News and Stories from the North

[Walter]

Note: Various of the news articles are based on real world events using wiki for ideas and edited here and there to fit the Northern Kingdom.


January 1, 1910

Prime Minister of the Northern Kingdom William H. Taft opened the New Year by inviting the general public private citizens to visit him in Bute House, the Prime Minister's residence in Edinburgh. He shook hands with 5,575 people.

January 2, 1910

The 516 page 1910 edition of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack was released. Arthur Day, Douglas Carr, Sidney Barnes, Vernon Ransford and Warren Bardsley were selected as the 1909 cricketers of the year.

January 10-20, 1910
The first aviation meeting to be held in the Northern Kingdom, the 1910 Gardermoen International Air Meet at Gardermoen Field, is held near Oslo.

January 13, 1910
The first radio broadcast of a live musical performance took place from Glasgow's Metropolitan Opera, which inaugurated use of a new system set up by Lee DeForest. The one-act opera "Cavalleria rusticana" was "borne by Hertzian waves over the turbulent waters of the sea to transcontinental and coastwise ships, and over the mountain peaks, amid undulating valleys of the country" with the aid of a microphone connected to a 500 watt transmitter. Wireless receivers at buildings on High Street, the Metropolitan Life Building, and St Andrew's Square picked up the broadcast, as did radio sets used by ship operators and amateur radio enthusiasts.

January 22, 1910

The completion of construction of Glasgow's Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, at just over 213 meters tall the world's tallest skyscraper, was celebrated by the company at the Hotel Astor.

[Walter]

January 24, 1910
Vague reports circulate that numerous naval vessels left the various ports around the Northern Kingdom for what was said to be "long term expeditions". No one has any idea what the destinations of the ships are or which of the ships that left the ports are part of these expeditions.

January 25, 1910
Captain Asger Ingolfson was standing on the deck of the ship transporting his men to their destination. No one knew what the exact destination was of the ships except for the higher-ups in command travelling along. All Asger knew was that they were heading West for now and that C company would be the first to arrive at the destination.

Asger had been promoted about a year ago and given the command of C company, 1st Battalion, 6th Regiment of Foot. The 6th, better known as The Black Watch, was the lead regiment of the famous Iron Brigade which was considered to be one of the best Brigades in the World. Asger found it a great honor to be selected to be the lead unit of the Iron Brigade and he was eager to prove that the Iron Brigade was not just one of the best but the best Brigade in the world.

Wherever that destination would be, The Black Watch would be the first to arrive and C company would lead the way into the history books. Whoever the fools were that would be standing in the way, it would be a very, very bad day for them once they encountered C company.

January 26, 1910

Carry Nation made another attempt at wrecking a drinking establishment today, as she invaded a dance hall in Dublin, but was warded off by proprietor May Malloy.

January 27, 1910

Gunnar Knudsen resigned his position as Minister of Norway.

January 28, 1910
Shortly after the gift of 2,000 Japanese cherry blossom trees, from the Shogunate of Japan, arrived in Edinburgh, the Sakuras turned out to be unsuitable for replanting. Much to the dismay of First Lady Helen Taft, Prime Minister William H. Taft had to give the order to destroy the trees.

[Walter]

February 1, 1910

Wollert Konow becomes the new Minister of Norway, taking over from Gunnar Knudsen.

February 2, 1910

Billy Gohl, the "Ghoul of Aberdeen Harbour", was arrested in Aberdeen for the murder of his former henchman Charley Hatberg, bringing his string of killings to an end. Gohl, a local leader in the Sailors' Union of the Atlantic, is suspected in the murders of as many as 124 people whose bodies have been found, and of others who have disappeared.

February 15,1910
Norsk Gjærde- og Metaldukfabrik established.

February 17, 1910
A patent for the first gun safety mechanism was filed by the Browning Arms Company for a small component that would "insure absolutely against the dangerous accidental firing sometimes liable to occur if the trigger is pulled after the magazine has been withdrawn in the belief that all cartridges have been removed.

