Dark Earth Timeline

The 1947 article on Shaping the Middle East is the one you are thinking of.

A Japanese design, developed with some foreign technical assistance.

1959

January
January 1: A mysterious accidental explosion onboard a Soviet spaceship results in the death of five cosmonauts.
January 2: Last recorded use of the term 'rock and roll' in an American newspaper, in an article describing regional novelty forms of music.
January 3: England win the Second Test Match against Australia at the MCG by 184 runs, after centuries from Colin Cowdrey, Denis Compton and Ted Dexter.
January 4: Riots in Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo kill 49 people.
January 5: Soviet foreign minister Mikoyan arrives in the USA for a public tour
January 6: The Imperial Court in Peking announces the birth of a legitimate son to the Emperor of China and declares a week of national celebrations.
January 7: The Israeli cabinet agrees on a proposal for the development of atomic weapons.
January 8: First uncensored appearance of orcish characters on a mainstream American television programme.
January 9: The Spanish village of Ribadelago is destroyed by a dam burst of the Lago de Sanabria, killing 144 people.
January 10: The US District Court in Atlanta orders full integration of Georgian universities.
January 11: Lufthansa Flight 502 crashes in Rio de Janeiro, killing all 40 passengers and crew.
January 12: Discovery of the prehistoric site of the Caves of Nerva by five Spanish boys hunting for bat guano supplies for the wizardly market.
January 13: An oil tanker explosion at Alexandretta kills over 100 people and destroys three vessels.
January 14: Announcement of the engagement of the Crown Prince of Japan.
January 15: The first postwar census of the Soviet Union records the population as 314,634,737.
January 16: A junior Church of England cleric destroys a ghoul haunting a public convenience.
January 17: RCN sentries shoot dead three suspicious intruders near the laid up HMS Habbakuk in Hudson Bay.
January 18: The US government approves the extradition of war criminal Andrija Arturkovic to Yugoslavia.
January 19: Egyptian Air Force Meteors fail to intercept a high flying contact over the Western Desert.
January 20: Establishment of North American Rugby Football League.
January 21: 12 miners are killed in a flooding incident in Pennsylvania.
January 22: The US Postmaster General announces that delivery of mail by rocket will commence within the year.
January 23: First public display of an improved model of the Conqueror heavy tank in Britain.
January 24: Walter Stolle begins a bicycle tour of the world.
January 25: Announcement of a new Vatican Council by Pope John XXIII.
January 26: Australian patrol boats sink an Indonesian junk off the coast of Timor.
January 27: Western reporters are allowed admittance to the opening of the Congress of the CPSU in Moscow.
January 28: Birth of Prince Andrew, second son and third child of Queen Elizabeth II, in Buckingham Palace.
January 29: Release of Walt Disney's enchanting animated film 'Sleeping Beauty'.
January 30: A Danish passenger ship en route to Greenland is sunk by an iceberg, killing 95.
January 31: The Red Army begins an intense series of winter exercises in the Ukraine.

February
February 1: Switzerland votes against female suffrage in a national poll.
February 2: A group of hikers in the northern Ural Mountains are killed by orcs.
February 3: American Airways Flight 320 crashes while coming into land at La Guardia Airport, killing 65 out of 73 onboard.
February 4: The US State Department releases audio tapes confirming that Soviet jet fighters shot down an unarmed C-130 last September.
February 5: Two fliers land their Cessna 172 in Las Vegas after staying in the air for 64 days.
February 6: Death of William Donovan, first head of the OSS and the CIA.
February 7: 128 members of the South African Communist Party and associated groups are arrested in a series of raids by the Union Security Service on suspicion of high treason.
February 8: Admiral Sir Horatio Hornblower is appointed as Commander of the Far Eastern Fleet at Singapore.
February 9: CIA agents in the USSR report the successful testing of a very large solid fuel ICBM at Tyuratam.
February 10: A freak tornado in St. Louis destroys Busch Stadium.
February 11: The RAF conducts a live test of the Black Arrow medium range ballistic missile at Woomera, South Australia, successfully hitting the target area 50 miles northwest of Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.
February 12: Retirement of the final B-36 remaining in USAF service.
February 13: Outbreak of a new Greco-Turkish War in Anatolia as Turkish artillery opens fire on Greek positions in Western Anatolia, preceding an offensive by 430,000 men and 980 tanks.
February 14: Turkish bombers strike Constantinople and Smyrna overnight, inflicting localised damage, but causing widespread panic. Greek Canberras bomb Turkish frontline positions and supply lines during the morning, taking significant losses despite their fighter escort.
February 14: A letter is published by a group of concerned American and Canadian scientists claiming that the world is on the brink of a major drop in temperatures.
February 15: An Indian uprising is launched in Guatemala.
February 16: NYPD officers raid several warehouses on the New York waterfront, arresting 38 men and seizing an estimated $2 million worth of opium.
February 17: Retirement of the ocean liner SS Ile de France.
February 18: The first elections in Nepalese history are held.
February 19: Greek and Turkish fighter jets clash in what is later termed the Air Battle of Constantinople, with over 400 aircraft involved in a series of dogfights in the skies above the Imperial capital.
February 20: RCAF Avro Arrows intercept two Soviet Tu-16 Badger bombers off the northern coast of Alaska, sparking a short scare that it is the precursor to a full scale attack.
February 21: The X-15 rocketplane reaches an altitude of 256 miles on its first test flight.
February 22: US officials in Angora and Constantinople begin renewed mediation attempts to end the Greco-Turkish War, with substantial financial pressure exerted on both sides. A carrier task force of the 6th Fleet arrives in the Aegean Sea to allow for overt intervention if necessary.
February 23: The Greek and Turkish fleets clash near Rhodes, with battleships of both sides exchanging long range fire and three Turkish and two Greek destroyers being sunk in a frenzied midnight melee. Greek Blackburn Brigands and Westland Wyverns from the aircraft carrier Salamis severely damage several Turkish capital ships in a daring dawn air strike.
February 24: Seven children are killed and dozens injured in the collapse of a grandstand at a school festival in San Luis, Mexico.
February 25: The Council of the League of Nations passes a motion calling for an urgent ceasefire in Anatolia.
February 26: Patrolling USN destroyers board a Soviet trawler off the coast of Newfoundland after it is suspected of involvement in the damage of several trans-Atlantic communications cables on February 21st.
February 27: Four Greek divisions smash through Turkish lines and recapture Philadelphia, which had been in Turkish hands since the early hours of the war.
February 28: The US orbital space station Liberty becomes fully operational.

