historic preservation

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China's Great Wall Has Its Own Wall of Protection
China's Great Wall Has
Its Own Wall of Protection
NEW STUDY
Dec 12, 2023 8:53 AM CST

China's Great Wall Has Its Own Wall of Protection

Biocrusts shield rammed earth sections of wall from erosion, researchers find

(Newser) - The Great Wall of China continues to stand millennia after its first sections were built around 221 BC, but not without help from bacteria, moss, and lichens. Biocrusts, communities of living organisms that develop on the soil surface and prevent erosion in arid ecosystems, cover about 12% of Earth's...

Marilyn Monroe's Former Home Under Threat of Demolition

Los Angeles officials considering landmark status for home in which the star died in 1962

(Newser) - Los Angeles officials have intervened to prevent demolition of the only home Marilyn Monroe ever owned independently, which is also the one in which she died. City residents responded with outrage after the owners of 12305 Fifth Helena Drive applied for permits to demolish the Spanish colonial-style home in which...

Developers Must Rebuild Old Inn They Destroyed

Brick by brick, says the court order in the UK

(Newser) - The Punch Bowl Inn on a quiet country road in Lancashire, England, had stood for 300 years when its owners took a bulldozer to it in 2021. They must regret doing any such thing, and not just because of reports suggesting they disturbed the building's rumored ghosts. As the...

Want a Lighthouse? Feds Giving Them Away

100 sold in 14 years, unknown number still available

(Newser) - Ever wish your man cave or summer retreat was in a lighthouse? You may be in luck, now that the federal government is selling or giving away dozens of them, the AP reports. They've shed 100 obsolete or unneeded lighthouses in 14 years, 68 of them freebies handed off...

Pocahontas Site to Be Preserved for Eternity

It may be Virginia land, but it was once Werowocomoco

(Newser) - A farm field overlooking the York River in Tidewater Virginia is believed to be where Pocahontas interceded with her powerful father Powhatan to rescue English Capt. John Smith from death. But the real story—according to many Virginia Indians, historians, and archaeologists—is that this land was the center of...

Saudis Destroy Artifacts in Mecca's Grand Mosque

Including column where Mohammed began 'heavenly journey'

(Newser) - Has Saudi Arabia's rebuilding of Mecca gone too far? The Independent is running photos of construction crews as they demolish areas of the Grand Mosque—Islam's holiest site—including a column that marks the place where Mohammed is said to have started his journey to heaven on a...

Historians Battle Wal-Mart Over Civil War Site

Local officials have approved new store location in northern Virginia

(Newser) - Renowned historians and preservationists are primed to take on Wal-Mart in a legal battle over the placement of a new store: in a rural northern Virginia town next to the site of a key Civil War battle. Wal-Mart won approval for the location from a local board in 2009, but...

Paris Wants James Bond to Brawl in Versailles

French dream up grand canal duel, helicopter rescue

(Newser) - A rowing duel in a canal and rooftop escape by helicopter—sounds like James Bond, but does it sound like Louis XIV? A team of French civil servants is pushing to bring Britain's most famous spy to Paris, and have written a storyline that puts .007 inside the Palace of...

Washington Was Good With a Buck, Accounts Show

Long-ignored financial records a 'treasure trove,' historians say

(Newser) - Fitting enough for the guy who ended up on the dollar bill, George Washington seems to have tracked every buck that crossed his path. The first president not only left scores of diaries and letters reflecting his views, but also assiduously documented his financial transactions. The result? A treasure trove...

Ferris Bueller House Could Be Torn Down

It's on list of endangered landmarks

(Newser) - The suburban Chicago house where Cameron killed his dad's Ferrari in Ferris Bueller's Day Off is on a list of endangered Illinois landmarks, the Chicago Tribune reports. The Highland Park home is on the market for $2.3 million and is at risk of being torn down. The preservation group...

In Texas, a Modern-Day Fight for the Alamo

(Newser) - The Alamo is once again at the center of a pitched battle, the Wall Street Journal reports—only this time the combatants aren’t soldiers but the gentle ladies of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. The 7,000-member group has run the historical site, which is badly in...

Steve Jobs Too Sick to Make Meeting on Fate of Home

(Newser) - Apple CEO Steve Jobs was too ill to attend a California town council meeting last night over the fate of a historic home he owns in Woodside, the San Jose Mercury News reports. “I don't think he would be strong enough if we were here until 1 am, and...

12 Stories