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NEWS ABOUT: history

Nazis Ran a Staggering 20K Concentration Camps

Decade-long study could change scholars' 'mental universe'

(Newser) - A year's work on a new Holocaust encyclopedia pointed researchers to some 15,000 concentration camps they hadn’t known about, a finding that could shift the public's perception of the Holocaust, the Washington Post reports. “Instead of thinking of main death camps, people are going to understand that... More »

How China Rewrote Tiananmen History

Recalling Tiananmen 20 years later

(Newser) - The Tiananmen Square massacre isn’t something the Chinese government wants the world to remember, and it's doing a good job keeping the matter quiet, writes Terrence Cheng in the Chronicle of Higher Education. In China, “those who dare to speak about it are swiftly silenced,” he writes.... More »

'Candid' Laura Bush Tells Her Story

Met with historians to discuss her little-known legacy

(Newser) - Shortly before the election last November, Laura Bush sought to shape her somewhat hazy legacy. The former first lady spoke to historians, reporters, and other DC insiders in a 3-hour “legacy lunch,” at which she was called “candid,” “funny,” and “open” as she... More »

10 Odd Facts About World War II

(Newser) - With Memorial Day and the 65th anniversary of Normandy coming up, it's time for a World War II history review. The Chicago Tribune has dug up ten strange facts:
  • Elsie Mitchell and five children died in Gearhart Mountain, Ore., in May 1945, by touching a Japanese "balloon bomb" 
... More »

It Was Gauguin Who Cut Off van Gogh's Ear

Historians say Dutch painter loss his ear in a fight

(Newser) - Vincent van Gogh's fame derives not only from his paintings, but from the legendary story that he sliced off his own ear and presented it to a prostitute. But two art historians now say that the Dutch painter didn't mutilate himself. After a decade of research, they argue that Paul... More »

London Library Yields Lost Ben Franklin Letters

Missives document his attempt to help Brits fight the French

(Newser) - More than two centuries after his death, Benjamin Franklin has more stories to tell, CNN reports. An American professor conducting research in London unearthed facsimiles of 47 letters the Founding Father wrote and received when he lived there 250 years ago. “I just about shot through the ceiling I... More »

Time to Stop Fighting the Civil War in History Class

Obama means 'honest' discourse on race

(Newser) - Ask a Northerner what caused the Civil War and he'll say slavery, while Southerners are likely to say states’ rights, or economic differences. That self-justifying shorthand is reflected in what's taught in schools, too. But with the election of Barack Obama, historians say new ground has been broken in the... More »

Don't Believe the Hype: Afghanistan's Fixable

US position in the country far different from previous foreign powers'

(Newser) - We hear plenty of doom and gloom about Afghanistan, the so-called “graveyard of empires” that defeated the Brits way back when and kicked out the Soviets in 1989. But the naysayers are forgetting all that’s working in favor of the US, writes Peter Bergen in the New York ... More »

In Classroom, Twitter Trumps the Queen

Proposed UK curriculum focuses on learning skills, flexibility

(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 »

Poor Folk Disliked Hood Too: Expert

(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 »

Photo May Be Last Taken of Lincoln

Grant descendant found pic in private album of Ulysses S.

(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 »

Lifetime Portrait of Bard Found

Work is only living painting of the Bard

(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 »

Surveyors Find Sunken WWI Battleship

Danton in top condition deep under Mediterranean

(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 »

Now 100, Lincoln Penny Was First With 'Heads'

'Monarchical' fears long prevented use of presidents

(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 »

Shipwreck Found Off UK May Hold $1B in Treasure

Florida firm finds HMS Victory, lost in 1744

(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 »

First First Lady Was No Frump

Forget the unflattering paintings; Martha Washington was quite the fox

(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 »

Eat This Brain and Call Me in the Morning

Europe's first doctors prescribed 'medicinal cannibalism'

(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 »

America's First Newspaper Lasted Just One Day

(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 »

Obama Team Won't Promote Him as Racial Pioneer

Obama team focuses on message of unity, not historic status

(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 »

Bush Farewell: 'I Followed My Conscience'

(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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