March
March 1: Greek and Turkish military officials agree to a ceasefire, ending the brief war.
March 2: The Iraqi Army takes delivery of its first Centurion tanks since the 1956 uprising.
March 3: Children are rescued from a school bus crash in Tifton, Georgia by a mysterious costumed figure.
March 4: Opening of a Commonwealth Defence Conference in New Delhi.
March 5: A fire at a reformatory in Wrightsville, Arkansas kills 21 youths.
March 6: Two US Army brigades are deployed to Anatolia by air to monitor the ceasefire.
March 7: The German Defence Ministry approves the construction of a further line of defensive fortifications around Berlin.
March 8: Last screen appearance by the Marx Brothers in The Last Jewel Robbery.
March 9: The Barbie Doll makes its first appearence at the American International Toy Fair in New York City.
March 10: Entry into USN service of the Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King.
March 11: The renowned polymath and explorer Dr. Clark Savage testifies before US Congress on American military preparedness.
March 12: Beginning of the Commonwealth South Pacific Development Program.
March 13: The General Assembly of the League of Nations passes a non-binding resolution supporting expedited decolonisation.
March 14: A conclave of US Civil War veterans is held in Philadelphia, attracting 143 attendees.
March 15: The Committee of Imperial Defence reports that the Soviet air and missile threat to the British Isles, Europe and the Middle East has significantly increased since 1956 and that current fighters and air defences are not sufficient to provide effective protection past 1961.
March 16: Canada defeats the United States in the Third Test at Toronto by 9 wickets.
March 17: An expedition into inland Nigeria discovers several highly anomalous artifacts in a strange ruined settlement.
March 18: USS Skate surfaces at the North Pole after spending 12 days underneath the ice.
March 19: Unknown rebels attack a marketplace in Tartary with an improvised gas bomb.
March 20: The world record for phone booth stuffing is broken with 32 students cramming into a booth in Modesto, California.
March 21: Discovery of new major iron deposits in Spanish Mauritania.
March 22: Italy and the USA reach an agreement on the deployment of 60 Thor IRBMs in Foggia.
March 23: Modernisation of Austro-Hungarian border defences in the Carpathians reaches an initial stage of completion.
March 24: French Premier de Gaulle issues a statement that western German borders will not change whatsoever, quashing some thoughts of some future arrangement on the Saar.
March 25: An escaped circus lion terrorises people in Madison Square Garden before it is recaptured with the aid of a sword-wielding barbarian possessed of remarkable strength.
March 26: International radio signals are disrupted for a period of 13 hours.
March 27: The Royal Indian Air Force receives its first Vanguard missiles.
March 28: Brazilian police arrest three unidentified foreign nationals on suspicion of involvement in a conspiracy to assassinate Leon Trotsky.
March 29: The Prime Minister of Finland states that the country will not join any overt security pacts or alliances beyond current defensive arrangements.
March 30: Redeployment of the 25th Infantry Division to Hawaii from Japan is completed.
March 31: Formation of the Benelux Naval Task Force, a full battle group designated for operations in the North Sea and North Atlantic.

