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: The Root
1-8-13
Anonymous (Bohemia), Queen of Sheba.Illustration in Bellifortis by Conrad of Kyeser; before 1405.(The Root) -- This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black in Western Art Archive at Harvard University's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research. Click here or on the SOURCE link to read more about the image.
Source: Inside TV
1-3-12
National Geographic Channel’s new film Killing Lincoln explores a key part of the 16th president’s story that Steven Spielberg’s big screen hit largely passed over.Based on Fox News host Bill O’Reilly’s bestselling book, Killing Lincoln chronicles the final days of President Lincoln (Billy Campbell) and the plot by his assassin John Wilkes Booth (Jesse Johnson). Below is the first trailer for the movie, which debuts next month.Killing Lincoln spends time portraying both men as it builds toward, as narrator Tom Hanks puts it, “the most resonant crime in the history of the nation,” and then chronicles the extensive manhunt to bring Booth to justice. The show’s auspices are quite impressive. In addition to Hanks, Killing Lincoln is produced by Ridley and Tony Scott (the latter having joined the production before his death last year) and is directed by Adrian Moat (Gettysburg). “This is really the Lincoln story you’ve never seen before,” Ridley Scott says.
Source: BBC/AFP
1-1-13
A team of scientists have said they believe an old gourd contains the blood of French King Louis XVI.
The monarch was killed by guillotine by French revolutionaries more than 200 years ago, on 21 January 1793.
The scientists said the DNA is very similar to genetic material from what is believed to be the mummified head of an earlier French king, AFP reports...
The team of experts from Spain and France has published its findings in Forensic Science International journal.
Analysis of DNA taken from blood traces found inside the vegetable container had already revealed that it probably matched someone of Louis' description but scientists could not prove it belonged to the beheaded king as they had no genetic material from any of his relatives...
Source: Fox News
12-30-12
ALBANY, N.Y. – The upstate New York village that bills itself as the birthplace of the U.S. Navy hasn't done much to preserve one of the service's oldest warship relics: the hull of a schooner that was the first in a long line of American vessels to carry the name Ticonderoga.The wooden remains of the War of 1812 ship are displayed in a long, open-sided shed on the grounds of the Skenesborough Museum in Whitehall. They've been stored there since being raised from the southern end of Lake Champlain by a local historical group more than 50 years ago. Now, with the approach of 200th anniversary of the battle at which the first Ticonderoga gained its fame, a maritime historian is hoping something can be done to stem the deterioration of a rare naval artifact....
Source: UCLA
12-31-12
A metal detector received as a Christmas gift led a young boy to find a WWII bomb buried in a British field.Parents do not typically expect a stocking stuffer, this one a metal detector from National Geographic, to make the headlines. This holiday present is worthy of attention for leading to the discovery of a WWII bomb buried in a field in Norfolk, England.During his first jaunt with the detector, seven-year-old Sonny Cater was scanning a field near his home when he discovered the metal capsule. The boy, accompanied by his parents and brother, was alerted to the buried object when the metal detector began beeping....
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
12-31-12
It has stood the test of time for 3,000 years - enduring harsh winters and millennia of use.But the recent deluge of rain has become too much for one of Britain's oldest bridges and it has been swept away by a raging river.The 180ft iconic clapper bridge Tarr Steps in Exmoor, Somerset, which dates back to around 1000 B.C., is the latest landmark to be hit by the aftermath of weeks of relentless downpours....
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
12-30-12
A poignant account of the German general Erwin Rommel being led away to his death told by his teenage son has been discovered.In a revealing letter written by Manfred Rommel, he tells of his father's last moments after he was ordered to commit suicide by Adolf Hitler.His father explained to him he had to poison himself after being implicated in a plot to assassinate the Nazi dictator.The 15-year-old described watching Rommel, known as the 'Desert Fox', being led into a staff car by two German generals minutes later....
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
12-30-12
She is regarded as our greatest black Briton, a woman who did more to advance the cause of nursing - and race relations - than almost any other individual.On the Crimea's bloody battlefields, she is said to have saved the lives of countless wounded soldiers and nursed them to health in a clinic paid for out of her own pocket.Her name was Mary Seacole, and today she is almost as famous as that other nursing heroine, Florence Nightingale.For decades after her death in 1881, Seacole's story was largely overlooked, but for the past 15 years her reputation and exploits have undergone a remarkable rehabilitation....
Source: AP
12-29-12
As New Year's Day approached 150 years ago, all eyes were on President Abraham Lincoln in expectation of what he warned 100 days earlier would be coming - his final proclamation declaring all slaves in states rebelling against the Union to be "forever free."A tradition began Dec. 31, 1862, as many black churches held Watch Night services, awaiting word that Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation would take effect amid a bloody Civil War. Later, congregations listened as the president's historic words were read aloud.The proclamation would not end slavery outright and at the time couldn't be enforced by Lincoln in areas under Confederate control. But the president made clear from that day forward that his forces would be fighting to bring the Union back together without the institution of slavery... This year, the Watch Night tradition will follow the historic document to its home at the National Archives with a special midnight display planned with readings, songs and bell ringing among the nation's founding documents.
Source: AP
12-28-12
FBI files on Marilyn Monroe that could not be located earlier this year have been found and re-issued, revealing the names of some of the movie star's communist-leaning friends who drew concern from government officials and her own entourage.But the records, which previously had been heavily redacted, do not contain any new information about Monroe's death 50 years ago. Letters and news clippings included in the files show the bureau was aware of theories the actress had been killed, but they do not show that any effort was undertaken to investigate the claims. Los Angeles authorities concluded Monroe's death was a probable suicide.Recently obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act, the updated FBI files do show the extent the agency was monitoring Monroe for ties to communism in the years before her death in August 1962...
