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NEWS ABOUT: history

Texas OKs More Conservative HS Curriculum

Social studies, history guidelines influence teaching of millions

(AP) - The Texas State Board of Education adopted new social studies and history guidelines today after an ideological debate over academic standards that drew intense scrutiny. The board gave the curriculum a more conservative bent by dictating how political events and figures will be taught to some 4.8 million primary... More »

English Patient Skirt-Chaser Was Actually Gay

New letter reveals truth about Count Laszlo

(Newser) - Count Laszlo de Almásy, the Hungarian adventurer depicted as a carousing ladies' man in The English Patient, was gay, according to love letters recently discovered in Germany. The letters show that Almásy had relationships with everyone from a Wehrmacht officer to Egyptian princes, according to the Heinrich Barth... More »

German Chapel Becomes Neo-Nazi Shrine

Church built with stones quarried by Jewish slaves

(Newser) - A German chapel built using ruins from Hitler's luxury retreat has become a hit with neo-Nazis. The Bavarian government only recently acknowledged that marble blocks and stones quarried by Jewish slaves in Hitler's Berghof in Berchtesgaden were used to build Wegmacher Chapel in 1997. Now leather-jacketed "pilgrims" with shaved... More »

Would You Support a Gay Baseball Commissioner?

Poll asks Americans revealing questions

(Newser) - Would you be OK with a gay baseball commissioner? How about a quarterback? Those are just a couple of the random-yet-revealing questions asked in the new 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll. In that question, for example, 62% said they’d be OK with the quarterback, and 61% with the baseball commissioner,... More »

CNN Duped by 140-Year-Old Hot Dog

Relic stunt was in tradition of 'Coney Island ballyhoo,' historians say

(Newser) - CNN happily ran a story recently on a 140-year-old hot dog and bun discovered intact, encased in ice, during demolition of the restaurant where the first hot dog was supposedly made. But the news network apparently forgetting that not everything is as it seems on Coney Island. The “1st... More »

California May Claim Moon as 'Historical Resource'

Space fans want to protect landing site

(Newser) - California wants to protect the junk the Apollo 11 astronauts left behind from careless future visitors to the moon. If a state panel approves a proposal to declare the landing site an official historical resource, California would become the first state to protect the location. New Mexico and Texas are... More »

Porn Confluence Moves Mag to Change Name

Spam filters often blocked The Beaver ; it'll be Canada's History

(Newser) - Canada’s second-oldest magazine is changing its name after finding itself at an unfortunate intersection with Internet pornography. Like many print publications, history publication The Beaver is struggling to add readers, and its name often leads spam filters and other safeguards to block its content. It will relaunch in April... More »

Army Historians Fault Early Afghan War Strategy

Forces were undermanned, and planning was shoddy

(Newser) - The US missed out on chances to stabilize Afghanistan early in the war because it devoted too few troops and too little planning to the conflict, write Army historians in an official chronicle of the conflict. "It should have become clear” in late 2003 “that the coalition presence... More »

The Last Decade in 7 Merciful Minutes

Some great unpleasantness goes by with pleasant quickness

(Newser) - Oh, the aughts had their moments, what with disputed elections, terrorist attacks, invasions, and Rickrolling. If you, like most, can't remember anything else that happened, the Frisky has a treat for you: Newsweek's condensed version of the past decade in 7 short minutes. Spoiler alert: Barack Obama becomes the first... More »

'Tear Down This Wall' Not So Confrontational

Reagan 'defeated' Soviets with diplomacy, not bravado

(Newser) - Prepare to see a lot of clips in the coming days of Ronald Reagan declaring, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” The 20th anniversary of the Berlin wall’s fall is days away, and in our collective memory, Reagan brought it down with sheer bravado. But that’s... More »

Archeologists Find Mini-Stonehenge

'Bluehenge' is a mile away, but all the rocks are gone

(Newser) - Archeologists have found what amounts to Stonehenge-lite located about a mile from the larger monument. This one—dubbed Bluehenge—probably won't be as much of a tourist draw for one important reason: all the rocks are gone. But based on holes in the earth, scientists say 27 enormous rocks once... More »

Pair's Remains May Date to Trojan War

Find in ancient Troy could date to 1200 BC

(Newser) - In a discovery one professor calls “electrifying,” archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a couple believed to have lived during the Trojan War era in Turkey’s ancient city of Troy, Reuters reports. “If the remains are confirmed to be from 1200 BC it would coincide with... More »

Strep Throat Likely Killed Mozart

'Minor epidemic' hit Vienna

(Newser) - Some have speculated Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died of eating undercooked pork; others have said he was poisoned. Now researchers believe he may have died of strep throat, Reuters reports. There was a “minor epidemic” of strep in Vienna when Mozart died, and findings suggest “Mozart was one of... More »

Tomb May Hold Key to Shakespeare

Sarcophagus may hold manuscripts tying Bard to another writer

(Newser) - A 17th-century tomb might hold the key to the enduring mystery of William Shakespeare's identity, the Daily Telegraph reports, and researchers are hoping to take a peek inside. A scan found that the ornate sarcophagus, built at an English church by Shakespeare contemporary and fellow scribe Fulke Greville, contains three... More »

Hitler Sent Troops to Russia's Frozen Hell

Unprepared troops suffered 'horrific' consequences

(Newser) - When Adolf Hitler sent his troops to invade Russia, he gave little thought to their warmth—leaving them in “desperate need” of millions of hats, gloves, and coats, writes historian Andrew Roberts in a Daily Telegraph book excerpt. “One can't put any trust in the meteorological forecasts,”... More »

Database Takes Scholars to Medieval Battlefields

Free searchable database includes facts on salary, health, knighthood

(Newser) - British researchers have posted records of some 250,000 medieval soldiers in a searchable online database, the BBC reports. Now, interested parties can easily learn about the lives of fighters in the Hundred Years’ War, including salary, health, and knighthood information—for free. The “remarkable” records, says one researcher,... More »

Vatican Warms to Wilde

Paper praises writer's 'lucid' analysis of his world

(Newser) - The Vatican long regarded Oscar Wilde as a “dissolute homosexual,” but things have changed, writes Richard Owen in the Times of London. A review in the Vatican newspaper of a study on the Irish writer celebrates him as “one of the personalities of the 19th century who... More »

Top 10 Moments in Life, Career

(Newser) - As legions mourn the King of Pop, Time rounds up the 10 defining moments of his life and career:
  • The Jackson 5 bursts onto the scene in 1968, and its first single, “I Want You Back,” makes it to No. 1.
  • The release of Thriller in 1982 makes
... More »

Obama Needs Shorter To-Do List: Noonan

Prez must fix the economy and keep us safe—and that's it

(Newser) - Confidence in Barack Obama is fading fast for many reasons, but above all it’s because he's not tending to "The Sentence,” writes Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal. Clare Boothe Luce once said that all great leaders are summed up by a sentence. “He preserved... More »

Decades of US Immigration History Comes to Light

National Archives receives documents of 21 million

(Newser) - The US is sending the files on some 21 million immigrants to the National Archives, revealing volumes of early 20th-century history, USA Today reports. The documents tell the stories of celebrities like Salvador Dali as well as the successes and tribulations of ordinary people, from refugees to “enemy aliens.... More »

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