[Kaiser Kirk]

124 is a rather impressive killing spree.

[Walter]

We'll just blame him for all the unsolved cases of missing and murdered people even if we do not have any evidence. :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Gohl

It says "Victims 2 (but possibly 100+)" (while the february 1910 events list where I got it from lists the number of 124) so that tells me that they only had evidence for him killing two of the many victims. I would assume that the amount of evidence will be the same here and since we are not Barbarians like those Romans to the south, he will be sentenced to life in prison just like OTL.

[Walter]

February 18, 1910
Captain Asger Ingolfson was overlooking the preparations to move further inland to reclaim Vinland. The Black Watch had been joined by several other regiments, including the 21st Regiment of Foot, also known as the Royal Scots Fusiliers.

Asger was happy to have the Royal Scots Fusiliers support The Black Watch. Once their musicians started to play the bagpipes, the sound it created would send fear down the spine of any person who faced them. So far it has been quite easy though.

February 23, 1910

St Patrick's College, Maynooth, becomes a recognised college of the National University of Ireland.

February 24, 1910
The "Norse cinephone" was unveiled at an Oslo press conference, showing technology that might make it possible to have sound on films. A trained cinephone operator would be able to synchronize a film's speed to a phonographic record "so that the gestures of a singer and actor appear at practically the same instant as the sound of the voice".

February 26, 1910
At Scone, Scotland, Princess Valeria Hardrada was crowned High Queen Valeria of the Northern Kingdom today. She is the first princess of the House Hardrada to be crowned queen since Queen Estrid the Fury back in 1701 and the first to be crowned High Queen of the Northern Kingdom since the introduction of the title of High King/Queen of the Northern Kingdom in 1710.

February 28, 1910
The last legal bare-knuckle boxing bout in the Northern Kingdom took place in Belfast, as Leo Baker and Dave Smith fought 32 rounds without gloves, with the match ending in a draw.

Following a government ruling late last year, all bare-knuckle boxing bouts will be deemed illegal within the borders of the Northern Kingdom as of tomorrow, March 1, 1910.


March 3, 1910
Stock in Sears began trading on the Oslo Stock Exchange today.

March 12, 1910

Film actress Florence Lawrence becomes "the first movie star", after movie mogul Carl Laemmle of Independent Moving Pictures (I.M.P.) announced in advertisements that he had signed the leading lady who had only been billed as "The Biograph Girl" by Biograph Studios. Until now, movie studios had a policy of not releasing the names of their players, and prohibiting distributors from revealing the information. Lawrence's first I.M.P. release will be The Broken Oath which can be seen in cinemas from March 14 on.

March 15, 1910
The 46 year old Naval tugboat Nina was declared lost today and struck from the Navy list. The tug left Edinburgh early in the morning on February 6 bound for Oslo but never arrived there. The Nina had a 32 men crew who all are believed to have perished.

March 18, 1910

The first cinematic version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) is released in the Nothern Kingdom by Edison Studios. One of the first horror films, it features (unbilled) actor Charles Ogle as the monster.

March 23, 1910
Glasgow wins the 67th Glasgow and Edinburgh Boat Race.

March 26, 1910
The Immigration Act of 1910 amended existing law to deny entrance, to the Northern Kingdom, of criminals, paupers, anarchists and diseased persons. (*)





(*) Maybe I should have added Romans as well to the list. :D

[Walter]

April 3, 1910
The Parliament passes a resolution about universal suffrage for women in municipal elections.

April 20, 1910
Samuel J. Scott, a 15-year-old boy working in Belfast on the construction of the SS Titanic, fell from a ladder and died of a fractured skull. Harland and Wolff have sent their condolences to the family of the young man.

