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
October 25, 2009
A charity is looking for the original home of a battered war memorial found abandoned in a scrapyard in Greater Manchester.
The World War I memorial carries the names of 60 men from around the Manchester area who were killed.
It has been sitting in a warehouse in Trafford Park for 15 years - but staff do not know where it came from.
The War Memorials Trust hopes to find its original location before deciding whether to restore the tablet.
Source: BBC
October 25, 2009
Hundreds of British WWII veterans of the D-Day landings have attended what may be their last major gathering, to mark the 65th anniversary of D-Day.
More than 1,000 Normandy Veterans' Association members were at the evensong service in Westminster Abbey to remember the landings.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth joined them.
Source: AP
October 25, 2009
The worst terrorist attack on British soil is being reviewed by Scottish detectives as they continue to try to determine who else might have acted with the only person convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, police and prosecutors said Sunday.
After Abdel Baset al-Megrahi dropped an appeal against his conviction earlier this year, a review of the evidence was undertaken, the head of the Dumfries and Galloway Police said in a statement.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliba
Source: BBC
October 24, 2009
Millvina Dean was nine weeks old when the liner sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on its maiden voyage from Southampton on 15 April 1912.
Miss Dean died in a care home in Hampshire on 31 May at the age of 97.
Miss Dean's ashes were scattered from a small launch on the water of berth 43/44 at Southampton Docks, the terminal from which the ship set sail.
Source: Fox News
October 23, 2009
Young Indiana Jones was a good story. But the real thing is even better. Meet Andrew Du.
Buried deep in the sand of a remote spit called Koobi Fora hides a treasure trove of artifacts tracing back to the beginnings of humankind. Found on the eastern side of Kenya's Lake Turkana, the site is a prime spot for paleontological research — and there we uncovered a new nonfictional adventurer, in the flesh. Step aside, Harrison Ford: Andrew Du is the real young Indiana Jones.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
October 23, 2009
French authorities must pay Mohamed Al Fayed €5,000 euros (£4,600) after a court ruled that the government was responsible for "unnecessary delays" following the fatal car crash of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Mr Fayed, the billionaire owner of Harrods department store, has long claimed the princess and his son, Dodi, were murdered as part of an establishment plot.
He said he was delighted with Friday's ruling, which said delays to an inquiry into the 1997 crash
Source: Telegraph (UK)
October 24, 2009
The first road atlas of its kind in western Europe, a 17th century book showing a highway network in England and Wales of just 73 roads, is to be sold at auction for up to £9,000.
The route atlas, published in 1675, includes 100 double pages of black and white maps laid out in continuous strips depicting the major roads and crossroads across England and Wales.
The work by John Ogilby – Britannia Volume the First, or an Illustration of the Kingdom of England and Domini
Source: NYT
October 24, 2009
MAISONCELLE, France — The heavy clay-laced mud behind the cattle pen on Antoine Renault’s farm looks as treacherous as it must have been nearly 600 years ago, when King Henry V rode from a spot near here to lead a sodden and exhausted English Army against a French force that was said to outnumber his by as much as five to one.
No one can ever take away the shocking victory by Henry and his “band of brothers,” as Shakespeare would famously call them, on St. Crispin’s Day, Oct. 25, 1
Source: Telegraph (UK)
October 24, 2009
Ray Browne, the American university professor who coined the phrase "popular culture" and pioneered the study of everything from bumper stickers to cartoons, has died aged 87.
Browne worked for decades to convince academics that much could be learned from studying seemingly insignificant elements of our lives.
He developed the first academic department devoted to studying what he called the "people's culture" at Bowling Green state university, Ohio
Source: BBC
October 23, 2009
A routine survey exercise of the Milford Haven waterway has uncovered a World War II naval mine.
The discovery was made by the Royal Navy as it scoured the seabed on the approach to the haven.
Officials say the mine poses no threat to shipping, however the port will be temporarily closed while the unexploded device is made safe.
Milford Haven Port Authority said the Royal Navy was now co-ordinating efforts to dispose of the old mine.
Source: BBC
October 23, 2009
A medieval keep near Stirling has become the setting for a new Hollywood production by US cable channel HBO.