April
April 1: The United States and the Soviet Union issue restrictions on the travel of diplomats from their respective countries.
April 2: NASA announces the selection of 24 astronauts for a proposed voyage of exploration to the Jovian system in a bold move in the accelerating Space Race.
April 3: Execution of Carlo Gambino and four other organised crime bosses in Sing-Sing Prison, New York.
April 4: The signatory nations of the Pacific Treaty begin a series of military exercises in South Vietnam and the South China Sea.
April 5: A rampaging robot briefly marauds through the West End of London before being deactivated by a strange doctor.
April 6: Gigi wins 9 Oscars at the 31st Academy Awards, as host David Niven wins Best Actor for his role in Separate Tables.
April 7: Voters in Oklahoma elect not to repeal the state's dry laws.
April 8: Dozens of union delegates fall deathly ill after a mass poisoning incident whilst en route to an AFL-CIO conference in Washington.
April 9: NASA begins planning for the development of an advanced spacecraft capable of travel to other star systems
April 10: Crown Prince Akihito marries commoner Mikido Shoda in a ceremony in Tokyo.
April 11: Resignation of five generals of the Imperial Ottoman Army, for reasons of ill-health; the presence of several 9mm bullets in the back of their skulls is seen as inimical for continued active service by military doctors.
April 12: The body of a former Haitian presidential candidate is seized from his funeral procession by masked members of the Tonton Macoute.
April 13: A joint proposal by France, Britain and the United States to cease atmospheric nuclear testing is presented to the Soviet Union.
April 14: The OV-1 Mohawk enters service with the US Army.
April 15: Thousands flock to see the demonstration of a flying saucer in Oklahoma City.
April 16: Four fugitive Nazis are captured by Interpol agents in Damascus, Athens and Shiraz.
April 17: President Thompson survives an assassination attempt in Washington D.C. Three shots are fire by Conrad Hamburger, a radical socialist agitator, with one grazing the President on the left arm as he was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd at the newly opened National Museum. The President immediately struck back, punching Hamburger with his good arm and knocking him unconscious before the would-be assassin was swamped by Secret Service agents.
April 18: General Sir Richard Sharpe is promoted to command of the First British Army.
April 19: Maiden flight of the Ilyushin IL-62 jet airliner.
April 20: A platoon of New Zealand troops deployed as part of the Anzac Brigade in Western New Guinea defeat a group of suspected Indonesian infiltrators in an hour long firefight in rainforest near Sorong. An 18 year old New Zealand Bren gunner, Private John Winston Lennon, is later awarded the Military Medal for gallantry in the engagement.
April 21: The previous world record size for a great white shark is smashed as a 42ft specimen is caught at Ceduna, South Australia.
April 22: A mighty paladin slays a vicious dragon that has been terrorising small communities in the Canadian Rockies over the previous two months.
April 23: Completion of a secret report of the General Staff of the Imperial German Army, which concludes that the optimal defence of Germany against any Soviet aggression will require substantial further non-divisional forces and the introduction of five new key weapons systems.
April 24: A superhero clad in a bat-like cloak and costume rescues five kidnapped children from a ferocious weretiger in Chicago.
April 25: The Imperial Japanese Air Force begins conversion of four squadrons from F-86 Sabres to Mitsubishi F-1 supersonic jet fighters.
April 26: Two unidentified people are killed while trying to crash their car through a border barrier between Bukovina and Hungary.
April 27: Talks between Spain and Italy regarding strategic cooperation break down in Rome.
April 28: Former President Truman defends the use of the atom bomb in the Second World War, explaining to an audience of college students at Columbia University that it saved millions of lives, just as it did in Korea.
April 29: Opening of a major new hydroelectric power station and dam on the Kabul River in Afghanistan.
April 30: Volunteer troops of the Red Army's International Brigades parade through Moscow in the lead-up to May Day festivities.

May
May 1: Robert Goddard is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a ceremony at the White House.
May 2: Survivors of a stricken Soviet submarine are rescued by the USN guided missile frigate USS Bedford after an unfortunate accident in the Denmark Strait.
May 3: A highly intelligent chimpanzee is interviewed on US television, sparking some to question whether the military and scientific program for the arcane enhancement of apes is both ethical and wise in the long run.
May 4: Former President Truman calls for the repeal of the two term limit on Presidents.
May 5: President Thompson nominates Judge Alan Parker to the Supreme Court.
May 6: The United States and Germany sign an agreement on limited nuclear cooperation and coordination.
May 7: Burglars brazenly steal over $1 million in gems and furs from the apartment of socialite Mary Roebling in Trenton, New Jersey; they are caught by NYPD detectives at their getaway car.
May 8: Letters are delivered to a number of Argentinian and Brazilian newspapers, proclaiming the establishment of the Revolutionary Forces of South America, signed by its apparent commander, one Ernesto Guevara.
May 9: The South Vietnamese government introduces a mobile self-propelled guillotine as part of counter insurgency efforts.
May 10: Pope Cyril VI is enthroned as new Coptic Orthodox Pope in Alexandria.
May 11: A fresh round of talks begin in Geneva on European security and the question of Germany.
May 12: Expiration of the deadline for Pathet Lao rebels to lay down their arms and surrender to in the Laotian Civil War.
May 13: The foreign ministers of France and Austria-Hungary sign a memorandum of cooperation and understanding in Vienna.
May 14: A special report on the Mutual Security Program is presented to the US Cabinet.
May 15: US Middle East Command begins the deployment of fighter squadrons to both Byzantine Greece and Ottoman Turkey to demonstrate America's role as a neutral arbiter and guarantor of security.
May 16: Maiden flight of the Sud Super-Caravelle supersonic jetliner.
May 17: Dedication of the great statue of Cristo-Rei in Portugal.
May 18: A state of martial law is declared in Korea on security grounds.
May 19: North Vietnamese troops begin construction of what will become known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
May 20: US Atlantic Fleet intelligence reports that there are 29 Soviet submarines operating in the North Atlantic, 6 being nuclear powered boats.
May 21: American and British agents clash in a series of misunderstandings in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
May 22: The bathyscaphe Trieste conducts its first successful test dive.
May 23: An attempt to dump several dozen drums of hallucinogenic chemicals in New York City's water supply is foiled by CIA agent Maxwell Smart and a troop of Boy Scouts armed with pocket knives.
May 24: Execution of spree killer Charles Starkweather in Nebraska.
May 25: Imperial China moves several new armoured units towards the Soviet and Mongolian borders.
May 26: Tokyo is awarded the 1964 Summer Olympic Games.
May 27: Democratic Senator Huey Long announces he will run for President in 1960.
May 28: 85 people are killed in a suspicious train derailment in West Java.
May 29: Development of a revolutionary new war gas by the British Army Chemical Corps.
May 30: Marriage of Princess Margaret and Crown Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden at Stockholm Cathedral.
May 31: Outbreak of a military rebellion in Los Altos.

