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: BBC
February 8, 2011
Samples of the world's oldest beer have been taken in a bid to determine its recipe - and brew it again.
In July 2010, a Baltic Sea shipwreck dated between 1800 to 1830 yielded many bottles of what is thought to be the world's oldest champagne.
Five of the bottles later proved to be the oldest drinkable beer yet found.
The local government of the Aland island chain where the wreck was found has now commissioned a scientific study to unpick the beer's origin
Source: BBC
February 8, 2011
A new exhibition in Great Yarmouth is examining whether Admiral Lord Nelson was a philanderer or a family man.
Nelson infamously had an affair with Lady Emma Hamilton while still married to his wife Fanny.
The Nelson Museum's exhibition, which features items from his private life, will allow visitors to examine his life and draw their own conclusions.
Nelson was born in Burnham Thorpe, north Norfolk, in 1758 and his most notable achievement was leading th
Source: Wired (UK)
February 8, 2011
Archaeologists have expressed their concerns about legislation that requires human remains discovered in ancient settlements to be reburied within two years.
In a series of letters to justice secretary Ken Clarke, leading archaeology professors and members of RESCUE, The British Archaeological Trust, explain how the legislation is causing "severe damage to research and the advancement of knowledge".
The concern stems from changes to the conditions of licenses
Source: NPR
February 7, 2011
Some of China's most treasured antiquities — the mummies of Xinjiang — have been museum-hopping in America for the past few months. It took decades of negotiations to get them here. And they've been seen by tens of thousands of visitors at museums in Santa Ana, Calif., and Houston.
But a much-anticipated final stop in Philadelphia — where the mummies were meant to headline the Secrets of the Silk Road exhibit at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology —
Source: BBC News
February 8, 2011
Film fans have been given their first glimpse of Hollywood actress Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in upcoming film The Iron Lady.
Shooting has just begun on the film, written by Sex Traffic's Abi Morgan and directed by Mamma Mia's Phyllida Lloyd.
The film follows Baroness Thatcher as she broke through class and gender barriers to become prime minister.
The film also stars Jim Broadbent as Denis Thatcher. The cast also includes Richard E Grant and Anthony
Source: BBC News
February 9, 2011
It was 50 years ago today that The Beatles played their first gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool - the venue where the band built their reputation and where Beatlemania was born.
Alex McKechnie, then 16, was in the crowd for that first show and went on to be a regular at the club:
"I saw The Beatles a few times in the north end of Liverpool and was working in Liverpool city centre as a messenger boy in a printing works when I heard that they were on at the Cavern
Source: BBC News
February 8, 2011
A portrait of the muse who transformed painter Pablo Picasso's life has sold for £25.2m ($40.7m) at Sotheby's auction house in London.
La Lecture went to an anonymous phone buyer after six minutes of bidding.
The masterpiece depicts Picasso's secret lover, Marie-Therese Walter, who was 17 when Picasso, then 45, met her in Paris for the first time.
Their relationship was kept secret for many years because of her age and because Picasso was married.
Source: WaPo
February 8, 2011
NEW YORK -- Nearly a decade after it was badly damaged by the falling south tower of the World Trade Center, a 41-story bank tower has finally been dismantled down to street level.
John DeLibero, a spokesman for the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., said the above-ground portion of the structure was gone as of Monday. It will take a few days to remove the basement of the former Deutsche Bank building situated across the street from the trade center site, he said.
The p
Source: BBC News
February 9, 2011
The war crimes trial of ex-Liberian leader Charles Taylor has been adjourned until Friday after he failed to attend the court in The Hague.
He and his lawyer walked out of proceedings on Tuesday during the closing arguments of the trial.
The prosecution has finished its oral submission and the defence was due to start its arguments.
Mr Taylor denies fuelling Sierra Leone's civil war in the 1990s by arming rebels.
He is charged with 11 counts of
Source: NYT
February 9, 2011
A feud over the estate of Betty Shabazz, the widow of Malcolm X, has created divisions among the couple’s six daughters and has resulted in something none of them had intended: keeping part of their father’s legacy from the public.
