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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: history

history stories: 91 news summaries

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In Classroom, Twitter Trumps the Queen

Proposed UK curriculum focuses on learning skills, flexibility

Mar 25, 09 9:15 AM CDT
(Newser) - Why learn about World War II or Queen Victoria in elementary school when you can always look them up on Wikipedia? That seems to be the rationale behind a new proposed overhaul of the British school system. Because secondary schools teach plenty of history, the reasoning goes, early schooling should... More »

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education • technology • Wikipedia • England • history • World War II • elementary school • teaching • Twitter • curriculum • Queen Victoria

(Newser) - The rich and poor alike may have despised Robin Hood in his day, the BBC reports. A note written by a monk in a medieval manuscript describes the famous thief—and giver to the needy—as having “infested” the countryside “with his accomplices.” The find also pinpoints... More »

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England • Robin Hood • thief • history • monks • Nottingham • Sherwood Forest • manuscript • Latin

 Photo May Be Last 
 Taken of Lincoln 

Grant descendant found pic in private album of Ulysses S.

Mar 10, 09 7:55 AM CDT
(AP) - A photograph from a private album of Ulysses S. Grant may show Abraham Lincoln in front of the White House and could be the last image taken of him before he was assassinated, a collector believes. If it is indeed Lincoln, it would be the only known photo of the... More »

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White House • photograph • history • Abraham Lincoln • antique

 Lifetime Portrait of Bard Found 

Work is only living painting of the Bard

Mar 9, 09 1:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - A family heirloom is thought to be the only surviving portrait of William Shakespeare painted during his life, the Telegraph reports. Art restorer Alex Cobbe noticed that a portrait of the Bard in the Folger Shakespeare library in Washington—known to be a posthumous copy of another work—bore an... More »

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theater • art • painting • play • history • William Shakespeare • portrait • Folger Shakespeare Library

 Surveyors Find Sunken  
 WWI Battleship  

Danton in top condition deep under Mediterranean

Feb 19, 09 11:02 AM CST
(Newser) - A French battleship famously sunk by Germans in World War I has been found in “extraordinary” condition on the Mediterranean Sea floor, the BBC reports. A geosciences firm came upon the Danton while surveying the waters between Italy and Algeria for a planned gas pipeline, set to be diverted... More »

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France • shipwreck • history • Mediterranean Sea • World War I • navy • gas pipelines

 Now 100, Lincoln Penny 
 Was First With 'Heads' 

'Monarchical' fears long prevented use of presidents

Feb 8, 09 12:00 PM CST
(Newser) - As Honest Abe's 200th birthday approaches, his likeness in our pockets is often disregarded. But the 100-year-old Lincoln penny is actually an American artistic milestone: Its debut marked the first appearance of a real person on a US coin, the New York Times reports. After the nation’s birth, putting... More »

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history • Abraham Lincoln • US currency • penny

Shipwreck Found Off UK
May Hold $1B in Treasure

Florida firm finds HMS Victory, lost in 1744

Feb 2, 09 4:36 PM CST
(Newser) - A shipwreck that could contain treasure worth over $1 billion has been found in the English Channel, Reuters reports. Florida’s Odyssey Marine Exploration discovered the wreck of the HMS Victory, an English flagship that was lost in a storm in 1744 with all 900 crew—and a stash of... More »

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shipwreck • ship • treasure • history • Britain • gold coins • Odyssey Marine Exploration • HMS Victory

First First Lady Was No Frump

Forget the unflattering paintings; Martha Washington was
quite the fox

Feb 2, 09 9:27 AM CST
(Newser) - Chances are when you think of Martha Washington, you imagine a frumpy old fat lady smothered in lace. Not so, say those who study her and her husband. If you ignore the unflattering images painted years after her death, and instead focus on tailors' records and letters from Martha's youth,... More »

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shoes • history • style • first lady • George Washington • portrait • Martha Washington

Eat This Brain and Call Me in the Morning 

Europe's first doctors prescribed 'medicinal cannibalism'

Jan 31, 09 12:49 PM CST
(Newser) - Though safely out of fashion in today’s Europe, Western doctors just a few centuries ago recommended drinking blood, tasting brains, and eating flesh, Der Spiegel reports. Pieces of cadavers could be had in almost any pharmacy, says a British researcher who’s writing a book on "medicinal cannibalism.... More »

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medicine • Europe • history • Cannibal

(Newser) - An exhibit of early American journalism wraps up today at a DC museum, and among its gems is the first edition of the colonies' first paper: Publick Occurrences, from 1690. It's "no small treasure," notes Ned Desmond in his One Last Question blog, because the newspaper's first edition... More »

