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: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Jun 18, 2006
The nation's first federal highway, the National Road, has been called "the single most significant act in American transportation history," credited with opening up Western lands to trade and settlement and creating a physical, social and economic landscape along the way with its tollgates, taverns and prosperous "pike towns."
The National Road, now U.S. Route 40, turns 200 years old this year. Meandering through southwestern Pennsylvania for about 90 miles, it
Source: NYT
Jun 17, 2006
Hoping for leniency in a coming trial, an accused tomb robber led Italian officials two weeks ago to a startling discovery on a sun-scorched hilltop here: the oldest Etruscan burial chamber ever found.
The tomb, dating from at least the seventh century B.C., was shown on Friday to reporters who were taken by bus to the site, less than 13 miles north of Rome. For now, archaeologists have named it the Tomb of the Roaring Lions, after the childlike representations of growling quadruped
Source: NYT
Jun 17, 2006
Construction of a long-delayed and reduced memorial to the victims of the Columbine High School shootings began on Friday in a quiet spot between two hills in a park where students took refuge as chaos descended on April 20, 1999.
Alex Dudik, who was a senior that year, returned for the groundbreaking near here and a speech by former President Bill Clinton to commemorate the attack.
The plans for a memorial — an inner wall for the 13 murder victims, and an outer circle
Source: BBC
Jun 17, 2006
Farm contractors have unearthed 2,000 Roman coins beneath a field at a farm near Carmarthen.
The coins, which date from late Roman times, have been categorised as "treasure".
The exact location of the discovery is being kept secret to protect the site from treasure hunters. The HM Coroner has been informed.
The coins are thought to have been lying just 12 inches beneath the surface of a field.
The Romans left Wales in 410AD, having firs
Source: CNN
Jun 17, 2006
For 60 years, Nancy Kenney wondered what happened to her father.
The submarine that William T. Mabin was in disappeared while he and his crew mates were on a mission to attack a Japanese convoy in the last months of World War II.
Now, the Navy says a wreck found at the bottom of the Gulf of Thailand appears to be the sub, the USS Lagarto.
Source: BBC
Jun 17, 2006
The Queen has received an historic "Feu de Joie" rifle salute as part of her 80th birthday celebrations.
The cascade of blank gunshots was common in the 18th and 19th centuries to mark a military victory or birthday.
But it was thought to be the first time it had been performed in the current Queen's presence during her reign.
Three cheers from the guardsmen followed. The Queen had earlier watched the Trooping the Colour parade and a spectacular 49-p
Source: BBC
Jun 17, 2006
The last surviving veteran to fight in the trenches during World War One has celebrated his 108th birthday.
Harry Patch enjoyed a cream tea with English strawberries at a party at his nursing home in Wells, Somerset.
Mr Patch served with the Duke of Cornwall's light infantry and saw action in the trenches at the bloody battle of Passchendaele.
Source: BBC News
Jun 16, 2006
A large and splendid coffee-table book is doing the rarefied rounds in Europe.
The print run is small, and at the moment, it is handed out only to VIPs, and some retiring EU officials.
It charts the attempts over the last seven centuries to draft the laws and constitutions that might bring Europe together.
That means there is no room for the abstract musings of Victor Hugo on the nature of Europe. It limits itself to those who tried to find ways to make the id
Source: Lahore Daily Times
Jun 16, 2006
Lahoris will have an unprecedented opportunity to see the basement chambers of the Lahore Fort next month, as a weeklong exhibition of paintings and photographs will be held there.
The exhibition is part of the ‘Lahore Fort Cultural Week’ being observed under United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in collaboration with the Punjab Archaeology Department (PAD). The exhibition will be held from July 10 to July 16. A large number of paintings and photo
Source: Yahoo
Jun 16, 2006
The mediaeval abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel -- a jewel of France's architectural heritage -- is to become an island once again, with the start of a massive engineering project designed to reverse centuries of silting. Built 1,300 years ago on a rock off the northwestern Normandy coast, the Mont Saint Michel is France's main tourist attraction outside Paris. But the the encroachment of surrounding mudflats has spoiled the insular character of the Benedictine abbey, which is now
Source: Reuters
Jun 16, 2006
Italy unveiled on Friday a new archaeological site that some experts say houses the oldest paintings in the history of Western civilization.Italy's culture minister took reporters to an unremarkable field outside Rome under which they were shown a room carved into the hillside, decorated with colorful frescoes which archaeologists said were 2,700 years old.
