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: ABC News
Jun 8, 2012
Teenager Anne Frank's diary about the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in the early 1940s has inspired more than just plays and films since her death in a German concentration camp in 1945 at age 15. She started writing it 70 years ago today, June 12, 1942, on her 13th birthday.Her first entry reads, "I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support." You can read the book online at Google Books....
Source: NYT
Jun 8, 2012
For sheer intensity and outsize characters, for a sense of history being made as it unfolded, the 2012 election has paled before the 2008 presidential race. However gratifying or dispiriting the possibility of winning or losing might be to partisans on both sides, this campaign has struggled, so far at least, to avoid feeling like a bitter anticlimax.But maybe we should all take another look, because 2012 is shaping up in many ways to be more important to the direction of the country than 2008 was.Unlike the last race, when both candidates competed for the center and the differences between the parties often seemed bridgeable, this campaign is asking voters to choose between starkly different paths.Will the Keynesian principles that have guided economic policy for generations be affirmed or replaced by a belief that smaller government will make room for a more vibrant private sector?
Source: Fox News
Jun 8, 2012
Underneath the thick, virgin rainforest cover in the Mosquitia region of Honduras, archaeologists have discovered ruins they think may be the lost city of Ciudad Blanca. Legends say the "White City" is full of gold, which is why conquistador Hernando Cortes was among the first Ciudad Blanca seekers in the 1500s. But the method the modern researchers used was a little different from previous explorers' techniques. The modern-day researchers flew over the area in a small plane and shot billions of laser pulses at the ground, creating a 3D digital map of the topology underneath the trees.This is one of the first times this technique, called light detection and ranging (LiDAR), has been used to map ancient ruins. Beyond archaeology, LiDAR researchers at the National Science Foundation are looking to develop the technology for mapping disasters using drones, for military spying and for tracking erosion under rivers and shallow parts of the ocean....
Source: CNN.com
Jun 8, 2012
Beirut, Lebanon (CNN) -- April 13, 1975 -- one of the darkest dates in Lebanese history. An attack on a busload of Palestinians in Beirut that day sparked a civil war that would rage for 15 years, leaving some 150,000 dead, the capital divided along sectarian lines and sections of the country in ruins.But ask students in the city today of the significance of the date, and you get mixed responses."I think it was a very important occasion for Lebanon," says Noor El-Hoss, a student in West Beirut's Al Iman School. "But I don't know what happened."Explains fellow student Zeina Naous: "We are studying about ... World War Two. We are not studying about the civil war, or what happened to Lebanon."...
Source: CNN.com
Jun 7, 2012
Washington (CNN) – More than three years after leaving office, former President George W. Bush remains unpopular with the public, according to a new national poll.A CNN/ORC International poll also indicates that two-thirds of Americans have a positive view of Bush's predecessor, former President Bill Clinton.According to the poll, released Thursday morning, 43% of people questioned had a favorable opinion of Bush, with 54% saying they had an unfavorable view of the former president. Bush's 43% favorable rating is the same as it was in 2010 in CNN polling, but is up from his mid-30's favorable rating during 2009, his first year out of the White House....
Source: MSNBC
Jun 6, 2012
Researchers at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library are marveling over the historical equivalent of buried treasure: an up-to-now undiscovered account of the night Lincoln was assassinated, written by the first doctor to treat him.Dr. Charles Leale was a 23-year-old army surgeon who was in attendance at Ford's Theatre when John Wilkes Booth entered the presidential box and shot Lincoln days after the conclusion of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln researcher Helena Iles Papaioannou discovered Leale's account while searching the records of the surgeon general in the National Archives in Washington, DC. The 21-page report is Leale's own retelling of the tragedy, written just hours after the president died the following morning....
Source: Foreign Policy in Focus
Jun 6, 2012
In June 1940, when France fell to the German invasion, Italy seized the moment to attack British positions in Egypt, Kenya, and Sudan. By the end of March 1941, German Major-General Erwin Rommel's mechanized troops had driven the British out of Libya and back into Egypt. In late spring, German and Italian aircraft were pummeling Britain’s sea stations in the Mediterranean, making it difficult if not impossible for supply ships to reach British forces in the Middle East. The remaining sea route by which to deliver supplies to Egypt was via Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, but that was a protracted journey of three to four months, a luxury of time that Britain simply did not have....
Source: Reuters
Jun 6, 2012
(Reuters) - Archaeologists in London have discovered the remains of an early playhouse used by William Shakespeare's company where "Romeo and Juliet" and "Henry V" were first performed.Pre-dating the riverside Globe, the Curtain theater, north of the river Thames in Shoreditch, was home to Shakespeare's company - the Lord Chamberlain's Men.Remains of walls forming the gallery and the yard within the venue have been discovered by archaeologists from Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA)....
Source: Seattle Weekly
Jun 6, 2012
Your ride back into history begins at the Seattle ferry dock and ends 50 minutes later as you glide into Bremerton's harbor.
Source: AP
Jun 6, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — World War II veterans Josephine and Murray Bussard are commemorating the 68th anniversary of D-Day in side-by-side wheelchairs at the memorial honoring their service in the war that brought them together as man and wife.The octogenarians from Springfield, Mo., were among nearly 200 veterans who were flown in from six states on Wednesday for a visit to the World War II Memorial. The Bussards made this journey two days before their 67th wedding anniversary.The veterans’ flights were arranged by the private Honor Flight Network. According to its website, the organization has flown more than 81,000 veterans to the nation’s capital since 2005 to visit the memorials for their respective wars....