June
June 1: An extravagant feast for Sir Charles Ratcliffe at the Carlton Hotel in London is described by The Times as the most expensive in recent memory.
June 2: Twelve people are killed in a Pennsylvania propane tanker explosion.
June 3: Ecuadorean troops suppress riots in Guayaquil violently, killing over 600 people.
June 4: Singapore is officially granted self government.
June 5: A Soviet Navy commander defects to Sweden in a motor boat with his fiancée.
June 6: The Mexican Communist Party is banned on the express order of the Emperor.
June 7: A nuclear powered frigate is laid down at Newport News.
June 8: Regular deliveries of Missile Mail begin.
June 9: Establishment of the West African Customs Union in French West Africa.
June 10: Bodyguards of the Premier of Romania find him dead and drained of blood in his bedroom. A witty and insulting note signed by Count Dracula is carved into his chest.
June 11: The Royal Navy nuclear submarine HMS Churchill surfaces at the North Pole.
June 12: Introduction of a new and greatly improved series of US military rations.
June 13: Dominican Army border guards fight off several hundred zombies that surge across the hilly Haitian border.
June 14: Ten swimmers are killed in a horrific shark attack in Miami, Florida. The monstrous shark responsible is seemingly heard to roar as it breaches after the attack.
June 15: Soviet fighters attack a USN P4M Mercator as it strays towards Soviet airspace over the Sea of Japan.
June 16: Argentina signs an extensive agreement with Britain for the supply of military equipment, including state of the art bombers and submarines.
June 17: China tests a 7.4 Mt hydrogen bomb in the Gobi Desert.
June 18: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip arrive in St. John's, Newfoundland for the first leg of a royal tour of British North America.
June 19: Approval of the USAF Aerospace Defense Network Master Plan.
June 20: The Congress of Superheroes is held in New York City. An impassioned speech is given by their caped leader regarding their responsibility to help all people and fight for truth, justice and the American way.
June 21: A plot to steal the US gold reserves at Fort Knox is foiled by a British agent.
June 22: Imperial Airways VC-7s begin regular Transatlantic service.
June 23: A detachment of the Special Air Service kills 146 rebels in a raid in Oman.
June 24: Reports out of the Australian Outback of the miraculous survival of a 15 year old school girl and her young brother after being stranded in the desert.
June 25: A US Army helicopter squadron flies into combat in the Philippines playing the William Tell Overture on loudspeakers.
June 26: Ingemar Johansson wins the World Heavyweight Championship, defeating Floyd Patterson.
June 27: Emperor Hirohito becomes the first Emperor of Japan to attend a baseball game.
June 28: 27 people are killed in a freakish train explosion in Meldrim, Georgia.
June 29: The Committee of Imperial Defence authorises a study on the deployment of Black Arrow missiles on Cyprus.
June 30: A USAF F-110 patrolling out of Okinawa briefly spots Godzilla cruising in the Yellow Sea.

