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: BBC
Oct 7, 2010
A set of John Lennon's fingerprints has been seized by the FBI from a New York memorabilia dealer.
Dealer Peter Siegel told the BBC the card was to be auctioned at a $100,000 (£62,621) minimum bid.
The prints were taken at a New York police station in 1976 when Lennon applied for permanent US residence.
An FBI official told the BBC the bureau believed the card was government property and was investigating how it landed in private hands.
Mr Sieg
Source: The Boston Globe
Oct 7, 2010
Stored and forgotten for decades, artifacts from the site of Lexington’s historic Hancock-Clarke House will soon offer a rare glimpse into family life in the early 18th century.
Beranek leads a team from the Fiske Center for Archaeological Research at University of Massachusetts Boston that has been cataloging the items and studying their significance.
Beranek leads a team from the Fiske Center for Archaeological Research at University of Massachusetts Boston that has b
Source: Live Science
Oct 7, 2010
While most scientists agree that a large object from space likely crashed into Earth and led to the eventual demise of the dinosaurs, a new study takes aim at theories that suggest similar events spelled bad news for large animals and Stone Age hunters nearly 13,000 years ago.
For about three years, scientists have debated over what caused drastic climate changes and gaps in the archaeological record at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch, a period of time spanning from about 1.8 mill
Source: BBC
Oct 7, 2010
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is stepping down from public life, as he celebrates his 79th birthday.
The man described as the "conscience" of South Africa was a prominent voice during the country's struggle against white minority rule.
He has since been the voice of reconciliation in a number of regional conflicts.
As a young cleric back in the 1970s, he was a vocal critic of the apartheid regime.
In the mid-1980s, when South Africa was s
Source: BBC
Oct 7, 2010
A woman's account of escaping the sinking Titanic in 1912 has been published for the first time.
Laura Francatelli from London said she heard an "awful rumbling" as the liner went down and "then came screams and cries" from 1,500 drowning passengers.
Her account was recorded in a signed affidavit for the official British inquiry into the disaster.
The historic document is expected to sell for up to £15,000 when it is auctioned in Wiltshi
Source: BBC
Oct 7, 2010
A lost flute concerto by the composer Vivaldi has been discovered at the National Archives of Scotland.
Il Gran Mogol, which belonged to a quartet of lost concertos, has been authenticated as the work of the 18th Century Italian composer.
Southampton University research fellow Andrew Woolley found the piece among the Marquesses of Lothian's family papers at the archives in Edinburgh.
It will receive its modern day premiere at Perth Concert Hall in January..
Source: BBC
Oct 7, 2010
The story of Edinburgh's contribution to World War I, including accounts of Girl Guides helping M15, has gone online.
The archive shows how Serbian refugee boys were educated at George Heriot's School and how soldiers were taught to cook at James Gillespie's High school.
The Edinburgh University archive shows how ordinary people helped win a war.
Researchers have been working with Edinburgh City Libraries, historians and community groups to compile it.
Source: CNN
Oct 7, 2010
A detailed and well-preserved Roman parade helmet -- complete with fine facial features on its face mask, tight curly hair, and a griffin-topped cap -- sold at auction Thursday for 10 times its estimated amount.
The helmet sold at Christie's auction house in London for 2.28 million pounds ($3.6 million). It had been estimated at 200,000 to 300,000 pounds (about $316,000 to $475,000).
The buyer of the helmet was not immediately known.
The Tullie House Museum
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Oct 7, 2010
Spanish Navy vessels looking for sunken treasure off the country's coast have found about 100 possible shipwrecks.
Two minesweepers and other vessels, on a mission to protect the country's historical heritage from private salvagers, located the sites in Atlantic waters off the southwestern city of Cadiz as part of a campaign that began Sept. 8 and is due to last two months, the Culture Ministry said.
Spain wants to avoid a repeat of a saga that began in 2007 when Tampa
Source: BBC News
Oct 7, 2010
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is stepping down from public life, as he celebrates his 79th birthday.
The man described as the "conscience" of South Africa was a prominent voice during the country's struggle against white minority rule.
He has since been the voice of reconciliation in a number of regional conflicts.
But the Nobel Peace prize winner says he wants to spend more time with his family and watching cricket.
