Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
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Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1738
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
I had to look that up, and can confidently say…that series is well after my time.
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Belushi TD
- Posts: 1578
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 11:20 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
After my time as well, of course. Except that I have three rug rats, and all of them LOVED the series. I can do a pretty good Doofenschmirtz impression, as well!
Belushi TD
Belushi TD
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Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1738
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
January 1976
January 1: World heavyweight champion Apollo Creed and rank underdog Philadelphia club fighter Robert 'Rocky' Balboa, 'The Italian Stallion', (his new and hastily concocted appellation being the work of the fight's promotion team, after trying and rejecting his previous suggestions of 'The Italian Scallion' and 'The Black Vegetable') clash in a special title fight in Philadelphia. In what is labelled the 'Upset of the Century', the fight goes for the whole 15 rounds, before Balboa is sensationally able to knock down Creed and win by knock out, claiming the title of Heavyweight Champion of the World.
January 2: A Middle Eastern Airways Super Comet flying from Beirut to Muscat is stricken by an explosion after landing in Oman, with a bomb apparently being planted in luggage loaded in the cargo bay. Fortuitously, the passengers and most of the crew had already disembarked, with the tardy unloading of the airport's ground crew preventing more casualties than the six crew members still on board. Investigations by Omani and Arab Union officials indicate that the bomb seemed to have been a relatively crude device, possibly the work of Omani rebels.
January 3: Gale force winter storms in Western Europe cause widespread damage across Northern France, the Low Countries and Western Germany, but their more deleterious effects are blocked from blowing into the British Isles by the newly completed outer reaches of the arcane Channel Barrier. Some academic wizards have raised the prospect of the Barrier and other such repulsion spells as potentially causing more extreme weather events elsewhere due to their redirective properties, and argue instead for a kind of 'sorcerous forward defence' against the vagaries of weather.
January 4: A special New Year episode of Top Wheels on the BBC serves as the first unveiling of a number of family and sports cars, ranging from the Bristol Brigand, Rover Tetrad and Aston-Martin Vantage to the Vauxhall Astra, Saxon Sierra, Austin 67 and Morris Hussar, as well as the Bedford Transporter commercial van. Continued wage growth and general prosperity looks to continue the upward growth trend of British automobile ownership, whilst new export agreements with a number of African and South American countries looks to increase demand for more vehicles. The episode does give a sneak preview of the new production line at the BMC plant in Cowley, replete with advanced new industrial robots and machine tools, and several special laser cutting devices.
January 5: Launch of the first atomic powered supercarrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy, HIJMS Taihō, at Yokosuka, with a crowd of thousands in attendance. Taihō and her projected sisters are viewed as Japan's most significant move towards full spectrum operations and the capacity to counter the likes of the Pacific Monster.
January 6: The Ministry of Defence begins a review of funding and production arrangements, with a view towards grouping munitions production and procurement under the auspices of the Ministry of Munitions, facilities and establishments under the Ministry of Supply, and of issues pertaining to pensions and military veteran's benefits under a new subordinate ministry. With the anticipated completion of the much of the substantive parts of the Empire Rearmament Programme, and the ever-rising cost of new equipment, consideration is being given to a number of new steps to improve the efficiency and efficacy of the British Commonwealth's military industrial complex.
January 7: Elite French special forces commandos of the Service Action rescue kidnapped French businessman Louis Hazen from captivity, storming a house in Tremblay-les-Villages near Chartres and neutralising his captors. The operation reportedly came a result of information acquired by agents of the Organisation Armée Secrète, a paramilitary group associated with several senior supporters of Premier d'Ambreville.
January 8: A Ministry of Magic investigation into the increased incidence of the phenomenon of naturally magically gifted child prodigies, whose range of abilities seemingly stand at odds with previous understandings of the Art. One boy in particular seems to have been the first to combine such magical precocity with the psionic talents seen in the hitherto separate 'Tomorrow Children' and certain other capabilities, and the report of the investigators recommends the establishment of a new special magical school for the development and harnessing of such talents.
January 9: 15 workers are killed in a boiler explosion at the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg, after a routine engine test on the recently completed 54,000t container ship MS Anders Maersk. The accident comes amid a marked increase in German shipbuilding over the last two years, with additional orders and offshore platform production pushing annual tonnage upwards of 6 million, ahead of Sweden, France, Italy and the Eastern bloc states.
January 10: The Foreign Ministers of the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan sign an agreement in Tokyo providing for the release of several thousand surviving POWs held in Siberia; Japanese attempts to broach the issue of four particular disputed islands in the Southern Kurils were rebuffed, but both ministers reach an agreement in principle whereby a formal peace treaty between the states will be prepared and signed in Moscow in September.