The daughters have traded accusations of irresponsibility, mental incapacity and fiscal mismanagement of the estate, which is worth about $1.4 million. But the greater value may reside in a trove of unpublished works from Malcolm X and Dr. Shabazz.
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
February 2, 2011
On February 2, the Department of Education announced that it was inviting applications for new awards under the Teaching American History (TAH) Grant Program for fiscal year (FY) 2011. However, the notice in the Federal Register makes clear that the Administration’s FY 2011 budget request did not include funding for the TAH program. It states, “We are inviting applications for the TAH program to al
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
February 1, 2011
On February 1, the National Park Service (NPS) and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) jointly announced the awarding of $14.3 million in federal competitive Save America’s Treasures (SAT) grants. A list of the recipients and their projects can be found at http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/treasures.The grants are made in collaboration with
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
February 1, 2011
To help mark the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, and Caroline Kennedy, President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, recently unveiled the nation’s largest online digitized presidential archive, providing access to the most important papers, records, photographs and recordings of President Kennedy’s thousand days in office. The archive is accessible via the Library’s website
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
February 1, 2011
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and Preservation Programs will be hosting the 25th Annual Preservation Conference on Wednesday, March 16 and Thursday, March 17, 2011. The conference website is http://www.archives.gov/preservation/conferences/2011/The title of the conference, is “Conservation 2 (squared) = Preserving Our Collections x (times) Our Envir
Source: AFP
February 8, 2011
Former US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld admitted in an interview that the country "would've been better off" if he had quit after the 2004 Abu Ghraib scandal and spared no criticism of his colleagues in his new memoir published Tuesday.
In "Known and Unknown," Rumsfeld defends his handling of the war and recounts his government career serving Republican presidents from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush.
However the former Pentagon chief also admit
Source: Star Tribune
February 7, 2011
The ad, published in the Minneapolis Star-Journal, succinctly captured the pent-up demand among ration-weary consumers in the months following the end of World War II.
"This May Please You, But We're Scared," intoned the Dayton Co. on Feb. 5, 1946.
Rightly so. The city's leading department store was heralding its miraculous inventory of 60,000 pairs of nylon stockings, quietly amassed over a three-month period and going on sale the following morning.
Source: Fox News
February 8, 2011
A pawn shop in El Paso, Texas is selling for more than $9,000 the right index finger of Pancho Villa, one of the leading figures of the 1910-1917 Mexican Revolution.
"Years ago someone offered us this finger, and though we don't know if it's the real thing or not, we thought it was interesting and decided to preserve it here in our shop," David Delgadillo, manager de Dave's Pawn Shop in El Paso, said.
The body of the man born José Doroteo Arango Arámbula was d
Source: CNN.com
February 6, 2011
Fighting flared for a third straight day Sunday along the Thai-Cambodian border over a disputed ancient temple despite a reported ceasefire and international efforts to soothe tensions.
At least seven people -- two villagers and five soldiers -- were wounded after a new gunfight broke out shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday evening, Thai Army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd told his nation's state-run MCOT media outlet.
The skirmish came a day after the two sides agreed to
Source: WaPo
February 7, 2011
This week marks the centennial of Ronald Reagan's birth. When it comes to federal employee issues, he's probably most remembered as a big union-busting president.
In August 1981, just months after Reagan took office, air traffic controllers began an illegal strike. Reagan warned them to return to work or he would fire them. When most of them didn't, he kept his word and terminated about 11,000 strikers.
Two months later, the Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified
Source: NYT
February 7, 2011
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the J. Paul Getty Trust said on Monday they had jointly acquired a huge collection of the prints, negatives and letters of Robert Mapplethorpe, further strengthening California’s position as a major center for 20th-century photography.
The acquisition is the first time the two institutions have collected works of art to share, in a partnership they formed to compete more effectively against other major museums being considered by the Robert M
