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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: history

history stories: 91 news summaries

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OPINION

 Remember History: 
 Give Pirates No Quarter... 

How Jefferson would deal with Somalia

Nov 22, 08 12:45 PM CST
(Newser) - The US can learn from its 18th-century experience with piracy, Michael Oren writes in the Wall Street Journal. America had no Navy in 1785, so when the Barbary Pirates demanded a million-dollar tribute in exchange for free passage through the Mediterranean, America paid. That million dollars represented 10% of... More »

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Somalia • history • pirates • Thomas Jefferson

 Spain Drops 
 Probe Into 
 Franco Crimes 

But plan to dig up mass graves may still go ahead

Nov 19, 08 8:48 AM CST
(Newser) - One of Spain's leading judges terminated an inquiry into atrocities committed during the 1936-1939 civil war and the ensuing dictatorship, ending the country's first criminal investigation into Francisco Franco's regime. The judge dropped the case after government prosecutors questioned his jurisdiction over what the suit called crimes against humanity. But... More »

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Spain • history • crimes against humanity • Francisco Franco • Spanish Civil War

Family History
of Breast Cancer Trumps Genes

Incidence among relatives is red flag, even without mutations

Nov 17, 08 2:40 PM CST
(Newser) - Women with family history of breast cancer are at elevated risk even if they don’t have a proven genetic indicator, HealthDay reports. Specific mutations in the BRCA gene correlate with an 80% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer; women in a new study who had a family history of... More »

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breast cancer • family • cancer research • BRCA1 • BRCA2 • history • family history

OPINION

 The Bush Era: 
 An 'American Fiasco' 

Columnist rips into the White House's 'all-time loser' on election eve

Nov 3, 08 11:38 AM CST
(Newser) - In the waning days of the Bush administration, Simon Schama wonders how the president is handling his role as the “all-time loser in presidential history.” “If the Statue of Liberty were alive,” Schama writes in the Guardian, “she would be weeping tears of blood” over... More »

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presidency • Bush legacy • history • civil liberties • Iraq war • economy • George W. Bush • financial crisis

ANALYSIS

Mudslingers Today No Match for Jefferson

Dirty campaigning has always been a feature of American democracy

Oct 13, 08 3:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - The 2008 presidential race is getting rough, but the combatants look well-mannered compared to mudslingers of the 19th century. Thomas Jefferson was called an “infidel” and an “unbeliever,” while John Adams was accused of possessing a “hideous hermaphroditical character.” Although “everybody always assumes there... More »

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Barack Obama • John McCain • presidential politics • history • Abraham Lincoln • John Quincy Adams • Election 2008 • Thomas Jefferson • John Adams

OPINION

 Why Bush Is a Great President 

Hindsight will vindicate expanded powers, Iraq war

Sep 19, 08 8:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - George Bush may not be everyone’s favorite leader right now, but history will polish the wartime president’s image, writes Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post. No one knew war was imminent when Bush entered office—but 9/11 changed that. Yet Bush has kept us safe and paved the... More »

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War on Terror • history • Iraq war • George W. Bush

olympics


 Phelps: Great,
 or Greatest? 

The debate rages on

Aug 15, 08 10:50 AM CDT
(Newser) - Everyone agrees that Michael Phelps is one of the greatest Olympians ever—but is he the greatest? It’s become a hot topic of debate in Beijing, the New York Times reports. Phelps stands alone in the gold medal column, but swimming hands out a lot of medals,... More »

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Michael Phelps • 2008 Beijing Olympics • history • Olympic athletes

REVIEW

How 5,000 Years of Marriage Led Us to 'I Do'

Modern lovers aim to invert roles long 'set in stone,' author says

Aug 10, 08 3:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - Author Susan Squire takes a long view of marriage—about 5,000 years, in fact. Her new book, I Don’t: A Contrarian History of Marriage, traces matrimony’s bizarre historical journey, from pure mating ritual to Christian "lust-containment facility" to modern romance. In an interview with Salon,... More »

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marriage • love • history • author • book

  Dirty Jokes of the Ancients Unearthed

Academics discover 3,000-year-old Sumerian fart joke

Aug 1, 08 8:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Academics studying ancient texts have discovered bawdy jokes that wouldn't be out of place in a Farrelly brothers movie, the Daily Telegraph reports. "What hangs at a man’s thigh and wants to poke the hole that it’s often poked before?" asks a thousand-year-old Anglo-Saxon manuscript.  "... More »

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humor • joke • history • ancient Egypt • ancient customs

Leonardo Lifted from Chinese, Historian Claims

Popular amateur says texts brought to Italy 'ignited Renaissance'

Jul 29, 08 2:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Leonardo da Vinci’s renowned mechanical drawings were derived from Chinese originals brought to Europe decades before he was born, a British amateur historian contends in a new book. “This was the spark that really ignited the Renaissance,” Gavin Menzies tells Reuters, a claim that could force “... More »