January 11: The Philadelphia Flyers defeat the Soviet Central Red Army ice hockey team 4-1 in Philadelphia in the a tense and spiteful final match of Super Series '76 ice hockey, and in doing so, become unofficial world champions after inflicting HC CSKA Moscow's only defeat of their North American tour. The match saw several brawls break out, with the Soviet side being perceived as playing 'soft' hockey and not being accustomed to the physical pressure of the North American game, a marked difference from the golden age of Soviet hockey under the direction of Vasily Stalin.
January 12: US toy and children's entertainment industry data indicates that sales in the last quarter of 1974 (not counting Christmas due to it being too recent) increased over the previous year by 23%, with action figures aimed at boys being a particular driver of sales. A number of media properties, fictional series and characters have been forecast as being released in the coming bicentennial year, including Filmation's planned cartoon and comic series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and a number of characters owned by Disney.
January 13: A meeting of the newly established ultra-right wing political party Norsefire is attended by a pair of clandestine Security Service operatives, with their subsequent report describing the thirteen-strong membership as consisting of 'caricatures, cryptofascists, Blimps and the last vomitous dregs of the BUF', and that no action need be taken at this time given their predominate interest lies in bloviating speeches, consumption of alcoholic beverages and living in a past which never existed.
January 14: US special forces operatives of the elite Delta Force raid a secretive village in the Shan Hills of far north of Thailand, arresting a number of communist agitators and suspected North Laotian irregular commmandos who had allegedly gathered to plan the next phase of a guerilla offensive across the northern reaches of Thailand and Burma. Evidence is found of the suspected presence of another special forces team of unknown origin that had apparently been observing the village immediately prior to Operation Cobra Verde.
January 15: Establishment of ten British Empire Composite Air Squadrons, to be based in the South Atlantic, North Atlantic, West Africa, East Africa, North Africa, South Africa, Mediterranean, East Indies, South Pacific and North Pacific, and structured along the lines of the three squadrons of the RAF's No. 373 Rapid Deployment Wing, consisting of 6 Hawker-Siddeley Hurricanes, 4 de Havilland Tornadoes, 4 Vickers Thunderbolts, 4 Fairey Rotodynes, 1 Hawker-Siddeley Skyblazer, 2 Sopwith Camels, 1 Armstrong-Whitworth Warspite gunship and 2 Supermarine Eagle TSR-2 electronic warfare/tankers.
January 16: Commissioning of the latest atomic powered guided missile super battleship of the United States Navy, USS New Mexico BBGN-110, at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. In addition to her main armament of 24"/50 heavy guns and her Solaris and Tomahawk strategic missiles, New Mexico bristles with a full range of offensive and defensive missiles, guns, heat rays, lasers and rockets, including 256 new Colt 25mm autocannons in thirty two octuple mounts, 128 General Defense Mk 25 50mm autocannon in thirty two quad mounts, 6 Legion 37mm twin and 12 Phalanx 25mm quad Close-In Weapon Systems and a number of strange box-like turrets that are yet to be officially identified or acknowledged. Some foreign observers considered the latter to be a new missile system, whilst others believe it to be some sort of sensor; whatever their purpose, there is more to them than meets the eye.
January 17: Wales defeat England 24-9 in their first game of the Six Nations Championship at Twickenham Stadium. They remain the favourites to again win a Grand Slam in the tournament, even though Lyonesse is considered as having their strongest team in 15 years. France, having begun the competition with a strong victory over Scotland on January 10, are expected to be a genuine challenger, but much will depend on the fitness and performance of Jean-Pierre Romeu, 'Le Gaulois'.
January 18: The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl, with a major part of the day being the constant anticipation of what misfortune would befall the game on this occasion. Today, the renowned Texas Cowgirls cheerleading squad fall off their portable stage and suffer a wardrobe malfunction, the game balls explode not once, nor twice, but thrice, and there is a brief rain of toads in the fourth quarter, disrupting the game for 29 minutes.
January 19: Senator Henry Jackson emerges narrowly victorious in the Democratic Presidential primary vote at the Iowa Democratic Caucus, with Senator Robert F. Kennedy in second place, Governor James Carter of Georgia third and Californian Senator Bill McKay a more distant fourth. Jackson, having served as Secretary of War under President Kennedy, is well regarded across the country for his strong stance on national defence, but does seem to lag behind former Attorney-General Kennedy in general recognition and breadth of support.
January 20: Big Ben falls silent, for the purposes of maintenance, and does not chime for the next 12 hours as a special gang of repair gnomes busily attends to all required painting, cleaning, oiling and flensing. The exacting process of major upkeep of the great clock occurs every decade, with gnomes employed for more regular duties, as they are more adept in dodging the clock's weights and striking mechanism every quarter of an hour, and they are less likely to engage the defensive enchantments put in place since the Hannay Incident of 1914.
