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: Telegraph (UK)
August 24, 2010
A rare 1950s Jaguar sports car with just 500 miles on the clock is to be sold after being painstakingly reconstructed from parts packed away in boxes.
The Jaguar XK150 Sports is expected to raise more than £250,000 after a rebuild in Harworth, near Doncaster
The car was bought brand new in the USA by American John Dolce in 1959, and it was one of only 724 of the cars sold in the country....
Source: Telegraph (UK)
August 24, 2010
An 8th BC century palace which Greek archaeologists claim was the home of Odysseus has been discovered in Ithaca, fuelling theories that the hero of Homer's epic poem was real.
Odysseus – known to the ancient Romans as Ulysses – famously took 10 years to return home to Ithaca after the fall of Troy.
But despite the fantastical details in the Greek epic, a team of archaeologists has claimed the tale is anchored in truth - and that they have discovered his home on the i
Source: Fox News
August 24, 2010
The controversial imam at the center of the debate over the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero says his goal is to create coalitions across the religious divide, but during a 2005 conference in Australia, he said America may be worse than Al Qaeda.
During his Australian visit, the imam also said the Arab and Muslim world senses that the West does not care about Muslim lives and their pain and anguish is not heard.
He explained that frustration and emotions can l
Source: CNN
August 24, 2010
Do you know where Leo Burt is? If you do, you could earn $150,000, the FBI says.
Burt, a 22-year-old aspiring journalist at the time, was part of a group that bombed the University of Wisconsin to protest the Vietnam War, the FBI says.
The attack happened 40 years ago Tuesday and was classified as the largest act of domestic terror until the Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995.
Agents have been all over the world following tips about Burt's whereabouts.
Source: CNN
August 24, 2010
The brothers first heard about Duffy's Cut from their grandfather, a railroad worker, who told the ghost story to his family every Thanksgiving. According to local legend, memorialized in a file kept by the Pennsylvania Railroad, a man walking home from a tavern reported seeing blue and green ghosts dancing in the mist on a warm September night in 1909.
When Frank inherited the file of his grandfather's old railroad papers, the brothers began to believe the ghost stories were real.
Source: WSJ
August 21, 2010
SIMI VALLEY, Calif.—Locked in a war room with military officials shouting at each other about the impending invasion of Grenada, Gen. John Vessey, President Ronald Reagan's Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, rose from his chair.
"People! People!" he shouted. "Gen. Vessey has a request: I am super thirsty."
His military commanders rolled their eyes and resumed the debate. Gen. Vessey—who outside this room was 13-year-old Christian Graves—slumped i
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
August 20, 2010
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently announced $31.5 million in grants for 201 humanities projects.This funding will support a wide variety of projects, including the production and development of radio and television programs, digital scholarly resources, professional development for teachers and college faculty, and the developme
Source: National Coalition for History
August 20, 2010
The Library of Congress recently announced the formation of the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA), a partnership of institutions and organizations dedicated to preserving and providing access to selected databases, web pages, video, audio and other digital content with enduring value.The alliance is an outgrowth of the National Digital Informati
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
August 20, 2010
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently announced the first in a series of Bridging Cultures grants, awarding a total of $1.7 million that will enable humanities experts to launch public discussions addressing two pressing concerns: the role of civility in democracy and the understanding of Muslim contributions to world cultures.Eight cultural and educational institut
Source: Lee White at the National Coalition for History
August 20, 2010
In July, the National Coalition for History (NCH), and ten other NCH members joined forces with over 20 educational organizations representing other K-12 academic disciplines in issuing a statement to Congress and the Administration calling for the continued robust funding of core academic subjects including history. This includes maintenance of discrete budget lines—such as the Teaching American History grants—f
Source: Lee White at the National Coaliton for History
August 20, 2010
On August 31, the Pennsylvania Gaming Board will hold a public hearing on a proposal to license a casino located one-half mile from the Gettysburg National Military Park. The Civil War Preservation Trust is asking historians and other concerned citizens to contact the Gaming Board (click here) in advance of the hearing to express their opposition to this misguided use of land so close to the hallowed ground of Gettysb
Source: Telegraph (UK)
August 24, 2010
Details of secret missions flown by Lawrence of Arabia almost 100 years ago have been uncovered by a retired lecturer.
