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)
Apr 2, 2008
The term "listed building" is to be scrapped, in England at least.
Those who live in or own one of the 370,000 properties protected for their historical or archaeological merit will have to get used to living in a "registered heritage asset."
The changes are proposed in the draft Heritage Bill which will also enable landscapes, for example Capability Brown parkland or farmed landscapes in national parks, to be registered as "heritage assets"
Source: Hartford Courant
Apr 2, 2008
Russian movie director Sergei Eisenstein was in Mexico in the early 1930s, making his first American, socialist-backed film, when he seriously miscalculated his relationship with Joseph Stalin.
Eisentein, who was working on the film with U.S. novelist and social activist Upton Sinclair, ignored a telegram from Stalin saying that his prolonged absence from the USSR was unacceptable and that he should return immediately.
When that didn't occur, Stalin's security officials
Source: CNN
Apr 2, 2008
Editor's note: Former Associated Press reporter Kathryn Johnson is writing a memoir titled "Let Kathryn In," which includes stories about the civil rights movement.
***
It was eerie. Just hours after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated, I was in his home with his widow and eldest child, watching TV coverage of his death in awed silence.
I felt a strong sense of unreality, being inside the home of the world-renowned civil rights l
Source: Memphis Magazine
Apr 1, 2008
The civil rights struggle in Memphis during the late 1960s is usually defined by two names: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the world-famous practitioner of nonviolent protests, and Henry Loeb, the stubborn mayor who opposed him during the sanitation workers' strike.
But many others — men and women, white and black — played key roles in the battle for human dignity. Some worked behind the scenes; others stood at King's side. For the first time in our magazine's long history, we tracked
Source: AP
Apr 1, 2008
The secrets of a female spy who posed as a cosmetics saleswoman during World War II and helped lead the resistance inside Nazi-occupied France have been unsealed.
Pearl Cornioley outfoxed the Nazis by, among other tricks, concealing secret messages in the hem of her skirt and helping airmen escape to safety, according to records unsealed at Britain's National Archives on Monday. The release follows Cornioley's death on Feb. 24.
The records shed light on a woman who quic
Source: http://www.radio.cz
Apr 1, 2008
The Lidice museum, which stands on the site of the Czech village that was infamously razed to the ground by the Nazis in 1942, opened a new education centre on Monday. Among other things, this facility will give visitors and scholars access to a detailed historical archive of material about what is considered to be one of the most notorious Nazi atrocities of the Second World War.
The burning village of LidiceThe German massacre of the Czech village of Lidice in retaliation for th
Source: http://www.int.iol.co.za
Apr 1, 2008
Egypt's renowned pharaoh Tutankhamun most likely played marble games, Leiden University in the Netherlands said in a statement on Tuesday.
Pieter Lus, a student at Leiden's Egyptology department, recently discovered what he said was a unique papyrus manuscript at a Cairo market.
The painting shows children playing with marbles. One of them is most likely young Tutankhamun, who became Egypt's ruler as a 9-year-old.
"We already knew that marble games ori
Source: Montpelier Press Release
Apr 1, 2008
Since 2003 scores of skilled craftsmen and artisans from across the country have diligently worked at James Madison’s Montpelier to return the last unrestored home of a founding father to the American people.
Now in its final stretch, the $24 million restoration project is garnering the attention of history buffs and preservationists alike. Year-to-date figures show visitation to the Madison home is more than 50 percent over 2007. Since January, more than 6,500 tourists have visi
Source: NYT
Apr 1, 2008
President Jimmy Carter and Senator Edward M. Kennedy had been sharp adversaries with a bad history, and in the 1980 presidential campaign they let it bleed into a bitter nomination fight. The Carter administration challenged Mr. Kennedy’s patriotism and refused to debate, while Mr. Kennedy dragged out their fight for nine months, all the way to the Democratic convention. A weakened Mr. Carter prevailed and won the nomination, but he went on to lose in November.
Convention fights oft
Source: NYT
Apr 1, 2008
The passionate battles surrounding the birth of New York’s preservation movement nearly a half-century ago seem like distant memories now. For some New Yorkers the main threat to architecture in the city is no longer the demolition of its great landmarks, but a trite nostalgia that disdains the new.
Well, think again. Over the last few years the growing clout of developers has gradually chipped away at the city’s resolve to protect its architectural legacy. The agency most responsib
Source: BBC
Apr 1, 2008
As the Territorial Army turns 100, what is its modern role and who would join now you can expect to be sent to war?
