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: Telegraph (UK)
February 7, 2011
One of only two statues of Charles Dickens in the world has been returned to public display in Australia after being lost for almost 40 years only to be discovered in a garden outside Sydney.
The marble statue, which depicts a pensive Dickens holding a quill and a scroll of paper, went missing in 1972 after it was removed from Centennial Park in Sydney because of vandalism.
The only other known statue of Dickens is in Philadelphia, USA as the author stated in his will t
Source: National Parks Traveler
February 6, 2011
Although it may seem to be just for show, that distinctive pinch in the crown of the national park ranger's iconic hat actually originated as a practical solution to a significant problem.
The broad-brimmed, high-crowned hat that national park rangers wear with their class A uniform was first specified as National Park Service apparel in the agency's 1920 uniform regulations. Since this was only four years after Congress created the National Park Service, the hat that rangers call t
Source: Smithsonian.com
February 1, 2011
The famous historian's eyewitness accounts of the Navy during World War II—now being reissued—won't be surpassed.
On March 23, 1942, the historian Samuel Eliot Morison wrote to his friend President Franklin D. Roosevelt to offer himself as a “sea-going historiographer” to chronicle the activities of the U.S. Navy in World War II. “In order to do it the right way,” he told Roosevelt, “I must have a living, intimate connection with the Navy flagrante bello. An armchair history job aft
Source: FoxNews
February 7, 2011
From acting with the "The Gipper," to walking through a recreation of Berlin Wall, the newly renovated Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum is giving visitors an interactive approach to learning about America's 40th President.
As part of the celebration of the 100th birthday of Reagan, the museum in Simi Valley, Calif. underwent a $15 million, one-year renovation. Starting Monday, the public can view the 17 new galleries.
"I think what we wanted
Source: BBC Earth News
February 5, 2011
Birds living around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear accident have 5% smaller brains, an effect directly linked to lingering background radiation.
The finding comes from a study of 550 birds belonging to 48 different species living in the region, published in the journal PLoS One.
Brain size was significantly smaller in yearlings compared with older birds.
Smaller brain sizes are thought to be linked to reduced cognitive ability.
The discovery
Source: BBC News
February 7, 2011
Japan and Russia have exchanged heated comments over the disputed southern Kuril islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Japan's PM Naoto Kan called a visit by Russia's president to the islands last year an "unforgivable outrage".
Mr Kan was speaking during a rally in Tokyo held to demand the return of the islands, which were occupied by Soviet troops at the end of World War II.
Russian FM Sergei Lavrov responded by saying that Mr Kan's remarks were "c
Source: BBC
March 6, 2011
A precious 700-year-old manuscript will be on view at Bangor Cathedral for one day when a service is held to celebrate its return to the city.
The Bangor Pontifical is a 14th Century bishop's manuscript, containing blessings and text of plainchant.
It has recently been conserved and rebound, but will now be kept for safety in Bangor University's archive.
A service on Sunday will include several plainchant melodies newly transcribed from the document.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
March 6, 2011
Six thousand people were evacuated from their homes in the outskirts of Paris on Sunday because of an unexploded RAF bomb dropped during a Second World War raid.
The 1000lbs device – half of which was made of high explosive – was found on land in France owned by carmaker Renault in Boulogne-Billancourt.
It was originally dropped 69 years ago in a hugely successful mission involving a then record 223 aircraft who did everything possible to avoid killing civilians.
Source: AP
March 6, 2011
The Cambodian government said part of a historic 11th-century stone temple collapsed Sunday due to heavy shelling by the Thai army as the two sides battled across their disputed border for a third day.
Both countries accused each other of instigating the clashes, which continued across the darkened mountainous border for more than three hours Sunday. The extent of the damage to the Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was not immediately clear.
The crumbli
Source: AP
March 5, 2011
A visit former U.S. President George W. Bush planned to make to Switzerland next week has been canceled because of security concerns, after left-wing groups called for mass protests and rights activists proposed legal action against him for allegedly ordering the torture of terrorism suspects.
Bush's spokesman David Sherzer said the two-term president was informed Friday by the United Israel Appeal that his Feb. 12 dinner speech in Geneva had been called off.