He also says he wants t
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Oct 7, 2010
After six years of searching and digital restoration, scientists have finally completed remastering footage of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
The restored video was shown for the first time on Wednesday at an Australian Geographic magazine awards ceremony, with Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin as guest of honour.
In 2009, NASA released some extracts of the work to mark the 40th anniversary of the landing, but it has taken the Apollo 11 tape search team six years to complete full digita
Source: Telegraph (UK)
Oct 7, 2010
An ancient Roman helmet found in a British field by a treasure hunter with a metal detector sold Thursday for 2.3 million pounds (2.6 million euros, 3.6 million dollars), auctioneers Christie's said.
The "exceptional" bronze cavalry parade helmet dates from the late first century or early second century, and features a well-preserved face mask, locks of curly hair and a griffin atop the cap.
It sold to an anonymous telephone buyer for more than eight times the
Source: BBC News
Oct 7, 2010
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is stepping down from public life, as he celebrates his 79th birthday.
The man described as the "conscience" of South Africa was a prominent voice during the country's struggle against white minority rule.
He has since been the voice of reconciliation in a number of regional conflicts.
But the Nobel Peace prize winner says he wants to spend more time with his family and watching cricket.
He also says he wants t
Source: BBC News
Oct 7, 2010
Saturn's rings may have formed when a large moon with an icy mantle and rocky core spiralled into the nascent planet.
A US scientist has suggested that the tidal forces ripped off some of the moon's mantle before the actual impact.
The theory could shed light on the rings' mainly water-ice composition that has puzzled researchers for decades.
The scientist announced her idea at a conference in Pasadena, US.
Though the rings are now thought to c
Source: NYT
Oct 7, 2010
John Lennon has been dead for 30 years, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation is still on the case.
On Wednesday morning a small pop-culture memorabilia shop in Midtown opened an 836-lot auction timed to what would have been Lennon’s 70th birthday, which is Saturday. The prized item was a set of Lennon’s fingerprints made in 1976 as part of his application for citizenship. Minimum bid: $100,000.
But after an hourlong standoff involving cellphone calls, faxes and meeti
Source: AP
Oct 6, 2010
Michael Seifert, a former Nazi SS prison guard known as "the beast of Bolzano" for his cruelty, died Saturday in an Italian hospital at age 86, officials said.
The Ukrainian-born Seifert was serving a life sentence at the Santa Maria Capua Vetere prison in southern Italy. He died in the nearby Caserta hospital, according to officials at the hospital and at the prison.
Seifert, tried in absentia by a military tribunal in Verona, was convicted in 2000 of nine co
Source: AP
Oct 6, 2010
Jewish groups expressed outrage Wednesday that a former Nazi SS captain convicted for his role in the massacre of 335 civilians in Italy has been allowed to leave house arrest for such everyday activities as shopping or going to church.
Erich Priebke's lawyer announced this week that an Italian court granted the 97-year-old German permission last year to leave the Rome apartment where he is serving a life sentence to take care of the "indispensable needs for his life."
Source: AP
Oct 6, 2010
GENEVA — He's one of the titans of 20th Century architecture, but Le Corbusier is suddenly feeling the weight of history working against him.
The modernist master's legacy is coming under pressure after Switzerland's largest bank dropped an ad campaign featuring the architect and artist last week. Now, Zurich authorities are debating whether to dump plans to name a square after him.
Letters made public in recent years and a 2008 biography suggest that the visionary know
Source: NPR
Oct 6, 2010
This weekend marks the 70th anniversary of a World War II milestone few people have heard before. It's the story of a Polish army captain named Witold Pilecki.
In September 1940, Pilecki didn't know exactly what was going on in Auschwitz, but he knew someone had to find out. He would spend two and a half years in the prison camp, smuggling out word of the methods of execution and interrogation. He would eventually escape and author the first intelligence report on the camp.
Source: Fox News
Oct 6, 2010
The Oklahoma City public school district is taking a second look at a plan to teach at-risk students using rap and hip-hop after receiving complaints over one lesson referring to the Founding Fathers as "old dead white men."
The program, known as Flocabulary, is an educational tool that uses rap and hip-hop music to help students learn and memorize basic principles of vocabulary, reading, writing, social studies, math and science. The district was authorized to spend $97,0