January 21: The Prime Minister of Spain signs orders drafting all 5000 striking postal workers and mailmen in Madrid metropolitan area, calling them up into military service and placing them under army discipline, with a further implicit threat that any holdouts or ring-leaders would find themselves swiftly deployed to man the forts along the Great Sand Wall on the border between Spanish Sahara and Morocco. The decisive action is sufficient to bring an end to the strike, but attracts much criticism for its harshness and what many commentators perceive and heavy-handedness.
January 22: ODESSA's top secret Special Activities Division begins the development of a number of new Neo-Nazi cells across Western Europe, North America and the British Commonwealth, with each to subdivide and create new, more distant satellite organisations and ginger groups for the penetration of existing political parties and civil society organisations. This endeavour, codenamed Projekt Nachschlüssel, is to be conducted completely separately from Projekt Sonnenkinder. Mossad agents are able to determine that a high level meeting has taken place, followed by the dispersal of a number of personnel.
January 23: The Red Army begins testing of a new model of the BMD airborne combat vehicle, the new APT-125 multirole medium tank (aviadesantnaya plavayushchiy tank) which is capable of both airborne and amphibious deployment to a far greater degree of utility and efficiency than previous vehicles, and the latest development of the Bronetransportyor 8x8 wheeled armoured personnel carrier class of vehicles. Additionally, Western intelligence sources indicate that a new improved version of the MT-LB multipurpose tracked armoured carrier, equipped with modernised armament, wider tracks, an improved engine and innovative new protective armour, has been approved for full production, with monthly output from the Kharkov Tractor Plant and the Stalingrad Tractor Plant expected to top 300 a month apiece by the end of the year. The last development is seen as increasingly important by Soviet defence officials, who have long decried the absence of an appropriate equivalent to the versatile M113 or FV432 in the Red Army.
January 24: In response to rising unrest, internecine civil strife and mounting violence between religious based factions in the Lebanon, and at the direct invitation of the Prince, the 13e Demi-Brigade de Légion Étrangère and the 4e Brigade de Fusiliers Marins of the Marine Royale land outside Beirut and proceed to deploy into the capital to provide stabilisation aid to the Lebanese Army and civil authorities, with the French Army's 25e Division Aeromobile being flown in administratively to secure Beirut International Airport. A further invitation to the United States and Britain to contribute reinforcements of goodwill is accepted, with the U.S. 11th Airborne Division and the 10th Marine Amphibious Brigade, and the British 8th Royal Marine Brigade, along with the British Army's 2nd Parachute Brigade, 7th Commando Brigade, 24th Infantry Brigade and the 68th Infantry Brigade, being alerted for deployment over the coming week.
January 25: Austro-Hungarian Formula One driver Niki Lauda wins the Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo, narrowly ahead of British trio Graham Hill, Tom Pryce and James Hunt, with Mario Andretti rounding out the top five. Veteran Jackie Stewart, in what is set to be his final Formula One season, performed creditably despite mechanical issues, and New Zealander Bruce McLaren finished very strongly, ahead of Hollywood superstar Steve McQueen. Noted British actor Sir Christopher Lee was the winner in a charity race after the main Grand Prix, somewhat unsurprisingly given his broad range of talents.
January 26: The US Senate votes to extend the United States’ exclusive fishing zone out to a distance of 200nm in line with recent foreign moves and ongoing discussions on a League of Nations convention on the law of the sea. The extension is expected to cause a number of issues with Soviet deep sea trawlers in the Atlantic and more significantly the North Pacific, where there has been greater reticence to operate far away from land without a strong supporting fleet, given the particular natural threats in that ocean.
January 27: Panorama carries a special episode on the continuing renaissance of English cuisine, featuring an examination of English salmis and other cured meats, the rediscovery of loseyns and loxen, the modern rise of the beefburger, meatball and flatbreads, the increased presence of soup dispenser machines and automats across London and other great series, and a behind-the-scenes sneak preview of Delia Smith's new Cookery at Home series, where she demonstrates to busy housewives how master such familiar dishes as pies and roasts, along with more exotic fare such as dried wheat noodles with minced beef ragout.
January 28: Australia defeat the West Indies in the 6th Test at Adelaide Oval by 42 runs, winning the series 3-2 and retaining the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy in a summer of cricket of the highest quality. Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson lead the way with the ball for Australia, taking 32 and 29 wickets apiece, whilst Andy Roberts with 24, Michael Holding with 20, Joel Garner with 18 and Lance Gibbs with 16 battled valiantly for the tourists. Star young batsman Viv Richards topped the series run aggregate with 926, including three centuries, followed by Greg Chappell with 754, Ian Redpath with 629, Ian Chappell with 532, Clive Lloyd with 487, Gordon Greenidge with 429 and Alvin Kallicharan with 425. The West Indies will now go on to play the strong India side at home and then tour England over the northern summer, whilst Australia are to tour the United States and Canada before a highly anticipated series against South Africa at home.