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China • history • Leonardo da Vinci

Abe Lincoln
Artifacts May Stay in Indiana

State group a finalist
to take control of
Fort Wayne collection

Jul 17, 08 7:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - A prized collection of Abraham Lincoln artifacts and memorabilia may not leave his boyhood home of Indiana after all. A coalition of state groups, including the Allen County Public Library and the Indiana State Museum, is one of the three finalists to take control of the collection housed by the... More »

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Indiana • history • Abraham Lincoln • Fort Wayne

Opinion

 'King of Beers'
 Gets a Taste
 of Own Medicine 

...and realize it's a lot like watery piss, actually

Jul 17, 08 2:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - Anyone who thinks InBev’s buyout of Budweiser represents the end of American beer needs a history lesson, writes Edward McClelland in Salon. Budweiser became the “King of Beers” by killing every other heir to the throne. In 1960, America had 175 traditional, regional breweries, making lagers... More »

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beer • Budweiser • history • brewery • Anheuser-Busch • craft brewers • InBev

What Early July Says About Early November

Independence Day poll numbers send mixed signals for 2008 race

Jul 4, 08 1:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - Barack Obama currently leads John McCain 47% to 43%, but does that mean anything this early? Yes and no. Early July Gallup polls have correctly predicted the eventual popular vote winner in 10 of the last 15 elections, but they missed the mark in four of the last five. Politico... More »

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Barack Obama • John McCain • history • Election 2000 • Election 2008 • Gallup poll • Election 2004 • opinion polls

OPINION

 A Weekend for 2
 Nations to Celebrate 

400th anniversary of Quebec City offers chance to reflect: historian

Jul 3, 08 7:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - Tomorrow is Independence Day, but north of the border today marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City, the first settlement of New France and one of the oldest cities in Canada. David Hackett Fischer, a historian writing in the New York Times, uses the occasion to explore... More »

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Canada • independence • history • Quebec • Native Americans • Samuel de Champlain • Thomas Jefferson

 Dig Finds Washington's 
 Home (No Cherry Tree) 

Archaeologists excavate boyhood home of founding father

Jul 2, 08 6:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - Archaeologists have found the childhood home of George Washington, the New York Times reports—and despite the popular legend, there's no cherry tree anywhere on the premises. Researchers describe the founding father's Virginia digs as “a very nice gentry house” sporting eight rooms—not the simple cottage pictured in... More »

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archaeology • Freemason • America • history • excavation • George Washington

OPINION

Roosevelt.
Reagan.
Obama?

Gary Hart: candidate could inaugurate
new political epoch

Jun 25, 08 7:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - The novelty of minorities seeking the White House has occluded the more profound historical importance of this year's contest, Gary Hart says. The 2008 election is a hinge moment that could usher in a new era in American life, writes the former senator in the New York Times, and a... More »

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Barack Obama • United States • history • Democratic Party • Gary Hart

Book Reawakens Doubts About Polish Hero Walesa

Did the country's democratic pioneer collaborate with Poland's secret police?

Jun 13, 08 1:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - A new book is stirring up an old debate in Poland: Did democratic hero Lech Walesa, leader of the Solidarity union and former president, collaborate with the secret police? Walesa has successfully defended himself against the claim for 15 years, in and out of court. But historians working with police... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Eastern Europe • Poland • president • history • Communism • Lech Walesa • collaborator

 Napolean Didn't Meet
 Aresenic-Laced End 

Italian researchers deflate claim of arsenic death

Jun 10, 08 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - For decades scholars have debated whether Napoleon, who died in exile on the island of St. Helena in 1821, was poisoned with arsenic by his British captors; as recently as 2002 a biographer wrote that there was "nothing improbable about the hypothesis." But now a team of Italian... More »

MORE ABOUT:
France • poison • history • Napoleon • arsenic

Analysis

 Campaign 
 Tarnishes 
 Clintons' 
 Legacy  

Divisive tactics take shine off long-time winners

Jun 9, 08 9:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hillary and Bill Clinton have led complicated public lives, but they’ve always been winners. Now Hillary’s defeat has jeopardized that legacy, thanks to a campaign that saw her repeatedly stretch the truth, invoke assassination, and lose African-American support. It’s one thing to employ questionable tactics and win,... More »

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Hillary Clinton • Bill Clinton • Clinton 2008 • history • legacy

On 64th Anniversary,
a D-Day Vet Looks Back

He recalls old battles with pride

Jun 6, 08 1:48 PM CDT
(Newser) - It’s not the horrors of Normandy that haunt Clifton Raynor these days; it’s the horrors of growing old. “Every day is a trying day for me,” the 86-year-old says. Raynor is part of a dying breed who saw D-Day firsthand, and today, on the 64th anniversary... More »

MORE ABOUT:
veterans • history • World War II • D-Day

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