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: Reuters
June 29, 2010
A well-known Nazi hunter criticized a Latvian court Tuesday for allowing a procession to commemorate the day in 1941 when Nazi troops entered the country's capital after ejecting the Soviet Union's Red Army.
Efraim Zuroff, of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Israel, criticized a Riga district court decision to allow an event to be held at the central Freedom Monument on July 1.
"To celebrate the anniversary of the Nazi invasion of Riga on July 1 is to celebrate the m
Source: WIStv.com
June 27, 2010
Organizers of a Confederate battle flag preservation rally this weekend in Columbia say they aren't discouraged by the light crowd attendance or the blazing heat.
The State of Columbia reports the South Carolina Conservative Action Council organized Saturday's three-hour rally, bidding to put the flag back atop the State House dome 10 years after it was taken down....
Source: MSNBC
June 29, 2010
Greek inventor Archimedes is said to have used mirrors to burn ships of an attacking Roman fleet. But new research suggests he may have used steam cannons and fiery cannonballs instead.
A legend begun in the Medieval Ages tells of how Archimedes used mirrors to concentrate sunlight as a defensive weapon during the siege of Syracuse, then a Greek colony on the island of Sicily, from 214 to 212 B.C. No contemporary Roman or Greek accounts tell of such a mirror device, however.
Source: AP
June 29, 2010
Historians want to give Michigan's first governor his due by moving his remains to a prominent spot in downtown Detroit.
They'll have to find his body first.
Workers have told The Detroit News they will resume digging Tuesday beneath the statue of Stevens T. Mason in Capitol Park. Granite slabs and something that appeared to be a crypt were removed Monday.
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
June 28, 2010
On June 17, 2010, the Information Policy, Census and National Archives Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing to review the status of the management of electronic records at federal agencies, and explored ways to improve the scheduling and preservation of el
Source: Lee White at the National Coaliton for History
June 28, 2010
On June 21, the Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress (ACRC) met at the U.S Capitol Visitors Center. The Advisory Committee is comprised of the officials in Congress responsible for its records (Clerk of the House, Secretary of the Senate, Senate Historian, and House Historian) and the Archivist of the United States, who is responsible for the administration of the archived records of Congress.
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
June 28, 2010
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently announced $20 million in grant awards and offers for 120 humanities projects. New funding supports a wide variety of projects nationwide, including traveling exhibitions, collaborative research, scholarly editions, advanced scholarly training in digital humanities, digitization of historic newspapers, programming offered by state humanities councils, and preservation of cultural heritage collection
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
June 28, 2010
Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero recently announced the retirement of Martha Morphy, Assistant Archivist for Information Services and the agency’s Chief Information Officer (CIO), effective July 2, 2010. Charles Piercy, Deputy CIO, will be Acting Assistant Archivist for Information Services and Acting CIO, until a permanent replacement is named.
From 1998 until her appointment as Assistant Archivist for Information Services in 2006, Ms. Morphy was a senior member of
Source: Austrian Independent
June 29, 2010
New research reveals more than three in 10 Austrians consider their country the first victim of Nazi Germany.
SORA researcher Günther Ogris and historian Oliver Rathkolb said today (Tues) they found that 36.5 per cent of Austrians claimed that Austria – which was annexed by the Third Reich in March 1983 – was dictator Adolf Hitler’s first victim. Only 25 per cent dismiss this theory, they added....
Source: Austin American-Statesman
June 28, 2010
Would renaming the Simkins Residence Hall heal the wounds caused by racism or whitewash bigotry from the University of Texas' past?
Those were among the questions raised in a public forum Monday that drew about 45 attendees. The public discussion was the second of two public forums to gather input on whether UT should rename Simkins. The advisory committee that will make a recommendation on the matter held its last meeting, which was closed to the public, afterward.
The
Source: Mnchester
June 28, 2010
A science historian at The University of Manchester has cracked “The Plato Code” – the long disputed secret messages hidden in the great philosopher’s writings.
Plato was the Einstein of Greece’s Golden Age and his work founded Western culture and science. Dr Jay Kennedy’s findings are set to revolutionise the history of the origins of Western thought.
