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NEWS ABOUT: history

Terminator, Deliverance Join US Film History

(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 Jungle, Sergeant York,... More »

Three Genes Made 1918 Flu So Deadly

They cause pneumonia by letting virus into lungs

(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 »

Rap's Roots Found in, Uh, Scotland?

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

(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 »

Anti-Abe Views Resonate in Dixie

(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 »

China to Lop Off Tall Buildings in Hangzhou

Hangzhou aims to become World Heritage site

(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 »

Belafonte, Sotheby's Cancel MLK Auction

King estate disputes ownership of papers

(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 »

Humble Mouse Turns 40

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

(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. It only
... More »

History Often Forgets About This Adams

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

(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 »

Remember History: Give Pirates No Quarter...

How Jefferson would deal with Somalia

(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 the... More »

Spain Drops Probe Into Franco Crimes

But plan to dig up mass graves may still go ahead

(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 »

Family History of Breast Cancer Trumps Genes

Incidence among relatives is red flag, even without mutations

(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 »

The Bush Era: An 'American Fiasco'

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

(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 »

Mudslingers Today No Match for Jefferson

Dirty campaigning has always been a feature of American democracy

(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 »

Why Bush Is a Great President

Hindsight will vindicate expanded powers, Iraq war

(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 »

Phelps: Great, or Greatest?

The debate rages on

(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, and some... More »

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

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

(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, she... More »

Dirty Jokes of the Ancients Unearthed

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

(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 »

Leonardo Lifted from Chinese, Historian Claims

Popular amateur says texts brought to Italy 'ignited Renaissance'

(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 »

Abe Lincoln Artifacts May Stay in Indiana

State group a finalist to take control of Fort Wayne collection

(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 »

'King of Beers' Gets a Taste of Own Medicine

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

(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 just like... More »

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