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: US News & World Report
Sep 25, 2008
For decades after the disaster, there was little doubt about what sank the Titanic. When the "unsinkable" ship, the largest, most luxurious ocean liner of its time, crashed into an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912, it took more than 1,500 of its 2,200 passengers to the bottom. As the ship slipped into the North Atlantic, so, too, did the secret of how and why it sank....
In two new books, a group of historians, naval architects, and materials scientists argue that fres
Source: Telegraph
Sep 25, 2008
Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, two of the most popular state-owned tourist attractions in the country, require at least £20 million to be spent on new roofs and updated heating systems.
The Queen, who is renowned for being thrifty in her personal expenditure, has averted a cash crisis within the Royal Household...
But it is the plight of some of the palaces, whose maintenance is paid for by the taxpayer, which is causing growing concern to the Queen and other sen
Source: AP
Sep 25, 2008
KEY WEST, Fla. -- The famed six-toed cats at Ernest Hemingway's island home aren't going anywhere.
The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum announced Thursday it reached an agreement with the federal government that lets the 50 or so cats continue roaming the grounds, ending a five-year battle that could have resulted in them being removed or caged.
The cats descend from a cat named "Snowball" given to the novelist in 1935 and freely wander the grounds of the Span
Source: cnet
Sep 25, 2008
SEBASTOPOL, Calif.--From a corner of a nondescript office building at the edge of wine country, Carl Malamud is masterminding an electronic guerrilla war against governments across the nation.
Most geeks tend to be a bit obsessive, and Malamud is no exception. He's devoted his life to liberating laws, regulations, court cases, and the other myriad detritus that governments produce daily, but often lock up in proprietary databases or allow for-profit companies to sell for princely su
Source: FoxNews.com
Sep 25, 2008
A British village expecting a scooter and music festival found itself invaded by more than 800 neo-Nazis instead.
Racist skinheads from across Britain, Germany and Eastern Europe arrived draped in swastika flags.
Wearing leather jackets and army boots, they stomped through the streets chanting: "Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil," a Nazi WWII chant meaning "hail victory."
Horrified locals watched as the beer and whisky-drinking supremacists urinated
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Sep 25, 2008
A one million pound banknote, believed to be one of only two in existence, is to be offered for sale for several times less than its face value at auction next month
The eight-inch-wide green note was issued by the Treasury on August 30, 1948, in connection with the Marshall Aid Plan after the Second World War.
The note, which is no longer legal tender, is expected to fetch up to £40,000 when it is auctioned by Spink, the specialist auctioneers, on October 1.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Sep 25, 2008
Ministers have been asked to halt plans to reintroduce beaver 400 years after it was persecuted to extinction.
River proprietors claim it would be "recklessly irresponsible" to release the mammals in the wild without studying the likely impact on fish stocks.
They are concerned that the return of the European beaver, which is due to be released as part of a trial reintroduction next spring, could damage salmon and sea trout numbers.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Sep 25, 2008
A slice of history was created when the first ever 600g loaf went on sale, ending centuries-old legislation that has governed the weight of bread.
The moment was greeted with little fanfare in a Tesco store in west London, but marked one of the most important landmarks in the colourful history of weights and measures.
Strict laws, stretching back to Assize of Bread and Ale of 1266, have meant that no baker in England has been allowed to bake a loaf unless it conforms to
Source: MSNBC
Sep 25, 2008
Hurricane Ike has reminded everyone here that the seawall, though tough and enduring, is not enough to protected Galveston from a painful past.
Source: WSJ
Sep 25, 2008
No matter how powerful the Russian government may appear nowadays, it hasn't been able to quell nostalgia for some of the country's most brutal leaders.
Dictator Josef Stalin made the final cut Wednesday in a Kremlin-backed contest to identify Russia's most significant historical figure, though he was stripped of almost one million votes organizers called "illegal."
The "Name of Russia" contest is part of a broad effort by the Kremlin and state media
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Sep 25, 2008
Roman Catholics would be permitted to marry into the Royal Family and could even succeed to the throne under plans being considered by Gordon Brown
The plan to abolish the Act of Settlement could ultimately lead to the disestablishment of the Church of England.
