Illjwamh

Oh right! The ones in croquet are called stoquey woquets. My bad.

Yes, I do. It occurs to me that the rules for appearances were in the original thread, which was deleted. Here are my criteria:
-On panel appearance (duh)
-Off panel dialogue
-Partial appearance. This one is iffy, but I usually require around 25% visibility (or a face) AND clarity as to who the character is. Said clarity must exist in the strip itself, not including context from previous strips. Rare exceptions have been made to the visibility requirement, such as when The Boar died and only its hoof was visible, but I generally stick pretty hard to it.
-Flashbacks and fantasy sequences count
-Recurring apparitions that are not real, such as Susan's personality aspects, are counted as "semi-characters"
-Characters with alter-egos (such as Elliot) receive credit for the appearances of those alter-egos, and the alter-egos themselves receive credit as semi-characters
      -If two alter-egos appear in the same strip (like Cheerleadra and Heidi, say) they would both receive individual credit, but Elliot would only be counted once
-Different versions of the same character, like Zeus/Jerry, or any alternate universe versions like Beta Tedd or Second Life Ellen, are counted as separate characters
 
 
Mon. Feb. 4
Grace: 834
Sam: 40
 
 
 
FULL COUNT

I popped into my PANTARDIS to find out who ruled Denmark at the time. Turns out it was me. I arrived just before the coronation and accidentally squashed the about-to-be-King flat. Seems like nobody liked the guy that much anyway so they drafted me as a replacement. That turned into a big mess and it took me months before I could find a better replacement so I could make my escape.

They say we're young, and we don't know; we won't find out until we grow.
On February 2 in History...
880 - King Louis III of France is defeated in Saxony by the Great Heathen Army. If you're thinking I included this purely as an excuse to mention the giant pile of awesome that is the Great Heathen Army, you would be correct.
962 - Otto I is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The first one in forty years, in fact, and under much pomp. Downplayed is the fact that no one really noticed the lack.
1536 - Buenos Aires is founded. Just a quick math note: Jamestown, often considered the first "American" colony, is still 71 years away.
1653 - New Amsterdam is founded. We know it now as New York. Why they changed it, I can't say; people just liked it better that way.
1848 - The U.S. and Mexico sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, a.k.a. the "Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement between the United States of America and the Mexican Republic", a.k.a. the "Treaty of We're Taking Half Your Land and What Are You Going to do About It".
1876 - The National League of Major League Baseball is formed. With only 8 teams and the American League still 25 years away, playoffs remain slightly anticlimactic.
1887 - Americans come under the sway of one Punxsatawney Phil, a malevolent groundhog in small-town Pennsylvania who demands yearly festivals and sacrifice lest he hold pleasant weather hostage for an additional month and a half.
1925 - Dogsleds reach Nome, Alaska with diphtheria medication from Anchorage. The annual Iditarod commemorates this feat. Several Academy Award statuettes are...what? Animated? Oh, never mind.
1935 - Polygraph lie detector tests are accepted in U.S. court as evidence for the first time, leading to decades of lazy police work, false convictions and acquittals, and worst of all...contrived screenwriting.
1942 - The first acts of anti-Nazi resistance take place in Norway, protesting the inauguration of Vidkun Quisling. He is adamant that more people showed up to the latter than the former.
1952 - Park Geun-hye, future South Korean president, is born, though the numerous strings attached to her limbs make the process difficult for all involved.
1989 - The last Soviet armored column leaves Afghanistan, leading to decades of peace and prosperity for the region.
They say we're young, and we don't know; we won't find out until we grow.
On February 2 in History...

It just occurred to me you forgot an important event yesterday:
2002 - The first strip of a webcomic we're all familiar with was posted.