"It's a prince's tomb that is unique, and I would say is at the origins of Western art," said Mi
Source: World Peace Herald
Jun 16, 2006
Montenegro says Japan has recognized the Balkan country as an independent state, ending more than 100 years of a state of war. Akiko Yamanaka, Japan's deputy foreign minister and the prime minister's special envoy is scheduled to arrive in Podgorica next week to deliver a letter to Montenegrin officials declaring the war is over and Tokyo recognizes Montenegro as an independent state, Belgrade's B92 radio reported Friday.
The countries have been in a technical
Source: Boston Globe
Jun 16, 2006
You see, the June 17, 1775, battle -- the one that proved the upstart Americans were a match for the mightiest army on the planet -- was fought on Breed's Hill, not Bunker's. It's perhaps the greatest misnomer in American history, and we Breeds have been moaning about it ever since.Cousins have fired off letters to the editor when some hapless columnist makes the mistake of calling it the Battle of Bunker Hill. My youngest brother briefly attended Bunker Hill Community Colle
Source: Houston Chronicle
Jun 16, 2006
HURRICANE Katrina was destroying New Orleans, but Vincent Trotter had problems of his own. He was a jailer at the Orleans Parish lockup, and the 700 prisoners, some of whom were smashing their way out of their cells, were threatening to kill him. Between crises at the jail, which was filling with water and shaking in the wind, he fought off worries about his family and his house in Algiers.
Before the ordeal ended, Trotter shepherded his charges through chest-de
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education
Jun 16, 2006
Google has added a new feature to its ever-expanding universe of search options: Google U.S. Government Search. The new site indexes press releases from the government, information from government Web sites, and news from The Washington Post and other news outlets. It even prominently lists the weather in Washington.
The new site is part of Google’s drive to digitize government documents and records. The National Archives and Records Administration has given Google about 20 governm
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Jun 16, 2006
Chicago-based IBM technologist John Tolva hangs with the royals -- virtually -- from Egyptian pharaohs to Russian czars, and soon, Chinese emperors.
For almost a decade, Tolva and his IBM colleagues have been building virtual worlds online. They've already done the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and digital pyramids and other ancient real estate holdings of the pharaohs in Egypt.
Today, IBM will announce plans to reconstruct online the Forbidden City, home
Source: NYT
Jun 16, 2006
PORTLAND, Me., June 11 — Forget Paris. The curious are now flocking here for a Mona Lisa mystery.
A painting that bears a striking resemblance to the "Mona Lisa" is on display at the Portland Museum of Art, attracting residents, amateur art sleuths and tourists.
May was the busiest month on record for the museum. Staff members are not sure whether to credit the painting, which went on display a day before "The Da Vinci Code" opened in movie theaters
Source: NYT
Jun 16, 2006
PHILIPSTOWN, N.Y. — A fight is brewing here over a house where George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette plotted their defense of the Hudson River.
Robert M. Perry in Philipstown, N.Y., outside Mandeville House, where George Washington and a parade of historic figures sometimes gathered.
The house, named Mandeville House, was left in trust by Margaret Allan Gething, a character actress and an interior designer, with the intent that it become a museum. But more than thre
Source: Timesonline (UK)
Jun 15, 2006
Scientists have used computer technology to recreate the face of Neanderthal Man, right.
A Swiss-German team from the Rheinische Landesmuseum in Bonn used the top of 42,000-year-old skull found in 1856 as the basis for their reconstruction.
The model, which depicts quite a modern-looking caveman, fo
Source: AP
Jun 15, 2006
Stunning military victories made Israeli general Moshe Dayan an iconic figure on the international stage, but his reputation for looting antiquities is little known outside the country where his myth was born.
Across three decades until his death in 1981, Dayan, of the trademark eye patch, established a vast collection of antiquities acquired through illicit excavations. He also traded in archaeological finds in Israel and abroad, antiquities experts say.
