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: http://www.wtvr.com
March 25, 2009
Virginia's Civil War Battlefields are one of the state's biggest tourist attractions. And if you're lucky, you can find actual Civil War relics. Sometimes those relics can be dangerous for you and everyone around.
"Thousands and thousands of shells were fired during the siege of Petersburg," says Jimmy Blankenship, Historian-Curator of Petersburg National Battlefield.
More than 140 years later.
"I would easily say, probably hundreds if not th
Source: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk
March 26, 2009
A perfectly preserved Nazi bunker which withstood bombardments by RAF planes and the British Army has been uncovered in northern France.
Described as a “military historian's Aladdin's cave”, it includes a German .47 mm Pak 32 field gun which was used throughout the Second World War.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
March 27, 2009
The Prime Minister will today hold his first meeting with Cristina Kirchner, the Argentinean President, at a conference in Chile.
Mrs Kirchner was elected with a pledge to gain the sovereignty of the islands more than 25 years after Argentina staged an unsuccessful invasion.
Source: Reuters
March 27, 2009
An Italian archaeologist says she has discovered what is believed to be the oldest site of religious worship in Cyprus, a temple which is about 4,000 years old.
The find at the Pyrgos-Mavroraki site close to the southern city of Limassol predates any other discoveries in Cyprus by about 1,000 years, Italian archaeologist Maria Rosaria Belgiorno said.
"This is the first evidence of religion in Cyprus at the beginning of the second millennium BC," she was quoted
Source: AP
March 26, 2009
The Alabama Legislature has passed a resolution honoring black lawmakers who served during the Reconstruction era following the Civil War.
The resolution by Democratic Rep. Alvin Holmes of Montgomery says black Alabama residents played an integral part in the Legislature from 1868 to 1878. At the height of Reconstruction in 1874, there were 33 blacks in the Legislature.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
March 26, 2009
Gordon Brown has opened talks with Buckingham Palace on removing the 308-year-old law which bars members of the Royal Family from marrying Roman Catholics.
Source: Reuters
March 26, 2009
Four centuries after the lure of Venezuelan gold brought ruin to English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh, the riches at one giant mine some say is cursed still haunt treasure hunters from across the globe.
Located south of the Orinoco river and near a town bearing the name of the mythical golden city of El Dorado, the Las Cristinas deposit captivates miners and prospectors even though no ore has been legally dug there in two decades.
Studies show it may be Latin America's t
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 25, 2009
Jean-Marie Le Pen, the French far-Right leader, faced calls for his prosecution after he repeated a claim that Nazi death camps were a "detail of Second World War history".
MEPs have moved to prevent the 80-year-old French National Front leader from presiding over the opening of the first session of the new European Parliament on July 14 as the doyen of the house.
Officials have also indicated that he could face disciplinary action for "bringing the parl
Source: AP
February 25, 2009
When Gustav Mahler's niece greeted new arrivals at a Nazi death camp, she knew that any woman who stepped off the train with a musical instrument had a chance to live. Women in Alma Rose's orchestra were forced to entertain SS officers at the Birkenau concentration camp. All the women survived — except Rose.
Now, an American chorus and orchestra is paying tribute to those musicians with concerts in the U.S. and Germany titled "Music in Desperate Times: Remembering The Women's O
Source: BBC
February 26, 2009
Israel is marking 30 years since its first peace treaty with an Arab state, although in the other signatory, Egypt, there is little public acknowledgement.
The Camp David Accord was sealed with a handshake on the White House lawn on 26 March 1979 between Israeli PM Menachem Begin and President Anwar Sadat.
The Israeli foreign ministry organised a reception with the Egyptian ambassador to Tel Aviv, Yasser Reda.
Relations have cooled over Israel's offensiv
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
March 27, 2009
A five-year-old British hostage made to pose alongside Saddam Hussein in the run up to the first Gulf War, has been reunited with U.S. civil rights campaigner the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who helped secure his eventual release.
