This page features brief excerpts of stories published by the mainstream
media and, less frequently, blogs, alternative media, and even obviously
biased sources. The excerpts are taken directly from the websites cited in
each source note. Quotation marks are not used.
Source: Toronto Star
February 19, 2010
John Babcock, Canada’s last World War I veteran, has died at the age of 109.A 16-year-old when he went in search of military glory, Babcock was the last of the 650,000 men and women Canada recruited to serve in the “war to end all wars.”Prime Minister Stephen Harper saluted Babcock Thursday, paying tribute to “Canada’s last living link to the Great War, which in so many ways marked our coming of age as a nation.”...Babcock’s death leaves behind two other known World War 1
Source: St. Catharines Standard
January 25, 2010
Niagara-on-the-Lake's most recognizable War of 1812 site is getting a major $2.75-million facelift.
Extensive restoration work of the 80-year-old replica of Fort George started about three weeks ago.
The project, the biggest in the national historic site's history, will stabilize the crumbling structure.
Six large bastions, or cannon platforms, and sections of decaying palisade, or wooden fence, are being replaced to strengthen the outer walls of the fort.
Source: Niagara Falls Review (CA)
February 9, 2010
Just the thought of moving is enough to stress most people out. Imagine having to pack up more than 20,000 artifacts - including a large moose head, among all the pieces -from a museum.
It's a big job that was put into the hands of professionals, but it also took plenty of help from dedicated volunteers and staff at the Niagara Falls Historical Museum.
For two days last week, moving trucks were loaded with boxes and wooden crates of all sizes and shapes from the former
Source: Wheaton Leader (IL)
February 15, 2010
Ed Finch was dumbfounded at his discovery.
As museum director for the Stephenson County Historical Society in Freeport, one of Finch's duties is keeping track of all the artifacts and information received at the museum. While exploring a fireproof safe at the museum last week, Finch ran across documents in a box which had obviously been untouched for some time.
As he examined the contents of the box, a small sheaf of papers commanded his attention.
“I thoug
Source: WRVO
February 3, 2010
The governor's proposed budget cuts will likely mean that some state parks will have to close. At a legislative hearing late last week, NYS Parks Commissioner Carole Ash would not reveal which parks are on the chopping block.
During the legislative hearing, Ash said that she sees no alternative to closing some parks this summer given the 22 percent cut the governor has recommended to the Office of Parks and Historic Preservation....
Source: BBC History Magazine
February 18, 2010
This year marks the 1600th anniversary of the end of the Roman empire. To mark the occasion, next month’s edition of BBC History Magazine will investigate the reasons behind the empire's collapse and its legacy in Britain. Until then, we've come up with a few suggestions to get you in the mood.If you’re keen to fine-tune your Roman knowledge, a wide-ranging study of their customs, beliefs and society can be found on the
Source: BBc News
February 19, 2010
The true site of one of the most decisive battles in English history has been revealed.
Bosworth, fought in 1485, which saw the death of Richard III, was believed to have taken place on Ambion Hill, near Sutton Cheney in Leicestershire.
But a study of original documents and archaeological survey of the area has now pinpointed a site in fields more than a mile to the south west.
A new trail will lead from the current visitor centre to the new location.
Source: NYT
February 18, 2010
If you’ve ever been kidnapped by aliens from outer space, don’t complain to the British Ministry of Defense.
“Abduction is a criminal offense and as such is a matter for the civil police to handle,” the ministry advised a constituent from Lancashire. “The police can only investigate allegations of abduction if there is evidence to suggest that such a crime has taken place. As to date, the M.O.D. is not aware of any evidence which might substantiate the existence of extraterrestrial
Source: FOX News
February 18, 2010
Former President Bill Clinton acknowledged “remorse” for his role in the events that led to his impeachment and acquittal Wednesday, even as he renewed his attacks on his old nemesis, former independent counsel Kenneth Starr.
“I expressed my remorse at the time,” the former president told a Manhattan audience during a childhood obesity event Wednesday afternoon. “And my remorse does not have anything to do with whether what was done was legal or constitutional.”
Rather,
Source: The Telegraph (UK)
February 18, 2010
The US government has reached a historic $1.25 billion settlement with black farmers who were discriminated against when they tried to get loans and other assistance.
