Saturday, March 2, 2013

Remember Locarno!

Professor Schmitt, Mark's future mentor, lectured on Locarno conference. It was easy to believe he himself was there back in 1925. But a lot of amusing details couldn't overshadow his sharp analysis of the event...
Here they are, the architects of Locarno, three foreign ministers:
Gustav Stresemann (Germany), Austen Chamberlain (Great Britain), and Aristide Briand (France).
 
Another shot, less formal:
Chamberlain, Stresemann and Briand captured during the talks by Dr. Erich Salomon, a brilliant German photojournalist:

A German cartoon - a clear understatement of Stresemann's achievements:
 

Зная, что первое впечатление не всегда бывает верным, я пошел на его лекцию для второго курса. И оказалось, что Франк Шмит, он же Франклин Смит, – превосходный лектор. Он рассказывал о Локарнской конференции так, будто сам участвовал в ее заседаниях. Имена полузабытых политиков звенели в аудитории, а забавные подробности из жизни Чемберлена и Штреземана не заслоняли главного: целей и итогов конференции, надежд и просчетов ее участников.




Thursday, February 28, 2013

Vegas Demotivational


And a bit of real history:
Days after the first bomb was detonated on January 27, 1951, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce issued a stream of press releases excitedly describing the new testing grounds as one of the many attractions Las Vegas had to offer. As one official described, "The angle was to get people to think the explosions wouldn't be anything more than a gag."

Source: Atomic Tourism, PBS

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

1972: Real Heathrow

In the Strangers' World, Mark saw black-white-red flags in Heathrow, commemorating Albert Speer's visit.
Two pictures of Heathrow in Summer 1972 (OTL)*:
"Виккерс" описал полукруг почета в лондонском небе, медленно накренился на левое крыло, затем выровнялся и стал сбавлять скорость. По-моему, никто в салоне не понял, когда именно колеса коснулись бетона. И остановился самолет почти незаметно. "Леди и джентльмены, мы благополучно приземлились в аэропорту Хитроу, время восемь часов ноль три минуты по Гринвичу. Напоминаю, что температура за бортом – 61 градус по Фаренгейту, 16 градусов по Цельсию. Капитан Хартли и экипаж благодарят вас..."

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* OTL = Our Timeline = Real History
Images: andygolfer, on Civilian Aviation forum (1), Ben Brooksbank via Wikimedia Commons (2)

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

1930: Real Ostend-Vienna Express

A luxury train service from Ostend (Belgium) to Vienna was established in 1894.
Like the 'original' Orient Express, it was operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits:
The service provided connections from London and Amsterdam, as well as to Bucharest, Belgrade and Istanbul:
It also provided a setting for Graham Greene's Stamboul Train (1932) - and for our new project. Stay tuned.
 

Monday, February 25, 2013

Carved Umbrella Handle

Back in May 1993, a certain 13-year old girl entered Smith's umbrella store in Bloomsbury...
 
... отец непременно хотел лично осмотреть ручку зонта, заказанного некоторое время назад у Джеймса Смита в Блумсбери. Туда-то мы и направлялись, к Хейзелвуд-хаусу на Нью Оксфорд стрит, где папа придирчиво осмотрел «острого пойнтера», «брыластого бульдога» и «бородатого терьера», остановил свой выбор на том самом заранее заказанном набалдашнике в виде головы эрделя. Отец официально оформил приобретение. Вот зачем мы тогда ездили в Лондон!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

1930: Real Cardington

Cardington became one of the major British sites involved in the development of airships when Short Brothers bought land there to build airships for the Admiralty. They constructed a 700-foot-long (210 m) airship hangar (the No. 1 Shed) in 1915 to enable them to build two rigid airships, the R-31 and the R-32. The airships site was nationalised in April 1919, becoming known as the Royal Airship Works.
In preparation for the R101 project the No 1 shed was extended between October 1924 and March 1926; its roof was raised by 35 feet and its length increased to 812 feet. The No. 2 shed (Southern shed), which had originally been located at RNAS Pulham, Norfolk, was dismantled in 1928 and re-erected at Cardington.
 

Info: Wikipedia
Images: mikeyashworth, on Flickr (1), Rotary Club of Bedford (2)