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November 1998 saw the withdrawal of the last Seattle Worldcon bid, killed by the regional manager of Starwood Hotels, who instructed their Seattle properties to accept no business from science fiction fans, not even with the Seattle Convention and Visitors' Bureau and the mayor's office begging them to change their mind. SFSFC would go on to host the 2002 Worldcon in San Jose by default.
Late 1908 seems to be when the 20th century really started taking shape. Out went the Congo Free State, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid; in came the Belgian Congo, the Model T, General Motors, Alastair Cooke, Gideon Bibles, and the quantum theory of light.
The last emperor of the Le Dynasty, an unpopular fellow by the name of Le Long Dinh, died in 1009 or late 1008 under murky circumstances. Who should just happen to be ready to step in but the popular commander of the palace guard, Ly Cong Uan? After taking control, he would move the capital from its defensive position at Hoa-lu to the old Chinese colonial capital of Dai La, renaming it Thang-long ("Soaring Dragon"). That still wasn't good enough for later generations, who eventually renamed it Hanoi.
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