March 19: The International Astronomical Union gathers online for an emergency meeting, intended to replace the current definition of a planet, due to 'strong reactions to the current designation of Pluto, particularly given that an exception was made for Neptune.' Rumour has it that many members of the IAU were personally visited by the Roman goddess Proserpina (Persepone, in Greek), to inform them that her husband Pluto, god of the dead, is not a dwarf by any measure, nor is he minor, and that they ought to remove such insults from their way of naming things in the Heavens, before he chooses to take notice, and smites them in great wrath.
March 20: On Earth Prime, the parents of the girls who were stripped by 'Darth Venger' file lawsuits against the school, school district, and so forth, for damages and emotional trauma caused by their failure to keep the video off the Internet (no, none of the girls were under eighteen - in fact, one fifth-year senior is nineteen - but that's not what their parents are angry about). They and others also join a lawsuit against the police department (and the city), for not arriving in time, or promptly capturing the offender. At the Tower of London, the late Queen Anne Boleyn engages in a lively theological discussion with several women taking the castle tour, among them an Anglican vicar and a Catholic nun. Also in Inp-England, the people of Nether Wallop are permitted to return to their village, which UNIT and the Royal Engineers cleaned and repaired for them, as an apology for the inconvenience. The place had never looked so good.
March 21: On Dp-Earth, James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes, a few days after his 17th birthday, applies to join the Army - which is very difficult, due to his youthful appearance. He is eventually recruited by the Military Intelligence Division, where his mastery of linguistics and disguise are greatly appreciated. Also on Dp-Earth, American businessman Andrew Ryan first has the glimmer of an idea that might become the under-sea city of Rapture. On Earth Prime, a rampage by an apparent 'Red Lantern' ends when a cop with a Sinestro Corps ring cuts off the finger that the perpetrator's ring is on. This results in the Red Lantern's death, as the ring had already rendered his heart unusable. Paramount Pictures and CBS make substantial donations to the IAU. In the UK, Scotland's devolved Government announces that a referendum on Scottish independence will be held on 18 September, 2014. Reactions off-planet are decidedly mixed, although the governments of Dp-Germany and the USSR come out strongly in favor of it, and of similar movements in Dp- and Stp-Scotland. Alex Salmond's reaction to this 'support' is... not printable.
March 24: The capsule from Dp-USA penetrates the three light-second bubble around Earth Prime, accompanied by the now-familiar particle spray. Captain Henry Wales of The Blues and Royals (Prince Henry of Wales) returns to Britain, and is seconded to UNIT UK. The Stp-Earth Papal expedition arrives in orbit of Earth Four. After a few hours of checks, the astronef
Sanctus Christopherus enters the atmosphere, splashing down around half past one in the afternoon, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Italia, just a bit west of (and easily visible from) the port of Ostia (which is in rather better shape than one might have expected from OTL history). In the Dp-UK, the seven greatest mystery guilds of the British Isles agree that while they dislike or despise each other, the Nazis are just that much more offensive, for various reasons. The Grand Masters of the seven styles (though not all of them use the same term for 'highest-ranking member') make an appointment to see King George, to renew the guilds' long-lapsed oaths to the Crown, and offer their services in the War, and in dragging the other mystery guilds into it. The Martian scout in the Earth One timeline reaches Earth One, and begins a survey, ignoring all attempts at communication.
March 25: DC Comics cancels all production of Black Lantern ring toys and props, and the destruction of existing stocks, as well as ordering a recall on them. Unfortunately, the warehouses are found to be empty of such rings, contrary to the records. Though this is reported to the police and the FBI, the government has lots of other things to worry about, and the law enforcement, intelligence, and military services don't admit to how concerned they are, wishing to avoid public panic over what
may be only a super-prank. On Stp-Earth, the Scandinavian Federation rocket field in Dutch Guiana (Surinam) launches its first interplanetary astronef towards Earth Two, carrying personnel and equipment from all signatories of the Compact of Mainz (the HRE and ScandFed are treated as single nations, rather than collectives). On Earth Four, initial reports from the Papal expedition tell of a strange sort of Clockpunk Renaissance world, in the year 1556.