Nearly 15,000 Territorials have served alongside the regular Army in Iraq and Afghanistan. The TA is being relied upon more heavily than at anytime since World War II.
The TA now runs the only field hospital in Afghanistan and provides about 10% of British forces. Since 2003, seven TA soldiers have been killed.
Yet despite the need for TA sold
Source: WaPo
Apr 1, 2008
Osama bin Laden flew to London in 1986 to help negotiate the purchase of Russian-made surface-to-air missiles to be used by Arab fighters then battling the Soviet military in Afghanistan, according to a new book on the bin Laden family.
Bin Laden and his half brother, Salem, met several times with the contacts at the luxury Dorchester hotel in London, according to "The Bin Ladens," by journalist Steve Coll. "Don't do any jokes with my brother," Salem is said to h
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Apr 1, 2008
The daring wartime exploits of a female British secret agent, who was such a thorn in the German side that they placed a one million franc bounty on her head, are disclosed in secret papers released today.
Pearl Cornioley, who was then known as Cécile Pearl Witherington, became one of the most illustrious members of the Special Operations Executive - set up to foster resistance to the Germans across Europe during the Second World War - after being parachuted into occupied France.
Source: BBC
Apr 1, 2008
A necklace found near Lake Titicaca in southern Peru is the oldest known gold object made in the Americas, archaeologists say.
Radiocarbon dating puts its origin at about 4,000 years ago, when hunter-gatherers occupied the area.
The researchers say it appears to have been fashioned from gold nuggets.
Source: http://www.justiceforjews.com
Apr 1, 2008
In what may be the beginning of a dramatic shift in United States policy, the U.S. Congress passed House Resolution 185, which grants first-time-ever recognition to Jewish refugees from Arab countries.
Prior to the adoption of H.Res.185, all Resolutions on Middle East refugees referred only to Palestinians. This Resolution affirms that the U.S. government will now recognize that all victims of the Arab-Israeli conflict must be treated equally. It further urges that the President and
Source: http://www.vagazette.com
Apr 1, 2008
Few people may know that the site of the Siege at Yorktown was once home to an 18-hole golf course.
According to Mike Litterst, prior to the founding of the Colonial National Historical Park the area encompassing the Yorktown Battlefield was part of the Yorktown Country Club. An area between siege lines was developed into an 18-hole golf course called Riverview Golf Course. A second golf course, known as The Lakeview, was planned but never built.
Litterst explained that
Source: Vanity Fair
Apr 1, 2008
In recent months, President Bush has repeatedly stated that the last great ambition of his presidency is to broker a deal that would create a viable Palestinian state and bring peace to the Holy Land. “People say, ‘Do you think it’s possible, during your presidency?’ ” he told an audience in Jerusalem on January 9. “And the answer is: I’m very hopeful.”
The next day, in the West Bank capital of Ramallah, Bush acknowledged that there was a rather large obstacle standing in
Source: National Geographic News
Mar 31, 2008
Archaeologists have uncovered a pristinely preserved statue of a powerful Egyptian queen at the sprawling mortuary temple of Amenhotep III on Luxor's West Bank.
A joint European-Egyptian team found the 12-foot-tall (3.6-meter-tall) quartzite figure attached to the broken-off leg of a much larger colossus of Amenhotep III, who ruled from about 1390 to 1350 B.C.
Experts say the newfound statue is of Queen Tiye—Amenhotep III's favorite wife and the most influential woman o
Source: http://www.firstcoastnews.com
Mar 31, 2008
There are more than 100 specialty license plates in Florida, and now they want another. However, this one may be controversial.
Representative Don Brown of DuFuniak Springs proposed a bill that creates a license plate displaying the Confederate Heritage Flag.
The bill has no co-sponsors and is considered “dead” because no committees have taken the bill up for debate.
Representative Brown admitted he thought it would stir controversy.
“It is no
Source: http://www.thetimesnews.com
Mar 31, 2008
The first breaths of a Revolutionary War turning point were breathed in Alamance County, claim local historians who say they've pinpointed the exact location of the Battle of Clapp's Mill.
At a tour of local battle sites Saturday, Jeff Bright and Stewart Dunaway unveiled their estimation of events at Clapp's Mill which led to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Using GPS technology and topographical map overlays, Bright and Dunaway located the spot, just off the banks of Beaver Creek
