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: Zenit
February 12, 2010
The Holy See is planning to publish on the Internet, free of charge, several documents from the Vatican Secret Archives in relation to World War II.
The initiatives is partially in response to a petition from Pave the Way Foundation, an organization dedicated to bridging gaps between religions.
The foundation proposed making digital files of, and later publicizing, some 5125 descriptions and copies of documents from the closed section of the Vatican archives, from the
Source: Register Pajoronian (CA)
February 16, 2010
At the time it went down in 1,500 feet of frigid water five miles off the Point Sur coast, the USS Macon was among the largest airships ever built.
Now, after 75 years, the crash site has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday.
The Macon was designed to serve as a reconnaissance dirigible in the Pacific Theater during World War II. She stretched 785 feet and carried f
Source: wtop.com
February 14, 2010
Opposition is mounting to plans for a casino near one of the country's best known historical sites, Gettysburg National Military Park.
The park preserves most of the Gettysburg battlefield where the Union and Confederacy clashed in the summer of 1863 in a pivotal civil war battle.
"It was a turning point in the nation to end slavery," says Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va. "To put a gambling casino there would be wrong."
Adams County, Pa.
Source: New York Times
February 15, 2010
Early humans, possibly even prehuman ancestors, appear to have been going to sea much longer than anyone had ever suspected.
That is the startling implication of discoveries made the last two summers on the Greek island of Crete. Stone tools found there, archaeologists say, are at least 130,000 years old, which is considered strong evidence for the earliest known seafaring in the Mediterranean and cause for rethinking the maritime capabilities of prehuman cultures.
Cret
Source: World History Blog
February 10, 2010
While reading the Anabasis Alexandri (Robson translation) at the Ancient History Sourcebook at Fordham, I came upon a curious passage. It reads as though Alexander's men, in the course of the invasion of India, fought a pitched battle with a tribe of Yeti! Very strange but it is indeed in the account from antiquity. Here is the passage that suggests Yeti's, "Those captured were hairy, not only their heads but the rest of their bodies; their nails were rather like beasts' claws; they used th
Source: Fox News
February 15, 2010
The Obama administration has not ruled out a military trial for the professed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, especially since Congress may prohibit the funds for a civilian trial, Vice President Biden said Sunday.
Biden, in defending the Obama administration from critics of its approach to prosecuting accused terrorists, said it is not yet clear where Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Sept. 11 suspects held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will be tried.
Source: Fox News
February 15, 2010
Question: Who is honored on Presidents Day?
Answer: Not Ronald Reagan. Or Franklin D. Roosevelt. Or Grover Cleveland or Martin Van Buren.
FoxNews.com conducted an informal and very unscientific poll in midtown Manhattan on Monday and found there are a lot of people who think Presidents Day honors a lot of presidents — with responses ranging from George Washington (No. 1) to Barack Obama (No. 44), with many others in between.In 1971, Cong
Source: AFP
February 15, 2010
Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass, at 62, still bubbles with excitement whenever he announces the latest discovery of a tomb or relic, his eyes lighting up under the brim of his trademark Indiana Jones-style hat.
Aside from his love of the media limelight, Hawass is locked in battle to assert Egypt's sovereignty over its heritage, even if that means crossing swords with the world's most prestigious museums.
His style and patriotism will be on show again on Wednesday
Source: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
February 15, 2010
One of the largest wine presses ever revealed in an archaeological excavation in the country, which was used to produce wine in the Late Byzantine period (sixth-seventh centuries CE), was recently exposed in excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority. The excavation was carried out in a region that will be the farmland of Ganei Tal, a new community slated to be built for the evacuees from Gush Katif.
The impressive wine press is 1,400 years old and measures 6.5 x 16.5
Source: BBC
February 14, 2010
Once threatened with extinction, Azerbaijan's most ancient form of music is enjoying a renaissance. Mugham - a unique genre blending throaty song with a special trio of instruments - is being revived by the government through a series of festivals and school activities, as the BBC's Tom Esslemont discovers.
