March 9th, 2005
in 1451, Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci is born in Florence. He corrected the mistaken assumption that Columbus had discovered a new route to India, and had in fact stumbled upon a pair of continents previously unknown to Europeans, for the most part. In his honor, Europeans named the twin continents after him, North and South Vespuccia.
in 1562, a public ban on kissing is proclaimed in the city of Naples, Italy. It lasts for about a day before the local nobleman is forced to rescind it because so many in his own palace are violating the law.
in 1684, experiments with the submarine show the Speaker’s Line that air can be transported in a vehicle into places that have no air. This breakthrough, which should have advanced the Speaker’s Dream, is instead lost because of the Secret War between the two main factions in the Speaker’s Line.
in 1862, the battle of the Ironclads, a new class of warship invented by the North American Confederation, takes place over the moon as the Lunar separatists of Brahe fight off an invading fleet from The Netherlands.
in 1943, Greek fighters for the Greater Zionist Resistance liberate Salonika briefly, and manage to evacuate a few thousand former G.Z.R. citizens before the German Underground cuts off the city and lays siege to it.
in 1954, his fellow Communists criticize Comrade Senator Ted Astley of Washington, saying he was “doing his best to shatter that party whose label he wears.” Comrade Astley had become overly zealous in hunting reactionary capitalists in the Soviet States of America, and his own party members had to step in and restrain him.
in 1996, African forces begin carpet-bombing Pretoria, South Africa. With their American allies consumed with protecting their own borders, South Africa is left to defend itself. After conquering half of the southern hemisphere, they no longer even control their old borders, and the end is written on the wall for them.
in 2004, Jacob and Livinia Sheridan locate the Huygens, which looks remarkably intact for a vessel that crash-landed in the Pacific Ocean from outer space. They are in a large enough sea-going ship, the Athena, to carry the Huygens, so they put it into the cargo hold. “Quarantine the hold,” Jacob suggests to the captain, “and we’ll open it when we get back to Darwin.” The captain should have followed the good doctor’s prescription.
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