This contains my favorite joke I've ever written for one of these. See if you can spot it.
On January 11 in History:
705 – Pope John. Vi dies, missing the bonus round by a day.
1158 - Vladislaus II of Bohemia becomes Vladislaus I of Bohemia. I swear this makes sense.
1755 – Alexander Hamilton is born. Tickets for the musical are already sold out.
1787 – Two moons of Uranus, Oberon and Titania, are discovered by William Herschel. When Uranus moons Titania and Oberon, its Bottom looks like an ass.
1815 – John A. Macdonald is born. Canadians know who George Washington is; you have no excuse.
1907 – In an astonishing example of nominal determinism, future French prime minister Pierre Mendès France is born. Imagine how awkward it would be if his family had stayed in Portugal.
1935 – Amelia Earhardt is the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California. No word on the in-flight movie, but my money’s on “Around the World in 80 Days”, “Land of the Lost”, or “Gone Girl.”
1964 – The U.S. Surgeon General publishes a report that smoking may be hazardous to people’s health. In related news, the head of the Geological Survey concludes that recreational lava fights may cause burns.
1972 – The citizens of East Pakistan rename their country to what everybody’s already calling it anyway.
1973 – Major League Baseball decides it’s all right that if American League pitchers suck too much at hitting, old guys who suck to much at fielding can take their place.
1994 – Helmut Poppendick dies. Yeah, yeah, get it out of your system. Don’t feel bad for laughing at him though. Dude was a Nazi doctor; fuck ‘im.

This contains my favorite joke I've ever written for one of these. See if you can spot it.
On January 11 in History:
705 – Pope John. Vi dies, missing the bonus round by a day.
1158 - Vladislaus II of Bohemia becomes Vladislaus I of Bohemia. I swear this makes sense.
1755 – Alexander Hamilton is born. Tickets for the musical are already sold out.
1787 – Two moons of Uranus, Oberon and Titania, are discovered by William Herschel. When Uranus moons Titania and Oberon, its Bottom looks like an ass.
1815 – John A. Macdonald is born. Canadians know who George Washington is; you have no excuse.
1907 – In an astonishing example of nominal determinism, future French prime minister Pierre Mendès France is born. Imagine how awkward it would be if his family had stayed in Portugal.
1935 – Amelia Earhardt is the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California. No word on the in-flight movie, but my money’s on “Around the World in 80 Days”, “Land of the Lost”, or “Gone Girl.”
1964 – The U.S. Surgeon General publishes a report that smoking may be hazardous to people’s health. In related news, the head of the Geological Survey concludes that recreational lava fights may cause burns.
1972 – The citizens of East Pakistan rename their country to what everybody’s already calling it anyway.
1973 – Major League Baseball decides it’s all right that if American League pitchers suck too much at hitting, old guys who suck to much at fielding can take their place.
1994 – Helmut Poppendick dies. Yeah, yeah, get it out of your system. Don’t feel bad for laughing at him though. Dude was a Nazi doctor; fuck ‘im.

On January 6 in History:
1066 – Harold Godwinson is crowned King of England, largely by virtue of the fact that he is the only one of the three major claimants currently in England. He also actually speaks English, which I've heard is a plus.
1205 – Phillip of Swabia (which is in Germany) becomes King of the Romans. No Romans live within his domain.
1412 – A girl named Jehenne (Jeanne/Joan) is born in the town of Domrémy. There is no place called Arc. Is everything a lie????
1492 – The Reconquista ends as Ferdinand and Isabella enter Granada. Barring any Re-reconquista shenanigans, that should bring an end to conflict on the Iberian Peninsula forever.
1540 – Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves. THIS one’s gonna last, you guys.
1690 – Joseph, King of Hungary, becomes King of the Romans. No Romans live there, either.
1839 – A massively powerful windstorm sweeps across Ireland, destroying over 20% of all houses in Dublin. The Irish are so traumatized, they can’t think of any better name for this than “The Night of the Big Wind”. No, really.
1919 – Theodore Roosevelt dies in his sleep. As Vice President Thomas Marshall observes, Death had to take him sleeping; if he’d been awake, there would have been a fight.
1984 – Kate McKinnon is born, already impersonating several other famous babies.
1995 – A terrorist plot to assassinate the Pope and blow up 11 commercial airliners is foiled when police investigate a chemical fire at the Manila apartment of the two plotters, and one of them is caught after tripping over a tree root while running away. Try to picture it without including cartoon sound effects. You can’t.