Dr Kennedy, whose findings are published in the leading US journal Apeiron, reveals that Plato used a regular pattern o
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
June 28, 2010
On June 28, 2010, Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), the longest-serving Member of Congress, passed away. Senator Byrd was 92 years old. Senator Byrd was considered the “father” of the Teaching American History Grants program at the U.S. Department of Education. Since its inception in fiscal year 2001, nearly $1 billion in federal dollars have been spent to raise student achi
Source: The Hindu
June 25, 2010
GUNTUR: The mystery surrounding the Kondaveedu fortress continues to draw countless archaeologists. The recent discovery of the remains of a Buddhist stupa has pushed back the antiquity of the citadel of power wielded by the Reddy kings in the 14th century.
Now, a freelance archaeologist, K. Venkateswara Rao, has discovered traces of existence of Neolithic civilisation atop the fortress, the first-of-its kind finding at Kondaveedu fort. Mr. Rao, who retired as deputy director in the
Source: Science News
June 25, 2010
An archaeological site in southeastern Europe has shown its metal. This ancient settlement contains the oldest securely dated evidence of copper making, from 7,000 years ago, and suggests that copper smelting may been invented in separate parts of Asia and Europe at that time rather than spreading from a single source.
The find extends the known record of copper smelting by about 500 years, an archaeological team headed by Miljana Radivojević and Thilo Rehren of University
Source: The Star (UK)
June 26, 2010
PREHISTORIC art 3,000 years old was discovered by chance in woodland by a council worker while carrying out routine maintenance work.
John Gilpin, a woodlands officer in the Parks and Countryside department, stumbled upon the find in Ecclesall Woods.
He discovered a boulder with a series of markings, lines and cuts - which, after being examined by experts, has been declared a significant archaeological find.
Jim McNeil, of South Yorkshire Archaeological Service,
Source: Medieval News
June 24, 2010
A ‘treasure trove’ of ancient records dating back over 1,300 years to the origins of the English city of Peterborough will be unveiled at Peterborough Cathedral’s Deanery on Saturday 3 July at 12 noon.
The archaeological records, maps, drawings and photographs focusing on the Cathedral Precincts have been compiled under a joint project by the Cathedral and Peterborough City Council.
Archaeologists and planning officers have compiled the records, which will eventually be
Source: Medieval News
June 25, 2010
Here are several reports of medieval archaeological finds this month:
Royal Palace of Harold Bluetooth Discovered in Denmark
Archaeologists from the University of Aarhus in Denmark have discovered a royal palace belonging to Harald Bluetooth, who ruled both Denmark and Norway during the later years of the tenth century.
Mads Dengsø Jessen, the archaeologist from Århus University who led the dig said four buildings from Harald’s time had been dis
Source: Medieval News
June 26, 2010
The body was found in a small, graffiti-stained tunnel. Robbery was likely not the motive, as his possessions and cash were found with him.
The University of Alberta's Sandra Garvie-Lok can't tell exactly how the victim on her table died, but she has a good idea. Given the visible previous cranial trauma on the body, the events that took place around the time of the murder and the location where his remains were found, she is willing to bet that this John Doe was murdered. Yet, no s
Source: Medieval News
June 28, 2010
An unusal project in Leicestershire, England, is hunting down gargoyles in order to help understand the region's gothic art. Project Gargoyle has been set up to create a brand new resource capturing Leicestershire's wealth of medieval sculpture.
The first of its kind in the country, a 50-strong team of volunteers is now in place and busy taking photographs of figurative church carvings such as gargoyles. Around 300 churches locally feature stylised or caricatured human heads and wei
Source: Yahoo News
June 29, 2010
...Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan let some of her personality show through Tuesday as members of the Senate Judiciary Committee poked into every corner of her legal thinking. And she offered what amounted to a personal declaration of independence when questioned repeatedly about her admiration for her former boss, the late Justice Thurgood Marshall.
She skirted questions aplenty on Day 2 of her confirmation hearings, and held her tongue when Republicans gave it to her good.