Scenes from Game of Thrones, starring Sean Bean, are due to be shot at Doune Castle over the weekend.
The series is based on George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy adventure novels.
Doune Castle is already a place of pilgrimage for movie fans after it featured as Castle Anthrax in the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Source: BBC
October 23, 2009
A historic manuscript containing details of every soldier who fought with King William of Orange in the Battle of the Boyne has been discovered during renovation work at Belfast City Hall.
The 320-year-old "account book" had been lying in storage at the building for almost a century without the authorities realising the significance it could hold for military historians and the Orange Order.
The parchment document was written by the Paymaster General Thomas C
Source: BBC
October 24, 2009
History enthusiasts in Stockport are marking the 70th anniversary of the town's air raid shelters opening.
The shelters, contained in a network of tunnels carved into the town's hills, could house 6,500 people during World War II bombing raids.
Many people queued for hours to get in to the shelters, which became known as the "Chestergate Hotel" because of the relatively luxurious facilities.
Free tours of the preserved tunnels were being run on
Source: Telegraph (UK)
October 23, 2009
Today it would hardly pass muster as a child's plaything, but the telescope Galileo used 400 years ago this week to peer into the heavens overturned the foundations of knowledge, changing our perception of the universe and our place in it.
Galileo's "optick tube" had a meagre 9x magnification and was not even conceived for astronomy.
Indeed, when the gadget was first demonstrated, Venetian senators were so smitten with its military potential that they double
Source: Telegraph (UK)
October 23, 2009
Months after leaving office with a dismal 22 per cent approval rating, George W. Bush is embarking on a new career as a motivational speaker.
On Monday, the former US president - whose policies inspired millions of Americans to vote Democrat in the 2008 election- will headline at a popular Get Motivated programme, appearing at a seminar about, among other things, "How to master the art of effective leadership".
Mr Bush's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq provoked
Source: CNN
October 22, 2009
After dialing back his attacks on President Obama's foreign policy, former Vice President Dick Cheney says the administration has damaged U.S. ties with key allies, dangerously wavered in Afghanistan, undermined progress in Iraq and sabotaged the Bush administration's national security legacy.
In a hard-hitting, wide-ranging speech Wednesday for a conservative gathering, Cheney targeted the administration's decision-making process on how to proceed in Afghanistan, saying Obama has f
Source: CNET News
October 22, 2009
Upon the 20-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city of Berlin has launched a remarkable “living” online memorial: the Berlin Twitter Wall.
Using the hashtag #fotw, people can share their thoughts on the Fall of the Berlin Wall and tell the world “which walls still have to come down to make our world a better place.” The Web site scrolls messages along a backdrop of the East Side Gallery, a famous stretch of the wall still standing and painted with murals. By clicki
Source: Seattle Times
October 22, 2009
A glass beer bottle with a faded label that says "brewed in Walla Walla." Two children's marbles. A 1938 Buick Roadmaster hubcap. Heavy white ceramic shaving mugs.
And more beer bottles - lots and lots of beer bottles.
That's just a sampling of the items that have been unearthed from pits at Hanford where trash generated by the tens of thousands of workers who came to the nuclear reservation during World War II was buried.
Archaeologists are sorti
Source: Telegraph (UK)
October 23, 2009
It is the modern motorists’ dream and easily negotiated without the need of a satnav – Britain’s first ever road map shows there were just 73 main roads in the country.
The 17th Century work by John Ogilby - 'Britannia Volume the First, or an Illustration of the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales', was hailed at the time as a "landmark" in road -mapping.
A first edition, dating from 1675, contains 100 double pages of black and white maps laid out in cont
Source: Times Online (UK)
October 23, 2009
A passenger station said to be the oldest in the world reopened yesterday as a venue for the creative arts after a five-year renovation project.
Edge Hill railway station in Liverpool was the site in 1830 of the inaugural passenger railway journey with the Prime Minister among VIP guests hauled behind Stephenson’s Rocket.
Its 173-year-old Grade II-listed sandstone and brick engine room and boiler house remained disused for years before the refurbishment inspired by Meta