On Jan. 4 in History:
1642 - Charles I of England tries to have several members of Parliament arrested. There is some resistance to the idea, to say the least.
1643 - Sir Isaac Newton is born. Yes, today. Not on Christmas, because the Julian Calendar is stupid.
1649 - The remnants of Parliament (known as the "Rump" Parliament) vote to put Charles I on trial for treason. Best served cold, indeed!
1847 - Samuel Colt sells his revolver to the U.S. government, who immediately place an order for 10 million more, despite the military saying they only need around 120,000.
1853 - Solomon Northup regains his freedom after being kidnapped and forced into slavery 12 years prior. Several Academy Award Statuettes are prepared in advance.
1854 - In a remarkable coincidence, the McDonald Islands are discovered by none other than Captain William McDonald. What are the odds? Problems arise when his ship won't fit in the drive thru lane.
1865 - The New York Stock Exchange opens out of the growing need for a quick shorthand method of measuring the country's prosperity without actually talking to any people.
1889 - Feeling they've kept up the pretense long enough, the U.S. government backs out on yet another deal with Native Americans and opens up vast swaths of land in Oklahoma for settlement on a "first come, first serve" basis, to begin on April 22. Of course everyone waits patiently for that date to arrive, and everything is done entirely above-board.
1903 - Topsy the elephant is electrocuted. The execution was recorded by Thomas Edison's film company. While it is true that Edison once often electrocuted animals in attempts to discredit Nikola Tesla's AC power, that dispute is long since settled and Edison is involved now purely "for the lulz."
1958 - Sputnik 1 falls to Earth after three successful months of beeping.
1999 - Former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn is as governor of Minnesota. Americans are assured this is the silliest that U.S. politics will ever get.

On Jan. 4 in History:
1642 - Charles I of England tries to have several members of Parliament arrested. There is some resistance to the idea, to say the least.
1643 - Sir Isaac Newton is born. Yes, today. Not on Christmas, because the Julian Calendar is stupid.
1649 - The remnants of Parliament (known as the "Rump" Parliament) vote to put Charles I on trial for treason. Best served cold, indeed!
1847 - Samuel Colt sells his revolver to the U.S. government, who immediately place an order for 10 million more, despite the military saying they only need around 120,000.
1853 - Solomon Northup regains his freedom after being kidnapped and forced into slavery 12 years prior. Several Academy Award Statuettes are prepared in advance.
1854 - In a remarkable coincidence, the McDonald Islands are discovered by none other than Captain William McDonald. What are the odds? Problems arise when his ship won't fit in the drive thru lane.
1865 - The New York Stock Exchange opens out of the growing need for a quick shorthand method of measuring the country's prosperity without actually talking to any people.
1889 - Feeling they've kept up the pretense long enough, the U.S. government backs out on yet another deal with Native Americans and opens up vast swaths of land in Oklahoma for settlement on a "first come, first serve" basis, to begin on April 22. Of course everyone waits patiently for that date to arrive, and everything is done entirely above-board.
1903 - Topsy the elephant is electrocuted. The execution was recorded by Thomas Edison's film company. While it is true that Edison once often electrocuted animals in attempts to discredit Nikola Tesla's AC power, that dispute is long since settled and Edison is involved now purely "for the lulz."
1958 - Sputnik 1 falls to Earth after three successful months of beeping.
1999 - Former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn is as governor of Minnesota. Americans are assured this is the silliest that U.S. politics will ever get.

