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: LiveScience
March 8, 2011
Almost 2,000 years ago, 19 Roman soldiers rushed into a cramped underground tunnel, prepared to defend the Roman-held Syrian city of Dura-Europos from an army of Persians digging to undermine the city's mudbrick walls. But instead of Persian soldiers, the Romans met with a wall of noxious black smoke that turned to acid in their lungs. Their crystal-pommeled swords were no match for this weapon; the Romans choked and died in moments, many with their last pay of coins still slung in purses on th
Source: NYT
March 13, 2011
In its heyday, it was the epitome of an era that haunts us still as a fleeting moment of America on the cusp of something it never quite duplicated or achieved — money with style, sin that seemed innocent, human-scale pleasures, a jazz-inflected version of the American dream minus today’s cynicism and rust....
There was croquet on the 13 acres of lawn, illumined by car headlights and parties at all hours for what Swope’s wife, Margaret, described as “an absolutely seething bordello
Source: NYT
March 14, 2011
“Every Man Dies Alone,” a German novel about a husband and wife who oppose the Nazis in early 1940s Berlin, is about to be published there for second time, but with much more attention, the BBC News reported....
Source: Telegraph (UK)
March 13, 2011
As the nation’s favourite grandmother, it might be expected that Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother’s musical tastes would have been rather old-fashioned.
But her private music library - details of which were made public for the first time - show that the royal's preferences were remarkably eclectic.
Her collection included Caribbean steel bands, Canadian yodelling, Rodgers and Hammerstein show tunes, folk music, ska and even a top-selling pop album by Paul Simon.
Source: BBC News
March 11, 2011
The Associated Press has sued several retailers including Urban Outfitters for the unauthorised use of the Hope image created by artist Shepard Fairey.
Artist Fairey used an AP photo without permission to create the image, and was sued by the news agency for violating copyright. That case was settled.
AP argues that using the image on T-shirts is wilful and blatant violation of the copyright of the photo.
A spokesman said that using photos for free devalued
Source: BBC News
March 13, 2011
Previously undiscovered diaries have been found by an author based in the UK which show the intense relationship between Queen Victoria and the Indian man employed to be her teacher.
The diaries have been used by London-based author Shrabani Basu to update her book Victoria and Abdul - which tells the story of the queen's close relationship with a tall and handsome Indian Muslim called Abdul Karim.
The diaries add weight to suggestions that the queen was arguably far cl
Source: BBC News
March 13, 2011
From one of the earliest depictions of the continent - to the colonial scramble for land - the maps of Africa reveal a great deal about the people who have lived there through the centuries.
To try to shed new light on the African archives held by the Royal Geographical Society, London-based African community groups were asked for their views on the documents.
They spoke to Cliff Pereira and Zagba Oyortey - both African-born - who explain here how the maps tell the stor
Source: BBC News
March 14, 2011
Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has cast doubt on Britain's public stance that countries should not torture British citizens on its behalf.
He said he was never told that was the policy and this may have been "tacit approval of whatever we were doing".
His comments raise questions about how much MI5 knew about torture being used in the fight against al-Qaeda.
Former MI5 director general Elizabeth Manningham-Buller denied that "a bl
Source: NYT
March 12, 2011
In the ocean of multinational praise still swelling around last year’s Big British Movie, “The King’s Speech,” a lone curmudgeon’s dinghy managed to bob its way onto the waters of consent. The review, not surprisingly, came from France. “Here is but the latest manifestation of British narcissism,” grumbled Thomas Sotinel, a reviewer for Le Monde. “It can be summarized thusly: We are ugly and boring, but, by Jove! We are right!”
We get the ugly/boring part: in “The King’s Speech,” we
Source: NYT
March 12, 2011
The earthquake and tsunami that battered northern Japan on Friday set in motion one of the worst nuclear accidents in over two decades.