Mugham is part of Azerbaijan's rich culture. The country sits on the crossroads between Iran and the Caucasus mountains at the confluence of the Islamic world and Christendom.
Source: Yahoo Education
February 15, 2010
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, once suggested that we "remember that our nation's first great leaders were also our first great scholars."
Case in point: Five of our first six U.S. presidents received a college degree, and the sixth, George Washington, received a surveyor's certificate from The College of William and Mary.
Lyndon B. Johnson earned his teaching certificate from Southwest Texas State Teachers College in 1930 (now Texas
Source: CNN
February 15, 2010
Retailers open their doors Monday and roll out big sales to entice customers. Government employees -- along with kids -- have the day off. But do you know why?
The actual federal holiday is called "Washington's Birthday," after the nation's first president, George Washington.
According to the Gregorian calendar, adopted by England and its colonies after Washington was born, his birth date was February 22, 1732. (The Julian calendar has him born on February 11
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 14, 2010
The admission ends more than 30 years of silence over one of the most elaborate and expensive projects of the Cold War.
The CIA has always refused to confirm even the barest details of Project Azorian, a daring 1974 exercise that was backed by the industrialist Howard Hughes and estimated to have cost £1 billion in today's money.
However, following an application to declassify the information under the US Freedom of Information Act, the CIA has released an internal acco
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 15, 2010
A cannon fired from the attic as a special effect on June 29 1613 was meant to hit the Thames, but struck the Globe's thatched roof and destroyed the whole playhouse.
The theatre was rebuilt just one year later, but the Globe's artistic director Dominic Dromgoole will be hoping for better luck when the new production opens in May.
Mr Dromgoole said: ''Normally I would think that Henry VIII would be box office poison but we seem to be living in a period of Tudor gold dus
Source: NYT
February 15, 2010
A year ago, this blog pointed to an interview with a British historian who contended that the destruction of Dresden, 65 years ago this past weekend, had a clear military rationale, since it was a communications and transit hub. “I remain unconvinced that maximizing civilian casualties, rather than winning the war by whatever means necessary,” was the chief objective, said Frederick Taylor.
But recently in The New Statesman, Leo McKinstry sifted through archives that he says contrad
Source: BBC
February 14, 2010
Thousands of people have gathered in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, to mark the fifth anniversary of the killing of its former prime minister, Rafik Hariri.
He had been campaigning against Syrian involvement in Lebanon when he was killed with 21 others in a bombing.
Public protests led Syria to withdraw its troops after a 29-year deployment.
Source: Observer (UK)
February 14, 2010
For decades she has been seen as a decorative companion to Adolf Hitler, an apolitical "dumb blonde" whose attentions served as an occasional diversion for the Führer. But the first academic biography of Eva Braun draws a different picture of the dictator's long-standing girlfriend, claiming historians have hugely underestimated the role she played in his life.
Berlin historian Heike Görtemaker reveals her as a politically committed woman who won Hitler's affections, enjo
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 15, 2010
The Imperial Japanese Army's notorious medical research team carried out secret human experiments regarded as some of the worst war crimes in history.
Its scientists subjected more than 10,000 people per year to grotesque Josef Mengele-style torture in the name of science, including captured Russian soldiers and downed American aircrews.
The experiments included hanging people upside down until they choked, burying them alive, injecting air into their veins and placing
Source: NYT
February 13, 2010
They say economic collapse is what froze this place in time, a gold rush relic all but abandoned when the railroad passed it by. Decades later, that chance preservation positioned Jacksonville to benefit from new interest in the past. Boutiques moved to quaint California Street. Californians soon moved to town.
History sells, but now Jacksonville may learn that, the hard way.
The Southern Oregon Historical Society, which controls five of the most prominent historic prop
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 12, 2010
Wesley did not seek to break with the Anglican Church but his beliefs that it should reform by returning to the gospel proved intolerable to the establishment.
He was first labelled "methodist" because of the methodical worship which he practiced with like-minded friends with whom he met regularly in Oxford during his younger years.
Blocked from airing his views from the pulpit, he developed an unorthodox habit of touring the country on horseback or by carria