On January 3rd in History:
1521 - Martin Luther is excommunicated. The older boys kicked him out of their club for pointing out their rules were stupid.
1777 - George Washington defeats Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton. Foreshadowing!
1823 - The Mexican government awards a grant of land in Texas to one Stephen F. Austin. They will come to regret this.
1861 - Delaware votes not to secede from the United States. Allegations that this was solely so they wouldn't lose their spot as "first state" are denied vigorously and with much huffing.
1868 - The Tokugawa shogunate is abolished, paving the way for the emperor of Japan to actually do things that emperors do.
1892 - J.R.R. Tolkien is born, altering the course of nerd subculture for generations.
1925 - Benito Mussolini casually announces that he is taking over Italy and forming a dictatorship, and what are you going to do about it? Nothing? Thought so.
1947 - For the first time, proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised. For the last time, people watch them.
1959 - Alaska becomes the 49th state. The fact that no one lives in Alaska and you have to go through Canada to get there is apparently deemed irrelevant.
1961 - The United States cuts off all ties to Cuba and proceeds to give them the silent treatment for the next 54 years, because we're totally mature like that.
1977 - A tiny little startup called Apple Computers is incorporated. I doubt it'll last.
1994 - Over 7 million people become South African citizens as a result of the end of apartheid. The run on the DMV is insane.
2000 - The last original Peanuts strip is published. Those who hope it can fade away with dignity are about to be sorely disappointed.

On Jan. 4 in History:
1642 - Charles I of England tries to have several members of Parliament arrested. There is some resistance to the idea, to say the least.
1643 - Sir Isaac Newton is born. Yes, today. Not on Christmas, because the Julian Calendar is stupid.
1649 - The remnants of Parliament (known as the "Rump" Parliament) vote to put Charles I on trial for treason. Best served cold, indeed!
1847 - Samuel Colt sells his revolver to the U.S. government, who immediately place an order for 10 million more, despite the military saying they only need around 120,000.
1853 - Solomon Northup regains his freedom after being kidnapped and forced into slavery 12 years prior. Several Academy Award Statuettes are prepared in advance.
1854 - In a remarkable coincidence, the McDonald Islands are discovered by none other than Captain William McDonald. What are the odds? Problems arise when his ship won't fit in the drive thru lane.
1865 - The New York Stock Exchange opens out of the growing need for a quick shorthand method of measuring the country's prosperity without actually talking to any people.
1889 - Feeling they've kept up the pretense long enough, the U.S. government backs out on yet another deal with Native Americans and opens up vast swaths of land in Oklahoma for settlement on a "first come, first serve" basis, to begin on April 22. Of course everyone waits patiently for that date to arrive, and everything is done entirely above-board.
1903 - Topsy the elephant is electrocuted. The execution was recorded by Thomas Edison's film company. While it is true that Edison once often electrocuted animals in attempts to discredit Nikola Tesla's AC power, that dispute is long since settled and Edison is involved now purely "for the lulz."
1958 - Sputnik 1 falls to Earth after three successful months of beeping.
1999 - Former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn is as governor of Minnesota. Americans are assured this is the silliest that U.S. politics will ever get.

 
In Geology, Time is measured in millions of years.
In Astronomy, Time is measured in billions of years.
In EGS, Time is measured on a scale no mortal human can truly understand.

Wow, it's been longer than I thought! Time to get one more update in before Christmas; the next one will probably be the end-of-year final tally.

