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: Daily Mail
Dec 13, 2007
To many First World War soldiers, the Christmas Truce of 1914 was a morale-boosting break from the horrors of trench warfare.
But the famous day when the British exchanged gifts and played a game of football with their German enemy was not remembered fondly by everyone on the Western Front.
A letter written at the time by a young soldier to his father tells of experiences which were a far cry from the impromptu sporting events and carol singing experienced by other troo
Source: Daily Mail
Dec 13, 2007
To many First World War soldiers, the Christmas Truce of 1914 was a morale-boosting break from the horrors of trench warfare.
But the famous day when the British exchanged gifts and played a game of football with their German enemy was not remembered fondly by everyone on the Western Front.
A letter written at the time by a young soldier to his father tells of experiences which were a far cry from the impromptu sporting events and carol singing experienced by other troo
Source: Times (London)
Dec 13, 2007
She was the English aristocrat who became so enamoured with Hitler that she shot herself in the head at the outbreak of war.
Unity Mitford, the daughter of Lord Redesdale, had been so entwined in the Führer’s inner circle that British secret services described her as “more Nazi than the Nazis”. But could this cousin of Winston Churchill have been closer to Hitler than anyone suspected?
An article published today raises the possibility that Mitford, who survived her suic
Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net
Dec 13, 2007
Hunters of the fabled Yamashita treasure are leaving trails of destruction in Mt. Banahaw and are frustrating efforts to rehabilitate the mystical mountain, according to a top official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Saying the “real treasure” is Banahaw itself, Sally Pangan, DENR protected area supervisor, appealed to the believers of the Yamashita treasure to stop their futile search. She said she had yet to hear any reports of discovery.
Legen
Source: Orlando Sentinel
Dec 13, 2007
Orlando | For 45 years, history buff Frank Laumer has obsessively pieced together minute details of an ambush near here that set off the Second Seminole War in 1835.
The author of two respected books on the attack known as Dade's Battle even dug up the bones of one participant and discovered the hat size of another.
Still, there is one major piece of the battle sought by Laumer. But an Orlando bank -- on behalf of a client fed up with artifact seekers -- has threatened
Source: WaPo
Dec 13, 2007
The discovery of two photographs believed to be of President Abraham Lincoln in profile was presented last month at a very appropriate event, the Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, Pa., where scholars and students of the 16th president gather each November to discuss new works and discoveries about the man. Although not everyone was convinced, many were willing to say the two successive images most likely included the president as he was arriving at the stage to deliver the Gettysburg Address on Nov.
Source: China View
Dec 13, 2007
China Thursday reiterated its principle of "taking history as a mirror and looking forward to the future" as the country mourned the victims of the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese 70 years ago.
"We commemorate the day, to ponder upon the past, which can provide guidance in days to come, to take history as a mirror and look forward to the future, and to cherish peace," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang in response to a question at a regular pre
Source: AP
Dec 13, 2007
The Chicago History Museum won a collection of rare documents, letters and memos detailing the Black Sox scandal at an auction that ended Thursday.
The museum offered about $100,000 for the collection, topping 35 other bids, said suburban Chicago auctioneer Mastro Auctions.
Source: BBC
Dec 13, 2007
A County Antrim pigeon who received a medal for his war-time bravery is being remembered at a special ceremony in England.
Paddy the pigeon was bred in Moyleen, Carnlough.
He was decorated for being the first bird to fly back with news of the D-Day landings in Normandy in World War II.
Paddy is one of 62 animals who received the PSDA Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, for bravery in the war.
Source: Times (London)
Dec 13, 2007
The Times caused a sensation almost 80 years ago when it revealed the discovery of an extraordinary street grid of a Roman town in Norfolk. It published dramatic aerial photographs that were taken from an RAF aircraft and which showed the pattern left in parched barley fields during the exceptionally dry summer of 1928.
Today The Times can reveal that the site of Venta Icenorum, which dates primarily from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD – and which may have been home to Boadicea, the a
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Dec 13, 2007
They were the original neighbours from hell. England and Scotland, for centuries, were implacable foes, their mutual military incursions ranging from constant border raids to full-blooded invasion.
