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NEWS ABOUT: history

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'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 »

Don't Know Much About History...

US teens have big holes in history, lit education: study

(Newser) - US teens know little history and less literature, says a study out today. Only 52% of 17-year-olds could name the theme of George Orwell's 1984, and 43% knew when the Civil War was fought. Students faired far better on topics that schools cover, however, such as Pearl Harbor and Martin... More »

Germans Find Hidden Nazi Gold

Gold pinpointed in cavern, stolen chamber of the czars could be nearby

(Newser) - Treasure hunters in Germany have announced they've found a secret stash of Nazi gold in an underground cavern and they believe it could be from the looted Amber Room of the Russian czars, Der Speigel reports. Instruments have detected what could be 2 tons of gold in the cavern near... More »

JFK Treasure Trove Revealed

Long-lost files, Ruby's and Oswald's personal effects appear in public

(Newser) - Numerous items related to the JFK assassination were revealed to the public today after having spent years forgotten in a Dallas courthouse safe, the Dallas Morning News reports. Brass knuckles and a holster belonging to Jack Ruby were in the safe, as was a lucrative contract signed by Ruby prosecutor... More »

Dallas DA Finds Stored Docs on JFK Slaying

Materials include transcript that could fuel conspiracy theories

(Newser) - Dallas County officials have uncovered a batch of JFK assassination materials, including a transcript between Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald that one expert laughed off as a likely fake. Other items include correspondence, records of the Ruby trial, and a gun holster, the Dallas Morning News reports. More »

Arsenic Wasn't Napoleon's Waterloo: Study

Military diet, not murderous Brits, likely killed the little emperor

(Newser) - Rumors that Napoleon Bonaparte was poisoned with arsenic have persisted since he died in exile 187 years ago on the island of St. Helena. Italian scientists now say they've established that the French emperor's death had more to do with bad French army food than murderous British guards, the Daily ... More »

Turks Find Hitler's 'Lost Fleet'

Three German U-boats located in Black Sea

(Newser) - Three World War II U-boats, known as "Hitler's lost fleet," have been discovered off the Turkish coast, the Telegraph reports. A Turkish team combined archival research with sailor interviews and sonar technology to find the wreckage, part of the six-boat fleet that dogged Russian ships in the Black... More »

Gandhi Family Scatters Ashes

60 years after assassination, pacifist gets traditional burial in sea

(Newser) - An urn of Mohandas Gandhi's ashes was poured into the Arabian Sea today by his great-granddaughter, the Guardian reports, finally giving the Indian pacifist a traditional Hindu burial 60 years after he was assassinated. Dozens of such urns had been distributed across India after Gandhi's death, allowing a connection with... More »

A Man, Not a Soundbite

Historians fear King's life has been forgotten

(Newser) - In the decades since his death, Martin Luther King Jr. has been transformed from a flesh-and-blood figure into a one-dimensional icon. Historians fear memory has frozen King on the Washington Mall in 1963, reducing him to a soundbite and a “symbol that people use and manipulate for their own... More »

Curtain Rising on Anne Frank, the Musical

Creator compares teen's life to tragic opera

(Newser) - A first-of-its-kind musical adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank will take the stage in Madrid next month, the Guardian reports. The Spanish-language play gained the approval of the Anne Frank Foundation, which closely guards the rights to the story of the doomed Jewish teenager; a spokesman says the work... More »

'08's Ball Brightest in 100 Years

Times Square orb hits centennial

(Newser) - The ball you watch drop in Times Square at midnight will be twice as bright as any of its predecessors, the New York Times reports, to celebrate its 100th anniversary. The first ball rang in 1908 with 216 light bulbs stuck to its 5-foot iron frame. Tonight, 1,200 pounds... More »

Gulags in America? Hoover Tried

He sought approval to jail 12,000 'disloyal' citizens without trial

(Newser) - J. Edgar Hoover wanted to round up 12,000 Americans he deemed disloyal in 1950, suspend habeus corpus, and lock them up in military and federal prisons, the New York Times reports. In a newly declassified letter, the FBI chief urges President Truman to approve the plan and tell the... More »

WWII Plane Found Under Beach

65 years after crash, plane uncovered on Welsh coast

(Newser) - Sixty-five years after its crash landing, a World War II fighter plane has emerged from under the sand on the Welsh coast. The American P-38 "Lightning" fighter, which made an emergency "belly landing" in shallow water after it ran out of fuel, was buried in the sand, with... More »

The Genius Who Gave Us the Toothpick

A brief history of America's favorite tiny stick

(Newser) - Americans might still be whittling their own toothpicks, if not for the marketing genius and borderline con-artistry of Charles Forster, writes Henry Petroski, author of a new book on toothpick history, in Slate. Forster swore to make a fortune mass-producing the pointy sticks, but had trouble finding buyers. So he... More »

Ancient Texts Fill Blanks in Climate History

Accounts by monks, soldiers, doctors help track global warming

(Newser) - Scientists are poring over the diaries of 17th century Swiss monks and Parisian physicians for data to help judge changes in Europe’s climate, the AP reports. Piecing together records from things as disparate as military campaigns and cherry blossom festivals dispels any doubt that the Earth is heating up,... More »

I Now Pronounce You Knight and Knight

15th-century Europe allowed civil unions

(Newser) - The 21st-century social and political trend of same-sex civil unions has roots that go back a bit beyond Stonewall—to the Middle Ages. A history professor who analyzed legal documents and gravesites says medieval law was flexible enough to allow for a variety of non-nuclear family structures, including gay unions,... More »

Fake Sub Sets Off Harbor Scare

Coast Guard ends 'marine mischief'

(Newser) - A New York performance artist and two pals were detained yesterday after they tried to navigate a replica of a Revolutionary War-era submarine near the Queen Mary II  in Brooklyn. Their maritime mischief  created a brief scare, and the Coast Guard was dispatched. Apparently, the three were trying to recreate... More »

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