Richard Byrne,"Reading the Plot Forward," CHE, 9 December, (subscriber only) reports on a Folger Institute seminar on the 400th anniversary of the"Gunpowder Plot." It raises questions about whether and how the"Gunpowder Plot" has a place in a history of terrorism. Hiram Hover is skeptical.

At The Elfin Ethicist, Jonathan Wilson finds both the expected disturbing and some surprising things in Mrs. M[arinda] B[ranson] Moore, The Geographical Reader for the Dixie Children (Raleigh, NC: Branson, Farrar & Co., Biblical Recorder Print, 1863).

In case you missed it, Scott Jaschik,"The Culture Wars of 2005," Inside Higher Ed, 8 December, is a very thoughtful review of the year's issues.

Finally, Joseph C. Miller is an expert in African history and the slave trade, holds an endowed chair at the University of Virginia, and is a former president of the American Historical Association. Like many academics, he was grading student papers last Saturday. Miller was sitting at his home computer in rural Albemarle County, Virginia, when there was a crash and he was covered with shards of glass. Initially, Miller thought that a window had shattered as the family's modern house settled, but he was shocked by the sight of the window's perfectly round hole, surrounded by radial fractures. It was a bullet. On impact, the bullet split in two, with one half of it landing on either side of him. Albemarle County officials are continuing to investigate what appears to have been a hunting accident. Thanks to Margaret Soltan at University Diaries for the tip.