Mon. Nov. 12, 2018
Grace: 804
Sam: 25 (1st appearance since 2015)
Sarah: 636
 
Wed. Nov. 14, 2018
Grace: 805
Sarah: 637
 
Fri. Nov. 16, 2018
Sarah: 638
Sam: 26
 
Mon. Nov. 19, 2018
Grace: 806
Sarah: 639
Sam: 27
 
Wed. Nov. 21, 2018
Sarah: 640
Grace: 807
Sam: 28
 
Fri. Nov. 23, 2018
Grace: 808
 
Mon. Nov. 26, 2018
Justin: 418
Grace: 809
 
Wed. Nov. 28, 2018
Justin: 419
Grace: 810
Luke: 59 (1st appearance since 2015)
 
Fri. Nov. 30, 2018
Grace: 811
Luke: 60
Justin: 420
Sarah: 641
Tedd: 737
 
Mon. Dec. 3, 2018
Grace: 812
Sarah: 642
Tedd: 738
Luke: 61
Justin: 421
 
Wed. Dec. 5, 2018
Justin: 422
Luke: 62
Mr. Tensaided: 64
Sarah: 643
 
Fri. Dec. 7, 2018
Grace: 813
 
Mon. Dec. 10, 2018
Grace: 814
Sarah: 644
 
Wed. Dec. 12, 2018
Sarah: 645
Grace: 815
Larry: 34 (1st appearance since 2014)
Rich: 26 (1st appearance since 2014)
Tedd: 739
Mr. Tensaided: 65
George: 46 (1st appearance since 2014)

Fri. Dec. 14, 2018
Grace: 816
Justin: 423
Sarah: 646
Tedd: 740
 
Mon. Dec. 17, 2018
Justin: 424
Grace: 817
Tedd: 741
Sarah: 647
 
FULL COUNT:

Ok, complete tangent, but there's that CD-DVD burning software called Nero Burning Rom, and it just occurred to me that it's an e short of Nero Burning Rome, and it's embarrassing that I never made the connection before....

Hey everyone,
I apologise for my long silence, but I have been very ill. Early in October I caught a bad infection and was hospitalised. It turned out to be e. coli and it proved very resistant to treatment. They were forced to use an extremely strong antibiotic on me, and it sent me into a coma for thirteen days. When I woke up again I was so weak I could barely move. I spent another six weeks bedridden.
I am finally starting to improve again and am gradually becoming more mobile. I can move with the aid of a walker (HUGE improvement on a wheelchair) and I am currently under retraining. My doctor is optimistic about my recovery. At one point my kidneys stopped working but they are recovering, too. I suspect the load from that hyper-antibiotic was more than they could handle.
In any event, I am back and hoping to be at least somewhat active. I hope everybody here is well.
Best regards,
The Old Hack.

 
He can't. I have a copyright on that joke.

On October 31 in History:
475 - Romulus Augustulus becomes Western Roman Emperor. I do love a good set of bookends.
1517 - Martin Luther is upset with - among other things - the Church's practice of selling plenary indulgences, a method of fleecing money from people in exchange for empty promises of salvation. He comes up with an astonishing 95 arguments that the Church is full of shit, and in so doing inadvertently sets in motion the process of the Protestant Reformation, a process that will ultimately - among other things - result in the creation of Evangelical megachurches, a method of fleecing money from people in exchange for empty promises of earthly prosperity. Meet the new god, same as the old god.
1917 - At the Battle of Beersheba, soldiers riding horses run right into the enemy army as they have been doing for thousands of years. This is the last time it ever actually works.
1918 - Austria-Hungary becomes Austria and Hungary.
1922 - Benito Mussolini becomes prime minister of Italy. His primary skills are posturing, maintaining a cult of personality, and stirring up nationalist fervor. Why does that sound so familiar?
1926 - Italian independent newspaper Il Mondo is shut down by the Mussolini government for being outspoken against the regime. No need to worry; I'm sure this isn't relevant.
1941 - Construction of Mount Rushmore is finished, if by "finished", you mean they ran out of money, looked at the 25% completed project and said, "Eh, good enough." And then left without cleaning up their mess.
1967 – American rapper Robert Matthew Van Winkle is born, preceded inexplicably by some vanilla beans and two bags of ice.
1998 - Iraq decides the UN can't boss them around, and they're not going to comply with weapons inspectors anymore. I mean really, what are they going to do about it? Nothing? That's what I thought.
2000 - Humans start living in space. We've been up there continuously ever since. Go us.
2011 – The human population hits 7 billion. You know, give or take a few hundred thousand.