Source: Special to HNN
12-29-12
According to documents released under the 30-year rule, U.S. President Ronald Reagan delayed accepting formal invitations to visit the UK.The two-month delay in responding to invites from both Margaret Thatcher and the Queen risked creating, said Britain's Ambassador to Washington Sir Nicholas Henderson, the "worst possible impression on London." The White House was determined to make a good impression, though, and asked what the Commander-in-Chief should wear to go horse riding at Windsor Castle. The aforementioned fashion inquiry is but one gem within a 485-page treasure-trove of hitherto confidential documents surrounding Reagan's 48-hour, 1982 visit made public by the National Archives.
Source: Special to HNN
12/28/12
A memorial to a war hero whose exploits helped shorten WWII has just been unveiled.
Captain Albert Laver, from Birkenhead, was one of the Second World War "Cockleshell Heroes" whose audacious raid on German ships is now commemorated with a plaque at Woodside waterfront, in Wirral, across the River Mersey from Liverpool.
Laver was part of a 10-man Royal Navy team and is believed to have either drowned or been executed after successfully sinking a number of enemy merchant ships.
Operation Frankton involved commandoes canoeing 70 miles up the Gironde estuary, paddling by night and hiding by day until they reached the Nazi-occupied harbour of Bordeaux, some 60 miles from the sea.
Source: Huff Post
12-27-12
On Wednesday, archeologists revealed the remains of an ancient arts center underneath Rome dating back to 123 AD, according to the Guardian. Emperor Hadrian is believed to have funded "the Athenaeum," as it was known at the time; it was a 900-seat complex created to promote arts and culture, CBS News reports. Archeologists discovered the arts center during excavations for a new subway line to run through the Italian capital. "Hadrian's auditorium is the biggest find in Rome since the Forum was uncovered in the 1920s," said Rossella Rea, an archeologist working on the project.
Source: Daily Mail
12-28-12
There was ... trouble with the 'special relationship' during the Falklands when the US threatened to tell Argentina that UK troops were landing on South Georgia.Newly declassified files reveal that Britain's historic allies wanted to tell Argentina that the task force was planning to retake South Georgia, the first of the islands to be invaded by Argentina, on April 21. The operation on South Georgia was the first stage of the campaign to retake the Falklands and it would have been disastrous had Argentina been forewarned.
Source: AP
12-28-12
The case of an 87-year-old Philadelphia man accused by Germany of serving as an SS guard at Auschwitz has largely centered on whether he was stationed at the part of the death camp used as a killing machine for Jews. Johann "Hans" Breyer — while admitting he was an Auschwitz guard — insists he was never there. World-War II-era documents obtained by The Associated Press indicate otherwise.
Source: Yahoo News
12-27-12
While on his death bed, the brilliant Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan cryptically wrote down functions he said came to him in dreams, with a hunch about how they behaved. Now 100 years later, researchers say they've proved he was right. "We've solved the problems from his last mysterious letters. For people who work in this area of math, the problem has been open for 90 years," Emory University mathematician Ken Ono said. Ramanujan, a self-taught mathematician born in a rural village in South India, spent so much time thinking about math that he flunked out of college in India twice, Ono said.
Source: Yahoo News
12-27-12
Israeli archeologists have discovered the remains of an ancient temple that is nearly 3,000 years old and was once home to a ritual cult. "The ritual building at Tel Motza is an unusual and striking find, in light of the fact that there are hardly any remains of ritual buildings of the period in Judaea at the time of the First Temple," excavation directors Anna Eirikh, Hamoudi Khalaily and Shua Kisilevitz said in a statement released by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The temple remains were discovered at the Tel Motza site, located to the west of Jerusalem. The Israeli Antiquities Authority has been conducting excavation efforts at the site and says that along with the temple remains itself, the findings include a “cache of sacred vessels” estimated to be 2,750 years old.
Source: Telegraph
12-28-12
The Queen was asked to intervene to stop the dean of St Paul's Cathedral from including a Spanish translation of the Lord's Prayer during the Falklands memorial service, according to official records.
Source: Guardian
12-28-12
Margaret Thatcher repeatedly agonised over Gibraltar's vulnerability to attack from the Spain during the 1982 Falkland's conflict, newly released cabinet papers reveal. "I understand that the prime minister has expressed concern about the implications of the Falklands Islands crisis for Gibraltar," one of her private secretaries recorded in papers released to the National Archives under the 20 year rule, adding: "particularly in the light of reports of the jubilant reaction in the Spanish press." A British military review of Gibraltar's position gave "a rather more reassuring picture", he remarked, adding: "We have no reason to believe that there is an increased military threat to Gibraltar from the Spanish government.
Source: Tennessean
12-26-12
The Civil War Trust has finalized purchase of a shopping strip center in Franklin that will help eventually to restore the land to its Civil War battlefield appearance. A Washington, D.C.-based charitable organization whose focus it is to preserve American battlefields, the Civil War Trust was able to complete the sale last week through a partnership with Franklin’s Charge and generous donations, according to a press release issued Monday. The trust purchased what’s been called the “Domino’s” strip on Columbia Avenue for $1.85 million from local businessmen Donnie and Tim Cameron. The site was also the location of the Carter House’s cotton gin. Potential plans for the location include rebuilding the cotton gin.
