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: National Geographic News
February 27, 2006
An ancient medical mystery—the cause of a plague that wracked Athens from 426 to 430 B.C. and eventually led to the city's fall—has been solved by DNA analysis, researchers say.
The ancient Athenians died from typhoid fever, according to a new study. Scientists from the University of Athens drew this conclusion after studying dental pulp extracted from the teeth of three people found in a mass grave in Athens' Kerameikos cemetery.
The
Source: NYT
February 26, 2006
CHINA will soon release statistics showing it has passed Japan as the biggest holder of foreign currency the world has ever seen. Its reserves already exceed $800 billion and are on track to reach $1 trillion by the end of the year, up from just under $4 billion in 1989.
But China, it turns out, has held a similar position before. History offers parallels to the yawning United States trade deficit and the resulting accumulation of dollars in China. China
Source: Bloomberg
February 28, 2006
Scientists excavating at the site of the world's biggest recorded volcanic eruption on an Indonesian island have found human remains and artifacts in an area they said may be the ``Pompeii of the east.'' The discoveries were made near Tambora, on Sumbawa Island, which erupted in 1815. The volcano produced 150 cubic kilometers of ash that fell as far as 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) away. Tambora lies about 1,300 kilometers to the east of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta.
Source: WOAI San Antonio
February 28, 2006
Soon, hip-hop artifacts will be taking their place in American history alongside Archie Bunker's chair and the dresses worn by various first ladies. The National Museum of American History says it will start collecting items like vinyl records, turntables and boom boxes. They will be included in an exhibit called "Hip-Hop Won't Stop: the Beat, the Rhymes, the Life." The project is expected to cost as much as two (m) million dollars and take up to five years to comp
Source: WREX 13 Rockford, IL
February 28, 2006
Effa Manley became the first woman elected to the baseball Hall of Fame when the former Newark Eagles co-owner was among 17 people from the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues chosen Monday by a special committee."This is a historic day at the Hall of Fame," shrine president Dale Petroskey said. "I hoped that someday there would be a woman in the Hall. It's a pretty proud moment."
This year's Hall class - 18, including former reliever B
Source: Reuters
February 28, 2006
Deep in the territory of the old Confederacy, a new glass and stone edifice will soon begin rising -- the first national museum in the United States devoted to the subject of black slavery.Builders will soon start sinking foundations for the 2,700 sq meters United States National Slavery Museum that organisers hope to open to the public in early 2008.
The structure, 37 meters high, will be built on a 15 hectares site on donated land overlooking the Rappahannock
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
February 28, 2006
The first signs of the destruction wrought by vandals came into view just after dawn. Almost simultaneously, several calls came into the National Park Service office at Gettysburg National Military Park. That was 12 days ago and the park service since has calculated the cost to repair and restore the monuments at just over $61,000. It was the worst case of vandalism at the park in 93 years.A coalition of Gettysburg-area groups and individuals has put up a reward totali
Source: The Gazette
February 28, 2006
Three account books found in the cupboard of an old house on the Quebec-Vermont border reveal what the first Loyalist settlers of two centuries ago - along with a handful of freed black slaves from the United States - bought, sold, worked at, and even went to jail for.Handwritten in black ink on bond paper embossed with the British royal insignia, the ledgers were kept at the local inn of Missisquoi Bay, now Philipsburg, a village founded on Abenaki Indian ancest
Source: Christian Science Monitor
February 28, 2006
Truth or tall tale, the John Henry story has been told for more than a hundred years. Many historians believe it is based, in part, on a real person and event in the late 1800s. As a freed slave following the Civil War, Henry became an icon because of his strength and determination. His strong work ethic was not only an example to African-Americans, but also to every workingman.
Henry was among the thousands of "steel-drivin' men" who built the railroa
Source: breitbart.com
February 27, 2006
Scientists have found what they believe are traces of the lost Indonesian civilization of Tambora, which was wiped out in 1815 by the biggest volcanic eruption in recorded history.