January 29: German aviation industry executives arrive in South America for a special sales and promotion tour with an aim of cracking the large Argentine, Brazilian and Chilean markets, as well as those of smaller states. Paraguay in particular is very close to an agreement for the purchase of 84 new Messerschmitt fighter jets as it looks to diversify its military suppliers and replace her aging air forces.
January 30: Opening of the first year-round ski resorts in Scotland and Wales at Glenshee and on the Snowdon massif, with new snowmaking technology and enchantments providing for permanent snow cover sufficient for alpine sports.
January 31: Local elections are held across the Falkland Islands, with the recent increase in population seeing an extra eight seats being added to the Legislative Council. For the first time at this year's British general election, a full slate of candidates will be competing to become the Falklands' first Westminster MP, with popular former policeman John Boulton the current favourite to secure the seat, one of the wealthiest in Britain on a per capita basis.
January 1: World heavyweight champion Apollo Creed and rank underdog Philadelphia club fighter Robert 'Rocky' Balboa, 'The Italian Stallion', (his new and hastily concocted appellation being the work of the fight's promotion team, after trying and rejecting his previous suggestions of 'The Italian Scallion' and 'The Black Vegetable') clash in a special title fight in Philadelphia. In what is labelled the 'Upset of the Century', the fight goes for the whole 15 rounds, before Balboa is sensationally able to knock down Creed and win by knock out, claiming the title of Heavyweight Champion of the World.
January 2: A Middle Eastern Airways Super Comet flying from Beirut to Muscat is stricken by an explosion after landing in Oman, with a bomb apparently being planted in luggage loaded in the cargo bay. Fortuitously, the passengers and most of the crew had already disembarked, with the tardy unloading of the airport's ground crew preventing more casualties than the six crew members still on board. Investigations by Omani and Arab Union officials indicate that the bomb seemed to have been a relatively crude device, possibly the work of Omani rebels.
January 3: Gale force winter storms in Western Europe cause widespread damage across Northern France, the Low Countries and Western Germany, but their more deleterious effects are blocked from blowing into the British Isles by the newly completed outer reaches of the arcane Channel Barrier. Some academic wizards have raised the prospect of the Barrier and other such repulsion spells as potentially causing more extreme weather events elsewhere due to their redirective properties, and argue instead for a kind of 'sorcerous forward defence' against the vagaries of weather.
January 4: A special New Year episode of Top Wheels on the BBC serves as the first unveiling of a number of family and sports cars, ranging from the Bristol Brigand, Rover Tetrad and Aston-Martin Vantage to the Vauxhall Astra, Saxon Sierra, Austin 67 and Morris Hussar, as well as the Bedford Transporter commercial van. Continued wage growth and general prosperity looks to continue the upward growth trend of British automobile ownership, whilst new export agreements with a number of African and South American countries looks to increase demand for more vehicles. The episode does give a sneak preview of the new production line at the BMC plant in Cowley, replete with advanced new industrial robots and machine tools, and several special laser cutting devices.
January 5: Launch of the first atomic powered supercarrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy, HIJMS Taihō, at Yokosuka, with a crowd of thousands in attendance. Taihō and her projected sisters are viewed as Japan's most significant move towards full spectrum operations and the capacity to counter the likes of the Pacific Monster.
January 6: The Ministry of Defence begins a review of funding and production arrangements, with a view towards grouping munitions production and procurement under the auspices of the Ministry of Munitions, facilities and establishments under the Ministry of Supply, and of issues pertaining to pensions and military veteran's benefits under a new subordinate ministry. With the anticipated completion of the much of the substantive parts of the Empire Rearmament Programme, and the ever-rising cost of new equipment, consideration is being given to a number of new steps to improve the efficiency and efficacy of the British Commonwealth's military industrial complex.
January 7: Elite French special forces commandos of the Service Action rescue kidnapped French businessman Louis Hazen from captivity, storming a house in Tremblay-les-Villages near Chartres and neutralising his captors. The operation reportedly came a result of information acquired by agents of the Organisation Armée Secrète, a paramilitary group associated with several senior supporters of Premier d'Ambreville.
January 8: A Ministry of Magic investigation into the increased incidence of the phenomenon of naturally magically gifted child prodigies, whose range of abilities seemingly stand at odds with previous understandings of the Art. One boy in particular seems to have been the first to combine such magical precocity with the psionic talents seen in the hitherto separate 'Tomorrow Children' and certain other capabilities, and the report of the investigators recommends the establishment of a new special magical school for the development and harnessing of such talents.