 
I just started playing again, since they've recently added Gen IV Pokemon, and I always go crawling back whenever they add something new.
 
My code is 6218 9334 3968 if you wanna be friends; I've got a stockpile of gifts I need to get rid of.

I haven't been handing out likes because I'm stingy with them, but I wanted to say how much I appreciate this thread. It's really nice to be able to look forward to a few minutes of history mixed with humor every day.

On September 24 in History:
768 - Frankish king Pepin the Short dies. I hope his sons are up to the challenge or this kingdom could fall apart really fast.
787 - A bunch of dudes in funny hats gather in Nicaea (again) to discuss how to Christian. On the docket: veneration of icons. On the one hand, pretty sure there's a relevant commandment about that, but on the other hand, hells yeah!
1572 - Túpac Amaru, the last king of the Inca, is executed by the Spanish. Conspiracy theories that he's still alive about, though admittedly become less and less credible with each passing year.
1830 - Two distinct culture groups stitched together Frankenstein style form the provisional government of Belgium. This will work splendidly.
1877 - The Battle of Shiroyama cements the new order in Japan over the old samurai traditions. Contrary to popular belief, Tom Cruise was not a samurai, and the "last" refers to the group (plural) he fought with.
1890 - Mormons officially denounce polygamy (though a small number continue to practice it on the DL for a while longer) because they really want Utah to be a state.
1948 - The civic-minded Honda Motor Company makes an accord with the public to sell them fit automobiles that will shuttle them about the city. I am so sorry.
1957 - President Eisenhower has had it with Arkansas governor Orval Faubus's bullshit.
1973 - Guinea Bissau declares independence from Portugal. If you read these regularly, you'll know they'll need to wait almost a year before they get it. South Ossetia plays the world's smallest violin.
1991 - They brought in the experts from medical college, who doctored and nursed with all of their knowledge. They tested with chemo and lots of bed rest, they tried litting puffbeezers sit on his chest. But no matter the method, there just was no answer, Theodore Geisel has perished from cancer. And think now of this, and think of it well, for just one cheap laugh I'll now be roasting in hell.
1993 - Norodom Sihanouk is crowned king of Cambodia, a position he himself abdicated and dissolved 38 years prior. In the interim, he has served as Cambodia's prime minister, leader of its single ruling party, official head of state, leader of its government in exile, right hand figurehead to Pol Pot, leader of an exiled resistance group, head of state again, and finally president. "I wish I knew how to quit you, Cambodia."
2014 - India is the first nation on Earth to put something into Mars orbit on their first try. Unfortunately, the best joke I could think of for this would probably be at least a little bit racist.

On September 24 in History:
768 - Frankish king Pepin the Short dies. I hope his sons are up to the challenge or this kingdom could fall apart really fast.
787 - A bunch of dudes in funny hats gather in Nicaea (again) to discuss how to Christian. On the docket: veneration of icons. On the one hand, pretty sure there's a relevant commandment about that, but on the other hand, hells yeah!
1572 - Túpac Amaru, the last king of the Inca, is executed by the Spanish. Conspiracy theories that he's still alive about, though admittedly become less and less credible with each passing year.
1830 - Two distinct culture groups stitched together Frankenstein style form the provisional government of Belgium. This will work splendidly.
1877 - The Battle of Shiroyama cements the new order in Japan over the old samurai traditions. Contrary to popular belief, Tom Cruise was not a samurai, and the "last" refers to the group (plural) he fought with.
1890 - Mormons officially denounce polygamy (though a small number continue to practice it on the DL for a while longer) because they really want Utah to be a state.
1948 - The civic-minded Honda Motor Company makes an accord with the public to sell them fit automobiles that will shuttle them about the city. I am so sorry.
1957 - President Eisenhower has had it with Arkansas governor Orval Faubus's bullshit.
1973 - Guinea Bissau declares independence from Portugal. If you read these regularly, you'll know they'll need to wait almost a year before they get it. South Ossetia plays the world's smallest violin.
1991 - They brought in the experts from medical college, who doctored and nursed with all of their knowledge. They tested with chemo and lots of bed rest, they tried litting puffbeezers sit on his chest. But no matter the method, there just was no answer, Theodore Geisel has perished from cancer. And think now of this, and think of it well, for just one cheap laugh I'll now be roasting in hell.
1993 - Norodom Sihanouk is crowned king of Cambodia, a position he himself abdicated and dissolved 38 years prior. In the interim, he has served as Cambodia's prime minister, leader of its single ruling party, official head of state, leader of its government in exile, right hand figurehead to Pol Pot, leader of an exiled resistance group, head of state again, and finally president. "I wish I knew how to quit you, Cambodia."
2014 - India is the first nation on Earth to put something into Mars orbit on their first try. Unfortunately, the best joke I could think of for this would probably be at least a little bit racist.