July
July 1: The consumption of opium is declared illegal in Thailand.
July 2: A fire in the Pentagon destroys $25 million worth of computing engine equipment and causing a mass evacuation.
July 3: U2 flights over Soviet Central Asia reveal the construction of several new ICBM complexes.
July 4: A new version of the Flag of the United States after the admittance of Hawaii as a state is unveiled in Philadelphia.
July 5: President Sukarno dissolves the Indonesian Parliament and implements a system of 'Guided Democracy'.
July 6: A C-124 carrying several nuclear weapons crashes shortly after take off at Barksdale AFB; one bomb is destroyed in the resultant fire.
July 7: Tibet abolishes all remaining forms of serfdom.
July 8: An unknown submarine of unique acoustic signature is detected following the main carrier task force of the Sixth Fleet in the Central Mediterranean, but upon prosecution, it dives to an unprecedented depth and departs at a speed of well over 100 knots.
July 9: Arrival of a task force of the Soviet Pacific Fleet in Indonesian waters; their presence comes as the latest indicator of concerning developments from the perspective of Australia.
July 10: LAPD officers report that a strange clawed individual has escaped their grasp after being arrested for destroying a downtown bar.
July 11: An RAF Avro Vulcan breaks the previous record non-stop flight time between London and Cape Town, reaching its destination in 10 hours and 56 minutes.
July 12: Over a hundred people are killed in running battles in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa during a failed National Police uprising.
July 13: A terrible nuclear accident at the Sodium Reactor Experiment facility in Southern California releases radioactive particles over the surrounding area.
July 14: The atomic-powered cruiser USS Long Beach is commissioned at Quincy, Massachusetts.
July 15: A conference of member states of the French Union in Paris fails to come to a consensus agreement on the Algerian situation.
July 16: Over 1 million steelworkers go out on strike in the United States.
July 17: Sir Waldron Smithers retires as the Chairman of the House of Commons Select Committee on Un-British Activities.
July 18: First successful flight of the USN's Neptune superheavy rocket.
July 19: Anthropologist Mary Leakey discovers a collection of ancient human remains in Olduvai Gorge in East Africa.
July 20: The active operational strength of the Free Polish Army in Britain is reduced to two divisions.
July 21: The Obscene Publications Act 1959 comes into effect in Britain, strengthening social protections against obscene materials under the 1857 act and broadening sanctions to include films and illusory recordings.
July 22: Jimmy Stewart and Barry Goldwater are promoted to brigadier generals in the US Air Force by a voice vote in the Senate.
July 23: Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland sign a memorandum of agreement on the joint development of the 'Viking' supersonic jet fighter project.
July 24: The King of the Tutsi's in Rwanda dies after an injection of penicillin, leading to an outbreak of terrible violence.
July 25: Cuba reaches a provisional agreement with the Federation of the West Indies over eventual membership.
July 26: Indonesia announces that it will develop atomic weapons as a means of supreme national defence.
July 27: USS Tigrone (SS-478) goes missing on patrol in the North Pacific.
July 28: A very large Soviet battleship is laid down in the covered building slip at Severomorsk.
July 29: Retired Field Marshal Sir Edmund Blackadder causes a minor diplomatic incident when he refers to the French and Germans as 'the natural enemies of the British Empire' in a speech at a girl's primary school in Suffolk.
July 30: Intelligence reports from British sources inside the Kremlin indicate that the deployment of Soviet nuclear missiles to Mongolia and North Vietnam is being seriously considered.
July 31: General Secretary of German Democratic Republic Ernst Thalmann proclaims that his state is the true heir of the revolutionaries of 1848 and would one day lead Europe under the peaceloving protection of the Soviet Union.

August
August 1: Canadian Governor-General Prince John opens a new atomic power station in Bella Bella, British Columbia.
August 2: Reports of unrest and riots in Soviet Kazakhstan reach the West.
August 3: The US Army unveils a spectacular presentation on 'The Soldier of Tomorrow', who would have 'a helmet with built-in radio, infra-red night glasses, powered body armor, enhanced strength gauntlets, an advanced battle rifle and his own personal rocket pack'.
August 4: Filipino communist guerrillas attempt to ambush a USMC convoy and are wiped out by their Tesla lightning guns.
August 5: President Thompson announces that the United States is prepared to use biological and chemical weapons in any future conflict to whatever extent necessary.
August 6: The Chicago Tribune describes the US Army's new flying tank as a solution in search of a problem.
August 7: 1235 people perish in widespread flooding in Taiwan after Typhoon Ellen causes 50 inches of rain in three days.
August 8: The United States conducts a nuclear test at the Pacific Proving Grounds.
August 9: Parisian newspapers report a wave of disappearances of vagrants, harlots and ne'erdowells.
August 10: A Pan Am Boeing 707 crashes while coming into land at La Guardia Airport in New York City, killing all 162 on board.
August 11: Opening of Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow.
August 12: CNO Arleigh Burke States that the Soviet Union was five years behind the USA in SLBMs.
August 13: Typhoon Georgia hits Japan, killing 144.
August 14: A squadron of Soviet M-4 Bison bombers arrives in Indonesia on a pointed goodwill visit.
August 15: A major earthquake shakes Yellowstone National Park.
August 16: Death of Admiral William Halsey at the age of 76.
August 17: A war party of dark elves is spotted in Northern Minnesota, leading to a state emergency.
August 18: Fifty firemen are injured in a Kansas City oil tank fire.
August 19: An elephant stampede in Kandy, Ceylon causes significant damage and 20 are killed.
August 20: The two aircraft carriers of the USN Middle East Force take part in exercises with the Royal Navy and Royal Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea.
August 21: Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies successfully gains Cabinet authorisation for an expansive programme of rearmament in response to developments in Indonesia.
August 22: Arrival of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in Moscow.
August 23: The Shah of Persia requests a revision of Anglo-Persian oil royalties.
August 24: Grady the Cow is interviewed on national television 10 years after her famed ordeal.
August 25: India and China agree to draw down troops from their mutual border for three months.
August 26: Norway receives 350 surplus Centurion tanks from Britain as military aid.
August 27: The first three US battleships carrying Solaris SLBMs go to sea after refit.
August 28: Communist rebels overrun a dozen rural villages in South Vietnam.
August 29: Lightning strikes kill 13 people in a single afternoon in the United States.
August 30: French aircraft strike at suspected Viet Cong targets in South Vietnam.
August 31: An attempted assassination of King and Queen of Cambodia fails as a bomb is opened by their Chief of Protocol.