January 9: 15 workers are killed in a boiler explosion at the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg, after a routine engine test on the recently completed 54,000t container ship MS Anders Maersk. The accident comes amid a marked increase in German shipbuilding over the last two years, with additional orders and offshore platform production pushing annual tonnage upwards of 6 million, ahead of Sweden, France, Italy and the Eastern bloc states.
January 10: The Foreign Ministers of the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan sign an agreement in Tokyo providing for the release of several thousand surviving POWs held in Siberia; Japanese attempts to broach the issue of four particular disputed islands in the Southern Kurils were rebuffed, but both ministers reach an agreement in principle whereby a formal peace treaty between the states will be prepared and signed in Moscow in September.
January 11: The Philadelphia Flyers defeat the Soviet Central Red Army ice hockey team 4-1 in Philadelphia in the a tense and spiteful final match of Super Series '76 ice hockey, and in doing so, become unofficial world champions after inflicting HC CSKA Moscow's only defeat of their North American tour. The match saw several brawls break out, with the Soviet side being perceived as playing 'soft' hockey and not being accustomed to the physical pressure of the North American game, a marked difference from the golden age of Soviet hockey under the direction of Vasily Stalin.
January 12: US toy and children's entertainment industry data indicates that sales in the last quarter of 1974 (not counting Christmas due to it being too recent) increased over the previous year by 23%, with action figures aimed at boys being a particular driver of sales. A number of media properties, fictional series and characters have been forecast as being released in the coming bicentennial year, including Filmation's planned cartoon and comic series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and a number of characters owned by Disney.
January 13: A meeting of the newly established ultra-right wing political party Norsefire is attended by a pair of clandestine Security Service operatives, with their subsequent report describing the thirteen-strong membership as consisting of 'caricatures, cryptofascists, Blimps and the last vomitous dregs of the BUF', and that no action need be taken at this time given their predominate interest lies in bloviating speeches, consumption of alcoholic beverages and living in a past which never existed.
January 14: US special forces operatives of the elite Delta Force raid a secretive village in the Shan Hills of far north of Thailand, arresting a number of communist agitators and suspected North Laotian irregular commmandos who had allegedly gathered to plan the next phase of a guerilla offensive across the northern reaches of Thailand and Burma. Evidence is found of the suspected presence of another special forces team of unknown origin that had apparently been observing the village immediately prior to Operation Cobra Verde.
January 15: Establishment of ten British Empire Composite Air Squadrons, to be based in the South Atlantic, North Atlantic, West Africa, East Africa, North Africa, South Africa, Mediterranean, East Indies, South Pacific and North Pacific, and structured along the lines of the three squadrons of the RAF's No. 373 Rapid Deployment Wing, consisting of 6 Hawker-Siddeley Hurricanes, 4 de Havilland Tornadoes, 4 Vickers Thunderbolts, 4 Fairey Rotodynes, 1 Hawker-Siddeley Skyblazer, 2 Sopwith Camels, 1 Armstrong-Whitworth Warspite gunship and 2 Supermarine Eagle TSR-2 electronic warfare/tankers.
January 16: Commissioning of the latest atomic powered guided missile super battleship of the United States Navy, USS New Mexico BBGN-110, at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. In addition to her main armament of 24"/50 heavy guns and her Solaris and Tomahawk strategic missiles, New Mexico bristles with a full range of offensive and defensive missiles, guns, heat rays, lasers and rockets, including 256 new Colt 25mm autocannons in thirty two octuple mounts, 128 General Defense Mk 25 50mm autocannon in thirty two quad mounts, 6 Legion 37mm twin and 12 Phalanx 25mm quad Close-In Weapon Systems and a number of strange box-like turrets that are yet to be officially identified or acknowledged. Some foreign observers considered the latter to be a new missile system, whilst others believe it to be some sort of sensor; whatever their purpose, there is more to them than meets the eye.
January 17: Wales defeat England 24-9 in their first game of the Six Nations Championship at Twickenham Stadium. They remain the favourites to again win a Grand Slam in the tournament, even though Lyonesse is considered as having their strongest team in 15 years. France, having begun the competition with a strong victory over Scotland on January 10, are expected to be a genuine challenger, but much will depend on the fitness and performance of Jean-Pierre Romeu, 'Le Gaulois'.
January 18: The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl, with a major part of the day being the constant anticipation of what misfortune would befall the game on this occasion. Today, the renowned Texas Cowgirls cheerleading squad fall off their portable stage and suffer a wardrobe malfunction, the game balls explode not once, nor twice, but thrice, and there is a brief rain of toads in the fourth quarter, disrupting the game for 29 minutes.
