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What Early July Says About Early November

Independence Day poll numbers send mixed signals for 2008 race

(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 »

A Weekend for 2 Nations to Celebrate

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

(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 »

Dig Finds Washington's Home (No Cherry Tree)

Archaeologists excavate boyhood home of founding father

(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 »

Roosevelt. Reagan. Obama?

Gary Hart: candidate could inaugurate new political epoch

(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 »

Book Reawakens Doubts About Polish Hero Walesa

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

(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 »

Napolean Didn't Meet Aresenic-Laced End

Italian researchers deflate claim of arsenic death

(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 »

Campaign Tarnishes Clintons' Legacy

Divisive tactics take shine off long-time winners

(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 »

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

He recalls old battles with pride

(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 »

Lincoln's Failings Offer Modern Lesson

Politicians must learn to face their flaws, not exult in strengths

(Newser) - Abraham Lincoln had his dark days. For a while, Lincoln was mercury-pill-popping, sleep-deprived wreck who briefly considered suicide. “Lincoln went Crazy,” wrote friend Joshua Speed. “It was horrible.” Lincoln, of course, grew out of it, facing his flaws in a way today’s leaders ought to... More »

Shoot at the Facts, Not at the Messenger

Noonan, finding book believable, urges shift in debate on McClellan's work

(Newser) - Scott McClellan isn't someone Peggy Noonan found herself admiring, she writes in the Wall Street Journal, but she did end up “believing him" after finishing his memoir. He didn’t pen his story to make friends or salvage his image, but rather to set the record straight as he... More »

10 Score Later, America Still Loves Lincoln

As bicentennial nears, an industry springs up around Honest Abe

(Newser) - Honest Abe may be gone, but an industry of books, debates, and a Spielberg biopic are all alive and well. With Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial coming next year, all three White House hopefuls have invoked his name, and the US Mint is issuing pennies to honor states where he lived. "... More »

Collosal Squid Has World's Biggest Eyes

They're the size of dinner plates, 'largest ever recorded'

(Newser) - With eyes bigger than dinner plates and orange-sized lenses, a colossal squid being dissected by New Zealand scientists boasts the biggest peepers of any animal—and larger relatives could lurk in the deep, the Telegraph reports. It's "certainly not the largest specimen out there," said one marine biologist,... More »

New China Museum Fuels Tibetan Anger

Beijing gallery pushes official version of Chinese history

(Newser) - China is accelerating construction of a number of museums ahead of August's Olympics, but one is sure to cause serious consternation: the first museum in Beijing devoted to Tibet. Antiquities and historical documents will be used to underline the claim that Tibet is an integral part of China, the New ... More »

Behold the Mighty Medicine Ball

Weighty exercise aid goes back a lot longer than you'd think

(Newser) - The thunk of a medicine ball may evoke images of football players doing strength and resistance training, but its history reaches far beyond the advent of modern fitness regimens. ESPN the Magazine chronicles the medicine ball through the ages, from gladiators' workouts to Renaissance medical texts to the earliest days... More »

This Just In: Newseum Opens

Relocated institution's self-glorifying quality leaves reviewer cold

(Newser) - The Newseum reopens today in its new, $450 million home off the National Mall, and reaction to the enterprise is mixed. Granting that the interactive, artifact-laden presentation of the history of news is a good mix of education and entertainment, Edward Rothstein of the New York Times also describes it... More »

Top 10 Historically Flawed Flicks

10,000 BC , Gladiator, and 300 top Yahoo's list of historical misfires

(Newser) - Most historical films forgo a few facts for dramatic flair, but these flicks leave truth to the cutting room floor. Yahoo lists the most inaccurate movies ever:
  1. 10,000 BC: Woolly mammoths weren't around to help build the pyramids.
  2. Gladiator: Emperor Commodus didn't kill his dad... chickenpox did.
  3. 300: Spartan
... More »

'Tudors': Flashy Fiction Is Far From Fact

Historians balk at steamy soap, but fans aren't deterred

(Newser) - In the battle of fact versus flair, it’s pretty obvious which side “The Tudors” comes down on. Showtime’s steamy period soap opera, which premiers its second season tonight, trades a chubby, tight-wearing Henry VIII for slim, sexy Jonathan Rhys Meyers. “It’s sloppy filmmaking,” one... More »

WWII Ship Found After 66 Years

Legendary HMAS Sydney sank in battle with German raider

(Newser) - A legendary Australian war ship sunk in the Indian Ocean by a German raider during World War II has been found nearly intact after 66 years, the Australian PM confirmed today. The HMAS Sydney sank after a 30-minute battle with the Kormoran in Australia's greatest tragedy at sea. The wreckage... More »

Teachers Rip UK Iraq Lessons as 'Propaganda'

School proposal ignores casualties, 'rewrites history'

(Newser) - On the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, a row has erupted in Britain over a controversial school lesson plan about the conflict drawn up by the country's defense ministry. The National Union of Teachers is up in arms over the proposal and is threatening a boycott over what... More »

Boleyn No History Lesson

Historical soap opera adds spice to the Tudor court

(Newser) - The Other Boleyn Girl is anything but a dry history lesson about the 16th century, critics say—don't take it too seriously, and you'll be all right. It "probably shouldn't be the way in which high-school kids learn about Henry VIII and his court, but it's a fun movie,... More »

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