September
September 1: The League of Nations announces that smallpox has been eradicated.
September 2: Migration to Kenya reaches its highest point since the Second World War.
September 3: Laos declares a state of emergency and requests international aid to combat the Pathet Lao.
September 4: Closure of the American National Exhibition in Moscow.
September 5: Sweden declares 32 Soviet diplomats personae non grata.
September 6: Imperial Airways issues a requirement for a very long range heavy jet liner.
September 7: Michael Corleone is executed by gas chamber in Maryland for murder and racketeering.
September 8: Opening of the first major commercial deer farm in New Zealand. A
September 9: The USAF conducts a test of the Minuteman ICBM at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
September 10: SFPD Inspector Harry Callahan is decorated for the rescue of a kidnapped family.
September 11: An American journalist investigating the whereabouts of Count Dracula is found dead in Berlin.
September 12: Charles Palatine wins a special election for the US Senate for the State of Lincoln.
September 13: Opening Ceremony of the National Games of China in Peking.
September 14: Widespread popular uprisings break out in Haiti, beginning the Haitian Revolution.
September 15: Discovery of a secret network of hidden caves at Chichen Itza.
September 16: Arrival of four French divisions in Algeria, taking total troop presence to over 350,000.
September 17: A London vagrant is charged with six counts of murder over the disappearance of six women of the streets.
September 18: Maiden flight of the North American XB-70 strategic bomber.
September 19: Lieutenant-General Ari Ben Canaan assumes command of the 3rd Israeli Airborne Division.
September 20: Introduction of the Ford Falcon automobile.
September 21: The US Secretary of Agriculture is authorised to operate a food stamp program.
September 22: Disappearance of two ancient tomes on the black arts from the Great Library of Alexandria.
September 23: The President of US Steel is fatally injured in a freak cutlery accident.
September 24: An Air France DC-7 crashes shortly after take off from Bordeaux, killing all on board.
September 25: President Thompson and Premier Stalin meet in Helsinki.
September 26: Typhoon Vera strikes Japan, killing over 5000 and leaving over 2 million homeless.
September 27: Viet Cong rebels ambush a South Vietnamese infantry company, inflicting heavy casualties.
September 28: Release of the Jaguar E Type sports car in Britain.
September 29: The Imperial Chinese Army conducts a major military parade showcasing a range of new equipment and rockets.
September 30: Strategic Air Command reaches its peak operational B-47 Stratojet strength of 2456 bombers.

October
October 1: A secret dossier outlining the full extent of Soviet operations in South America is obtained by American agents in Rio de Janeiro.
October 2: A total eclipse of the sun is visible over the Northeastern United States, thoroughly confusing a number of vampires.
October 3: Former President Theodore Roosevelt announces his retirement from public life, explaining that at the age of 100, he feels the urge to try something different.
October 4: Completion of the first stage of the Soviet space station 'Krasnya Oktyabr'.
October 5: Professor Alan Turing gives a celebrated lecture on computer connectivity.
October 6: India conducts an atomic test in the Thar Desert.
October 7: A Taiwanese RB-56 is shot down over the coast of mainland China.
October 8: The Conservative Government of Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden is returned to power in a landslide victory in the British General Election.
October 9: Sporadic fighting occurs in Algiers and several other cities as French troops conduct a series of raids on suspected rebels.
October 10: A group of Soviet writers issues a strong protest over plans ro redevelop the site of the Babi Yar massacre.
October 11: National elections in Madagascar are beset by a number of bizarre irregularities and confusion that American observers ascribe to some form of Communist interference.
October 12: The USAF conducts an experimental test of an anti-satellite rocket, adapted from the Thor missile, on Johnston Island in the Pacific.
October 13: Allentown, Pennsylvania widow Ruth Urduvania murders her five children and unsuccessfully attempts suicide; she is tried, found guilty and executed in February 1960.
October 14: FBI Director Elliot Ness testifies to Congress on the success of efforts to eradicate organised crime.
October 15: Assassination of exiled Ukrainian nationalist leader Stephan Bandera in Munich. The assassin is swiftly caught and denies any links to the KGB; he is later tried and beheaded.
October 16: Death of General George C. Marshall, former US Secretary of State, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Chief of Staff of the United States Army in World War Two, aged 78 in NYC.
October 17: The Soviet Union begins forward deployment of SS-4 missiles to Poland and Romania.
October 18: Installation of a new series of anti-ship missile batteries for the defence of New York City.
October 19: Communist insurgents raid a number of border posts in the northern Malayan province of Surat.
October 20: Doctor Tenma of the Japanese Ministry of Science produces a remarkably lifelike robot.
October 21: The first episode of 'Frozen Heroes', a new action television series about the Korean War broadcast on the Dumont Network.
October 22: A suspicious fire damages New York Castle in Manhattan.
October 23: India and Persia sign an agreement normalising their border on the Strait of Ormuz.
October 24: Public unveiling of the Ski-Dog snowmobile in Canada.
October 25: Residents of the small village of Scatterbrook are terrified by the appearance of a walking scarecrow.
October 26: The Belgian colonial government in the Congo recruits a number of veteran Varangians from Sweden and Norway to form a new elite unit in the Force Publique.
October 27: Over a thousand Mexicans are killed as a hurricane strikes the states of Colima and Jalisco.
October 28: Expansion of Midway Island through advanced land creation magics is completed.
October 29: A cartoon adaption of the deeds of the legendary Asterix the Gaul debuts in France.
October 30: Thirty protestors are killed as Belgian troops open fire on unrest in Stanleyville.
October 31: SOE agent Captain Fantastic foils a wicked plot by Mrs. Black to steal the Queen's swans.

