British lead in advanced consumer electronics to the increasing perturbation of certain international competition.
January 21: Several hundred wedding guests in New Delhi are poisoned after imbibing bootleg liquor made concocted from paint varnish, rubbing alcohol and other non-potable substances, killing over 100 people. Both the Indian and Imperial Police begin investigations into the tragedy, determined to trace those with a hand in the mass poisoning.
January 22: British Prime Minister Stanley Barton indicates in an interview with the BBC that the general election will take place in mid August, setting the scene for an intriguing contest with the Conservatives under Leader of the Opposition Sir Enoch Powell. With general consensus among the three major parties regarding the positive economic direction of Britain, foreign and industrial policy and the primacy of the defence of the realm - dubbed the paramount social service by Barton - it is anticipated that this will be an election fought on the comparative ‘flanks’ of policy, such as science immigration and housing. Barton, who currently enjoys an approval rating of 79%, is heavily favoured to win a third term in office, having presided over a period of strong economic growth characterised by a positive national mood, whilst being respected internationally as a strong, plain-speaking leader.
January 23: Jackie Stewart wins the Argentine Grand Prix, beating the American Steve McQueen and fellow Britons Jim Clark, Graham Hill and newcomer James Hunt.
January 24: A Japanese holdout, Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi, is discovered by two incredulous hunters on Guam, who bundle him up and carry him to their home, where he is not met with the summary death he anticipated, but rather a nice bowl of yummy soup made from garlic, coconut milk and a live fruit bat.
January 25: The Rhodesian Army launches a new 'sweep and clear' offensive against guerrilla forces along the rugged northwest frontier, utilising a range of newly acquired helicopters, a pair of Armstrong-Whitworth Warspites, automatic mortars and long range strike missiles.
January 26: Yugoslav flight attendant Vesna Vulovic, 22, miraculously survives a fall of over 33,000 feet without a parachute or any arcane air or slowing after the JAT VC7 she was flying on from Stockholm to Belgrade was blown up in mid flight over the Bohemian village of Windisch Kamnitz in northern Austria-Hungary. The outrage is suspected to be the work of emigre Croat separatists, sparking joint investigations by Austro-Hungarian and Yugoslav police and Interpol.
January 27: Royal Navy test pilots begin preoperational flights of the English Electric Scimitar supersonic carrier fighter-bomber and Fairey Firefly naval strike plane.
January 28: The first Magnavox Odyssey home electronic video game systems go on sale in the United States, allowing users to connect the Odyssey to a television and play a strange simulation of tennis, similar to the children's arcade game Ping.
January 29: A joint report by American and British intelligence to the Combined Chiefs of Staff states that General Secretary Sergeyev’s programme of reforms and modernisation of the Red Army is starting to bear fruit, with the deployment of new combined arms armies to the Central Asian and Turkestan Military Districts being of concern, particularly for the position of India.
January 30: Death of noted American author Dr. Aaron Jastrow at the age of 109, author of The Arch of Constantine, A Jew's Jesus and A Jew's Journey, the story of his trials and travels during the first years of the Second World War before his arrival in Israel; he had been corresponding on a new work with Herman Wouk.
January 31: Introduction of uniform airport security screening across the United States, with air travellers now passing through a series of arcane scanning gates that detect weapons, explosives or other potentially threatening items.

[Bernard Woolley]

January 1: The wreck of RMS Lusitania is raised from ocean floor south of Ireland in a special operation coordinated by former U.S. Secretary of Defence Dr. Clark Savage, Dirk Pitt and Sir Charles Ratcliffe.

Not sure how I feel about raising a war grave. Though with those three involved, I'm going to guess she had something 'interesting' aboard.

January 23: Jackie Stewart wins the Argentine Grand Prix, beating the American Steve McQueen and fellow Britons Jim Clark, Graham Hill and newcomer James Hunt.

Quite an achievement for Stewart! I do think that perhaps Clark would have passed his peak by 1970. However, even then he'd still be better than the majority of drivers. Hunt probably got distracted by thinking about a blonde dolly bird, knowing him!

[Simon Darkshade]

Bernard,

On the first, it is viewed slightly differently in this era, in that it is in part a war grave and in another, the iconic ocean liner sinking in the absence of the loss of the Titanic. Add on top of this some secret cargo (not byzanium as in the book/film, but ) and there is a certain drive to raise the ship.

The circumstances of her sinking were slightly different, being struck on the *outbound* transatlantic voyage from Liverpool to NYC, whilst still carrying a large number of US citizens. There were a few things aboard that were bound for America, some of private interest (various old masters in lead tubes), some of state interest and others of much higher secrecy. I won’t go into the details quite yet, as I’m reserving them for a future piece. The sinking, with the deaths of 236 US citizens, sparks outrage, leading President Theodore Roosevelt to ask Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.

(What I will say is that in onboard, in a secure hold, the recovery crew discover a wooden box partially filled with earth; an explanation, perhaps, as to why Dracula had never taken his reign of terror to the New World…)

On the second, Jim Clark is in the final year of his Formula One career, allowing for some interesting crossovers. You are likely right on Hunt. I continue to be quite interested by what comes up about the 1960s/70s era of motor racing; lots of characters and drama.