Source: Salon
Jun 6, 2012
It’s not hard to guess the logic behind releasing “Timeline World War 2” at this time of year: It’s the quintessential dad app. For many people giving or getting a new iPad for Father’s Day, this Ballista Media/Agant Ltd. production handily illustrates the merits of the tablet medium by taking the material of a zillion History Channel documentaries and presenting it in a fresh new way.But “Timeline World War 2” is not just for dads! Yes, it focuses on the military (rather than the political or social) aspects of the conflict, but to someone (like me) who’s unlikely to read a book devoted to major battles, key tacticians, warships sunk or scuttled, weapons descriptions and so on, it may be even more interesting and enlightening than it would be to an aficionado. It’s also a beautifully-designed demonstration of the iPad’s powers as a publishing platform for nonfiction....
Source: Princeton Patch
Jun 6, 2012
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named the Princeton Battlefield to its 2012 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.The annual list, released Wednesday, includes landmarks believed to be at risk of destruction or irreparable damage.Should Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study build its approved 15-unit housing development on a portion of the original battlefield, that “would radically alter the integrity of the historic landscape, which has never been built upon, burying or destroying potential archeological resources and dramatically changing the topography of the terrain - an important element of the battle and essential to interpreting the battle today,” according to a statement from the National Trust....
Source: NYT
Jun 6, 2012
Joe Frazier’s Gym in Philadelphia and the neighborhood where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. grew up, in Sweet Auburn, Atlanta, are among the 11 important sites at risk of damage or destruction cited by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in its annual list, to be unveiled on Wednesday....
Source: NYT
Jun 6, 2012
LONDON — Saying she was touched and humbled by “countless kindnesses” shown to her, Queen Elizabeth II wound up a spectacular and closely scripted four-day celebration of her 60 years as monarch on Tuesday, seeming buoyed by an outpouring of support that is likely to cement her family’s place in British society for years to come.The queen, who is 86, completed the extravaganza with an address broadcast to the nation.“The events that I have attended to mark my diamond jubilee have been a humbling experience,” she said in the address, which lasted less than two minutes and was recorded in advance. “It has touched me deeply to see so many thousands of families, neighbors and friends celebrating together in such a happy atmosphere.”
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
Jun 5, 2012
Relations between Norway and Sweden are being strained with the publication of a new book, which details how Stockholm aided the Nazis during WW2 as their neighbours fought and lost a decisive battle against the German invaders.Sweden stayed neutral in the war but Norway was among the first conquests of Hitler.Now a new book shows how Sweden let the Germans use its efficient rail network to transport men and materials to the battle of Narvik, where British troops were deployed in a bid to stave off the Nazi hordes.Narvik-based journalist Espen Eidum spent three years sifting through Norwegian, Swedish and German archives to discover how the Nazis had managed to get troops and supplies to the front lines in Narvik in 1940, enabling them to turn a losing battle into a decisive victory that led to the conquest and brutal occupation of the whole country....
Source: Yahoo News
Jun 5, 2012
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The first doctor to reach President Abraham Lincoln after he was shot in a Washington theater rushed to his ceremonial box and found him paralyzed, comatose and leaning against his wife. Dr. Charles Leale ordered brandy and water to be brought immediately.Leale's long-lost report of efforts to help the mortally wounded president, written just hours after his death, was discovered in a box at the National Archives late last month.The Army surgeon, who sat 40 feet from Lincoln at Ford's Theater that night in April 1865, saw assassin John Wilkes Booth jump to the stage, brandishing a dagger. Thinking Lincoln had been stabbed, Leale pushed his way to the victim but found a different injury....
Source: Fox News
Jun 5, 2012
A trove of gold and silver coins and jewelry discovered near the Qiryat Gat in Israel was likely stashed there by a wealthy woman during the Bar Kokhba Revolt, the last Jewish-Roman war, archaeologists announced today June 5.Scientists uncovered about 140 gold and silver coins, along with gold jewelry, during an excavation that exposed rooms of a building dating to the Roman and Byzantine period. The treasure trove was wrapped in cloth and hidden in a pit in the building's courtyard.The jewelry could make even a modern gal smile; among the hoard is a flower-shaped earring and a ring holding a precious stone that is covered with a seal of a winged goddess. Two sticks of silver in the trove were likely kohl sticks, which were used type of like eyeliner in Arabia and Egypt to darken the edges of eyelids. The coins date to the reigns of emperors Nero, Nerva and Trajan, who ruled the Roman Empire from about A.D. 54 to 117; the emperors' images adorn one side of the coins....
Source: AFP
Jun 5, 2012
BAGHDAD (AFP) -- Iraqi architects and historians have decried official neglect of historical buildings nationwide, many of which have fallen into disrepair and disuse, and called for greater attention to be paid to them."For many years, we have talked about the importance of maintaining historical centres and buildings spread across Iraqi cities ... but unfortunately, the government did not respond to these calls," Iraqi architect Hisham al-Medfai said at a conference of local historians and architects over the weekend."Architectural heritage in urban centres now requires an important step to maintain it," Medfai said....
Source: BBC News
Jun 5, 2012
Archaeologists in Bulgaria have found two medieval skeletons pierced through the chest with iron rods to supposedly stop them from turning into vampires.The discovery illustrates a pagan practice common in some villages up until a century ago, say historians.People deemed bad had their hearts stabbed after death, for fear they would return to feast on humans' blood....
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Jun 5, 2012
Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th), the City Council’s resident historian, had hoped to turn the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Fort Dearborn into a “Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation” with descendants of the Native Americans involved in that deadly battle.Instead, he made matters worse — by using a term many Native Americans consider derogatory and tantamount to a racial slur.It happened Tuesday during a City Council hearing on Burke’s resolution calling for the planning to begin on an appropriate city celebration.Burke suggested that descendents of the Native Americans involved and of the occupants of Fort Dearborn may want to “smoke a peace pipe” as part of the bi-centennial celebration of the Aug. 15 battle of the War of 1812....