Now that's just not true. Ships managed their foresails with booms long before that.

An incredibly courageous German diplomat caught wind of what was going on and he and some of his friends risked their lives in getting word out before the operation started. Many Danish Jews quietly prepared for flight. On the night between October 1 and October 2, 1943 the Nazis started their action but only caught 500 Danish Jews, or about 5% of the total. The rest managed to escape to Sweden or simply to stay hidden in the time that followed.
I have mentioned that my own family was part of this. My uncle Per was only a few months old, and my grandfather and grandmother did not dare to bring him along for fear that his crying would bring the Nazis down on them. Instead my family's beloved and loyal nanny Gerda took charge of him and went out of town, pretending that he was her own. My grandparents and my eight year old father then went to the coast hoping to find transport across the Sound. They could not find a vessel willing to carry them but managed to buy a leaky rowboat for the exorbitant price of five thousand crowns, or roughly thirty to fifty thousand dollars in today's currency. The rowboat nearly sank and one time they feared they had been turned around, but they finally reached Sweden. Fortunately they were not greeted by a Nazi-sympathising government that separated my father from his parents and sent him to a children's internment camp. I am very thankful for that.
Faithful Gerda stayed hidden for three months but rumour got around that she was hiding a Jewish baby and she was forced to flee. She managed to reach Sweden and started to search for my grandparents. Once again, the Swedes did not seize my uncle and send him to a holding facility for refugee babies. And after many weeks of searching she found my grandparents and my father. It was an emotional reunion and Gerda was part of my family for the rest of her life.
Of course, this would have been impossible without the cooperation of many Danish politicians, police officers and civilians. Fortunately not all of the fleeing families had to deal with greedy war profiteers to escape. And happily and importantly, when it became possible to return home to Denmark again, the way opened by the Allied soldiers who fought so long and hard to destroy the Nazi abomination, Danish Jews were welcomed home. My own family found their apartment completely untouched if a bit dusty. All that was missing was a bottle of brandy that the janitor had availed himself of, and given how well he had taken care of everything my family hardly begrudged him that.
I owe my life and freedom to the German officials who leaked a warning of the upcoming purge, to the Danish politicians who quietly spread the word, to all the people who aided in the flight, to the Swedes who so generously gave shelter to my family and so many others, and of course to the efforts of the American and English soldiers -- and to all the Americans and English who worked so hard and paid so much back in their homes. My wife's grandfather, a Captain in the U. S. Corps of Engineers, fought his way from D-Day to Berlin, missing only the Ardennes offensive because he was on Christmas leave. It was a privilege to have known him. (Lord, but the man hated Nazis. I find it hard to blame him.)
This story is very much on my mind these days. I apologise for rambling about it, but I feel better with it out here. Thank you all.

Technically, V'GER was Voyager 6, NASA stopped after 2 so really you can say that NASA took The Motion Picture as a warning.