March 26: The Martian scout in the Steampunk timeline returns to Stp-Earth, and begins a survey. Attempts to communicate with it are unsuccessful. On Inp-Earth, the result of the IAU meetings began on March 19 is published online: a new system, based loosely on
that published in Star Trek: Star Charts (they seem to have been in a great hurry), though several letters are left unused for future expansion, or have slightly different definitions. Under the new system, Sol has eleven planets, counting Pluto. The Martian scout ends its survey of Earth One early, being paced by two other vehicles - one triangular, the other more saucer-shaped. The three vessels dance around each-other for a few minutes, and then the scout fires off several small, glowing objects, some of which fail to hit either craft (though the ones that hit Earth's atmosphere make a pretty light show, exploding in the lower Mesosphere). The other vessels do not appear to fire back, but flashes on the scout's surface may be indicators that they do, possibly using lasers (which also means that one or both of the others could have fired first, but at an angle where we wouldn't see the flashes). The scout leaves on a course for Earth Two, followed at about 1,700 km by the two UFOs. As with the others, it comes to a dead stop when it crosses the portal, then zooms off for Mars Two. When the other spacecraft pass that point, however, they briefly keep going, then stop and go back, and then move forward again, only to once again stop. Observers on Dp-Earth indicate that the UFOs disappear when attempting to cross the barrier, and reappear when returning. Apparently, they can't cross into the other timeline. A number of sensitives on both Earth One and Earth Two claim to hear something at that moment, 'as if an ancient and powerful being were laughing, the way we might laugh at a cat, chasing a spot of light on a wall.'
March 27: On Clp-Earth, the Papal expedition reports that they are unable to meet with the Pope, Leo X, as yet, because he's busy meeting with ambassadors from Venice. That's important because a few years after the election of the previous Pope, Joan II (Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Alexander VI, and mother of Leo X - all three Earths with radio are rather surprised by this, as well as the fact that they have three female cardinals, one of whom is known to be the lover of Leo X, and mother of his 'cardinal nephew'), Venice tracked down a relative of Constantine XI Palaiologos, crowned him Emperor Emanuel III Paleologus, and claimed to be the Eastern Roman Empire. The took Montferrat (the other nation ruled by a Paleogus) through a dynastic marriage in 1510, are a rising power in Italia, with more and more seeing them as a legitimate successor to Rome, itself (something the Pope and the HRE both rather dispute). Currently, they're trying to stir up a Crusade against the Turks, to reclaim Greece and Constantinople.
March 28: The Dp-USA capsule enters Inp-Earth's atmosphere, and makes a fairly soft landing at Area 51, pleasing and/or worrying conspiracy theorists all over the planet. The capsule, which looks like a slightly larger and sleeker Apollo Command Module, is found to contain: about a tonne of neatly organized microfilm, half a tonne of equipment and materials, a little over a third of a tonne of frozen and/or otherwise preserved biological samples, and about another third of a tonne of lead and a third of a tonne of water, as radiation shielding - mostly around said biological samples. The Martian scout in the Steampunk timeline finishes its survey, and returns to the Earth Two universe.
March 30: A number of old famous people on Earth One have been reporting improved health and 'feeling younger' since the first Dp-Earth probe arrived. Also, some older or better-known actors and actresses seem to be gaining powers consistent with their more famous roles (though greatly toned down, in the more powerful cases). This is demonstrated quite strongly when a Neo-Nazi attempts to assassinate Sir Christopher Lee, and is rendered unconscious by bolts of force lightning. Interestingly, despite the use of 'The Dark Side', his personality seems unchanged. Even Jedi and other psychics feel that he's still very much himself, not Dooku, nor Saruman, nor Dracula. Lee, Sir Ian McKellen, and Ian McDiarmid are officially hired by UNIT for part-time research work.