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 (UK)
March 13, 2010
A British underwater research team has discovered hundreds of rare Roman pots by accident, while trawling the wreckages of ships on the sea bed.
The team had been using remote operated vehicles (ROVs) to scour modern wrecks for radioactive materials.
They were amazed to come across the remains of a Roman galley which sank off the coast of Italy thousands of years ago.
The crew from energy company Hallin Marine International, based in Aberdeen, found a numbe
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
April 13, 2010
An independent film is bringing to light a well-kept secret: Soviet Dictator Josef Stalin's only daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva, has been living incognito in the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
It is unclear whether the 84-year-old who fiercely guards her privacy still lives here today, but Lana Peters has lived at several addresses in southern Wisconsin in the last 20 years.
And in the summer of 2007, a determined film maker tracked her down at an apartment at a retirement ho
Source: CNN
April 12, 2010
The Vatican may have forgiven the Beatles over the weekend for their "satanic" messages -- but Ringo Starr, the legendary band's drummer, says he couldn't care less.
In a tribute published to mark the 40th anniversary of the breakup of the band, who singer John Lennon once claimed were "more popular than Jesus," the Vatican newspaper "L'Osservatore Romano" said it had forgiven them and called them a "precious jewel."
But Starr tol
Source: BBC Magazine
April 13, 2010
Five years ago Downfall's release saw the German film acclaimed for its portrayal of Hitler's last days. But since then it has become almost as famous for a wave of internet parodies of its climactic scene.
Hitler is angry.
Very angry indeed. Angry enough to order all but his most senior generals out of the room so he can vent his rage.
He is angry because Cristiano Ronaldo has been sold to Real Madrid. Or because the ending of Watchmen has been changed. Or
Source: BBC News
April 13, 2010
John Demjanjuk, accused of helping to murder nearly 28,000 Jews at a Nazi death camp, has told a German court he is "one of Hitler's victims".
Mr Demjanjuk was "forcibly deported to Germany" and used as "slave labour" he said in a statement read out in court.
The family of the Ukrainian-born former US carworker says he is in poor health and is unlikely to survive the trial.
Mr Demjanjuk, who is 89, denies being a camp guard at
Source: BBC News
April 13, 2010
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is facing the first prosecution witnesses as his trial for genocide resumes at The Hague.
The first witness is Ahmet Zulic, who was a prisoner in a Serb detention camp in north-western Bosnia.
Mr Karadzic, who has been conducting his own defence, is expected to cross-examine him.
Mr Karadzic denies 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
All charges relate to the conflict in Bos
Source: Telegraph (UK)
April 13, 2010
No distress signal was sent from the Titanic for three quarters of an hour after it struck ice, a new book claimed.
Time was spent assessing the damage from the iceberg when nearby ships could have been steaming to the rescue, research from author Tim Maltin said.
His work - 101 Things You Thought You Knew About The Titanic... But Didn't - is published on Thursday and claims no alert was sent from the ailing vessel for 47 minutes because the ships' officers wanted to ke
Source: Thomas Bartlett at the Percolator (Blog)
April 12, 2010
Last week Justice John Paul Stevens announced that he would be retiring from the Supreme Court after nearly 35 years of service. While most of the talk was about how Stevens has led the liberal bloc on the court, whom Obama would choose to replace him, and so on, what got less attention was perhaps Stevens's most radical stance:
He doesn't think Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare.
He believes it was Edward de Vere, the 17th earl of Oxford. That puts him in league with the Ox
Source: CNN.com
April 12, 2010
Washington (CNN) -- President Obama and Chinese leader Hu Jintao are meeting Monday about nuclear security and other issues. The meeting comes as part of a two-day summit on how to better safeguard nuclear weapons materials and keep them out of the hands of terrorists.
Here's a look at some highs and lows in the sometimes rocky relationship between the U.S. and China.
Highs
• President Richard Nixon sought to improve relations with China in the late 1960s.
Source: NYT
April 9, 2010
He is elected for life, by a group of elderly men infused with the will of God. People address him as Holy Father, not Mr. President. After bishop of Rome, his second title is vicar of Jesus Christ.
A smattering of voices suggest that Pope Benedict XVI can, and should, as outrage has built in recent weeks over clerical abuses in the Catholic Church. The calls — from some lay Catholics, bloggers, secular publications like the German magazine Der Spiegel and street protesters — have b
Source: NYT
April 12, 2010
Out of a Polish catastrophe on Russian soil, an opportunity has emerged for stronger ties between the two countries, whose relationship for centuries has been defined by enmity and strife.