November
November 1: Widespread fighting in Rwanda between Hutus and Tutsis breaks out after several months of tensions.
November 2: Charles Van Doren admits his involvement in game show cheating in testimony before Congress.
November 3: Two brigades of the British Army begin simultaneous deployment to East and West Africa by skyship.
November 4: Morocco imposes emergency controls after over 10,000 people are poisoned by tainted cooking oil.
November 5: Colombian insurgents ambush an Army patrol outside Bogota.
November 6: Signing of the Anglo-Icelandic Defence Treaty in Reykjavik.
November 7: The US Supreme Court rules that over 1 million steel workers must return to work, ending the long running steel strike.
November 8: Release of Watchtower, an epic war film on the Allied triumph in the Battle of Guadalcanal, starring John Wayne.
November 9: First successful test of the Violet Friend ABM at Woomera, South Australia.
November 10: A USAF F-110 crashes into the ground of a school in Yokohama, Japan.
November 11: Werner Heyde, wanted for horrific human experiments under the Nazis, surrenders to German police; he will be tried and executed in 1960.
November 12: SIS and SOE begin a joint programme of recruitment of Hong Kong martial artists.
November 13: An ensorcelled French Army patrol fires over the border into Germany, causing an international incident. The unknown wizardly perpetrator escapes without trace.
November 14: Kansas police arrest two convicted felons for parole violations and possession of weapons after a tip from a passing English doctor.
November 15: Field Marshall Viscount Campbell of Tobruk is appointed Governor-General of Australia.
November 16: Premiere of 'The Sound of Music' in London.
November 17: President Thompson gives a powerful speech on the need for Western unity in Paris.
November 18: Ben Hur debuts in New York City, attracting admiring reviews.
November 19: Major Roger 'Ramjet' Smith reaches an altitude of 132,674 feet in the experimental YF-109 rocket fighter.
November 20: US scientists announce a major breakthrough in the harnessing of nuclear fusion power.
November 21: Tens of thousands pack the streets of Boston to see a rare overflight of dragons.
November 22: The first Project 1750 India class nuclear ballistic missile submarine enters service with the Soviet Navy. Displacing 12000t and carrying 16 R-21 missiles, it represents a great jump from earlier Soviet SSBs.
November 23: RAF English Electric Lightnings shoot down a UFO over the Norwegian Sea; efforts to recover the wreckage for analysis are fruitless.
November 24: A massive industrial accident at a steelworks in Chungking kills thousands of workers.
November 25: Warsaw Pact winter exercises begin in Romania.
November 26: Establishment of CI5, a specialist joint department of Scotland Yard and the Royal Constabulary for the investigation of serious crimes beyond the immediate capacity of the police
November 27: Sikh troops subdue a rogue griffon near the Dead Sea.
November 28: Death of Field Marshal Sir Mohandas Gandhi, V.C., at the age of 90 at his residence in Calcutta. All of India and the Empire mourns.
November 29: Premier Stalin announces that the Soviet Union will lead the nations of Earth in the race for outer space.
November 30: A massive blizzard across Newfoundland grounds aircraft and disrupts road and rail traffic.

December
December 1: A fiery debate over decolonisation in the League of Nations leads to the French and Belgian delegations walking out in protest.
December 2: Increased reports of guerrilla attacks by suspected Naga cultists in Northern Burma.
December 3: The King of Syria dies from a combination of gout and a surfeit of mangoes.
December 4: British agents lead by Sir Charles Ratcliffe capture the notorious Nazi war criminal Erich von Kresse-Reinhardt in Valparaiso.
December 5: US submarines detect a new, hitherto unknown Soviet submarine operating off the coast of Iceland.
December 6: Soviet Defence Minister Marshal Zhukov authorises the creation of two new types of infantry units to compliment existing motor rifle and airborne infantry.
December 7: A dreadful fire at Grange Hill Secondary Modern School is extinguished by the valiant efforts of the London Fire Brigade.
December 8: The BBC officially adopts a policy of conserving taped footage of television programmes for archival purposes.
December 9: Royal Marines and Royal Canadian Marines in Norway complete their latest manoeuvres with Norwegian and Swedish troops as part of Exercise Midnight Sun.
December 10: Imperial China issues an edict, calling for overseas Chinese to return home to strengthen the Middle Kingdom.
December 11: CIA reports indicate the increased presence of suspected former SS and Wehrmacht personnel in the Paraguayan Army.
December 12: A shadowy group named ODESSA claim responsibility bomb attack on the Israeli embassy in Brussels.
December 13: TASS publishes pictures of an alleged new Soviet strategic bomber.
December 14: The Crown Prince of Zamunda arrives in New York for a highly publiscised visit.
December 15: Captain Archibald 'Ace' Rimmer records a world record speed of 1889 mph in the Bristol Bluebird strategic reconnaissance plane.
December 16: Special Agent Dick Barton foils a suspected Soviet plot to infiltrate the top secret atomic facilities at HMNB Clyde.
December 17: Congress passes initial funding for the construction of a spacegoing battleship to increase the capabilities of the United States Space Force.
December 18: Tsar Alexei of Russia dies in exile in London and is succeeded by his son Prince Sergei.
December 19: Prime Minister Eden announces that Britain will observe a unilateral moratorium on atomic testing from January 1st 1960.
December 20: Wizards across Europe report a wave of bizarre disruptions to the aetheric field.
December 21: The Shah of Persia is married in an opulent ceremony in Tehran.
December 22: US Army veterinary scientists successfully breed a vicious giant poodle for use as a specialist guard dog.
December 23: Former Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax dies in London.
December 24: The Royal Christmas Feast in London attracts a record crowd of over 50,000.
December 25: Maiden flight of the prototype Ye-156 interceptor in the Soviet Union.
December 26: Publication of the first volume of The History of the Korean War by Sir Winston Churchill.
December 27: The USAF launches a design study for a new supersonic air superiority fighter.
December 28: Discovery of large oil deposits in British Equatorial Africa.
December 29: Four Chinese intelligence agents are expelled from Hong Kong.
December 30: Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts announces that he will run for the Democratic candidacy for the 1960 Presidential Election.
December 31: A Soviet tank army begins an unscheduled deployment into Eastern Poland.