The International Atomic Energy Agency rates the severity of radiological events, with a scale starting at one, an “anomaly,” and rising to seven, a “major” accident. Six and seven designate full meltdown, where the nuclear fuel or core of a reactor overheats and melts. The scale of the ensuing uncontrolled release of radiation that follows differen
Source: Science Insider
March 10, 2011
Archaeologists are criticizing the ethics of a planned Smithsonian Institution exhibit, Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds, slated to open in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in 2012. The exhibit is based on artifacts hauled up from an Arab dhow that sank to the bottom of the Java Sea in the 9th century C.E. The wreck was salvaged by a private German company, Seabed Explorations GbR, in the late 1990s, and critics say that its divers did not observe professional archaeological standards
Source: The Independent (UK)
March 11, 2011
Archaeologists have found Britain's oldest properly engineered road, and the discovery could change the way we look at a key aspect of British history. Now, many of the country's key A roads – long thought to be Roman in origin – could now turn out to be substantially more British than scholars had thought.
The discoveries, in Shropshire, suggest that ancient Britons were building finely engineered, well-cambered and skilfully metalled roads before the Emperor Claudius's conquering
Source: BBC
March 10, 2011
Archaeological treasures that have been frozen for millennia are being destroyed because of climate change, according to Edinburgh researchers.
Remains in some of the coldest places on earth are being exposed as warmer temperatures cause ice and hardened ground to thaw.
Edinburgh University experts said the materials at risk included ancient tombs, artefacts and human remains.
They are often culturally significant, especially for indigenous populations.
Source: CNN
March 12, 2011
She is one of the best-known crime writers of all time but few know the extent of Agatha Christie's archaeological pedigree.
Married in 1930 to eminent archaeologist Max Mallowan, Christie spent two decades living on excavation sites in the Middle East, writing her crime novels and helping out with her husband's work.
Travel by boat and on the Orient Express to far-flung places such as Cairo, Damascus and Baghdad inspired some of Christie's best-known works of detective
Source: BBC
March 11, 2011
The three-year long war crimes trial of Liberia's ex-President Charles Taylor has closed for judges in The Hague to consider their verdict.
On the final day, the prosecution said Mr Taylor was an intelligent man who was hoping to fool the UN-backed court for Sierra Leone.
The defence team has argued that the trial has been politically motivated.
Mr Taylor denies 11 charges, including murder, rape and using child soldiers during the civil war in Sierra Leone
Source: BBC
March 12, 2011
It was known as the naughty boys' ship because it tried to turn around the lives of teenage delinquents.
The Clio trained hundreds for life in the royal or merchant navy when it was moored in the Menai Strait off Anglesey from 1877 to 1920.
Now its story is being retold at Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery, Bangor.
The exhibition on HMS Clio, a naval gunship reborn as a correction vessel, runs until 17 September.
Part-funded by local people, the C
Source: WaPo
March 13, 2011
...Two days after a massive earthquake and the resulting tsunami turned a strip of Japan into wreckage, the hardest-hit areas still don't have enough of what they need, according to those in shelters. There's not enough food, not enough water and no heat. And there are not enough resources to quickly reach - or even contact - the tens of thousands who remain missing.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan called the disaster the country's biggest crisis since World War II. Kan said that along coa
Source: BBC
March 13, 2011
A political party which wants an English Parliament has called for a referendum on making the Welsh county of Monmouthshire part of England.
The English Democrats, at their spring conference in Middlesex, say they want the vote to settle the issue.
Monmouthshire was the only area in the recent referendum to reject direct law-making powers for the Welsh assembly.
History shows Monmouthshire has been part of the old Welsh county of Gwent and its English neigh
Source: Telegraph (UK)
March 11, 2011
A new exhibition of Caravaggio's work has opened in a Roman church giving give fresh insight to the painter's technique.
The exhibition, in Rome's Palazzo Venezia, focuses on three great Caravaggio works – the Martyrdom of St. Matthew, the Calling of St. Matthew and St. Matthew and the Angel.
It supports a theory first put forward by the British artist David Hockney that the Renaissance artist used a primitive form of photography to create his paintings.
H
Source: Telegraph (UK)
March 13, 2011
Schoolchildren fail to grasp how events in history are linked because the subject is taught in “episodes”, an official report has warned.
The Ofsted report said many primary and secondary pupils are being let down by a curriculum which does not give them a “chronological understanding” of the subject - instead concentrating on individual topics from ancient Egypt to post-war Britain.
The education watchdog also said that history teaching is being marginalised in state