The Act also prevents Muslims and other non-Protestants from succeeding to the throne.
Source: Times (UK)
Sep 25, 2008
Fancy tasting the life of a polar explorer, albeit without the stewed penguin?
A City of London restaurant is offering a menu inspired by the exploits of Sir Ernest Shackleton that packs in a massive 6,000 calories.
The £75 four-course blow-out includes pork scratchings, a 20oz steak and “hoosh”, a thick stew eaten by the pioneering explorer, all washed down with wine, beer and an ice cream shake. There is a modern twist on the hoosh - while Shackleton and his men mad
Source: History Today
Sep 25, 2008
The first national day of commemoration for the harkis, the Algerian nationals who fought alongside the French during the Algerian War, was celebrated in 2001 under Chirac’s presidency. It was both a reflection of French attempts to defend its republican ideals of unity and solidarity and of practical concerns for the integration of the harkis into the French national community. Chirac argued in his speeches at the time that the recognition of the harkis’ sacrifices and of some of the shortcomin
Source: History Today
Sep 25, 2008
A box made from a barrel used to transport Nelson’s body after the Battle of Trafalgar has sold at auction. An anonymous bidder paid £8,160 at the Bonhams Knightsbridge Marine Sale on September 23rd, which also included a mourning ring (£18,000) made for friends and relatives of the naval commander. The wood used for the silver-mounted oak box is thought to have come from a water barrel filled with brandy to preserve Nelson’s remains on the journey to England on HMS Victory. Nelson was killed on
Source: History Today
Sep 25, 2008
Until now historians have believed that lead poisoning from badly tinned food was the primary cause of the death of all 129 men on the 1845-48 expedition led by Sir John Franklin to find a North-West Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. His two ships, HMS Erebus and Terror, were trapped in the ice off King William Island in September 1846 and abandoned the following April as the crews tried to walk to safety. New evidence suggests that the level of lead found in the bodies and bone fragment
Source: Telegraph
Sep 25, 2008
The plan to abolish the Act of Settlement could ultimately lead to the disestablishment of the Church of England.
The Act also prevents Muslims and other non-Protestants from succeeding to the throne.
Scrapping it would also end the practice of primogeniture where male heirs are given priority in the succession. That could pave the way for a first-born daughter of Prince William to ultimately succeed him as monarch.
It was reported last night that Chris Bry
Source: NYT
Sep 24, 2008
A notable curiosity in the current presidential campaign is an absence of dogs, who have often appeared as supporting cast in previous American elections and sometimes, tails wagging, even helped shift a campaign’s momentum.
The most familiar of these political dogs are Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Fala and Richard Nixon’s Checkers. Both of these dogs rescued embattled candidates eight years apart to the day.
Related Links
Source: AP
Sep 24, 2008
German Chancellor Angela Merkel assured Poland on Wednesday that a memorial center to Germans expelled from eastern Europe after World War II would not be a means to reinterpret history or absolve Nazi crimes.
Three weeks ago, the German government took a first step toward setting up a memorial to millions of ethnic Germans who were forced from their homes in Poland, Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in eastern and central Europe when the borders shifted westward following World War II.
Source: Reuters
Sep 24, 2008
A forest fire has damaged two archeological sites in the valley between the Peruvian city of Cuzco and the ancient Incan fortress of Machu Picchu, Peru's national institute of culture said on Wednesday.
At least 600 firefighters are battling the blaze high in the Andes mountains. They have brought the fire under control at times, only to see it whipped up again by winds.
Two ancient sites, Wayna Q'ente and Torontoy, were hit by flames, though the government did not say
Source: Los Angeles Times
Sep 24, 2008
OXFORD, MISS. -- For the University of Mississippi, Friday's debate is about more than presidential politics: Officials hope it also helps combat what may be one of the most enduring public relations problems in American higher education.
They know that for many Americans, Ole Miss means little more than the deadly 1962 riot sparked by the matriculation of the first black student, James Meredith, and the 1990s-era controversy over the display of the Confederate flag at football game