Mount Tambora's cataclysmic eruption on April 10, 1815, buried the inhabitants of Sumbawa Island under searing ash, gas and rock and is blamed for an estimated 88,000 deaths. The eruption was at least four times more powerful than Mount Krakatoa's in 1883. Guided by groun
Source: Inside Higher Education
February 27, 2006
A faculty panel investigating allegations of research misconduct by Ward Churchill said last week that it needed more time and would try to have a report done by May 9. The University of Colorado at Boulder panel was created following an uproar over statements about 9/11 by Churchill, who teaches ethnic studies. The investigation is not over those statements, but over allegations concerning Churchill’s scholarship that surfaced after the controversy broke. Churchill has denied any wrongdoing. Th
Source: Secrecy News, written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists
February 27, 2006
Anyone can purchase a copy of the 1958 Department of Defense "Emergency Plans Book," an early cold war description of response planning for a nuclear attack on the United States. It is available for sale through Amazon.com and elsewhere under the somewhat lurid title "The Doomsday Scenario" (Motorbooks International, 2002).
But don't look for it at the National Archives, where author L. Douglas Keeney originally obtained it in 1997, because it is no longer there
Source: Wa Po
February 27, 2006
For nearly three decades, hip-hop relics such as vinyl records, turntables, microphones and boom boxes have collected dust in boxes and attics.
On Tuesday, owners of such items _ including pioneering hip-hop artists such as Afrika Bambaataa, DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash and Fab 5 Freddy _ will blow that dust off and carry them to a Manhattan hotel to turn them over to National Museum of American History officials.The museum, part of the Smithsonia
Source: Wa Po
February 28, 2006
BERLIN -- The road is now clear for a long-awaited restoration of the Pergamon Museum, after the government approved a budget for the project.
The neoclassical museum, home to such treasures as the Pergamon Altar and Babylon's Ishtar Gate, will gain a new wing during the overhaul, which will cost about $417 million and be financed by the federal government, Berlin officials said Monday.
Source: WOAI San Antonio
February 27, 2006
Scientists have found what they believe are traces of the lost Indonesian civilization of Tambora, which was wiped out in 1815 by the biggest volcanic eruption in recorded history. Mount Tambora's cataclysmic eruption on April 10, 1815, buried the inhabitants of Sumbawa Island under searing ash, gas and rock and is blamed for an estimated 88,000 deaths. The eruption was at least four times more powerful than Mount Krakatoa's in 1883.
Guided by ground-penetrating
Source: Wa Po
February 28, 2006
Effa Manley became the first woman elected to the baseball Hall of Fame when the former Newark Eagles executive was among 17 people from the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues chosen yesterday by a special committee.This year's Hall class -- 18, including former reliever Bruce Sutter -- is the biggest in history. The previous record was 11 in 1946.
Manley co-owned the New Jersey-based Eagles with her husband, Abe , and ran the business end of the te
Source: Times Union
February 27, 2006
FORT EDWARD -- Imagine finding an unexpected gift. But you can't open it or touch it. And in fact, not long after you discover it, it must be destroyed. Permanently. If you're lucky, you can take a picture of it. That's roughly the situation for upper Hudson River residents who embrace the area's rich history. An archaeological firm hired by the General Electric Co. to survey the river bottom and shoreline before the massive PCB dredging project begins next year has unearthed some unexpected tre
Source: DW-World.DE
February 27, 2006
A group of German scientists has deciphered the meaning of one of the most spectacular archeological discoveries in recent years: The mystery-shrouded sky disc of Nebra was used as an advanced astronomical clock. The purpose of the 3,600 year-old sky disc of Nebra, which caused a world-wide sensation when it was brought to the attention of the German public in 2002, is no longer a matter of speculation.
A group of German scholars who studied this archaeological
Source: Yahoo News
November 26, 2006
Statues weighing up to five tonnes and thought to be of one of ancient Egypt's greatest pharaohs, Ramses II, have been found northeast of Cairo, Egypt's Supreme Antiquities Council said in a statement on Sunday. Ramses II ruled Egypt from 1304 to 1237 BC, and presided over an era of great military expansion, erecting statues and temples to himself all over Egypt. He is traditionally believed to be the pharaoh mentioned in the biblical story of Moses.
"Many
Source: Yahoo News
February 27, 2006
Arid conditions in China's northern desert regions are threatening the world heritage-listed Mogao Grottoes where painted Buddhist rock carvings are peeling and cracking. Paintings in the UN World Heritage-listed grottoes are "crisping and peeling" due to local water shortages made worse by increased tourism and agricultural use, the China Daily reported.
The grottoes, located near the oasis town of Dunhuang, were once a starting point for pilgri
