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: Earth Times
May 8, 2008
Archaeologists believe they have found the Queen of Sheba's palace at Axum, Ethiopia and an altar which held the most precious treasure of ancient Judaism, the Ark of the Covenant, the University of Hamburg said Wednesday. Scientists from the German city made the startling find during their spring excavation of the site over the past three months.
The Ethiopian queen was the bride of King Solomon of Israel in the 10th century before the Christian era. The royal match is among the m
Source: WaPo
May 8, 2008
Several leading Iranian clerics criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday for saying that the last imam of Shiite Islam, a messianic figure who Shiites believe was hidden by God 1,140 years ago, leads modern-day Iran.
"We see his hand directing all the affairs of the country," Ahmadinejad told theological students in the city of Mashad during a speech that appears to have been given last month but was not broadcast until Tuesday. "A movement has started f
Source: Washington Times
May 8, 2008
A decade before Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton admitted fudging the truth during the presidential campaign, federal prosecutors quietly assembled hundreds of pages of evidence suggesting she concealed information and misled a federal grand jury about her work for a failing Arkansas savings and loan at the heart of the Whitewater probe, according to once-secret documents that detail the internal debates over whether she should have faced criminal charges.
Ordinarily, such files containi
Source: National Geographic News
May 8, 2008
The grassy prehistoric Sahara turned into Earth's largest hot desert more slowly than previously thought, a new report says—and some say global warming may turn the desert green once again.
The new research is based on deposits from a unique desert lake in remote northern Chad.
Lake Yoa, sustained by prehistoric groundwater, has survived for millennia despite constant drought and searing heat.
Source: Independent (UK)
May 8, 2008
Construction of a controversial dingo fence around resort areas on Fraser Island, one of Australia's leading tourist destinations, is to continue despite objections from Aboriginal traditional owners.
The 6ft-high fence is intended to protect visitors to the World Heritage-listed island off Queensland from the 150 or so dingoes that roam its rainforests and beaches. A nine-year-old boy was killed by two dingoes on Fraser in 2001, and there has been a spate of attacks since, most rec
Source: Business Wire
May 8, 2008
Today, Footnote.com announced the addition of the 1860 US Census to their Civil War Collection. As the largest online collection of original Civil War documents, this new addition to Footnote.com provides a snapshot of America before the bloodiest war in its history.
The 1860 US Census reveals many details about individuals at that time. What was their occupation? Where were they born? What was their marital status? Did they attend school? Could they read or write? Was your ancestor
Source: AP
May 8, 2008
President Bush signed legislation that designates a massive swath of Illinois as the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area.
Bush signed the measure Thursday. It calls for up to $15 million in federal money over 15 years to fund grants to help keep alive the story of Lincoln.
Source: Andrew Kohut in the NYT
May 8, 2008
The phrase “generation gap” came into vogue in the 1960s as a way of describing the wide gulf in values, beliefs and lifestyles that emerged between baby boomers and their parents and grandparents. Indeed, this difference between younger and older people played out sometimes turbulently in the ’60s in virtually all aspects of life, including the ballot box. Unlike in previous elections, from 1968 to 1980 young voters gave much stronger support to Democratic presidential candidates than did their
Source: History Today
May 8, 2008
Archives chronicling the history of African and African--Caribbean descendants in the UK have been awarded a major grant. The £4million Heritage Lottery Fund award was announced today for the Black Cultural Archives, which will be housed permanently in Raleigh Hall, Brixton. The Grade II listed building in south London is currently derelict but will be removed from the English Heritage ‘Buildings At Risk’ register. Writer and broadcaster Kwame Kwei-Armah said: ‘I’ve been a huge fan of the BCA si
Source: Telegraph (UK)
May 8, 2008
Josef Fritzl has blamed the Nazis for fostering the twisted morality that led him to imprison his daughter, Elisabeth, in a cellar for 24 years.
In an attempt to defend his conduct, he said Hitler's Germany had instilled "control and the respect of authority" in him.
He also said he had "rescued" Elisabeth, who was then 18, to keep her from "going out to seedy bars" and "drinking and smoking".
The claims were released
Source: National Geographic News
May 8, 2008
People living in the earliest known settlement in the Americas harvested seaweed and other marine plants from a coastline more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) away, new research shows.