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newspaper • journalism • history

 Obama Team 
 Won't Promote 
 Him as Racial 
 Pioneer 

Obama team focuses on message of unity, not historic status

Jan 19, 09 4:00 PM CST
(Newser) - Barack Obama's inauguration as the first black president tomorrow will make history, but don't expect him to dwell on that point, Politico reports. The president-elect's team is weaving a narrative not about a racial milestone, but about unity—just look at the diversity of yesterday's We Are One festivities. More »

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Barack Obama • race • history • inauguration • President Obama • Inauguration Day

(Newser) - President Bush made his farewell address to the nation tonight, acknowledging "setbacks" and the wish to do some things differently but insisting that he "always acted with the best interests of our country in mind." The president—who said he had always followed his conscience and "... More »

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Bush legacy • history • speech • George W. Bush

(Newser) - The Terminator will live forever. The Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick is among 25 films being added this year to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, which seeks to preserve movies of historical, cultural, or aesthetic note. Also among the crop this year were Deliverance, The Asphalt ... More »

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film • history • Library of Congress • preservation • movies • National Film Registry • James Billington

Three Genes Made 1918 Flu So Deadly

They cause pneumonia by letting virus
into lungs

Dec 30, 08 2:58 PM CST
(Newser) - Researchers have pinpointed the reason the flu pandemic of 1918 was “the most devastating outbreak of infectious disease in human history,” Reuters reports. The key is a combination of three genes that allowed the virus to enter the lungs and cause pneumonia. Typically, the flu affects only the... More »

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medical breakthrough • disease • public health • genes • history • virus • flu

Rap's Roots Found in, Uh, Scotland?

Scots' obscene verbal tradition gave birth to musical 'dueling': prof

Dec 28, 08 8:02 PM CST
(Newser) - While most don't associate rap with a bunch of white guys in skirts, a University of New Mexico professor traces the music’s roots back to the barrooms of medieval Scotland, the London Telegraph reports. “The Scots have a lengthy tradition of flyting—intense verbal jousting, often laced with... More »

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music • Scotland • history • slavery • rap music

(Newser) - The bicentennial of Lincoln's birth will be celebrated Feb. 12, so expect endless tributes to the president beloved by ordinary citizens and historians alike. Unless, of course, you're south of the Mason-Dixon line, where anti-Lincoln views "aren't particularly radical," writes Alex Beam of the Boston Globe. Lincoln is... More »

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Boston • America • history • Abraham Lincoln • Civil War • South • Dixie


 China to Lop Off Tall Buildings 
 in Hangzhou 

Hangzhou aims to become World Heritage site

Dec 13, 08 11:45 AM CST
(Newser) - Hoping to turn the city into a World Heritage site, China is lopping top floors off tall buildings in Hangzhou, the BBC reports. Two hotels, a TV tower, and other buildings will get the shrinking treatment in a $5.8 million effort; the city’s government has said that all... More »

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China • architecture • tourism • history • UNESCO • building • city • skyline

Belafonte, Sotheby's Cancel MLK Auction

King estate disputes ownership of papers

Dec 10, 08 9:23 PM CST
(Newser) - Sotheby's has canceled the auction of three Martin Luther King documents amid an ongoing feud between their owner—Harry Belafonte—and the King estate, the New York Times reports. MLK's heirs contend that Belafonte is not the rightful owner of the papers, which include an important King speech on Vietnam... More »

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Lyndon Johnson • history • civil rights • Martin Luther King Jr. • Coretta Scott King • Harry Belafonte

 Humble Mouse 
 Turns 40 

A look at milestones in the life of that crucial computer accessory

Dec 9, 08 2:39 PM CST
(Newser) - It’s been 40 years since the computer mouse made its public debut, and though innovations have been legion, the basic concept is still the same. Macworld takes a look back at some key moments in the device’s evolution.
  • 1963: The first recognizable mouse prototype is built.
... More »

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Microsoft • IBM • Apple • history • mouse • computer • Xerox PARC • computer hardware • Logitech

BOOK REVIEW

History Often Forgets About This Adams

And it's a shame: Sam, cousin of John, helped shape our revolution

Nov 26, 08 4:22 PM CST
(Newser) - When people think of Samuel Adams these days, the beer, and not the Revolutionary War hero, may come to mind first. But a new book from Ira Stoll—Samuel Adams: A Life—makes the case for bringing the cousin of John Adams out of "the attic of history."... More »

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history • book reviews • Samuel Adams • Revolutionary War • founding fathers

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