The settlement puts to rest a class-action lawsuit launched in 1997 by thousands of African-American farmers left out of programs because of alleged racism in the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the landmark settlement was the result of President Barack Obama's f
Source: LocalNet
February 17, 2010
President Nicolas Sarkozy is bringing a French plan to rebuild Haiti with him on Wednesday's visit to the Caribbean country, a trip officials hope will usher in a new era between France and its former colony.
Some Haitians are welcoming France's new interest in their earthquake-shattered nation as a counterbalance to the United States, which has sent troops there three times in the past 16 years.
But Sarkozy's visit, the first ever by a French president to what was its
Source: NPR
February 17, 2010
[I]s the D.C. dysfunction really so unusual? In a word, yes.
Historians and politicos alike say the current rancor on the Hill is, indeed, historic, and has been building over recent decades to a level unlike any in modern times. Some had to reach back to the late 1800s and the progressive movement to find comparable Capitol Hill acrimony. It exceeds that of the 1940s, when Harry Truman ran against a "do-nothing" Congress to win the White House, and the sharp partisanship
Source: BBC
February 18, 2010
Prehistoric seas were filled with giant plankton-eating fish which died out at the same time as the dinosaurs, new fossil evidence suggests.
Scientists from Glasgow, Oxford and the United States have identified fossil evidence which shows the fish existed between 66 and 172 million years ago.
They believe it may be a "missing piece in the evolutionary story of fish, mammals and ocean ecosystems".
The findings of the research are published in the
Source: BBC
February 18, 2010
Former New York City police chief Bernard Kerik, hailed as a hero after the 9/11 attacks, has been sentenced to four years in jail.
Kerik pleaded guilty in November to eight charges, including lying to the White House and tax evasion.
He lied while being vetted for the post of homeland security chief in 2004.
Federal judge Stephen Robinson said the fact that Kerik, 54, used the attacks for "personal gain and aggrandisement" was "a dark plac
Source: Science Daily
February 18, 2010
A study led by University of Pittsburgh researchers could finally lay to rest the millennia-old conjecture that the ancient empire of Carthage regularly sacrificed its youngest citizens. An examination of the remains of Carthaginian children revealed that most infants perished prenatally or very shortly after birth and were unlikely to have lived long enough to be sacrificed, according to a Feb. 17 report in PLoS One.
The findings -- based on the first published analysis of the skel
Source: Pilot Online (VA)
February 18, 2010
North Carolina's curriculum controversy may soon be history. The proposal to start high school history courses at 1877 is likely to disappear in the next curriculum draft due in April.
"I would expect that will not be part of that second draft," said Vanessa Jeter, communications director for the state Department of Public Instruction, on Wednesday. "I would expect there will be more U.S. History in high school."
Source: New York Times
February 17, 2010
The discovery of the nearly intact Hindu temple was a reminder of the long religious trajectory of the country that now has the world’s largest Muslim population. In few places on earth have three major religions intermixed with such intensity and proximity as in Indonesia’s island of Java. If the sultan of Yogyakarta’s palace lies at the heart of this city, Java’s spiritual center, the world’s largest Buddhist monument, Borobudur, and one of its largest Hindu temples, Prambanan, stand in its ou
Source: BBC
February 18, 2010
A Nazi helmet worth £1,700 has been stolen from The Historic Dockyard Chatham in Kent.
Police said the German SS camouflage head gear was taken from a stall in the dockyard's Main Gate Road on Sunday at about 1100 GMT.
The green helmet, which has a red flag with a white circle and a swastika painted on the side, dates back to World War II.
Source: BBC
February 18, 2010
A wooden object claimed to be a replica of the Biblical Ark of the Covenant has gone on display at a Zimbabwe museum.
The "ngoma lungundu" belongs to the Lemba people - black Africans who claim Jewish ancestry.
They say the vessel was built almost 700 years ago from the remains of the original Ark, which the Bible says was used to store Moses' 10 Commandments.
For decades the ancient vessel was thought to be lost, until it was found in a storero
Source: AP
February 17, 2010
A home renovation in Jerusalem's Old City has yielded a rare Arabic inscription offering insight into the city's history under Muslim rule, Israeli archaeologists said Wednesday.
The fragment of a 1,100-year-old plaque is thought to have been made by an army veteran to express his thanks for a land grant from the Caliph al-Muqtadir, whom the inscription calls "Emir of the Faithful."
Dating from a time when Jerusalem was ruled from Baghdad by the Abbasid empire
