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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: colonialism

colonialism stories: 13 news summaries

 New York, Age 400, 
 Looks Back to Holland 

Exhibition features letter signaling founding of Manhattan

Sep 11, 09 10:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - Today is an unhappy date in New York, but tomorrow is a much more joyous anniversary—on Sept. 12, 1609, Henry Hudson sailed up the river that now bears his name, leading to the founding of New Amsterdam. The Dutch royal family will visit for the anniversary, and two historical... More »

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New York City • New York • Netherlands • colonialism • Holland • Henry Hudson • exhibition • Dutch royal family • colonial America

INDEPENDENCE DAY

 Founding Fathers 
 That Time Forgot 

And 4 others history has forgotten

Jul 4, 09 4:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence, but we only remember a few of the Founding Fathers. Mental Floss shines a light on a few of the lesser-knowns:
  • George Read: the only statesman to oppose the Declaration of Independence. Admitted to the Philadelphia Bar at age 19, Read thought
... More »

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United States • colonialism • founding fathers • Independence Day

MUSEUM REVIEW

 Parthenon Gets the 
 Museum It Deserves 


Jun 17, 09 1:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Parthenon has been called the one “absolutely right” building on the planet, and it now has a fitting memorial, Christopher Hitchens writes in Vanity Fair. Hitchens is among the first to visit the new Acropolis Museum in Athens, and it does not disappoint. Artifacts, expert reproductions, and... More »

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art museum • Christopher Hitchens • colonialism • Athens • Acropolis • ancient Greece • Parthenon • frieze

Sarko Jeered at
African Leader's Funeral

French president booed, taunted in Gabon

Jun 17, 09 5:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - Crowds in the African nation of Gabon booed Nicolas Sarkozy at the funeral of the country's long-serving strongman president, Omar Bongo. Dozens of onlookers shouted "We don't want you, leave!" at the French leader and his predecessor, Jacques Chirac. France ruled Gabon in the colonial era and... More »

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Africa • Nicolas Sarkozy • Jacques Chirac • France • colonialism • funeral • Gabon

Amid Thaw, Gadhafi Visits Italy for 1st Time

Libyan leader will meet Berlusconi, 700 most powerful women

Jun 10, 09 1:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Today marks the start of Moammar Gadhafi’s first visit to Italy since he took over Libya in 1969—and the trip “promises to be as colorful as it is historic,” notes Richard Owen in the Times of London. That’s thanks in part to his 300-member entourage... More »

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women • Italy • Libya • colonialism • Moammar Gadhafi • Silvio Berlusconi

 Hugo's Gift 
 Keeps on Selling 

Volume on colonial oppression becomes overnight best-seller

Apr 20, 09 9:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hugo Chavez has done for a book on the exploitation of Latin America what Bo did for Portuguese water dogs, the BBC reports. Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent has gone from 54,295th to second on Amazon’s sales... More »

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Latin America • colonialism • book • Hugo Chávez • best seller • President Obama • Eduardo Galeano • Open Veins of Latin America

(Newser) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gave President Obama a Spanish-language book today about the historical ravages visited on Latin America by colonial powers, Politico reports. The English title of the 1971 book by Eduardo Galeano is The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent.... More »

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Latin America • colonialism • Trinidad • book • Hugo Chávez • President Obama • Tobago

 Tibet's Long 
 History of Isolation 

Since 1800s, governments have secluded region from world

Mar 15, 09 4:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Isolation has long defined Tibet and fueled the region's exotic history, Edward Wong writes in the New York Times. While China's recent clampdown is purely political—this is the 50th anniversary of an attempted uprising—natural remoteness and anti-imperialist struggles have also sealed its borders. “A large element of... More »

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China • tourism • colonialism • Tibet • isolation • Tibetan protesters • mountain

Brits Tortured Obama Patriarch in Kenya Revolt

Granddad was jailed, beaten for 2 years in '50s Mau Mau uprising

Dec 3, 08 9:09 AM CST
(Newser) - British jailers tortured Barack Obama's grandfather during the struggle for Kenyan independence, his family tells the Times of London. Hussein Onyango Obama, who worked as a cook for a British army officer, was arrested in 1949, aged 56, and imprisoned for two years. There he was subjected to daily whippings... More »

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Barack Obama • Kenya • torture • empire • colonialism • Mau Mau rebellion • Dreams From My Father • Sarah Obama • Obama family

ANALYSIS

Biofuel Firms' African Land Grab Has Colonial Echoes

Western companies shower nations with promises met with some suspicion

Sep 5, 08 5:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Africa is being seeded for a coming boom in biofuels, as Western companies buy thousands of acres to cultivate vegetable-oil-rich plants like the Jatropha curcas, Der Spiegel reports. In countries like Tanzania, Ghana and Ethiopia, firms are often securing century-long farming rights for nothing but a promise to invest in... More »

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Africa • Ethiopia • biofuel • Tanzania • colonialism • biodiesel • green technology • Ghana

Rhodesian
PM Ian Smith
Dies at 88

Broke from Britain and defended white minority rule for 15 years

Nov 20, 07 9:47 PM CST
(Newser) - Ian Smith, the Rhodesian leader who unilaterally declared independence from Britain in 1965 and defended white rule for 15 tumultuous years, died today at 88. Seen as a symbol of  African colonial-era racism, Smith was unrepentant during his lifetime, arguing that what is now Zimbabwe suffered more under the tenure... More »

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Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • independence • obituary • South Africa • colonialism • apartheid • Britain • Ian Smith • Rhodesia

Secretive French Office Wields Power
in Africa

New regime may sever link to colonial past

May 16, 07 9:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - The election of Nicolas Sarkozy could end the influence of the "African Cell," a tiny French government office that exerts great power in Africa. Since 1958, the Cell has used the French military to install and protect African leaders it considers friendly, opening it to charges that it... More »

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Africa • Nicolas Sarkozy • France • colonialism • African Cell

Miners Dig for Gold in Belgian Museum

A collection of colonial-era maps of the Congo draws mining firms to musty stacks

Mar 20, 07 11:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Belgian museum filled with stacks of faded geological maps of the Congo—a former colony—has become an unlikely mecca for mining companies searching for new deposits. With prices soaring and on-site exploration impeded by armed militias, drillers are eager to shell out hefty research fees to the... More »

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Belgium • King Leopold I • mining • museums • maps • geology • colonialism • Democratic Republic of Congo

13 Stories


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