April 21, 1910
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, beloved to millions of readers for his writings under the pen name Mark Twain, died at the age of 74 at his home in Dundee. Twain, who had angina pectoris, went into a coma at 3:00 pm and was dead by 6:30. Appropriately, his last words were handwritten rather than spoken, a note to his daughter Clara: "Give me my glasses"


May 12, 1910 (no exact OTL date in May given on wiki)
Irish Countrywomen's Association founded as the Society of the United Irishwomen by a group of educated and largely Protestant women in Bree, County Wexford "to improve the standard of life in rural Ireland through Education and Co-operative effort".

May 13, 1910
Woolworth's becomes the first large retail chain to sell ice cream cones, test-marketing the treat at counters at several sites that have been supplied with modern refrigerator-freezers.

May 19, 1910

The Earth completes its passage through the tail of Halley's Comet, without any recorded deaths from cyanogen gas.

May 20, 1910
Vilhelm Bjerknes oversaw the simultaneous gathering of extensive meteorological data across the Northern Kingdom, using balloons in multiple locations.

May 29, 1910
Nationalforeningen mot tuberkulose founded.




June 3, 1910
The Norse Polar Expedition Team, led by Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen and Ernest Henry Shackleton, departed from Oslo aboard the polar exploration vessels Fram and Terra Nova without fanfare.

Polar exploration vessel Fram

Polar exploration vessel Terra Nova


14-23 June, 1910
Edinburgh Missionary Conference is held, presided over by Nobel Peace Prize recipient John R. Mott, launching the modern ecumenical movement and the modern missions movement.

June 17, 1910
The Northern Kingdom Lighthouse Service was created as federal agency today to regulate lighthouses throughout the nation.

June 26, 1910 (no exact OTL date in 1910 given on wiki)
The whisky-based liqueur Drambuie is first marketed commercially, from Leith.

June 30, 1910
Glenn H. Curtiss demonstrated the practicality of aerial bombardment by dropping 20 mock explosives from a biplane over Bogstadvannet (Lake Bogstad) near Oslo.

[Kaiser Kirk]

By the way, it's trend from prior sims, but I continue to be impressed by the news errata accompanied by pictures.

[Walter]

Well, using OTL stuff helps to make it look like there is more news coming from the Northern Kingdom and sometimes there are pics available as well to add to those news bits. Doing a quick count, there are four dates where I created the news/story myself and 34 dates where I took bits of news from Wikipedia and altered it to fit the Northern Kingdom. That is a good indication as to how uncreative I am when it comes to making up fictional bits of news and stories. :)


... and I am still wondering if I should have added Romans to the list when it comes to the Immigration Act... ;D

[Kaiser Kirk]

When I ran the Wesworld Dutch I did similar, which is why I recognize and appreciate that it does take some work to put together, but also fleshes out the nation- hence the appreciation for the effort.

[Walter]

July 1, 1910
"Your Majesty. As you are aware, many troops have been sent forth to claim lands around the area," the Secretary of State for War, Jacob Dickinson, explained as he motioned to the map on the table.

High Queen Valeria slowly nodded as she looked down at the map. "So what can you tell me of the successes?" she asked.

"Seventeen marine divisions were successful in Erika, capturing various areas and re-securing Vinland for the Northern Kingdom. Several units are making preparations to move further inland as we speak. Marine divisions landed in several locations on Grønland, Novaya Zemlya and Ostrov Kolguyev. The commanders of those forces reported that it is quite cold but the areas were successfully secured."

"Excellent work. Send word to the forces to keep up the good work as well as some extra clothing to keep them warm."

"I shall do that right after the meeting."

"So what of the next step."

"Well, your Majesty... Depending on the movements of rival nations, we have various plans ready... so it will be like this..."


July 13, 1910
The railway line Kirkenes–Bjørnevatn opened.


July 20, 1910
Erden was a fierce Mongolian warrior and as usual he was drunk again. Laughing and cheering, he stumbled across the main street of the Border Hamlet of Dvinskoy, putting his hands on women where he should not be putting them and punching weakling men who tried to stop him from having some fun with the town's womenfolk.