1.) Indeed. Whenever a major military or civil engineering/technological project is rushed, there will be consequences.

2.) The discovery was an OTL event; their reason for being out there is pure Dark Earth.

3.) It is one of many factors contributing to an ongoing chill in the Cold War, without any of the Khrushchev thaw.

4.) Another famous name from history rises to the fore.

5.) It is a rash step, precipitated by Greek machinations; both the US and British are reticent to fully get involved with either party, as Greece and Turkey have a long history of getting into regular wars with the other side.

6.) Canada has a mixed record against the USA in Test Cricket, but is improving.

7.) Some signs of lost civilisations are being noticed by increased exploration and aerial photography.

8.) He has a knack of being in the right place.

9.) There have been limited probe missions to the asteroid belt, along with dangerous manned expeditions, but none have bridged the gap to the outer planets; cavorite engines don't have the power over that range to get there in a reasonable amount of time. Since 1945, there have been new developments in arcane rocket engines and aetheric propulsion that haved eventually enabled man to open up the vastness beyond.

10.) Yes, Who.

11.) They chose...poorly...

12.) That is indeed a nasty risk and Haiti is building to something a lot worse.

13.) They did head off to New Zealand after WW2, with Alf Lennon and Julia reconciled and reunited. Young John had a nicer time of it, as outlined in the notes. He probably won't end up a musician, but after his military service, could well have a successful career as a poet, writer and teacher who settles down and enjoys a happy, long life with a close family. It could be a lot worse for him.

14.) He does, although he has been treated in a somewhat more enlightened fashion given mankind's experience with talking beasts. His criticisms amount to disagreement with the use of ordinary great apes for experimental purposes.

15.) He was not in favour of it in the first place, with the Republicans moving it to prevent another FDR.

16.) No, this is an OTL statue inspired by the larger Brazilian one.

17.) It is the same Kingfisher, who has built up quite the personal powerbase.

18.) It is Queen Elizabeth II's sister, marrying into royalty in this case; the Crown Prince of Sweden is 10 years older than in @, but is still younger than his bride by 6 years. His name should be Carl Gustav, by the way; I'll change it.

19.) It did involve a pussy of sorts; the exact circumstances outlined in the film were covered up here, for obvious reasons.

20.) The guide did survive. A very interesting, lyrical film.

21.) They only add Hawaii and are running short of potential candidates for the next state, with Porto Rico a long way off.

22.) It is a little less obvious than that, but there is a lot more guidance than democracy.

23.) Exactly what that submersible contact was is quite the worry.

24.) The Far Eastern Fleet will be conducting some exercises in conjunction with the RAN, RNZN, RCN and RNAN in the area throughout 1959 and 1960.

25.) It still has a fair way to play out in both countries, where actual communist subversion attempts and discoveries of spies and attempted infiltration has cultivated a heightened sense of anti-communism.

26.) There are going to be some more interesting discoveries.

27.) It is connected with something very nasty in 1960.

28.) It isn't the big one.

29.) It is earlier, due to some 19th century advances in medicine. There are stocks in the USA, Russia, Britain and China.

30.) I've never been a fan of the glorification of gangsters and criminals and a few get their just desserts as a result of some cultural changes.

31.) Callahan gets all sorts of dirty jobs.

32.) It is related to a few other rather bad developments coming up.

33.) Some encountered problems due to the eclipse.

34.) Turing has a lot of time ahead of him and many interesting developments and discoveries.

35.) Ness has a rather different career and Hoover's earlier demise changes the FBI.

36.) Good to see the reference recognised.

37.) Captain Fantastic and his umbrella have saved us many times.

38.) It is a long way off being an operational system and has a good 6 years of further tests and developments before it fields a an effective defensive screen.

39.) It is a great leap forward, reflecting a stronger Soviet Navy going for some interesting solutions.

40.) Whether the UFOs are malign or benign remains to be seen.

41.) Not a mixture, but simply a mention of Grange Hill in a non-comprehensive context.

42.) It will lead to a lot of positives.

43.) A very nice pick up on the reference.

44.) He was the son of Nicholas II, cured of his hemophilia by Rasputin.

45.) He is extremely active, healthy and lucid, reflecting the impact of medicine and magic on longer life spans. He could very well top the ton.

   sdarkshade

   Quick reply on a few points:

20.) The guide did survive. A very interesting, lyrical film. - Good result

28.) It isn't the big one. - I know that else there might not be much left of the modern world but its a worrying thought.

37.) Captain Fantastic and his umbrella have saved us many times. - Makes it sound more like the Avengers [British version] or the Kingsmen.