alphabet

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Big Dig in Norway Turns Up 'Dream of All Runologists'

Archaeologists announce discovery of world's oldest runestone—perhaps as old as Jesus

(Newser) - Archaeologists say they've discovered the oldest known runestone—a stone inscribed with runic letters, which represent the oldest known alphabet in Scandinavia—perhaps as old as Jesus Christ. The University of Oslo's Museum of Cultural History says it's "the oldest datable runestone" and that its inscription,...

Ben Franklin Tried to Change Our Alphabet

His phonetic approach never took off

(Newser) - If Benjamin Franklin were alive today, he'd probably be a dynamite texter. As Smithsonian explains, Franklin once designed a phonetic alphabet for the nation because he thought the one in place was too unwieldy. Alas, it never caught on. Some highlights of his "A Reformed Mode of Spelling,...

South Korea Finds Ancient King's Hat, With Notes Inside
South Korea Finds Ancient King's Hat, With Notes Inside
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

South Korea Finds Ancient King's Hat, With Notes Inside

Documents explain Seoul's official alphabet

(Newser) - The Hangeul alphabet is a big deal in South Korea: It's what replaced Chinese characters in the 15th century, it's the official script of both the North and South to this day, and it has its own national holiday. And that makes the discovery of King Sejong's...

Soldier Waterboards Daughter, 4, Over ABCs

He admits abuse, faces assault charges

(Newser) - A Washington state soldier has been charged with assault after admitting to police that he waterboarded his 4-year-old daughter for not properly reciting the alphabet. Cops found Joshua Tabor drunkenly wandering his Tacoma neighborhood in his combat helmet yelling about breaking windows. When they visited his home, his scratched and...

Dog + Kitchen Magnets = Emergency Surgery

(Newser) - A British dog is healthy after emergency surgery to remove an alphabet’s worth of fridge magnets from his belly, the BBC reports. Jack had just returned home from being neutered, and his owner put him in the kitchen to rest. “The next morning I noticed the whole alphabet...

Google Earth Knows Its ABCs
 Google Earth 
 Knows Its ABCs 

Google Earth Knows Its ABCs

(Newser) - From an A-shaped street crossing to a building in the form of a Z, an Australian man has spelled out the alphabet using Google Earth. Rhett Dashwood spent 6 months painstakingly scanning satellite images of his native state, Victoria, and found buildings or geographical landmarks in the shape of all...

Translating 'Dot Com' into Cyrillic
Translating 'Dot Com' into Cyrillic

Translating 'Dot Com' into Cyrillic

Domain names in non-Roman alphabet to be tested by Net managers

(Newser) - On Monday the Internet's global reach will extend further when it tests non-Roman character domain names. For years, non-English speakers have petitioned the US and companies controlling the Internet for domain names in their native language, the BBC reports. But ICANN, the nonprofit corporation which allocates domains, has been afraid...

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