As he was assaulting another woman, the door to the nearby mayor's office opened up and seven men wearing dusters and Stetson hats walked out and lined up in front of the mayor's office. People in the street quickly got inside when they recognized Marshall John S. Wellesley and his six sons. Whenever he was around there would be trouble and a lot of shooting.




"What do you clowns want," Erden grumbled, keeping his grip on the woman.

"Oh nothing really... but from what I just heard from the mayor, you were about to leave town," John Wellesley said.

"You are going to try and make me leave?" Erden laughed. "You wish! I like it here and I will have me some fun here! Do you even know who I am?"

"A dead man... about to leave in a coffin..."

Erden stopped laughing and then pulled the crying woman closer to him. "Surely you would not shoot an innocent woman now, would you?"

At that point, Wellesley's sons flicked aside the front of their dusters to reveal their revolvers, readying themselves to draw their guns.

"Collateral damage, mister Erden," John Wellesley stated.

Realizing the trouble, Erden pushed the woman away so he could draw his own gun, but the Marshall and his Deputy sons were a lot quicker, immediately drawing their revolvers and starting to shoot at the Drunk Mongolian with deadly precision.




Bullets hit his arms, his legs, his stomach and his chest but as Erden crashed backward onto the ground mortally wounded, he was not dead yet. While he laid there dying, the six deputies put their guns back into their holsters.



John Wellesley calmly walked over to the dying Mongolian warrior. As Erden struggled to get anything done, John raised his gun, aiming it at Erden's forehead and then pulled the trigger, sending the bullet straight into his head and killing him.

John checked on the woman who thanked him and then quickly hurried away. His job done, John joined his sons and the seven walked back into the mayor's officer.


July 30, 1910

First ascent of Stetind, by Bryn, Rubenson and Schjelderup.

[Walter]

August 1, 1910

First ascent of Svolværgeita, by Bryn, Rubenson and Schjelderup.

August 3, 1910
First ascent of Trakta, by Bryn, Rubenson and Schjelderup.

August 9, 1910
William Jay Gaynor, the Mayor of Belfast, was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt. Mayor Gaynor was preparing to board a liner for a vacation, when a recently fired city employee shot him.

Gaynor moments after the assassination attempt

August 10, 1910
Aviator Walter Brookins crashed into a crowd while flying in an airshow at Cork, Ireland. Eight people, including Brookins, were injured.


August 12, 1910
Opening of the Belfast Motor Speedway. The speedway is a rectangular oval and has a length 4 kilometer. It has four corners which have a 9.2 degree bank.


Also today, Uhlan became the first racehorse to run a mile in less than two minutes, running at 1 minute, ​58 3⁄4 seconds at North Randall racetrack in Glasgow. The prior world record had been 2:01.

August 14, 1910
Mayor William F. Robinson of Dundee, Scotland, was killed, along with a fireman, when a wall at Calisher's Department Store collapsed during a blaze.

August 19, 1910
An epidemic of cholera has killed 10,723 people in Eastern Novgorod and Horde lands bordering Eastern Novgorod during the week of August 7–13, according to a government announcement made in New Novgorod, although Red Cross officials believe that the actual numbers is probably higher.

August 20, 1910
The first gunshots, ever fired from an airplane, were made by Lieutenant James Fickel. As pilot Glenn Curtiss brought his airplane down to 100 feet over the Sheepshead Bay racetrack in Inverness, Fickel shot a rifle at a target.

August 26, 1910
Thomas Edison gave the first demonstration of the kinetophone, synchronizing the sound from a phonographic record to a kinetoscope motion picture. The press conference, at Oslo, Norway, showed a man walking "and as his lips moved, the sound of his voice issued from the concealed phonograph".

August 27, 1910
The first wireless transmission from an airplane took place at the track at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Inverness. Pilot J.B. McCurdy, who had a telegraphic key on the steering wheel of his airplane, and a 50-foot antenna trailing the plane, repeatedly sent a 17 word message to H.M. Horton, whose receiver was located in the grandstand of the race track. The range for the first experiment was two miles.