Saturday's
Source: CNN
March 6, 2011
As the late President Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday is observed, historians point out that his political successes, not his persona, have been mythologized over the years.
Upon taking office, Reagan faced a severe recession and double-digit inflation. Gas station lines stretched for miles. Americans simply lost hope in their economic future, historians say.
The former governor of California used his experiences in politics and his career in Hollywood -- first as an act
Source: CNN
March 6, 2011
Twenty-four hours a day, over six days, they're coming by the thousands to remember their hero.
The earthly remains of Maj. Gen. Vang Pao lie in a casket, crossed U.S. and Royal Lao flags nearby.
A spirit guide chants so that the soul of the deceased will go to the spiritual world and be reborn.
This week's funeral in Fresno, California, for the charismatic soldier who fought alongside U.S. troops against Communist forces in the mountains of Laos, is a pilg
Source: CNN
March 5, 2011
Washington (CNN) -- The family of a man who fought alongside U.S. troops in Vietnam have been told their relative will not be allowed to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Major General Vang Pao led thousands of Hmong soldiers as they fought alongside the United States against the North Vietnamese Army during the war in Southeast Asia, according to a news release from Congressman Jim Costa of California.
Costa, on behalf of Pao's family, asked the Army to grant a
Source: NYT
February 5, 2011
BAGHDAD — As hundreds of thousands in Egypt protested the iron rule of that country’s president, Iraq quietly began restoring a bronze fist of its former dictator, Saddam Hussein.
Without public announcement or debate, the authorities here ordered the reconstruction of one of the most audacious symbols in Baghdad of Mr. Hussein’s long, violent and oppressive rule: the Victory Arch, two enormous sets of crossed swords, clutched in hands modeled after his very own.
“Nure
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 4, 2011
Guy Walters, author of <em>Hunting Evil</em> and <em>Berlin Games</em> and a PhD student at Newcastle University, has crafted a Valentine's Day history quiz that offers as a prize £150 of red roses for delivery in the UK.
The competition ends 10:00 am GMT on February 10. For more information, click on the link above.
Source: Live Science
February 3, 2011
Rumors that the Egyptian Museum in Cairo caught fire yesterday (Feb. 2) were just that, according to Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, on his blog today.
Al Jazeera reports suggested the monuments of Saqqara -- a large burial ground of Ancient Egypt referred to as the "City of the Dead" -- had been damaged and that items were stolen, Hawass wrote. "This is not true."
In fact, while the break-in at the Egyptian Mu
Source: BBC
February 3, 2011
Police investigating the sale of memorabilia bearing fake signatures of Winston Churchill have arrested a man in Hampshire.
The 65-year-old from Lymington was arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service's Art and Antiques Unit earlier.
He is being held at Lyndhurst Police Station on suspicion of fraud by misrepresentation.
Officers also seized calligraphy pens, ink and about 30 books....
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 3, 2011
Archaeologists at James Madison's country estate say they have unearthed fragments of a chess set they think Madison used in matches against another former president, Thomas Jefferson.
Archaeologists recently discovered fragments of two pawns during an excavation at the Orange County estate of the fourth US president and architect of the Bill of Rights. They initially mistook the quarter-inch diameter tops for sewing bobbins, but subsequently determined they were fragments of chess
Source: Reuters
February 2, 2011
The pursuit of a gang of grave robbers has led to the discovery of an ancient church outside Jerusalem that may contain the burial place of the biblical prophet Zechariah, Israeli authorities said Wednesday.
The hill-top church was destroyed by an earthquake some 1,300 years ago and lay partly buried until detectives from Israel's Antiquities Authority, pursuing a gang of antiquity thieves, noticed an elaborate doorpost poking through the earth. The robbers got away -- they were cau
Source: BBC
February 3, 2011
Researching your family tree can only go back so far in time before records become patchy.
Now genealogists from the University of Leicester are using DNA tests to trace Manx ancestry back to the Viking era.
Local men with popular Manx surnames are being asked to give a DNA sample to help researchers explore the links between Y chromosomes, surnames and common ancestry.
The investigation starts on Saturday, 19 February 2011 at the Manx Museum....