The diary of one of the British officers's colleages records the existence of the so-called ''X Flights'' led by Lt Col TE Lawrence across the former Ottoman empire.
James Hynes, 80, discovered the documents after his cousin told him that her father served alongside Lt Col Lawrence during World War One.
She revealed that she had kept typed
Source: AP
August 24, 2010
LOCKPORT — Officials trying to obtain an unclaimed Medal of Honor for a Civil War hero from western New York said they've instead been given a letter with a drawing of the medal, a move that one local historian called "an embarrassment."
Niagara County officials have been trying since last year to get the medal awarded to Michael Huskey, who died in 1864 without receiving it. Last week, the Navy sent county officials a letter that includes an embossed drawing of the medal.
Source: Telegraph (UK)
August 17, 2010
An American journalist saved up to 4,000 Jews from the Nazis and helped ship some of the brightest Jewish minds from art and literature to New York, newly released passenger figures show.
Those saved by Varian Fry, known as the American Oskar Schindler, include Marc Chagall, the Jewish French-Russian artist, Claude Levi-Strauss, the French anthropologist, and surrealist artist, Marcel Duchamp.
But while Schindler, a German Industrialist, has been internationally recogn
Source: National Parks Traveler
August 23, 2010
A trio of Civil War battlefield parks will divvy up nearly $1 million to spend on land acquisition to protect their landscapes, according to National Park Service officials.
Richmond Battlefield in Kentucky, Franklin Battlefield in Tennessee, and Bentonville Battlefield in North Carolina will benefit from the appropriation from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
“Americans have a duty to protect these scenes of combat. We must honor the memories of those who fought a
Source: AOL News
August 19, 2010
(Aug. 18) -- Descendants of Russia's first ruling dynasty have gone to court to reclaim their ancestral lands – specifically, the Kremlin.
On Monday, the Moscow Arbitration Court decided the case will be heard Oct. 18. The plaintiff is the Princes' Foundation for the Advancement of Religious and National Consensus, founded in May 2009 by Valery Kubarev, who traces his lineage to the Rurik dynasty. It was under the reign of Rurik grand princes, Kubarev claims, that the Kremlin was co
Source: The Herald-Mail (MD)
July 28, 2010
ANNAPOLIS — A 60-acre property near Antietam National Battlefield has been approved for a conservation easement by Maryland’s Board of Public Works, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources said in a press release Wednesday.
The easement, part of the state’s Rural Legacy Program, will preserve the historically significant land, known as the Meyers Property, for future generations, the release said.
“By protecting this land, we are not only supporting an ecologically
Source: AP
August 20, 2010
BERLIN (AP) — Germans have long harbored an obsession about protecting privacy, with memories of Nazi-era denouncements of neighbors and East German secret police snooping still alive. Now they have found a new target for their fears: Google "Street View."
Under strong government pressure, the Internet giant made Germany the only country where people can request to have images of their homes deleted from the project before it goes online in November, along with other conce
Source: WaPo
August 23, 2010
Veterans groups and members of Congress are questioning whether management of Arlington National Cemetery should be transferred from the Army to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The discussions come after investigators found dozens of unmarked or mislabeled graves, millions of dollars wasted on technology contracts and mismanagement that stretched from the cemetery's leadership to the upper echelons of Army leadership in the Pentagon.
"Let's let the experts take
Source: Telegraph (UK)
August 22, 2010
The secret of how Leonardo da Vinci produced the optical effects that created the Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile can be revealed for the first time.
Scientists have discovered how the artist managed to achieve his trademark smoky effect, known as sfumato, on the painting; by applying up to 40 layers of extremely thin glaze thought to have been smeared on with his fingers.
The glaze, mixed with subtly different pigments, creates the slight blurring and shadows around the m