Scientists discovered several species of seaweed and marine algae dating back more than 14,000 years at the Monte Verde archaeological site in south-central Chile.
The findings suggest that these early Americans were beachcombers with a tradition of using coastal resources, says study lead
Source: AFP
May 8, 2008
Scientists have confirmed that the famed Monte Verde archaeological site in southern Chile is about 14,000 years old, making it the earliest known human settlement in the Americas, the journal Science reported Thursday.
The age of Monte Verde has been the subject of controversy over the years, since estimates appeared to conflict with other archaeological evidence related to the settlement of North America.
The new findings support not only the age of the Monte Verde site, bu
Source: BBC
May 8, 2008
The Spanish government has demanded that treasure salvaged from a shipwreck in the North Atlantic be handed over, claiming the sunken ship was Spanish.
Some 17 tonnes of gold and silver coins, worth $500m (£255m), was salvaged in May 2007 by a US firm.
Spain is suing the Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration, saying it is the rightful owner of the treasure.
A lawyer for the country said there was "multiple evidence" that the vessel was a famous
Source: http://www.caboodle.hu
May 8, 2008
The legend goes something like this: after the disastrous Battle of Mohács in 1526, the twenty-one-year-old Queen Mary of Hungary fled the encroaching Ottoman army on a caravan of ships headed to Vienna. But, on her way up the Danube a few ships sank along with their valuable cargo. It is said that to this day they remain hidden in the murky depths of the river. Soon, any truth to this story may soon be discovered, or disproved.
According to inforadio.hu, a team of Hungarian archaeo
Source: http://www.civilwarinteractive.com
May 8, 2008
The Gettysburg Foundation has purchased the George Spangler Farm, within Gettysburg National Military Park, protecting the historically significant site from private development.
The 80-acre farm — bounded by Granite Schoolhouse Lane and Blacksmith Shop Road, between Taneytown Road and Baltimore Pike — is located at what was the logistical center of the Union battle line during the three-day Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. During and after the battle, the site als
Source: Scotsman
May 7, 2008
BLUE and white flags with the star of David brighten Jaffa's streets for Israel's sixtieth anniversary and the roar of practice aerobatics in the sky adds to the sense of anticipation.
But Sami Abu Shehadi, a member of Israel's Arab minority, is in no mood for tomorrow's festivities across Israel. As he likes to remind visitors, until 1948 this was a thriving Arab city, a cultural capital known for its writers and newspapers and a commercial centre with an ancient port. As part of w
Source: Chicago Tribune
May 7, 2008
Eugene Bowser recalls the time department store heir and publisher Marshall Field III gave him a $2 tip. For a railroad club car attendant making about $18 a month in salary around 1950, it was quite a bonus.
Bowser never made a lot of money, but at 93, he's active and alert, one of a select brotherhood who forged a special chapter in American history.
On Saturday, Bowser will join five other surviving porters who will be feted by Amtrak during a special National Train
Source: CWNews.com
May 7, 2008
Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance has identified Bishop Wieslaw Mering of Wloclawek as a former Communist collaborator, the Rzeczpospolita newspaper reports.
The Institute of National Remembrance, which has pored over the archives of the Communist regime, say that Mering, who used the pseudonym “Lucjan,” was an informer while pursuing graduate studies in France in the late 1970s. Questions about collaboration between clerics and the secret police of the old Polish regime h
Source: Reuters
May 7, 2008
The Druze people of Israel are a genetic sanctuary of ancient lineages of DNA, researchers reported on Wednesday.
Not only does the exclusive religious community offer a snapshot into the history of the Middle East, but their well-preserved diversity may provide opportunities for medical research, the team at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology said.
The researchers looked at mitochondrial DNA, a type of genetic material that is passed down virtually unchanged f
Source: Scotsman
May 7, 2008
ARCHAEOLOGISTS were yesterday celebrating the discovery of 27 2,000-year-old tombs in Italy's "Valley of the Dead".
The tombs, some dating back to the 7th century BC, were found by chance while builders carried out work.
The whole area was sealed off yesterday and put under police guard to prevent anyone from trying to steal artefacts inside the burial chambeADVERTISEMENTrs.