The Scottish kings pursued a policy of alliance with France, England's traditional enemy.
Then, by an accident of dynastic succession, James VI, King of Scots, inherited the English throne as James I, at the Union of the Crowns in 1603.
James inherited as the gr
Source: Reuters
Dec 13, 2007
Australia has finally forgiven Lawrence of Arabia for writing it out of the history of the Middle East campaign of World War I, honouring the enigmatic Englishman with an exhibition at its national war museum.
But Australia's War Memorial is using the exhibit to highlight the overlooked role of Australian troops and their commander Henry Chauvel, who played a crucial role in the defeat of Turkish Ottoman forces in Palestine and Syria.
In his famous war memoir Seven Pill
Source: Chronicle of Higher Ed (video)
Dec 13, 2007
Students of Sorin A. Matei, an associate professor of communication at Purdue University, can don stereoscopic glasses and enter a virtual "cave" to study the buildings of ancient Rome.
Source: LiveScience
Dec 13, 2007
The wreckage of a pirate ship abandoned by Captain Kidd in the 17th century has been found by divers in shallow waters off the Dominican Republic, a research team claims.
The underwater archaeology team, from Indiana University, says they have found the remains of Quedagh Merchant, actively sought by treasure hunters for years.
Charles Beeker of IU said his team has been licensed to study the wreckage and convert the site into an underwater preserve for the public.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Dec 13, 2007
A half-man, half-goat sculpture, which was attributed to Post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin and took pride of place at the Art Institute of Chicago for a decade, has been revealed as a forgery created by a British family.
The museum has admitted that The Faun sculpture is not by the 19th century French artist but is the work of the Greenhalgh family, who swindled an estimated £1.5 million from museums, galleries and auction houses.
A private dealer bought the sculpt
Source: Washington Times
Dec 13, 2007
A sculpture of Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, who wrote the Dred Scott decision affirming slavery, would remain in front of Frederick City Hall under a compromise backed by the local NAACP and the mayor.
A new plaque would describe the Maryland native's career and the landmark 1857 ruling that some historians consider a catalyst for the Civil War.
The wording of the plaque hasn't been decided, but Guy Djoken, president of the Frederick County chapter o
Source: Chronicle of Higher Ed
Dec 12, 2007
Harold Pinter’s literary archive has been “saved for the nation,” the British Library announced yesterday. In a statement, the library said it had paid slightly more than $2.25-million for the collection, which contains some 150 boxes of “manuscripts, scrapbooks, letters, photographs, programmes, and e-mails” from Mr. Pinter’s storied career as a playwright, screenwriter, and poet. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005.
Highlights of the archive include “an exceedingly percep
Source: BBC
Dec 12, 2007
A coal mine which closed 26 years ago has beaten some of Scotland's most famous landmarks to be named the country's most treasured place.
Lady Victoria Colliery in Newtongrange, Midlothian, beat off competition from nine other sites, including Rosslyn Chapel, featured in the Da Vinci Code.
More than 20,000 votes were cast after a shortlist of 10 places was selected.
Source: HNN Staff
Dec 12, 2007
Three novels make the list, two biographies, and one history book.
NOVELS
"Tree of Smoke" by Denis Johnson
"The Yiddish Policeman's Union" by Michael Chabon
"The Father of All Things" by Tom Bissell
BIOGRAPHIES
"Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations" by Georgina Howell
HISTORY
"Legacy of Ashes: A History of the CIA" by Tim Wei
Source: Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood, is published by the Federation of American Scientists
Dec 12, 2007
A federal appeals court last week overturned a lower court ruling that
the CIA had won in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit involving JFK
assassination records, and ordered CIA to continue processing the
request.
The case involves records sought by journalist Jefferson Morley that he
believes will provide new insight into the assassination.
"This decision, if the CIA respects it, will shed new light on one of
the murkiest areas of the Kennedy assassination story: the CIA
intel