January 19: Senator Henry Jackson emerges narrowly victorious in the Democratic Presidential primary vote at the Iowa Democratic Caucus, with Senator Robert F. Kennedy in second place, Governor James Carter of Georgia third and Californian Senator Bill McKay a more distant fourth. Jackson, having served as Secretary of War under President Kennedy, is well regarded across the country for his strong stance on national defence, but does seem to lag behind former Attorney-General Kennedy in general recognition and breadth of support.
January 20: Big Ben falls silent, for the purposes of maintenance, and does not chime for the next 12 hours as a special gang of repair gnomes busily attends to all required painting, cleaning, oiling and flensing. The exacting process of major upkeep of the great clock occurs every decade, with gnomes employed for more regular duties, as they are more adept in dodging the clock's weights and striking mechanism every quarter of an hour, and they are less likely to engage the defensive enchantments put in place since the Hannay Incident of 1914.
January 21: The Prime Minister of Spain signs orders drafting all 5000 striking postal workers and mailmen in Madrid metropolitan area, calling them up into military service and placing them under army discipline, with a further implicit threat that any holdouts or ring-leaders would find themselves swiftly deployed to man the forts along the Great Sand Wall on the border between Spanish Sahara and Morocco. The decisive action is sufficient to bring an end to the strike, but attracts much criticism for its harshness and what many commentators perceive and heavy-handedness.
January 22: ODESSA's top secret Special Activities Division begins the development of a number of new Neo-Nazi cells across Western Europe, North America and the British Commonwealth, with each to subdivide and create new, more distant satellite organisations and ginger groups for the penetration of existing political parties and civil society organisations. This endeavour, codenamed Projekt Nachschlüssel, is to be conducted completely separately from Projekt Sonnenkinder. Mossad agents are able to determine that a high level meeting has taken place, followed by the dispersal of a number of personnel.
January 23: The Red Army begins testing of a new model of the BMD airborne combat vehicle, the new APT-125 multirole medium tank (aviadesantnaya plavayushchiy tank) which is capable of both airborne and amphibious deployment to a far greater degree of utility and efficiency than previous vehicles, and the latest development of the Bronetransportyor 8x8 wheeled armoured personnel carrier class of vehicles. Additionally, Western intelligence sources indicate that a new improved version of the MT-LB multipurpose tracked armoured carrier, equipped with modernised armament, wider tracks, an improved engine and innovative new protective armour, has been approved for full production, with monthly output from the Kharkov Tractor Plant and the Stalingrad Tractor Plant expected to top 300 a month apiece by the end of the year. The last development is seen as increasingly important by Soviet defence officials, who have long decried the absence of an appropriate equivalent to the versatile M113 or FV432 in the Red Army.
January 24: In response to rising unrest, internecine civil strife and mounting violence between religious based factions in the Lebanon, and at the direct invitation of the Prince, the 13e Demi-Brigade de Légion Étrangère and the 4e Brigade de Fusiliers Marins of the Marine Royale land outside Beirut and proceed to deploy into the capital to provide stabilisation aid to the Lebanese Army and civil authorities, with the French Army's 25e Division Aeromobile being flown in administratively to secure Beirut International Airport. A further invitation to the United States and Britain to contribute reinforcements of goodwill is accepted, with the U.S. 11th Airborne Division and the 10th Marine Amphibious Brigade, and the British 8th Royal Marine Brigade, along with the British Army's 2nd Parachute Brigade, 7th Commando Brigade, 24th Infantry Brigade and the 68th Infantry Brigade, being alerted for deployment over the coming week.
January 25: Austro-Hungarian Formula One driver Niki Lauda wins the Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo, narrowly ahead of British trio Graham Hill, Tom Pryce and James Hunt, with Mario Andretti rounding out the top five. Veteran Jackie Stewart, in what is set to be his final Formula One season, performed creditably despite mechanical issues, and New Zealander Bruce McLaren finished very strongly, ahead of Hollywood superstar Steve McQueen. Noted British actor Sir Christopher Lee was the winner in a charity race after the main Grand Prix, somewhat unsurprisingly given his broad range of talents.
January 26: The US Senate votes to extend the United States’ exclusive fishing zone out to a distance of 200nm in line with recent foreign moves and ongoing discussions on a League of Nations convention on the law of the sea. The extension is expected to cause a number of issues with Soviet deep sea trawlers in the Atlantic and more significantly the North Pacific, where there has been greater reticence to operate far away from land without a strong supporting fleet, given the particular natural threats in that ocean.