The haunting images of a clearly terrified Stuart Lockwood clad in a football top and stood before the Iraqi dictator, who playfully ruffled the child's hair, provoked outrage and consternation across the West.
Mr Lockwood, now 24, his brother and
Source: Independent (UK)
March 27, 2009
His name is immortalised in modern Italian as the word for a public urinal, but tomorrow that humiliation will be forgotten as Rome sets about throwing a massive party for the Emperor Vespasian's 2,000th birthday. Naturally enough, the celebratory bash – which takes the form of a 10-month exhibition – is focused on the building for which he is most famous, the Colosseum.
By far the largest amphitheatre the ancient Romans built, it is capable of holding at least 50,000 and perhaps a
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 27, 2009
Kenyan police in the port city of Mombasa arrested a Croatian passport holder on allegations that he was linked to war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, police and diplomats said Friday.
A diplomatic official said that the man's name was Igor Majeski, who ran the watersports business at the luxury Sarova Whitesands Resort north of Mombasa. Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said the man, arrested Thursday morning, was being brought to Nairobi for questioning.
A Serbian offi
Source: CNN
March 26, 2009
Former Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain has no illusions about the 2008 White House race.
"Over 50 million people voted for me and Sarah Palin - mostly for Sarah Palin," McCain said to an eruption of laughter. But "there was a sizable majority of the other party returned to Congress. And, elections have consequences. Elections have consequences. And these consequences we are seeing now in full display."
McCain described himself as &
Source: BBC
March 27, 2009
Downing Street said the scrapping of the ban on heirs to the throne marrying Roman Catholics was also discussed.
Mr Brown said people expected discrimination to be removed and Tory leader David Cameron backed the reform.
Meanwhile a BBC poll suggests public support for reform, with 80% wanting equal succession rights for women.
Source: Kilkenny People (Ireland)
February 25, 2009
A human skull believed to be that of a murder victim dating back to medieval times has been unearthed embedded in the walls of the moat of Kilkenny Castle.
The moat walls were discovered on Tuesday by archaeologists working on the Parade development. The moat is believed to date back some 800 years to 1209. "This is the most significant find since we began our excavations last April. We always believed that the moat existed but it was never found and we thought that it was loca
Source: New Times (CT)
March 23, 2009
Artifacts from Revolutionary War encampments are the stuff Connecticut historians dream about.
Perhaps a button from a uniform coat or a bit of flint from an infantryman's musket can be found during an archeological dig to confirm the presence of past military action at a local farm.
On Monday, a group of eight volunteers were on Ridgebury Road hoping to find just such treasures. They were part of an archeological dig on the old farm property there along Stagecoach Roa
Source: Telegraph (UK)
February 26, 2009
US President Barack Obama will travel to France on June 6 to attend commemorations of the Second World War D-Day landings, the French presidency said on Thursday.
Mr Obama will travel to the Normandy coast for events marking the 65th anniversary of the allied invasion, said President Nicolas Sarkozy's chief of staff, Claude Gueant.
The US leader had hoped to make the visit to Normandy next week, but the plan was dropped due to scheduling problems.
Source: Foxnews
February 26, 2009
An eerie image of a figure at a Scottish castle has experts spooked.
The picture, taken in May last year, shows a spectral figure in 15th century dress peering out of a barred window at Tantallon Castle in Fife.
No mannequins or costumed guides are used at the castle and photo experts have confirmed that no digital trickery was used.
Even ghost sceptic Professor Richard Wiseman admitted to being puzzled.
“It is certainly very curious,” he said.
Source: CNN
February 26, 2009
Thirty years ago, on March 26, 1979, three couples sat down for a celebratory lunch in the White House.
President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and his wife Aliza, and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and his wife Jehan, talked privately before greeting the hundreds of people who witnessed the signing of the historic peace treaty between Egypt and Israel that day.
Jehan Sadat remembers crying with joy that day at seeing