August 29, 1910
The Aero Club of Ireland holds its inaugural aviation meeting at Leopardstown Racecourse.

[Walter]

September 1, 1910
The cricket season has come to an end with Kildare County Cricket Club winning their third championship title, their second title in successive seasons. Of the 26 matches played, they won 19, lost 3, drew 3 and one match was abandoned.

Lanark's Johnny Tyldesley was this season's top run scorer with a total of 1,961 runs with an average of 49.02 while 'Razor' Smith from Moray Shire Cricket Club took most wickets with a total of 215 at an average of 12.56.

John Thomas Tyldesley

William Charles 'Razor' Smith

September 4, 1910
Two bombs exploded in a railroad yard and at a bridge in Wick, Scotland causing some moderate damage but no casualties. A third bomb, which had failed to explode, was discovered later which showed that the bombs were time-bombs, fashioned from an alarm clock, a detonator and nitroglycerine. There are no clues to who the perpetrators may be.

September 15, 1910
Norwegian Institute of Technology (Norges Tekniske Høgskole, (NTH)) is opened in Trondheim.


September 16, 1910
The patent application for the first outboard motor was filed. Ole Evinrude has created a "marine propulsion mechanism", a portable motor that can transform a rowboat into a power boat.

Ole Evinrude

Ole Evinrude's marine propulsion mechanism

September 18, 1910
Lieutenant-Colonel Dr. George Owen Squier demonstrated the first system to allow multiplexing of telephone transmissions, allowing multiple telephone conversations to be transmitted on the same wires, where only one at a time could be made previously.

Lieutenant-Colonel Dr. George Owen Squier

September 20, 1910
Thomas Edison applied for a Norse patent on a helicopter of his own invention.

September 21, 1910
A collision occurred between two interurban streetcars near Oslo. The accident killed 42 people.

[Walter]

October 1, 1910
Just after 1:00 AM, a bomb detonated outside the building of the Edinburgh Times, triggering an explosion of natural gas lines and starting a fire. About 20 people were killed and many more injured.



October 2, 1910
Edinburgh Mayor George Alexander hired private detective William J. Burns to catch those responsible for the attack on the building of the Edinburgh Times.

William John Burns

October 12, 1910
In Dublin, the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, funded by John D. Rockefeller, opened its first hospital, with 75 beds.

October 13, 1910
A wealthy businessman named Kevin O'Malley inexplicably committed suicide by leaping to his death from his room at Glasgow's Hotel Dolphin.

October 17, 1910
Poet and author Julia Ward Howe, author of "The Battle Hymn of the North" (*), died of pneumonia today at her home in Dublin. Howe was also known as a social activist, particularly for women's suffrage. She was 91 year old.

Julia Ward Howe

October 20, 1910
SS Olympic was launched at the Harland and Wolff Shipyards in Belfast today. At 45,324 gross tons, she is the largest ship afloat.



October 31, 1910
Ralph Johnstone broke the world record for highest altitude today, achieving 2960 meters in an airplane.

Ralph Johnstone


(*) OTL "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"

[Walter]

November 4, 1910
The Insane Asylum in Verma, Norway, was destroyed by fire, but all 600 of the inmates were rescued.

November 18, 1910
Ralph Johnstone, who had broken the world record for highest altitude achieved in an airplane on October 31, was killed while flying an exhibition at Dundee. Johnstone was executing a "spiral glide" when a wingtip folded, and he plunged from 150 meters to his death.

November 22, 1910 (no exact OTL date)
Reconstruction of the city bridge over the River Suir in Waterford begins.

November 30, 1910
Thomas Edison told a reporter that he has invented "a heavier-than-air flying machine", but that he did not want to discuss it further. "I admit that I have a little patent along aeorplane lines", said the inventor, "but I have too much to do to become interested in the navigation of the air." Edison's flying machine is described as "a basket hung on a vertical shaft, on the upper end of which revolve box kites or other form of aeroplanes at sufficient speed to lift the whole affair".