January 27: Panorama carries a special episode on the continuing renaissance of English cuisine, featuring an examination of English salmis and other cured meats, the rediscovery of loseyns and loxen, the modern rise of the beefburger, meatball and flatbreads, the increased presence of soup dispenser machines and automats across London and other great series, and a behind-the-scenes sneak preview of Delia Smith's new Cookery at Home series, where she demonstrates to busy housewives how master such familiar dishes as pies and roasts, along with more exotic fare such as dried wheat noodles with minced beef ragout.
January 28: Australia defeat the West Indies in the 6th Test at Adelaide Oval by 42 runs, winning the series 3-2 and retaining the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy in a summer of cricket of the highest quality. Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson lead the way with the ball for Australia, taking 32 and 29 wickets apiece, whilst Andy Roberts with 24, Michael Holding with 20, Joel Garner with 18 and Lance Gibbs with 16 battled valiantly for the tourists. Star young batsman Viv Richards topped the series run aggregate with 926, including three centuries, followed by Greg Chappell with 754, Ian Redpath with 629, Ian Chappell with 532, Clive Lloyd with 487, Gordon Greenidge with 429 and Alvin Kallicharan with 425. The West Indies will now go on to play the strong India side at home and then tour England over the northern summer, whilst Australia are to tour the United States and Canada before a highly anticipated series against South Africa at home.
January 29: German aviation industry executives arrive in South America for a special sales and promotion tour with an aim of cracking the large Argentine, Brazilian and Chilean markets, as well as those of smaller states. Paraguay in particular is very close to an agreement for the purchase of 84 new Messerschmitt fighter jets as it looks to diversify its military suppliers and replace her aging air forces.
January 30: Opening of the first year-round ski resorts in Scotland and Wales at Glenshee and on the Snowdon massif, with new snowmaking technology and enchantments providing for permanent snow cover sufficient for alpine sports.
January 31: Local elections are held across the Falkland Islands, with the recent increase in population seeing an extra eight seats being added to the Legislative Council. For the first time at this year's British general election, a full slate of candidates will be competing to become the Falklands' first Westminster MP, with popular former policeman John Boulton the current favourite to secure the seat, one of the wealthiest in Britain on a per capita basis.
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jemhouston
- Posts: 5998
- Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2022 12:38 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
Busy month.
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Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1738
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
One way or another, every month is busy.
Some events are more significant than others, and they don't represent the sum total of everything that was going on in the world on an individual day, and I don't think for a second that Test cricket results, ski resorts and He-Man are on a par with possible civil wars resulting in large scale deployments to Lebanon, US elections or some other events which illustrate troublesome moves behind the scenes of nominal international peace.
In the course of looking at the day by day history of our world from 1946-1975 over the last 10 years, I've been able to take in a lot of history, and a lot of the small bits and pieces of history which add up incrementally. The sheer number of air crashes and railway accidents in the 1940s-1970s is quite astonishing, and got me to thinking how it could be ameliorated in a world/universe with certain different capabilities. If we want grimdark, we don't need 1980s British science fiction games, but just need to look into the daily casualties of WW1, WW2 or even Korea and Vietnam; sometimes, there is a challenge to find a good news story, but there is hope if you dig deep enough.
What didn't occur in DE that did on Earth in 1976?
- Venezuela nationalising their oil industry
- The independence of Tuvalu
- TV introduced to South Africa (much earlier in DE)
- No fault divorce introduced in Australia
- Terrorist massacres in Northern Ireland
- The Khmer Rouge cements their evil rule
- Italian political scandals due to CIA money eventually bringing down a government
- The Third Cod War rages, until an Icelandic victory
- Chou En-Lai dies
- The Pathfinder Hotel in Fremont, Nebraska blows up in a natural gas explosion
- A coup in Ecuador
- Sarah Jane Moore gets life for shooting at President Ford
- Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell is cancelled
- Massacres in Beirut
- Jimmy Carter wins Iowa
- Art thefts in France
- The USSC rules campaign finance limits unconstitutional in Buckley v. Valeo, opening the door to the modern age of political advertising and campaign donations
Some events are more significant than others, and they don't represent the sum total of everything that was going on in the world on an individual day, and I don't think for a second that Test cricket results, ski resorts and He-Man are on a par with possible civil wars resulting in large scale deployments to Lebanon, US elections or some other events which illustrate troublesome moves behind the scenes of nominal international peace.
In the course of looking at the day by day history of our world from 1946-1975 over the last 10 years, I've been able to take in a lot of history, and a lot of the small bits and pieces of history which add up incrementally. The sheer number of air crashes and railway accidents in the 1940s-1970s is quite astonishing, and got me to thinking how it could be ameliorated in a world/universe with certain different capabilities. If we want grimdark, we don't need 1980s British science fiction games, but just need to look into the daily casualties of WW1, WW2 or even Korea and Vietnam; sometimes, there is a challenge to find a good news story, but there is hope if you dig deep enough.