Far from aggravating frictions in Russian-Polish relations, as initially feared, the plane crash that killed Poland’s president and a swath of the upper echelon of politicians and military leaders on Saturday appears to have achieved the opposite effect, encouraging kindness and understanding on b
Source: NYT
April 13, 2010
Nearly seven hours of previously unreleased interviews with Jacqueline Kennedy, recorded just months after the death of President John F. Kennedy and intended for deposit in a future presidential library, will be released as a book, the publisher Hyperion said on Tuesday. The original interviews with Mrs. Kennedy were conducted in the spring of 1964 with the historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. as part of an oral history project meant to preserve memories of Kennedy and his administration. In the
Source: NPR
April 11, 2010
As states across the country scramble to close budget gaps, many are targeting state parks. Arizona is the first to go through with it. In February, the state closed five of its 30 parks, and a number of them contain fragile archaeological sites. Now residents are taking steps to prevent looting.
Susan Secakuku, a former archaeologist at Homolovi and a member of the Hopi tribe, says it's hard to believe visitors are no longer allowed to see this stunning view from inside the park.
Source: Live Science
April 12, 2010
A shrunken brain may potentially lie inside the fossil skull of a newfound candidate for the immediate ancestor to the human lineage, researchers now reveal.
This new species, dubbed Australopithecus sediba, was accidentally discovered in South Africa by the 9-year-old son of a scientist. Two members of this hominid were introduced to the world last week - a juvenile male and an adult female, who might have known each other in life and who could have met their demise by falling int
Source: The Guardian
April 11, 2010
Ministers have been condemned for forcing through the sale of up to 1,000 antiquities allegedly stolen from Italy, in order to pay the debts of a bankrupt private collector.
The Home Office has sparked outrage by allowing Roman bronzes, Etruscan gold and other treasures to be placed on the market by liquidators acting for the government in an attempt to recover unpaid taxes from the former owner, Robin Symes, a dealer with alleged links to the smuggling trade and a UK prison record.
Source: NBC
April 12, 2010
When Thomas Jefferson died many of his possessions were sold to pay his debts. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation has located thousands of his belonging over the years but they believe there are even more still out there.
Susan Stein is the Senior Curator at Monticello and said the foundation only examines items that have a historical connection to Monticello.
Each year, the curators investigate about 50 artifacts. Stein said roughly 1 in every 20 items they examine was on
Source: BBC
April 12, 2010
The exact history of Turin shroud, which has gone on display for the first time in 10 years, is hotly disputed. So what do we know about its authenticity?
Numerous historical references to Christ's shroud exist but the only reliable records for the one today housed in Turin Cathedral begin in the 16th Century. The herringbone woven cloth measuring 1.21m by 4.42m (4ftx14ft), is stained with human blood and appears to show the imprint of a crucified man. The most iconic aspect - the a
Source: BBC
April 12, 2010
A solicitor accused of helping to hold a stolen Da Vinci artwork has denied there was a conspiracy involved.
David Boyce, 63, told the High Court in Edinburgh he thought the transaction to return the painting was "unusual", but it was not suspicious.
He is one of five men who deny conspiring to extort £4.25m for the return of the painting in October 2007.
The Madonna of the Yarnwinder was stolen from Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfriesshire in 2003.
Source: AP
April 12, 2010
Only a few popes have resigned in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Don't expect Pope Benedict XVI to join their ranks.
The uproar caused by reports that, as an archbishop years ago in Germany and later as a Vatican cardinal, Benedict and his aides were slow to defrock abusive priests, cannot be explained as the church equivalent of Watergate with the pope in the role of U.S. president.
Past popes who quit served mostly in the church's first millennium, accordin
Source: The Washington Post
April 12, 2010
Nonfiction books about 19th- and 20th-century history -- from a biography of voracious industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt to World War I-era bankers to the Cold War arms race -- won Pulitzer Prizes in the arts and letters categories on Monday.
Pulitzers also went to the writers of the Broadway hit "Next to Normal" for drama; first-time novelist Paul Harding for "Tinkers" for fiction; poet Rae Armantrout for a collection called "Versed"; and classical c
