historian

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Historian Claims to Have Solved a Mona Lisa Mystery

Bridge above subject's shoulder still stands in Tuscany, says Silvano Vinceti

(Newser) - Few eyes gazing upon Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa likely notice the tiny bridge painted just above the subject's left shoulder, on the right side of the painting. But that piece of architecture stood out to Italian historian Silvano Vinceti, who believes he's identified it as a...

What to Do With That History Degree? This

American Girl is hiring a research historian

(Newser) - American Girl, known for producing historically accurate dolls for kids, is now looking for a research historian, a gig "you spent your entire childhood training for," per Jezebel . So if you've got a bachelor's degree or higher in history or a related field, a few years...

VW's New Headache: Historian Who Exposed Nazi Past

Open letter from 75 academics says Manfred Grieger was punished for exposing Nazi ties

(Newser) - Volkswagen's troubles continue after its record-breaking $14.7 billion emissions-scandal settlement last week, with the controversy now swirling around a historian who helped uncover the company's Nazi past. The New York Times dives into the sudden end of Manfred Grieger's contract with VW, now being criticized for...

German Man Claims 'Fantastical' Find: Nazi Nukes

Peter Lohr warns his alleged find will eventually decay

(Newser) - A Nazi gold train . The Amber Room . Claims of legendary Nazi-era finds have been surfacing of late—and, it's worth noting, not panning out —and Nazi nukes now join that list. In what it describes as a "fantastical" claim, the Local reports retired mechanical engineer and amateur...

Historian: Shroud of Turin a Medieval Prop

Charles Freeman dug through descriptions, depictions of it

(Newser) - You can add one more name to the list of those claiming the Shroud of Turin dates only to medieval times . According to British historian Charles Freeman, Jesus' supposed burial cloth—believed by many to show his image after crucifixion—is a 14th-century prop that was likely used during an...

Nazi Official Sent 'Stupid' Spies to Britain on Purpose

Intelligence official wanted to sabotage Hitler, says historian

(Newser) - Who would send ill-prepared spies on a vital mission knowing they were bound to screw up? Nazi intelligence official Herbert Wichmann, that's who—at least according to one historian who argues that Wichmann and his circle were trying to sabotage Hitler's plans. In Operation Sealion: Resistance Inside the ...

This Photo May Be 2nd Ever of Billy the Kid

Historian believes he's found rare glimpse of infamous gunslinger

(Newser) - A New Mexico historian thinks he's found a photo that he can positively identify as depicting Billy the Kid—which would be a pretty big deal, given that, if verified, it would be just the second known photo of the infamous outlaw. There have been many purported photos of...

Gingrich More 'Nutty Professor' Than Historian

Noah Feldman is amused by Gingrich's academic past

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich's attacks linking President Obama to Saul Alinsky delighted Harvard law professor Noah Feldman. "What excites me is not the preposterousness of the statement," though indeed, it was preposterous, he writes for Bloomberg . "What I love was the absurdity of Newt Gingrich apparently believing that...

Gingrich's Freddie Mac Contract Released

Newt reported to a top lobbyist in one-year, $300K deal

(Newser) - Newt Gingrich made $25,000 a month working for Freddie Mac, where he reported to one of the company's leading lobbyists, according to his newly released contract with the mortgage giant. The 15 pages unveiled by Gingrich's former firm cover one year of his eight-year, $1.6-million relationship...

Historian Faked Date on Key Lincoln Artifact

Researcher 'rewrote history,' says archivist

(Newser) - An Abraham Lincoln researcher has confessed to changing the date on a Lincoln document, effectively altering history for his own gain, AOL News reports. Thomas Lowry changed the date from April 14, 1864, to 1865—the date of Lincoln's assassination—so that it would seem he’d discovered one of...

Historian Tony Judt Dead at 62
Historian
Tony Judt
Dead at 62

Historian Tony Judt Dead at 62

Thought West was forgetting lessons of 20th-century horrors

(Newser) - Tony Judt, a highly praised and controversial historian who was a Pulitzer finalist in 2006 for his epic history of Europe, Postwar, died yesterday at his home in New York City. Judt, a native of London who in recent years was a professor of European studies at New York University,...

Thank Women for Popularizing Beer
 Thank Women for 
 Popularizing Beer 
OUR FIRST BREWERS

Thank Women for Popularizing Beer

Females were our first brewers, before Christ

(Newser) - Though both the brewing and consumption of beer might seem to have “manly” stamped all over them, it’s in fact women who drove suds’ popularity. Since thousands of years before Christ, a British historian tells the Daily Mail , brewing was done in the home, and females were in...

'Vindictive' Documentary on Kennedys Ignites Furor

Right-winger's History Channel biopic blamed JFK for Berlin Wall

(Newser) - A History Channel miniseries on the Kennedy family that won't be aired for nearly a year has already raised the ire of Kennedy historians and liberal critics who call the series' script a historically inaccurate hatchet job that portrays the JFK presidency salaciously. The Kennedys is being produced by Joel...

Activist Historian Howard Zinn Dies at 87

Professor was early opponent against Vietnam war

(Newser) - Howard Zinn, a Boston University professor who was among the earliest to speak out against US involvement in Vietnam, died today at age 87 after suffering a heart attack. Zinn is perhaps best known for his 1980 book, A People’s History of the United States, in which he eschewed...

Army Historians Fault Early Afghan War Strategy

Forces were undermanned, and planning was shoddy

(Newser) - The US missed out on chances to stabilize Afghanistan early in the war because it devoted too few troops and too little planning to the conflict, write Army historians in an official chronicle of the conflict. "It should have become clear” in late 2003 “that the coalition presence...

Krugman Spat With Professor Explodes Online

Sniping turns to race when Ferguson calls Obama Felix the Cat

(Newser) - Niall Ferguson picked the wrong Nobel-winning economist to mess with. The Scottish historian, who teaches at Harvard, has been caught up in a high-profile academic feud with New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who has called him a "poseur" and a "whiner" in recent blog posts. Ferguson hit...

'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...

Scholar Who Lived Black History Dead at 94

John Hope Franklin embodied black history

(Newser) - Influential historian John Hope Franklin died yesterday at 94. The author of a seminal book on race, Franklin was born and raised in an all-black community in Oklahoma, marched in Selma, and assisted on a Brown v. Board of Education brief. "He managed to embody this history and yet...

As Tomb Cracks, Army Mulls New Monument to Unknowns

Repeated patching leaves Arlington marker 'shabby,' but replacement may dim symbolism

(Newser) - The US Army’s proposal to build a replica of the cracked marble monument atop the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery is reigniting controversy, USA Today reports. “It is important to have the authentic tomb that was there when the first remains were interred,” said...

'McCain the Bruce' Claims are Baloney

Genealogists ridicule senator's alleged links to Scottish king

(Newser) - John McCain might be a sure thing to be crowned the GOP nominee, but experts say claims that his family is related to a Scottish king are pure fiction. McCain wrote in a 1999 memoir that his great-aunt was descended from Robert the Bruce, who reclaimed Scottish independence in 1314....

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