What didn't occur in DE that did on Earth in 1976?
- Venezuela nationalising their oil industry
- The independence of Tuvalu
- TV introduced to South Africa (much earlier in DE)
- No fault divorce introduced in Australia
- Terrorist massacres in Northern Ireland
- The Khmer Rouge cements their evil rule
- Italian political scandals due to CIA money eventually bringing down a government
- The Third Cod War rages, until an Icelandic victory
- Chou En-Lai dies
- The Pathfinder Hotel in Fremont, Nebraska blows up in a natural gas explosion
- A coup in Ecuador
- Sarah Jane Moore gets life for shooting at President Ford
- Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell is cancelled
- Massacres in Beirut
- Jimmy Carter wins Iowa
- Art thefts in France
- The USSC rules campaign finance limits unconstitutional in Buckley v. Valeo, opening the door to the modern age of political advertising and campaign donations
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Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1738
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
Coming up in February:
- Sal Mineo fights off a mugger
- Domestication of the zebra
- Opening of the next fusion power plant in Britain at Springfields, joining Darkmoor, Windscale, Blyth and Brough-on-Humber
- An earthquake in Guatemala
- The swine flu fizzles and the last known flu deaths in USA occur prior to the rollout of a universal influenza vaccine
- Rutland Water is flooded
- Jeremy Thorpe becomes leader of the Liberal Party; to head off the inevitable question, Norman Scott and Rinka are alive and living in Lincolnshire with Scott’s wife and son, having never met Thorpe
- Operatic rivalries and machinations, replete with Wagner’s ghost (again)
- Comet West shows up
- More British Commonwealth infantry reforms play out, with a heavy weapons section added per company, including new anti-tank rifles, automatic rocket launchers similar to the T134E1, semi-auto individual rocket blasters, belt fed very long range combat ‘shotguns’ (under different names), man portable grenade machine guns, .256” and .303” micro and mini-guns
- Some very different Soviet economic growth prospects; they are far, far less oil dependent
- A submarine incident occurs off the Falklands and a scrap contract for old machinery and buildings on South Georgia is put out to tender
- Some interesting twists and turns in US fighter development and orders, with an interesting party ordering the F-14
- Sal Mineo fights off a mugger
- Domestication of the zebra
- Opening of the next fusion power plant in Britain at Springfields, joining Darkmoor, Windscale, Blyth and Brough-on-Humber
- An earthquake in Guatemala
- The swine flu fizzles and the last known flu deaths in USA occur prior to the rollout of a universal influenza vaccine
- Rutland Water is flooded
- Jeremy Thorpe becomes leader of the Liberal Party; to head off the inevitable question, Norman Scott and Rinka are alive and living in Lincolnshire with Scott’s wife and son, having never met Thorpe
- Operatic rivalries and machinations, replete with Wagner’s ghost (again)
- Comet West shows up
- More British Commonwealth infantry reforms play out, with a heavy weapons section added per company, including new anti-tank rifles, automatic rocket launchers similar to the T134E1, semi-auto individual rocket blasters, belt fed very long range combat ‘shotguns’ (under different names), man portable grenade machine guns, .256” and .303” micro and mini-guns
- Some very different Soviet economic growth prospects; they are far, far less oil dependent
- A submarine incident occurs off the Falklands and a scrap contract for old machinery and buildings on South Georgia is put out to tender
- Some interesting twists and turns in US fighter development and orders, with an interesting party ordering the F-14
-
Paul Nuttall
- Posts: 414
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 5:19 pm
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
Have the 'designers' of the Trump class been reading your notes?Simon Darkshade wrote: ↑Sun Jan 11, 2026 6:42 am January 1976
January 16: Commissioning of the latest atomic powered guided missile super battleship of the United States Navy, USS New Mexico BBGN-110, at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. In addition to her main armament of 24"/50 heavy guns and her Solaris and Tomahawk strategic missiles, New Mexico bristles with a full range of offensive and defensive missiles, guns, heat rays, lasers and rockets, including 256 new Colt 25mm autocannons in thirty two octuple mounts, 128 General Defense Mk 25 50mm autocannon in thirty two quad mounts, 6 Legion 37mm twin and 12 Phalanx 25mm quad Close-In Weapon Systems and a number of strange box-like turrets that are yet to be officially identified or acknowledged. Some foreign observers considered the latter to be a new missile system, whilst others believe it to be some sort of sensor; whatever their purpose, there is more to them than meets the eye.
J
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Simon Darkshade
- Posts: 1738
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 10:55 am
Re: Dark Earth Timeline Discussion
I don’t think so; the size difference is quite marked, without the curious length of ‘840-880ft’, and the reason for continued small gun armament does come from the different world.